Guardian Is Open!

 Wow... time flies when you are busy!  I have been tied up with wedding plans ... and then the actual wedding itself.... and of course Guardian did not open at the beginning of the season, when I had time to go, but I finally had time to go today, and here is my review:

First, the line stretched out of the mountain, towards the waterfalls.  A little informal, but someone was standing at the end of the queue with a sign indicating where the end of the line is.  Once inside the mountain, the queue is very short.  Surprised me.  If it was a mountain only queue, it would be 10 minutes.  The queue inside the mountain kept up with the outside facade, complete with the faux-rock interior.

Staff assign you your seating - so there is no lining up for your favourite row.  Once you are seated and secured in your rather comfy seats, you are off - dispatches are quick on these two car (4 seats per car) trains. You immediately make a right turn out of the mountain and are up the lift hill.

At the top of the hill, you make a swooping, curving drop to the right, and pick up some considerable speed. You then enter the mountain, slow down, and the cars turn sideways.  This is where the show starts.  You begin the first of five scenes (or layers, as they call it) as you slowly descend along the course.  The slow descent along with the 3D visuals (yes, you are wearing glasses) gives you the impression that you are actually descending to the ground level.  Along the way you battle various creatures with your built-in gun.  As for the gun, it responds very well when you shoot - this is no Boo Blasters - and you feel the shots as well as see them on the video screens.  As for the content of the video - I was having too much fun to notice the storyline, so multiple re-rides are in order (and, if you are a member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts, or a guest of mine, you will have such an opportunity when we hold our event there this September).  All of a sudden, I found myself at the final scene, where we were battling it out with the dragon.  All hell was breaking loose in front of us on the screen, when, suddenly, all hell broke loose under us, and the surprise element on the ride hit us.

The track suddenly dropped 10 metres.  Yes, that is right.  It caught everyone by surprise (except me, of course - but I was still thrilled).

Once we caught our senses, the train coasted to the station.  Along the way, we passed by a scoreboard which had our photos and our scores under them.  I picked up over 14,000 points.  Then it was into the station, and off the ride.

My verdict :  LOVE IT!  This ride was so unique... so ...fun! There was never a dull moment.  It combined two of my favourite things at an amusement park - a roller coaster and a dark ride.  My only criticism was that I did feel the ride could have been a little longer.  But still, if you can get to Canada's Wonderland, this ride is worth the trip!