Several other possible locations in Ontario were considered, including Niagara Falls, Cambridge, and Milton, but Maple was finally selected because of its proximity to the City of Toronto and the 400-series of highways. In 1972, the Taft Broadcasting Company, headed by Kelly Robinson, first proposed building a 134-hectare (330-acre) theme park in the then small village of Maple, part of Vaughan, Ontario, located directly north of Toronto. The Scarboro Beach and Hanlan's Point amusement parks both closed in the 1920s. Sunnyside Amusement Park closed in the 1950s to make room for the Gardiner Expressway. The city of Toronto had previously hosted three amusement parks that had roller coasters.
When Canada's Wonderland was planned, the Greater Toronto Area lacked a seasonal amusement park. Since the closure of Crystal Beach Park in Fort Erie in 1989, Canada's Wonderland is the only amusement park in Ontario with wooden roller coasters in operation. Eight hectares (20 acres) of the park houses a water park named Splash Works. With eighteen roller coasters, Canada's Wonderland has the second most of any theme park, behind Six Flags Magic Mountain in California, which has twenty. Beginning in 2019, the park also hosts WinterFest, a holiday-themed event that extends the park's operating season to late December or early January. Special events are held throughout the season, including Halloween Haunt and various festivals such as Celebration Canada, a month-long Canada Day festival. Ĭanada's Wonderland normally operates from late April or early May to Labour Day, and then on weekends until late October or early November. The park still retains this record, with an estimated 3.8 million guests in 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, it was the most-visited seasonal amusement park in North America with an estimated 3.9 million guests.
Cedar Fair purchased the park from Paramount Parks in 2006, and they have owned and operated the park since then. Opened in 1981 by the Taft Broadcasting Company and the Great-West Life Assurance Company, it was the first major theme park in Canada and remains the country's largest.
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