Winterfest

Location: Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Address: 9580 Jane Street
Date: Dec 2019
Website: www.canadaswonderland.com

  Canada's Wonderland amusement park started out as the summer place to go for rides and thrills.  When the kids went back to school in the fall, the season ended.  Next they started operating later and later in order to stay open with reduced hours up until Halloween.  In 2018 they realized, "Why is the park closed during the most wonderful time of the year?", and Winterfest was born.  Now being in Canada in the winter means it is too cold and snowy for most of the rides to operate, but that didn't stop them from turning the park into a winter Wonderland.

  The centrepiece of the park is Wonder Mountain.  In the summer it has flowing waterfalls and cliff divers.  In the winter a cascade of twinkling lights flows down the mountain. Everything was the same but with a wintery twist.

  A must have treat when visiting Wonderland is the funnel cakes.  You can't go wrong with some deep fried batter topped with strawberries and ice cream.  Festive funnel cakes let you enjoy new flavours like Eggnog Gingerbread and Candy Cane.

  We entered Medieval Fare which was temporarily being called Elf Village.

  One of the many shows was called Tinker's Toy Factory.  It was good to get inside the theatre and watch a show as well as for a chance to warm up.

   Another way to keep warm was with unlimited hot chocolate refills in our Winterfest mug.  All you had to do was line up at one of the many stations across the park and get your mug topped up again and again.

   Every section of the park was decorated and covered in lights and Christmas delights.  We walked down Candy Cane Lane where Snoopy and Woodstock rode their sled across a rainbow.

  We came across a line-up going into a group of Christmas trees.  We couldn't see through the trees to see what was going on.  We decided to join the line and find out what awaited us at the end.

  It turned out that this was Charlie Brown's Tree Lot and everyone was lined up to have their picture taken with Peppermint Patty and a thin little tree with only one ornament.  As we know, that little tree is full of Christmas spirit.

There were also giant Christmas trees filled with lights.

Just about every tree in the park was draped in glowing bulbs.  It really was an impressive display.

We wouldn't even dare to count how many lights might have been used to light up the park.  We would say for Wonderland to expect an oversized electric bill, nuch like these oversized lights.

 We started getting hungry again so what better to eat than some Christmas Veggie Poutine.

Around the park were many Christmas characters.  There were elves and reindeer and even elves on reindeer.  There were also some penguins dressed for the cold.

There were men made of both snow and gingerbread.

   There was a giant present made of lights.

 

 

Even the games were themed for Christmas.  The Milk Can game was renamed the Snowball Toss.  If you won you might go home with your very own bouncing Abominable Snowmonster from the Rudolph Christmas classic. 

  If you didn't win a prize, you could still go home with some Christmas decorations from the shops.  We liked the Fa La La La Llama ornament.

  As we headed out of the park we thought we heard a clatter.  Was it the hooves of reindeer landing on a roof?  Maybe it was the clickety clank of people being pulled to the top of a roller coaster?  Either way Wonderland had provided us with some thrills for yet another season.

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Map of Our World
Canada's Wonderland

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Post # 294

Bay Christmas Window Robots

Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Address: 176 Yonge Street.
Date: Nov 2019
Website: www.hbcheritage.ca

  Every year Torontonians look forward to the unveiling of The Bay's Christmas windows on Queen Street.   For many years you could see a glimpse into Santa's workshop.  In 2016 the forest creatures took over.  This year marked the beginning of the rise of the machines.  As we do every year we went downtown to see what was being displayed.

  The first window showed a group of cute snowmen making snow angels.  As the snowmen waved about in a bed of snow, behind them we can see machinery leading to Santa's factory.

  The next window showed a robot arm filling boxes with candy canes as they pass by on a conveyor belt.

  A toy soldier stood guard between the windows.  We moved past him to see what the next window had to offer.

  The next window had several robotic arms filling boxes with teddy bears and other toys.  Some of the boxed animals looked like part of the enchanted forest display from last year.  We hope they were off to be loved by some children.  One of the robots was giving a high five up against the window.  A child pushed the high five button and the robot turned and then stopped.  Ahh machinery!  Looks like time for a reboot.

  The next window had ornaments either being built or transported.  There were ornaments going every which way.  A giant hand (see photo at top of post) had grabbed one of the ornaments between its fingers.

  The last window featured a computer that was scrolling through names.  Even Santa has embraced technology to get things done faster.  The computer appeared to be checking who was naughty and who was nice.

  By the look on its face we think the computer found a naughty one!

 

  For those of you who prefer your Christmas a little more warm and fuzzy, don't worry.  Just inside The Bay store we found a plaid bear and a plaid moose trying to blend in with the mannequins.

  Around the corner of Yonge & Queen, Saks also had Christmas windows.  We found a few bunnies hiding in the snow.

  We also saw what looked like either a weird little polar bear or a very plump ermine.   While technology tries to take over Christmas, we are glad we found a few of nature's creatures to fill us with some Christmas joy.

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This location is near Queen subway. Visit other Toronto TTC stations.
 
Map of Our World
Christmas Windows At The Bay

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Post # 271

Simcoe Christmas Panorama

 Location: Simcoe, Ontario, Canada
Address:  50 Bonnie Dr
Date: Dec 2017
Website:  www.simcoepanorama.ca

    About 60 years ago the town of Simcoe had a Santa Claus Parade which was rained out.  The organizers left the parade floats in the park.  The following year they decided that instead of the parade, they would leave the floats in the park for everyone to come and see them over the holiday season.

  Through the years the event has grown.  Now each December the whole park is covered in lights and filled with displays.

  Wellington Park has a small river that runs through it so the lights surround the river's edge.  There is even a small Christmas coloured lighthouse on the bend.

  Some of the floats featured rhymes such as "4 and 20 Blackbirds".

  Or "Three Little Pigs".

  Still other floats featured polar bears, nativity scenes or holiday classics like The Grinch.  The Simcoe Firefighters Association sponsored a Minion filled float.

  Santa Claus was everywhere around the park.  Santa was flying by in his sleigh pulled by his reindeer.

  Santa was out on a boat in the river.

There was a glowing red eye Terminator Santa.

 

  There was a Santa-In-The-Box on a float full of toys and a moose dressed in a Santa outfit.

  Even the real Santa was there greeting children next to a giant Santa statue.  Ho! Ho! Ho!

 

 

 

  Around the park were little houses that you could look inside.  They were filled with candy, penguins, Christmas trees or even an old man in his pyjamas (aka Ebeneezer Scrooge).

  Across the road from the park were a few other creatures like this dragon (above).

  We appreciated all the work that went into setting up this display and see why many people make it a holiday tradition to give Simcoe a visit.  On a cold night walking around in the park, we also appreciated the booth selling hot beverages.  Soon we left the coloured lights behind and went off to enjoy the warmth of our nearby bed and breakfast accomodations.

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Map of Our World
Simcoe Christmas Panorama

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Post # 236