Vortex is the Arrow suspended coaster at Canada’s Wonderland, and I think it’s the best
one left. This ride holds its speed well start to finish, resulting in swinging and forces you
don’t get on the others. And that includes its near clone in the Bat at Kings Island.
Find out why Vortex is better in this review! Arrow built 10 suspended coasters, but only half
of them remain. Three of those are located in the Cedar Fair chain and two are nearly identical.
Back when Kings Entertainment owned both Kings Island and Canada’s Wonderland, they planned two
suspended coasters in conjunction. The first to open was Vortex at Canada’s Wonderland in 1991.
The second was Top Gun at Kings Island in 1993, which was later
renamed Flight Deck in 2008 and Bat in 2014. Vortex and Bat have very similar layouts,
but there are some key differences. First Vortex 4 mph faster. Vortex is also listed as being
13 feet taller, but I’ve heard Bat and Vortex have the same height change from the station.
Second, Vortex runs just a 6 car train as opposed to Bat’s 7 car train. Third,
the rides have wildly different settings. Bat is located at the end of an isolated pathway and the
ride swings its way through the woods. Vortex goes on top of Wonder Mountain and then the ride swings
next to pathways, the water, and Yukon Striker. Both settings are equally as great in my opinion.
Vortex’s placement really brings energy to the midway. The red track looks fine,
but it’s captivating seeing the trains swinging by, especially if you’re down by Yukon Striker.
It’s neat how B&M designed that dive coaster to piece right through Vortex’s helix. It’s
a sweet visual both on and off-ride. Vortex can get decent waits. While it
usually won’t be as long as the trio of B&M’s, Vortex’s queue line is a miserable series of
cramped switchbacks beneath the station. I’ve had good luck hitting this ride later
in the day when the line starts to die down. Vortex runs two trains. As mentioned earlier,
each one is comprised of 6 cars. And each car has 2 rows of 2, seating a maximum of
24 riders per cycle. When you reach the end of the queue line, the grouper fills the station
with enough people to fill just the next train. But if you ask nicely, they will let you wait an
extra train if there’s a specific row you want. I think the forces are pretty similar throughout
the train, but the front row is the best overall seat for the unobstructed view and breeze. It
really lets you feel this ride’s sense-of-speed, which is fantastic for a suspended coaster.
The trains are a bit awkward to climb in and out of, but the benefit is that they
have a ton of legroom unlike a lot of other Arrows. The restraints are your standard
over-the-shoulder harnesses with a redundant seatbelt. I’m tall enough that headbanging
isn’t an issue for me on any Arrow now, but Vortex isn’t really plagued by that issue.
The ride tracks quite well. You’ll feel the train hitch in a few spots,
but you won’t hit your head. The swinging helps make the ride more comfortable, even when you’re
swinging pretty violently in some spots. Once dispatched, you climb the slow…and I
mean slow…lift. It’s 91 feet or 28 meters tall and it brings you atop Wonder Mountain.
There isn’t much to see atop this structure. In fact, it’s sort of barren and ugly on-ride,
but it sure looks cool off-ride. After navigating a slow elevated turn,
you head down the ride’s largest drop. It’s a straight and sizable one. No airtime,
but you build up a considerable amount of speed and Vortex never slows down.
The first pullout offers strong positive Gs, and there will be plenty more where that came from.
You then twist right into a giant turnaround that turns you left.
These directional changes induce some nice swinging. And the pullout from this element
delivers another nice dose of positive Gs. From this point, Vortex becomes a series of
low turns and helixes. This allows Vortex to maintain its speed start to finish.
This ride’s pacing is arguably its best attribute. You fly through some of these turns.
After that turnaround, you navigate a few turns over the river. Each direction
change will cause some really good swinging. This leads into the most intense part of the ride,
the downwards helix looping around Yukon Striker’s drop. This element has the ride’s strongest Gs
and they’re sustained too. Then you have the awesome visual being horizontal with the water.
It really feels like you’ll strike the surface. You then have an elongated s-bend over the water,
but with how much speed you’re carrying, you swing with each turn.
Then you twist upwards into the final brake run, which may cause the craziest swinging on the ride.
The final turn is very tight and completely unbanked, so the trains seem to swing beyond
horizontal. You then will rock back-and-forth for a few seconds on the brake run. After a pause,
you’ll return to the station ending the 2361 foot or 720 meter long coaster. It’s over in a flash,
but it’s a satisfying and wild ride. Bat has similar swinging and while
that ride has positive Gs, they aren’t as pronounced as they are on Vortex for me.
So what would I rate Vortex? I would give this suspended coaster an 8 out of 10.
This is the best suspended coaster still in operation. Vortex’s pacing is the star. This
ride rips through its layout, blending exciting swinging with good positive Gs.
The ride is short, but I’ll take an intense ride over a milder, more drawn out one.
I do wonder how many years this ride has left, especially after Big Bad Wolf reached
the end of its service life after just 25 years, but I hope Vortex can last quite a
bit longer. It really is a unique experience. So those are my thoughts on Vortex at Canada’s
Wonderland. What are your thoughts on this suspended coasters? Is it your favorite one
that’s still operating? Let me know down in the comments. If you enjoyed this review, I’d
appreciate it if you gave this video a like and you considered subscribing since there will be a
lot more roller coaster and amusement park videos here at Canobie Coaster. Thanks for watching!