Flight Deck • Canada's Wonderland

Growing up, my home park was Magic Springs in Arkansas. My very first "upside down" coaster was Gauntlet, their Vekoma SLC. Child me thought it was awesome, riding it again and again every year I retu...

Growing up, my home park was Magic Springs in Arkansas. My very first "upside down" coaster was Gauntlet, their Vekoma SLC. Child me thought it was awesome, riding it again and again every year I returned to the park for vacation, either building up some kind of immunity to how rough it was or straight-up not caring. Flash forward ~5 years when I became a full-fledged enthusiast. I heard that SLC's were practically the worst model ever built. I kept thinking back to my childhood, remembering how rough Gauntlet was, and thought "yeah, I can see that". I visited Canada's Wonderland about a year later. I had heard tales of Flight Deck and how horrible it was. And my dumb brain told me "You grew up riding one of these. How bad can it be?" Oh how wrong I was. Never before and never since have I been jackhammered like that before on a coaster. My head became a pinball bouncing between the sides of the over-the-shoulder restraint. The whole train felt like it was bouncing (and I was in the front half). If all the wheels were removed and replaced with square ones, I can guarentee that it wouldn't make a difference. I was in pain from the second we dropped off the lift to the second it ended. It felt like my brain was leaking out of my ears. Someone puked on the brake run off of the train in front of me (they were stacked, because of course they were). I was changed that day. I learned that while all SLC's suck, some suck way, WAY worse. Flight Deck very potentially being the all-time worst. I don't know why I just typed all that for strangers on the internet. Consider it a warning to all who are debating getting on this coaster. Its equally terrible counterpart across the midway's demise has finally come. I'm going to pop champagne the day Flight Deck finally follows it out of this park.

I used to think that SLCs weren't so bad thanks to my experience riding Ednor L'Attaque at LaRonde, 3 years after its opening when it ran relatively smooth. Years later, However... riding flight deck....

I used to think that SLCs weren't so bad thanks to my experience riding Ednor L'Attaque at LaRonde, 3 years after its opening when it ran relatively smooth. Years later, However... riding flight deck... this ride DESTROYS the cake for being one of the worst inverted coasters I've ever ridden in my life to the point where I genuinely think it's hilarious! I'M NOT KIDDING!! THIS IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST ROLLERCOASTERS I'VE EVER SEEN OR BEEN ON 😭 (and honestly this is how I generally feel about most SLCs) This thing feels so rugged and out of place now after it's 12 years of operation! Like meeting a weird Uncle that only peaked in his High-school heydays back in the 90s and NOT EVER letting go of it since then. This Ride has never been given a LICK of care from the park staff to where the maintenance team probably thinks "what's the point..." EVERY TIME they have to fix the damn thing!! 😭This Ride used to be an ICON, but now it's the only ride in the park that actually feels like it wants to go into retirement, while making everybody else feel that way coming off of the ride at the same time. But with all that said and done, there are some positives to it (you can make a G-force pun out of that, if you're a silly nerd 🤓). SLC layouts are probably one of the best compact inverted coaster layouts out there, and the wave turn into the side winder is the best moment of the ride. These rides can actually be really fun if the parks that own them, actually took the time into refurbishing the ride into something re-rideable for everyone. Overall, it's a travesty but a kind of funny one at that... like your uncle!

Went on this monstrosity over a decade ago and it put me off rollercoasters for 2 years after riding it. I came off crying. A field of grass would be a better addition than this ride. 1 star and not h...

Went on this monstrosity over a decade ago and it put me off rollercoasters for 2 years after riding it. I came off crying. A field of grass would be a better addition than this ride. 1 star and not half a star because it saved me from going on Time Warp afterwards.

The first time I rode Flight Deck at Canada’s Wonderland I loved it, as it was the first inverting roller coaster I ever rode. However, after coming back the following year, after getting far more fam...

The first time I rode Flight Deck at Canada’s Wonderland I loved it, as it was the first inverting roller coaster I ever rode. However, after coming back the following year, after getting far more familiar with roller coasters as a whole, I did not. The bad profiling and the down right awful head banging resulted it this ride leaving me with a headache for the duration of my trip to Canada’s Wonderland the second time around, something I had never put thought to the first time around because of how much I loved it. In conclusion, I liked it at first, but once I got to know it better, I did not.

The worst coaster I've ever ridden, right behind its neighbor. Absolutely brutal from start to finish. And this is coming from someone who loves the SLC's layout and doesn't even rank most of them sup...

The worst coaster I've ever ridden, right behind its neighbor. Absolutely brutal from start to finish. And this is coming from someone who loves the SLC's layout and doesn't even rank most of them super low. But this one, God, this one is different.

Most painful coaster I’ve ever been on. We all said never again after the credit. Better layout than Time Warp next door. Theming is great. Wish I could have ridden before it reaches tear it down stag...

