La Ronde

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La Ronde
Location	Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Address	22, chemin MacDonald
Website	[1]
Owner	City of Montreal; Operated by Six Flags, Inc.
Opened	April, 1967
Operating season	May - October
Rides	41 rides 9 coasters 3 water rides 1 transportation ride total
Slogan	This summer you're going to scream!!

La Ronde is an amusement park in Montreal, owned and operated by Six Flags, and is the largest in the province of Quebec and the second largest in Canada after Canada's Wonderland, with about 2.5 million guests in 2006. The park is under a emphyteutic lease, a type of lease which stipulates the improvement of the property, from the City of Montreal and expires in 2065. It is also the only Six Flags operation in Canada.

It is a 146 acre (591,000 m²) park located on the eastern tip of Saint Helen's Island in Montreal, Canada. The park hosts L’International des Feux Loto-Québec, unofficially the most important international fireworks competition in the world.

History

La Ronde's entrance renovated in 2002.

La Ronde was opened in 1967 as a part of Expo 67. Today, the park features 41 rides, including 9 roller coasters; among them Le Monstre, a 40 metre (131 ft) high wooden double-tracked roller coaster which currently holds the record for highest double-tracked roller coaster in the world.

La Ronde also includes a Nintendo-sponsored video game center. Inside are the latest Nintendo video games and attractions. For 2007, the attractions include the Nintendo DS, Wii and advertisements, during Halloween, they turn the inside into a haunted house. The park opens from mid-May to late October, with peak admissions being in July. As of summer 2009, entrance costs $38.98 CAN for people measuring 1.37 metre (54 inches) or more and $25.50 CAN for people under 1.37 metre (54 inches). Family rides require a height of 36 inches (0.91 m), most intermediate rides require 44 inches (1.12 m) and high-thrill rides require 52 or 54 in (1.32 or 1.37 m).

La Ronde was owned and administered by the City of Montreal until it was sold to Six Flags, an American theme park chain, in a deal completed on May 4, 2001. They acquired all of the assets of the park for $20 million USD and have a long-term contract to lease the land from the city. Before the announcement of the Six Flags purchase, the city had considered offers from other bidders including Paramount Parks, Cedar Fair, and Parc Astérix. Since then Six Flags has invested millions of dollars in new rides and improvements, such as Le Vampire, Splash, and Goliath as well as a new main entrance. Since the takeover by Six Flags, prices of admission as well as on site food and beverages have skyrocketed, some prices of beverages are precisely three dollars per bottle. One of the most popular restaurants at La Ronde is the Mcdonald's in the center of the park due to its relatively low prices compared to other franchises in the park.

In May 2006, La Ronde opened its 9th roller coaster, The Goliath, a 53-metre (175 ft) high Bolliger & Mabillard Mega Coaster. It reaches speeds of 110 km/h (68 mph), making it the second tallest and the second fastest roller coaster in Canada. It was surpassed by Canada's Wonderland's, Behemoth [2].

For the 2007 season, La Ronde painted its iconic observation tower bright orange to advertise Pizza Pizza, an Ontario pizza chain that, at the time, was just emerging into the Quebec market. As well, all of the pizza stands inside the park were renamed from Pizza Ronde to Pizza Pizza. Some^[who?] see this as a bad move since the tower's previous red and white stripes better represented the ride's name and they do not believe in "selling-out" attractions.

As well in 2007 La Ronde celebrated it 40th anniversary. As a special event Le Galopant tell oldest merry-go-round how installed in the park which was also seen at Expo 67. You can read more about the ride here: http://www.laronde.com/larondeen/galopant/history.htm

The Serial Thriller, a Vekoma SLC formally located at the now defunct Six Flags Astroworld, in being shipped to La Ronde from the Great Escape (another Six Flags property) where it's laid in storage since 2005. The roller coaster, which originally opened in 1999 at Six Flags Astroworld, is rumored to be added to the park for the 2010 season.

Every year at La Ronde, they present audiences with a pyjama day fireworks show.

In January 2009, La Ronde announced its intentions to become a Six Flags branded park, thereby using the rights to Warner Bros. and DC Comics trademarks under the licensing agreement with Six Flags.^[1] Le Vampire, a mirror image of Batman: The Ride constructed in 2002, carries no association to the Batman media franchise because the license with Warner Bros. and DC Comics is not valid in unbranded Six Flags parks.^[2] It is yet unknown if Le Vampire will be re-branded to Batman: The Ride once the branding of the park commences.

Access

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A fee of $15 (or $25 for privilege parking) is required for La Ronde's parking that is often congested, but Saint Helen's Island (including La Ronde) is easily reached by metro. The island is only five minutes away from downtown Montreal. Most visitors arrive at La Ronde via public transit; to do this, one takes the Yellow line from either the Berri-UQAM or the Longueuil-Université-de-Sherbrooke metro stations to the Jean-Drapeau station, then STM bus 167 La Ronde Shuttle [3], which takes one directly to the main gate. Another, less popular, route to the park is via public transit is STM route 169, a seasonal route that travels back and forth between the front gate and the Papineau Metro station located east of downtown. As usual in theme parks, food is generally more expensive than at off-site locations. Bringing one's own food is allowed, but rigid coolers are forbidden in the park itself. Vehicular access is also possible by the Jacques-Cartier Bridge.

There is a marina near the rear entrance of the park: it operated and owned by La Ronde.

Features

Thrill Rides

Le Vampire (yellow) with the Cobra (green) in the background, as viewed from the Grande Roue

Family and kids

Taken from the top of Le Monstre at La Ronde amusement park. The Goliath is the red, yellow and blue ride to the north

Intermediates

Toboggan Nordique roller coaster.

Panoramic

Le Monstre and La Spiral from across the lake.

Paid attractions

Former rides

Astronef thrill ride closed in 2002

The Flash Pass

The 2007 La Ronde Season Pass in hand allows entry into La Ronde and every Six Flags theme parks (excluding water parks) for the 2007 season.

With the introduction of the Flash Pass in 2007, visitors can “hold their place in line” electronically allowing them to go elsewhere in the park while waiting for an attraction. They will be alerted by the Flash Pass device when it is almost their turn to ride. Two types of Flash Pass are available: Regular and Gold, a regular pass simply “holds your place in line” while gold holds your place as well as giving you a reduced wait time. The Flash Pass is purchased separately from your normal park admission, with Gold Passes being more than Regular Passes. There is only a restricted number of Flash Passes available for purchase on a given day.

See also

• Six Flags
• Parc Jean-Drapeau
• Belmont Park, Montreal
• Dominion Park

References

This article includes a list of references or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (August 2009)

1. ^ Cloutier, Laurier. "La Ronde prend le virage famille" (in French). La Presse. http://lapresseaffaires.cyberpresse.ca/economie/200901/06/01-681118-la-ronde-prend-leviragefamille.php. Retrieved 2009-07-30. 
2. ^ "Montreal-based theme park". Amusement Business (BPI Communications, Inc.) 115 (9): 6. March 03, 2003. ISSN 0003-2344. 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: La Ronde

• La Ronde official web site
• L'International Des Feux Loto-Québec (fireworks competition)
• Roller Coaster Database (listing La Ronde's coasters)
• Six Flags Official web site
• Expo 67 - La Ronde

Coordinates: 45°31′21″N 73°32′06″W / 45.5225°N 73.535°W / 45.5225; -73.535