Canada's Wonderland · Operating · 1995

The DareDeviler

109 ft · 50 mph

Photo: Svetlana Grechkina · CC BY-SA 2.0

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Thrill rideCanada's Wonderland Official park siteAction Zone

Vekoma109 ft · 50 mph

Originally opened in 1995 as Top Gun, this Vekoma suspended looping coaster spent thirteen years themed to the hit Tom Cruise film before losing that branding when Cedar Fair purchased the park from Paramount and the ride became Flight Deck in 2008. Riders climb a 109-foot lift before swinging beneath the track through five inversions across 2,261 feet of steel circuit at speeds up to 50 mph. For 2026, Canada's Wonderland retired the Flight Deck identity entirely, giving the ride new trains, track refinements, and an early-aviation stunt-pilot theme under the name The DareDeviler. Despite three different names across three decades, the underlying Vekoma hardware and inverted riding position have remained the throughline of one of the park's longest-running steel coasters.

Specifications

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Ride profile

Scaled against Canada's Wonderland's operating coasters

Steel

Park intensity

Height

109 ft

#5 of 11 at Canada's Wonderland

Height109 ft

Speed50 mph

Length2,261 ft

Inversions5

Ride experience

Steel
Suspended Looping

Specs from sixflags.com

Learn more

All guides

Dive coasters

A held moment on a vertical edge, then a steep release — signature B&M dive machines.

Floorless coasters

No floor panel under your feet — open views and a different sense of exposure.

Flying coasters

You start seated, then tilt face-down into a flying position for much of the circuit.

Inverted coasters

Trains hang beneath the track so your feet dangle — B&M made the style famous.

History

Sourced timeline and background for The DareDeviler.

Timeline

1995
Opens as Top Gun
Themed to the 1986 Tom Cruise film; exact 1995 opening day not published.
Source
2008
Renamed Flight Deck
Cedar Fair drops the Top Gun film license after purchasing the park from Paramount.
Source
2026
Renamed The DareDeviler
New trains, track refinements, and a stunt-pilot theme replace the Flight Deck identity.
Source

Background

Canada's Wonderland originally planned a Bolliger & Mabillard inverted coaster for this plot of land, but a Cedar Point exclusivity contract barring nearby B&M inverted coasters forced Paramount to pivot to Vekoma's newly announced Suspended Looping Coaster model instead, opening the ride in 1995 as Top Gun, themed to the 1986 Tom Cruise film.

Riders climbed a 109-foot lift before swinging beneath the track through five inversions — a rollover, a sidewinder, and a double inline twist among them — across 2,261 feet of steel track at up to 50 mph, with elaborate queue theming built around F-14 fighter jets and Top Gun movie props. When Cedar Fair purchased the park from Paramount, the film license disappeared and the ride was rebranded Flight Deck for the 2008 season, a name many riders considered one of the park's least inspired.

For 2026, Canada's Wonderland retired the Flight Deck identity entirely, installing new trains sourced from a sister Vekoma SLC formerly running at Six Flags America, refining the track for a smoother ride, and rebuilding the queue around an early-aviation stunt-pilot storyline under the name The DareDeviler.

Across three names and three themes spanning more than thirty years, the ride's Vekoma hardware and inverted seating position have remained the one constant linking Top Gun, Flight Deck, and The DareDeviler.

History primarily sourced from sixflags.com. See also our data policy.