Mighty Canadian Minebuster is a wooden roller coaster at Canada’s Wonderland.
This ride features a unique location through the Splash Works water park, as this attraction
passes over and under pathways.
But is this ride actually good or does it live up to its infamous nickname as the Spinebuster?
Find out in this review!
Canada’s Wonderland opened back in 1981 with three wooden roller coasters, all of
which were designed by Curtis D. Summers.
The largest of the trio was Mighty Canadian Minebuster.
Modeled after Ohio’s Coney Island’s former Shooting Star, this coaster has an L-shaped
out-and-back layout.
The ride is credited by the park as being built by Philadelphia Toboggan Coasters, but
that company stopped building coasters in the late 1970s.
From what I can gather, workers from the company had involvement with the project though.
The ride’s entrance is next to Yukon Striker in the Frontier Canada section of the park,
which was created in 2019.
And the ride really celebrates its Canadian heritage with a bazillion flags in the station.
Interestingly, this themed area was supposed to be created back in 1981 with Minebuster
as the anchor, but the themed land wasn’t created for another 38 years.
When this coaster opened, its out-and-back layout was all by its lonesome.
That all changed in the 1990s.
The Splash Works water park opened in 1992.
The first phase was to the right of Minebuster, but the water park was so popular that it
necessitated an expansion in 1996.
The only land available was on the opposite side of Minebuster, so this coaster’s bunny
hills had to be modified so pedestrian bridges could pass over the attraction.
I couldn’t find photos or videos what changed with the attraction, but I’m guessing the
bunny hills may have been taller, sharper, or more numerous.
Today, you have two bridges and multiple water slides positioned above Minebuster.
This creates an interesting aesthetic.
You can see very little of the attraction from inside the dry park.
Mainly just the lift hill of this big brown coaster.
But the ride creates a lot of energy in the water park seeing this wood coaster fly by.
Minebuster usually doesn’t have one of the longest waits in the park, but it can get
a modest wait on busier days.
The coaster regularly runs two trains- one yellow and one red.
Each seats up to 30 riders across 5 cars.
With these three bench trains, you really want to avoid the wheel seat or the back of
a car.
Otherwise, you’re in for a very bumpy ride.
This coaster didn’t earn the nickname Spinebuster for no reason.
The coaster is tolerable in the front or second row of a car though.
You have a few bumpy valleys and a shaky helix, but it’s not too bad.
My favorite seats are either the front two rows or the 2nd or 3rd from the back.
The PTC trains feature a seat-belt and individual lap bar combination.
The lap bars are stiffer on this ride and move in larger increments than most PTC trains.
After the employees check your restraint, I would recommend holding onto the lap bar
during the coaster or the bumpy valleys can cause it to lower further.
Once dispatched, you round a 180 degree turn and head up the 90 foot or 27 meter tall lift
hill.
This runs along the coaster’s brake run.
You get a great view of Backlot Stunt Coaster to your left and the water park to the right.
When you reach the top, you get a gorgeous view of Behemoth.
Before going into the drop, you have a small dip followed by an unbanked 90 degree turn.
It looks slow off-ride, but it actually has some laterals.
Then comes the first drop.
If you’re in the back row, you get a delayed but decent pop of ejector airtime.
The timing caught me off-guard.
It’s the best moment on the ride.
You then fly over the first bunny hill.
Those up front get some weak bouncy airtime while those in back get a single tiny lift.
What’s more notable about this hill is the headchopper with the Super Soaker water slide.
Immediately after, you get another headchopper as you whiz under the first pedestrian bridge.
You then coast over this extremely drawn out bunny hill.
Forget about any airtime on this hill.
It’s not profiled correctly.
You do get another headchopper with yet another pedestrian bridge on the exit though.
The far turnaround is the ride’s second tallest hill by far, but you have enough speed
to produce some laterals on the unbanked 180 degree turn.
You then drop into the return run, unfortunately getting no airtime.
But you do get another headchopper with the same pedestrian bridge as before.
Next is this weirdly profiled bunny hill.
It starts subtly banks left.
I don’t recall getting any noticeable laterals here, just some jackhammering.
Those up front do get some faint airtime in between the jostling though.
You then fly over another bunny hill.
This one passes over the pedestrian bridge.
You won’t leave your seat, but you do get two terrifying headchoppers.
One with the Plunge going up and one with Super Soaker going down.
Next is the ride’s final bunny hill.
It looks like it should give airtime, but it’s very bumpy.
It’s the roughest spot on the ride oddly enough.
You then coast through a section of straight track that would make Ride of Steel smile
before going into an upwards helix finale.
And this helix is weird.
It’s underbanked so you get decent laterals, but those lats are applied in such a weird
manner.
Because of how this coaster tracks, you are repeatedly pushed against the side of the
train.
It wasn’t uncomfortable, just odd.
Along with those laterals, the helix also includes a tunnel for part of it to enhance
the ride’s sense of speed…which is good because the ride is almost out of it.
You then hit the final brake run, ending the 3828 foot or 1167 meter long coaster.
To be honest, the coaster doesn’t feel nearly that long based off the quantity of elements,
but that just goes to show how drawn out those bunny hills are.
So what would I rate the Mighty Canadian Minebuster?
I would give this wood coaster a 4 out of 10.
This is a sub-par wood coaster, but it’s not a Spinebuster…as long as you avoid a
wheel seat.
Sure it’s bumpy in spots, but it’s tolerable.
My biggest gripe is this coaster’s pacing and how many of the hills are devoid of airtime.
The first drop in the back is the only notable spot of airtime.
This coaster’s most redeeming qualities are the laterals on the turns and the abundance
of headchoppers with the water park.
Of the Wonderland wood coasters, I prefer Wilde Beast to this one.
I dream of RMC converting one of Canada’s Wonderland’s wood coasters someday and if
I had to pick which one got a hybrid conversion, this one would be my pick.
It has a weaker layout than Wilde Beast, but a more interesting location since you interact
with the water park.
I know it would be a different layout than the twisters RMC is used to, but I’m sure
they can work their magic on this ride if Cedar Fair wanted it.
So those are my thoughts on the Mighty Canadian Minebuster at Canada’s Wonderland.
What are your thoughts about this Curtis Summers wood coaster?
What is your favorite wood coaster at this Ontario theme park?
Let me know down below and if you experience this coaster before the water park was installed,
let me know what changed.
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