Mindbender roller coaster closed after 37 years at West Edmonton Mall
The Mindbender roller coaster at Galaxyland has been shut down, West Edmonton Mall announced on Monday.
The redevelopment of the area is already underway, and the roller coaster is being decommissioned and removed.
"The iconic Mindbender has been the park’s premier thrill ride since the grand opening in 1985," said Lori Bethel of WEM in a written statement. "While the Mindbender will be missed, we are excited to announce that we are working on groundbreaking new plans for family thrills that will immerse our guests in an out-of-this-world experience."
Archive video of the Mindbender roller coaster.
The Mindbender was designed by Werner Stengel and built by Anton Schwarzkopf.
It was based on the “Dreier Looping” portable rollercoaster that was built by the same team to travel to German funfairs.
Three people were killed on the roller coaster in a crash in June 1986.
The roller coaster reopened to the public in January 1987.
'SO LOVED BY ALL OF EDMONTON'
One local historian says the mall will have a tough time replacing the iconic ride.
"I don’t think there ever will be a right time to remove the Mindbender. The Mindbender is so loved by all of Edmonton and coaster enthusiasts. It’s been there since '85, '86, so most people know it as part of their lives," Matthew Dutczak, the man behind the website Best Edmonton Mall, told CTV News Edmonton, adding that removing the roller coaster will be no easy feat.
"You look back in 1985, '84, when they were building the Mindbender, they built it up outside, and they built the ceiling over it after the fact. So that space, that whole area around the Mindbender, was built for the Mindbender. Trying to pull that out, get that replaced with the ceiling in place, it seems insurmountable to me."
The mall hasn’t given a reason for closing the coaster. While there has been speculation online it is being removed to fit with Galaxyland’s new Hasbro theme, Dutczak thinks there’s likely a bigger reason.
The Mindbender roller coaster at West Edmonton Mall's Galaxyland.
"I don’t think they were aiming to replace it with something just because Hasbro was there. I think the timing is just going to work out that maybe we see a bigger transformation of Galaxyland than we once thought there would be."
Like other Edmontonians, he has fond memories of riding the Mindbender.
"It’s not smooth, it’ll rock you back and forth, it’ll jostle you, it’ll beat you up, you’ll get off and then you’ll get right back on."
"To say that there are big shoes to fill at this point is an understatement, you can’t fill the shoes of the Mindbender. I don’t know what they’re going to come up with, but they have their work cut out for them."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.