Most painful coaster I’ve ever been on. We all said never again after the credit. Better layout than Time Warp next door. Theming is great. Wish I could have ridden before it reaches tear it down stage.

c'est un slc le meilleur au canada mais il est quand même horrible le point positif c'est que la montagne russe a une une file d'attente qui est agréable a regarder car il y a des fleurs et plein de g...

c'est un slc le meilleur au canada mais il est quand même horrible le point positif c'est que la montagne russe a une une file d'attente qui est agréable a regarder car il y a des fleurs et plein de gazon mais a part la station miniscule et les 2 hangars et 1 avion il n'y a rien de positif

It was a standard Vekoma SLC so by now I know to push my head back as much as I can against the headrest to minimize injuries. The comments from other riders as it was ending were funny because it was...

It was a standard Vekoma SLC so by now I know to push my head back as much as I can against the headrest to minimize injuries. The comments from other riders as it was ending were funny because it was a bunch of people saying “Ow! that hurt!”

This is one of those rides that you go on and are relieved when it's over. The presentation and theming are nice, but it's a brutally uncomfortable ride for very limited thrills. You're rolling the di...

This is one of those rides that you go on and are relieved when it's over. The presentation and theming are nice, but it's a brutally uncomfortable ride for very limited thrills. You're rolling the dice each time you ride it as to whether you'll come off with a headache or minor injury. Please either rebuild this thing extensively or just tear it out and put something new in there!

I heard the reviews. I had low expectations for Flight Deck but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I leaned my head out so I wouldn't get any headbanging but instead, the restraints slightly d...

I heard the reviews. I had low expectations for Flight Deck but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. I leaned my head out so I wouldn't get any headbanging but instead, the restraints slightly digged into my shoulders. Then when I leaned just a tiny bit back, I got neckbanging! Still, it wasn't as bad as I expected. At least the layout was good and the forces were great.

One of the worst SLC's I've done. It is really rough. To avoid headbanging, I held my head in front of the restraint the entire ride, which means I had to press my shoulders into the restraint really ...

One of the worst SLC's I've done. It is really rough. To avoid headbanging, I held my head in front of the restraint the entire ride, which means I had to press my shoulders into the restraint really hard. Turned out to be pretty painful to my shoulders with how rough this ride is. So it's either headbanging or shoulder pain, choose your favorite! Also, I don't want to be reminded of the fact I waited an hour for this one while I knew exactly what to expect...

This ride gave me the second-worst ride I have ever had, behind only my one ride on Green Lantern at Magic Mountain (and good riddance to that). Even Mind Eraser at Six Flags America gave me a not com...

This ride gave me the second-worst ride I have ever had, behind only my one ride on Green Lantern at Magic Mountain (and good riddance to that). Even Mind Eraser at Six Flags America gave me a not completely atrocious ride every now and then. Everything that sucks about an SLC, amplified. It's a shame this ride had decent presentation, it's wasted on the worst SLC I have ever ridden.

It’s an SLC - what do you expect? I rode this once in 2018 and I have not been on it since. It is really rough and uncomfortable. When I was on it, I just wanted it to end. It is awful! Tear it down a...

It’s an SLC - what do you expect? I rode this once in 2018 and I have not been on it since. It is really rough and uncomfortable. When I was on it, I just wanted it to end. It is awful! Tear it down and replace it with something much better like a B&M invert or a multi launch.

Une merde incommensurable, une immondice sans nom. Le pire SLC effectué à ce jour pour ma part et bien pire que ses collègues Condor et Vampire. Il n'y pas un seul morceau de track qui ne fait pas mal...

Une merde incommensurable, une immondice sans nom. Le pire SLC effectué à ce jour pour ma part et bien pire que ses collègues Condor et Vampire. Il n'y pas un seul morceau de track qui ne fait pas mal, même le virage dans la station à sa petite torgnole à fournir. À détruire au plus vite

This was my first SLC, and I was shocked by how much fun I had and how much I didn't hate it. While the restraints are pretty awkward, I didn't get any headbanging off of them at all since my head is...

This was my first SLC, and I was shocked by how much fun I had and how much I didn't hate it. While the restraints are pretty awkward, I didn't get any headbanging off of them at all since my head is actually the perfect size for them; it plugs in nice and snug as if it was made for it. Not having to worry about the headbanging allowed me to appreciate just how intense and fun the layout of these remarkably compact coasters are. While I fully understand why so many loathe these rides due to being abused by the restraints (please upgrade to the new vests please), I just had a really good time. I gave this guy a few re-rides, and I'll eagerly hop on whatever SLC I come across next.

Wow. This is one of my least favorite rides ever, and is actually one of the two coasters out of 91 I've ridden I consider rough. If you thought Mean Streak was bad, which I actually enjoyed, prepare ...

Wow. This is one of my least favorite rides ever, and is actually one of the two coasters out of 91 I've ridden I consider rough. If you thought Mean Streak was bad, which I actually enjoyed, prepare to literally die on this ride. Riding this first was a huge mistake as it made my back hurt for the rest of the day strangely. I love Vekoma SLC layouts and it was still a fun ride, but ouch. Beware.