Canada's Wonderland hit with lawsuit days ahead of opening

The Competition Bureau is suing Canada's largest amusement park over advertising misleading prices on its website by not including fixed fees that range from $0.99 to $9.99.

Like Cineplex, which also got hit with a Competition Bureau lawsuit, Canada's Wonderland charges a processing fee for online purchases. The Bureau alleges these fees are misleading.

"This practice, commonly known as drip pricing, is deceptive because consumers are not presented with an attainable price upfront," the Bureau said in a news release about the lawsuit.

When booking a single Wonderland ticket online, customers must pay a $6.99 processing fee, but it can rise to $9.99 depending on how many tickets they buy. Many other online purchases come with a single $0.99 processing fee.

The lawsuit aims to stop the "deceptive price advertising" while also forcing the park to pay a penalty and issue a restitution to affected customers.

Looking at the Wonderland website today, there is very large fine print explaining that tickets may come with a processing fee of up to $9.99. Using the Wayback machine to go back to the summer of 2024, the fine print is smaller, but still legible.

Canada's Wonderand's website currently includes visible print explaining the fee.

This case is similar to one from 2024 when the Competition Bureau won the deceptive marketing lawsuit against Cineplex, which was ordered to pay $38.9 million over its $1.50 online booking fee. 

With that precedent set, it seems unlikely Canada's Wonderland will win out. The Cineplex court case took a year and eight months to resolve, so don't expect this one to be over any time soon.

In a statement, the amusement park says, "The allegations made by the Competition Bureau are unfounded and we will defend our commitment to transparency and consumer value."

"Under Canadian law, 'drip pricing' refers to the practice of promoting something at one price, while concealing the real price from consumers until later in the purchasing process. Canada's Wonderland does not engage in this practice. From the outset, our guests receive disclosure of any applicable fees. We ensure customers understand exactly what they are purchasing."

None of the allegations have been proven in court.