La Ronde

About

La Ronde (lit. 'The Round') is an amusement park in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was originally built as the entertainment complex for Expo 67, the 1967 world's fair. Today, it is operated by La Ronde Operations and owned by EPR Properties, under a pending emphyteutic lease with the City of Montreal (previously until 2065 under former owner Six Flags). La Ronde is the largest amusement park in Quebec and the second-largest in Canada, behind Canada's Wonderland. La Ronde occupies 59 hectares (146 acres) of the northern tip of Saint Helen's Island, situated on a man-made extension to the landmass; the park is in the vicinity of where the smaller, adjacent Ronde Island had once been—the origin of the park's name. The park hosts the annual Montreal Fireworks Festival, an international fireworks competition.

The Montreal region park is located within the St. Lawrence River on Saint Helen's Island, situated atop a man-made extension on its northern tip where the small (water-enclosed) Ronde Island had once been. The former granite Ronde island, which the extension was made around, was destroyed by blasting and the resulting crater it left turned into Dolphin lake, which the park surrounds. South of the amusement park is Jean-Drapeau Park, an urban park and former grounds of Expo 67, as well as the Jean-Drapeau Metro station and Montreal Biosphere museum.

Access to the park from Montreal and the South Shore is primarily served by the Jacques Cartier Bridge, or alternatively through Cité du Havre via the Concordia bridge at the island's opposite end. Public transit provides accessibility by means of the island's Metro station, with weekend summer-only shuttle bus service to the park.

The amusement park opens to the public from mid-May to late October (with peak season in July). La Ronde closes for the season in the last weekend of October.

In 1967, La Ronde was built as the entertainment complex for Expo 67, the world fair held in Montreal from April 28 to October 29, 1967. The exposition was located on 400 hectares (990 acres ) of man-made islands in the St Lawrence River adjacent to Montreal, and comprised six "theme" pavilions, 48 national pavilions, four provincial pavilions, 27 private-industry and institutional pavilions, and La Ronde – a 54 ha (130 acres) entertainment complex with theatres, midway attractions, drinking and dining. The rides, restaurants and beer halls of La Ronde remained open until 2:30 a.m. nightly, after the rest of the Expo site closed down at 10:30 p.m. After Expo 67 World's Fair, the City of Montreal continued to run the amusement park for the next 34 years.

In 1973, on July 8, the drowning deaths of two police officers occurred at La Ronde's Dolphin Lake, after the officers attempted to aid an intoxicated woman who had fallen into the water that night.

In 1973, in October, the rapid transit train system that served La Ronde, the Expo Express, permanently closed. Its terminus station sat right above La Ronde's main entrance, and brought off-island visitors directly to the park during Expo 67 and the early days of Man and His World. Although the transit system has long since been demolished, La Ronde's main entrance is built around the former train station, and an (abandoned) train bridge still sits in the St Lawrence river to the east of the park.

In 1979, on July 8, the drowning deaths of three people occurred at La Ronde's Dolphin Lake when "The Mississippi" tour boat, ferrying up to 60 passengers, capsized. Two weeks later, on July 22, a fourth drowning death occurred when a man attempted a swim across Dolphin Lake late at night after the park had closed.

In 1980, blue-collar workers at La Ronde's Alcan Aquarium enacted a 41-day strike, refusing to enter the aquarium to feed or care for its dolphins. Abandoned by their trainers, and left to starve in isolation, 3 dolphins died as a result of the neglect. Never recovering from the negativity surrounding the tragic event, the aquarium permanently closed in 1991.

In 1992, the amusement park was used as a backdrop in the Are You Afraid of the Dark? episode "Laughing in the Dark" (season 1, episode 2) and was given the fictional name "Playland". The episode featured the park's giant roller coaster, haunted house with a dragon on the front and its old-fashioned carousel.

In 2001, the City of Montreal sold La Ronde to Six Flags, an American theme park chain, in a deal completed on May 4, 2001. Six Flags acquired all of the assets of the park for $20 million USD and had a long-term contract to lease the land from the city. Before the announcement of the Six Flags purchase, the city had considered offers from other bidders including Paramount Parks, Cedar Fair, and Parc Astérix. Over a 25 year period, Six Flags had invested around $90 million in new rides and improvements, such as Le Vampire, Splash, Le Goliath and Ednör – L'Attaque as well as a new main entrance.

In 2007, La Ronde celebrated its 40th anniversary with Expo 67 themed events commemorating the world fair.

In 2012, a man was struck and killed by "The Vampire" roller-coaster after entering a restricted zone while the ride was operating.

In 2020, after a three-month delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, La Ronde opened belatedly for its 54th operating season. It closed early for the season too due to the ongoing pandemic. Only a limited number of rides were open during its unprecedented two-month season that only ran from August 3 to October 3, 2020.

On March 5, 2026, it was announced that EPR Properties would acquire La Ronde, as part of a purchase of seven park properties from Six Flags at a combined cost of US$331 million. It was stated it would be managed by La Ronde Operations, a company owned by Premier Parks CEO and founder Kieran Burke.The city of Montreal is planning to re-negotiate its lease agreement with EPR. The official transfer of the park operations to La Ronde Operations, took place on May 14, 2026.

La Ronde holds a number of attractions including live shows and amusement rides. As of 2025, the amusement park had 37 amusement rides including eight roller coasters. One of the park's roller coasters, Le Monstre ( lit. ' The Monster ' ), a 40-metre (131 ft) wooden coaster, holds the record for highest double-tracked roller coaster in the world. [ citation needed ] During the month of October, the park hosts an annual Fright Fest to celebrate Halloween. The festival has four haunted houses, and many costumed performers who walk around the park. Park admission is free for toddlers under the age of two, accompanied by an adult.

In May 2002, La Ronde announced the installation of a Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster called Le Vampire, which was the first major investment by Six Flags. It is a mirror image of the "Batman – The Ride" roller coasters found at many other Six Flags parks.

In 2003, La Ronde opened six new rides including Auto Tamponneuses, Tour de Ville, Manitou, Vertigo, Grand Carrousel, and Toboggan Nordique. Some existing rides were replaced by these new rides.

In 2004, La Ronde opened Le splash (a Shoot the Chute ride) and SpongeBob 3D. [ citation needed ]

In May 2006, La Ronde opened its ninth roller coaster, Goliath, a 53-metre (174 ft) high Bolliger & Mabillard mega coaster. It reaches speeds of 110 km/h (68 mph), making it the fourth tallest and the fourth fastest roller coaster in Canada.