La Ronde HELP...ASAP...PLEASE!

Do to varying circumstances at my job and impending cut-backs most of us were (omg) given Memorial Day off (yeah!). We just found out today (Tuesday May 25th) and my partner (who lives in Toronto) and i decided to take the opprotunity of a rare 3-day weekend and drive to La Ronde. I have NEVER been there before and he has not been there since it was the original Expo. We have 6 Flags Season Passes so we were going to spend early Saturday there, all day Sunday and a few hours Monday morning if they are open- its not a holiday weekend up there so does anyone have any suggestions for touring the park please?! btw La (or is it Le) Vampire will be my partner's first ever B&M Coaster!

Hit Le Vampire first...the park doesn't seem to realize it owns two trains.

-Nate

I'm afraid I can't be much help because I haven't visited La Ronde in several years. My last visit was shortly before Six Flags took over, and the park was rather run down at the time. I've heard SF has improved the physical park greatly but that it is run with SF's typical (mis)management. I hope you and your partner enjoy your time there, and I hope you will write a trip report and tell us what you thought of La Ronde. I'd be interested in reading your thoughts especially since SF took over.

La Ronde will not need that amount of time you're setting aside for it. It's my home park and will always have a place in my heart, but one full day is all you will need. The park is open on Monday and it will be the least crowed day.. especially after the school buses leave. Sunday evening will also be quite light. Saturday will be packed if the weather is good.

The park is a very nice park and greatly improved since Six Flags took over. It used to be owned by the city of Montreal so very little money, if any, was invested. Food is decent, staff is very slow (the stack the Vampire for unbelivably long periods removing the purpose of 2 trains) but tends to be freindly, and the Monster at night is a hell of coaster.

Enjoy the park.. it's got its moments. *** Edited 5/27/2004 12:44:18 AM UTC by Mtl_Shag***

Longest lines? Vampire and Manitou earns that distinction. Manitou is a Zamperla Discovery (copy of KMG Afterburner) and runs very nicely! Monstre usually has 2 trains running on one of its track, if its not raining, so waits are constant at 30-40 minutes for back seat. One full day will be enough, as MTL Shag said.

Does Canada recognize Memorial Day? If not, you won't have to worry about holiday crowds.

Canada's May holiday is Victoria day weekend. That was last weekend. So Memorial day weekend is no holiday up here.

I always go down to Cedar Point for Victoria day weekend seeing as it's not a holiday down there. Plus the holiday lets me not miss any work.

Wouldn't be a bad idea for US visitors to come up for memorial day. I can't speak for La Ronde, but I'd imagine PCW would be deserted on Memorial day.

i LOVED monstre, and Vampire is really just a mirror image of that good old reliable, lovable Batman: The Ride. nice park though.

im also planning on a La Ronde partial vacation, 3 days. but plan on being there for canada day, any suggestions of La Ronde or Montreal would be appreicated. will be going to SFDL before La Ronde, love that park, been 3 times . hope superman is open .6 flags staff everywhere is LAME!

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Absimilliard said:
Manitou is a Zamperla Discovery (copy of KMG Afterburner) and runs very nicely!

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Not sure what that means- i don't chat enough to know what KMG is

Is Monstre a racing coaster? its hard to tell by the description on the park's website as it is English translated from French as opposed to being written in English- so some descriptions are hard to understand...

My partner is looking most forward to Moulin de Sorcere (sorry if that's spelled wrong) and we heard about something called the Dragon- but can't find much info on them

Anyways thanx for all the help! As for the legnth of our stay- we will be there that long anyways and will probably just stay in the early opening hours then return Sunday evening as well (and we have Season Passes for SF so its not really costing us anything- we've already been to SFDL twice so they are essentially paid for)

KMG is a ride manufaturer. Here is some info on the Afterburner.

Monstre is indeed a racing coaster, but both sides are drastically different, and infact they were built at different times. I have not ridden, but I am told that they actually somehow manage to finish near the same time if they are racing.

They actually race perfectly! Over the last 9 years, I got 3 rides where actually raced and its was a perfect race! I won twice and the other side won once (I was always riding track 1 when that happened).

Thanx Black 7
Oddly I was filmed riding a similar ride at PGAm for the Travel Channel a few years back (friends in "high" places got me that one)- Fantasy Island, NY also has one- they're cool!

Also thanx for the link to that site- I LoVE innovative "flat rides"!

Unfortunately (but not surprisingly), Zamperla's version of the ride is a poor immitation of the original. Not only does it not run a very good program, it has the typical, crappy Zamperla OTSR's. It's worth a ride, I suppose, but don't expect an Afterburner-like experience. If you've ridden MFI's, you know what to expect.

Moulin de la Sorciere is a joke; I wouldn't get your hopes up about it. It's extremely low capacity, and there are about three or four "scenes" to the entire ride. Much of it is just cruising around in the dark. It's a pretty typical traveling carnival dark ride. In other words, it sucks.

There are definitely some good things at La Ronde, though. Le Vampire is awesome, as is Le Cobra if you're okay with a semi-rough ride. Le Monstre was surprisingly good, although I hear one side is vastly better than the other. If you've never ridden a Vekoma corkscrew coaster, Super Manege will be a treat, I think. And finally, Le Dragon (as you mentioned) is quite fun, and well themed. It's an enclosed family coaster built by Intamin. If you've ridden SFGAdv's Skull Mountain, you know what to expect (though Le Dragon is slightly more tame). The best part about La Ronde is that you can walk around the whole park drinking alcohol, but if you're from Canada that's probably nothing new.

If you run out of things to do at La Ronde, you could visit The Great Escape in Lake George, NY. It's only just over two hours away, and well worth a visit. It's much prettier and much better operated than La Ronde. The Comet is an awesome ride.

-Nate

Le Monstre is my favorite wood coaster....its been about 7 years since i have ridden it, but the way it flows as it twists and turns is what made is so great in my opinion. Is it still smooth?

When I've been at La Ronde, they've deliberately avoided racing Le Monstre. This may be because the tracks are reach out an touch someone close like the Racer at Kennywood. The only problem is you go around and corner and suddenly there is a 4X4 support between the two track.

1) Vampire first

2) Run to Orbit (if u want), and do the cobra too.

3)Try to get on manitou before it has a 1+ hour wait. The new water ride "Le Splash" is opening today so there may be a few people at the park.

Have fun! La Ronde's my home park and I love it! Don't forget to ride both sides of the Monster cause each gives a different experience. Enjoy your trip!

PS: As said before, Moulin de la Sorciere (Witch's house) is nothing great. The dragon is ok, but somedays it's an hour and a half line up, so dont waste you time on it. I say you could spend a good day and more at LaRonde, when ever i go, i usually don't get to ride everything. The monster 2 is better than 1 (in my opinion). *** Edited 5/27/2004 8:45:03 PM UTC by Canadian Dude***