Experience a movie car chase through the streets of Los Angeles...
Experience a movie car chase through the streets of Los Angeles...
| Theme Park | Canada's Wonderland |
|---|---|
| Park Area | Action Zone |
| Type | Rollercoaster |
| Audience | Older Families and Thrillseekers |
| Opened | 1 May 2005 (as "Italian Job: Stunt Track") 2008 ("Backlot Stunt Coaster" retheme) |
| Manufacturer | Premier Rides |
| Height | 45 ft |
| Length | 1960 ft |
| Inversions | 0 |
| Max Speed | 40 mph |
| Duration | 1 minute |
Car chase through Los Angeles
Backlot Stunt Coaster takes visitors to Canada's Wonderland behind the scenes and right into the heart of Hollywood movies as they participate in a special effects filled stunt scene.
The ride is a launched coaster from Premier Rides with Mini car trains which race through a well themed ride area featuring a Los Angeles city landscape.
Originally the ride was known as The Italian Job: Stunt Track and was themed around the final chase scene from the 2003 Italian Job film starring Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron. References to the movie were removed and the ride was renamed in 2008 following Cedar Fair's aquisition of Canada's Wonderland in 2006.
Backlot Stunt Coaster uses a Linear Induction Motor launch mechanism to accelerate trains out of the station and around the circuit, rather than the more traditional rollercoaster lift hill. At the end of the launch track is an upward helix through a multi-storey parking garage, the cars leaping over the edge at the top and swerving between three police cars. Via an overbanked turn and several airtime hills, the train comes to a near-stop on a mid-course brake run surrounded by oil barrels and gas tanks. A helicopter shoots at riders as the cars dive into a dark tunnel, weaving around in the dark before breaking through a billboard and jumping into an old aqueduct at the photogenic climax of the ride. With a 180 degree turn, the train returns to the station.
Canada's Wonderland's Backlot Stunt Coaster is one of three versions of the ride to be installed at what were at the time parks in the Paramount Parks chain. The others are at Kings Dominion in Virginia and Kings Island in Ohio. All follow the same theme and track layout, with only very minor variations between them.
Not being too intense, Backlot Stunt Coaster is a great fun family rollercoaster. It is sad, although perhaps inevitable, that various original special effects have broken or simply been turned off over the years, but what remains adds greatly to the theme and helps elevate the ride beyond a simple family coaster.
Italian Job queueline
The original Italian Job Stunt Track billboard
Smashing through the billboard
