Le Monstre is the massive wooden roller coaster at La Ronde.
This is the tallest, fastest, and longest wood coaster in Canada.
And it infamously won the Six Flags Tournament of Thrills in 2008 as the chain’s best roller
coaster.
So is it better than rides like X2 and El Toro?
Find out in this review!
Le Monstre was designed by William Cobb in the early 1980s.
The coaster was then assembled in two phases.
Track 1, which is the right side when leaving the station, was built in 1985.
Track 2, which is the left side when leaving the station, was erected one year later in
1986.
While both sides have similar elements, they are not clones or mirrors of each other.
While the ride looks like it should be a racing or dueling wood coaster, La Monstre is not
operated in that manner.
Each side is operated independently and if by some chance both sides are ready to go
at the same time, the dispatches are deliberately staggered.
This is presumably to be more forgiving on the ride’s structure.
This ride also had been SBNO for a few years, but it was running consistently in 2022 from
what I can tell.
Le Monstre has a commanding presence.
This ride not only stands 131 feet or 40 meters tall, which is colossal for a traditional
wood coaster, but the ride has a dense support structure.
It’s a giant mess of wood.
I also like this ride’s entry sign.
It’s this weird werewolf / werecat thing.
If you’re using the standby line, you select whether you’d like to experience Track 1
or Track 2 right after you enter the queue.
If you have the Flash Pass skip-the-line system, you are only able to experience Track 2…after
passing through this weird area that looks like it should be off-limits to guests.
If you have the Flash Pass, I would prioritize Track 1 very early in the morning if you want
both credits, especially since I think this side is slightly better.
This is because Le Monstre routinely has one of the worst if not the worst wait at La Ronde.
It routinely takes an hour.
Each side has a long ramp that moves at a snail’s pace.
The ride itself is quite long, as it takes over 3 minutes start to finish.
The restraint checks on this ride are slow and then the ride often runs one train on
each side.
in 2016, Track 1 weirdly had 2 trains in use while Track 2 had just one train in use.
This led to Track 1’s line moving twice as fast, so definitely try to scout that out
before hopping in line.
If the ride is running just one train, consider it a miracle if more than 10 trains go out
per hour.
Le Monstre originally had 7 car Morgan trains that could each seat up to 28 riders.
Each side received 2 new PTC trains in 2013.
Since these trains were heavier, they had to be shortened, which hurt the ride’s capacity.
The current trains consist of 5 cars and each car has 2 rows of 2, so now each train can
accommodate a maximum of 20 riders.
The trains have the familiar seat-belt and individual ratcheting lap bar combination
typically seen on PTCs.
Per usual, I would recommend holding onto the restraint once checked or it will come
down further during the ride’s bumps and valleys.
The odd thing with these trains is that they have these fins or wings on the side.
I’m guessing this is for clearance purposes, but they also have some cushy padding to provide
support during sudden moments of laterals.
Regardless of which side you choose, I prefer this coaster up front.
It offers the single best spot of airtime on the ride and more importantly, it’s the
smoothest row.
I would advise avoiding a wheel seat or the back of a car on this coaster, unless you
enjoy comically bumpy rides.
Before delving into the ride experience, I need to note that I have not experienced Track
1 since 2016.
I had the Flash Pass for my 2022 visit, so I only rode Track 2.
I still remember how the elements on Track 1 ride, but the rough patches I note may be
different.
Both sides start with a slow turn out of the station and an even slower lift.
You do get some great views of the Jacques Cartier Bridge and Montreal towards the top
though.
The ride starts with a fairly shallow drop, but it is extremely smooth.
Want to know why?
That’s because it features RMC Topper Track.
So sidebar, whenever enthusiasts say RMC cannot work in Canada, how do you explain this?
Both sides then rise into a large turnaround, nearly stalling out.
Track 1 then has a steep plunge that gives some airtime in back.
But the subsequent valley is the shakiest on the ride, so brace yourself.
You then rise upwards and swoop downwards getting some laterals.
Track 2 reverses the drops.
The turnaround’s initial drop is an extended swooping one, but this valley was horrific
in 2022.
It tried to snap your back in half.
You then twist upwards and navigate a steep plunge into the structure that gives a good
pop of airtime in back.
Track 2 immediately goes into the second turnaround, but Track 1 has a surprise up its sleeve.
And this is the main reason I prefer this side.
You have a speed hill exiting turnaround 1.
This hill is shockingly tiny compared to every other element on the ride and it delivers
a great ejector pop no matter where you’re sitting.
It completely caught me off-guard in 2016 since I rode Track 2 first.
Both sides then rise into turnaround 2.
If you’re up front, you get a decent burst of airtime as you level off.
Even those in back weakly come out of their seat.
Both sides then navigate helixes, but they’re profiled a bit differently.
The helix on Track 2 is more exciting.
It has more speed since you dip downwards sooner.
Track 1’s helix starts high and slow.
But midway through it, you do have a sizable curved drop.
Both tracks end with another swooping drop.
Neither gives airtime though.
You then rise into the final turnaround, unfortunately getting no airtime.
This element has two sizable curved dips on Track 1 before heading towards the brakes.
On Track 2, the element undulates more as it travels along the outside of Track 1.
None of the dips are particularly memorable though on either side.
The ending is quirky though.
Track 2 has this stupidly sharp and abrupt piece of track that turns you 90 degrees sideways.
You get one heck of a lateral jolt, especially towards the front of the train.
You then hit the brakes.
It’s less extreme on track 1, but you’ll still get a pinch of laterals before slowing
down.
Both sides have similar overall track lengths.
Track 1 covers 3996 feet or 1218 meters of track while Track 2 is 30 feet or 9 meters
longer.
The valley midway through the first turnaround is the ride’s roughest spot by far.
Some of the other turns and valleys have some shuffling, particularly in a wheel seat, but
I found it tolerable.
Le Monstre’s biggest deficiency is pacing.
Each turnaround seems to be a bit too tall, so the trains lose a ton of speed going into
them.
There are several points where it feels like you’ll stall out.
This leads to the turnarounds feeling mostly like filler, and that’s not a good thing
since three giant turnarounds essentially make up the whole ride.
So what would I rate Le Monstre?
I would give both sides of this wood coaster a 4 out of 10.
This is a below average wood coaster.
It’s not as rough as you may suspect, but the pacing is what really drags down the experience.
There are a few fun moments in there and they sort of sneak up on you because of the weak
elements surrounding them.
Then it’s always fun riding through the structure of a wood coaster as dense of this.
It makes for some neat visuals.
Should this ride be RMCed?
Oh yes please.
This ride and park really needs it.
I don’t know if it will happen anytime soon or ever given the level of investment Six
Flags has given this park over the past decade, but this layout would have a lot of potential
and it would have a high chance of becoming the best coaster in Canada.
So those are my thoughts on Le Monstre at La Ronde.
What are your thoughts on this dual track wood coaster?
Which side do you prefer?
Let me know down in the comments.
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