A
theme park located on Île Sainte-Hélène in
Montréal, originally part of the 1967
World's Fair but now owned by
Six Flags.
Although it only has 35 rides, La Ronde is still equipped with the standard theme park fare, including La Grande Roue, Le Minirail, La Pitoune, Le Moulin de Sorcière, Les Auto-Tampons, La Spirale, Le Bateau Pirate, Le Tapis Volant, and a children's area known as La Petite Ronde. In 1999 a freefall ride, L'Orbite Molson Dry, was added in the middle of Lac des Dauphins which had previously been used mostly for performances.
La Ronde currently has six roller coasters.
- Le Boomerang - A standard steel Vekoma boomerang shuttle, with three inversions. Open since 1985, the ride reaches a top speed of 48mph and lasts one minute and forty-eight seconds.
- Le Cobra - A steel stand-up coaster designed by Intamin, originally from a park in Sweden but on-site in Canada since 1995. It features a single 75-foot vertical loop and reaches a maximum speed of 48mph.
- Le Dragon - Another Intamin steel coaster, entirely enclosed and in the dark since it opened in 1994. There are no inversions, but the ride moves quickly and has good special effects inside. I was surprised at how short the line was for this ride even in its opening season - it's quite good for its level.
- Le Monstre - Built by William Cobb & Associates, this is the park's only wooden coaster and it runs as fast as 56mph. The ride is actually a twin coaster, the first track having opened in 1985 and the second a year later - it is the tallest twin-track wooden coaster in the world.
- Les Petites Montagnes Russes - One of the park's original 1967 rides, built by Arrow Dynamics. There are, of course, no inversions, as it is located in the kiddie section of the park. The word "montagne russe" is a French-language term for roller coaster, so this ride is "the little roller coasters."
- Le Super Manège - A steel tube coaster designed by Vekoma and open since 1981. Its maximum speed is 40mph, and it features twin corkscrew inversions. The name essentially means "the big ride."
Official website: http://www.laronde.com/
Six Flags website: http://www.sixflags.com/intl/intl_montreal.html
Additional source: http://www.rcdb.com/locationdetail39.htm