Millennium Force

Millennium Force
The 310-foot (94 m) lift hill of Millennium Force
Cedar Point
Location	Cedar Point
Park section	Frontier Trail
Status	Operating
Opening date	May 13, 2000
Cost	US$ 25,000,000
General statistics
Type	Steel
Manufacturer	Intamin AG
Designer	Ingenieur Büro Stengel GmbH
Model	Gigacoaster
Track layout	Out and Back
Lift/launch system	Cable lift hill
Height	310 ft (94 m)
Drop	300 ft (91 m)
Length	6,595 ft (2,010 m)
Speed	92 mph (148 km/h)
Inversions	0
Duration	2:20
Max vertical angle	80°
Capacity	1,600 riders per hour
Millennium Force at RCDB

Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster built by Intamin AG located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It is the fourteenth roller coaster built at the park. Standing 310 feet (95 m) tall at its highest point, the coaster overlooks Lake Erie. When built in 2000, it was briefly the tallest complete circuit roller coaster in the world, before being beaten by Steel Dragon 2000, Cedar Point's own Top Thrill Dragster, and Kingda Ka. It is also the first roller coaster to utilize a cable lift system, rather than a traditional chain lift. A potential chain lift was considered too heavy considering that Magnum XL-200's chain was 7 short tons (6 t) and two-thirds as tall. The cable lift uses an 800-horsepower (600 kW) motor that turns a set of sprocket gears that pulls the cable. Cable lifts were previously only used on smaller coasters in Europe. After the 2007 season, Millennium Force had given almost twelve million rides total. Riders must be at least four feet tall.

Millennium Force has been voted the number one steel roller coaster in the world in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket awards five times since the year 2001, and has never been ranked lower than number two since it opened in 2000. Millennium Force has switched the top position with Superman - Ride of Steel, a hypercoaster of very similar construction, three times in the last seven years.

Today, Millennium Force is no longer the tallest or fastest roller coaster at Cedar Point, having been surpassed in height and speed by Top Thrill Dragster. Nonetheless, Millennium Force remains one of the tallest, fastest, and longest steel roller coasters in the world.

Ride layout

While the train is being loaded in the station, the catch car for the cable lift descends the lift and latches onto the middle car of the train. Once the train is cleared, the cable lift pulls the train up a 45 degree lift hill at 15 miles per hour (24 km/h) to a height of 310 feet (94 m). After reaching the top, the train drops 300 feet (91 m) down at an 80 degree angle and reaches a top speed of 92 miles per hour (148 km/h) at the bottom of the hill. It then climbs 169 feet (52 m) through a right overbanked turn at 122 degrees from the horizontal axis, then travels through a tunnel as it passes over the Frontier Trail midway. It then travels over a 182-foot (55 m) parabolic hill, which provides a moment of airtime (negative G-forces) as it passes over a lagoon and down onto Millennium Island. While on Millennium Island, the train completes a 105-foot (32 m), 360-degree, right-handed helix, followed by a left overbanked turn and then a small right-hand turn before traveling over another airtime hill to exit the island. After exiting the island, the train travels left through a second tunnel, then travels over a small airtime hill over the station exit before passing by the queue. Finally, the train travels 68 feet (21 m) high through another right overbanked turn over the queue and is brought to a stop by magnetic brakes.

Statistics

Physical dimensions

• Angle of lift hill: 45 degrees
• Angle of first drop: 80 degrees
• First hill height: 310 ft (94 m)
• Second hill height: 169 ft (52 m)
• Third hill height: 182 ft (55 m)
• Fourth hill height: 87 ft (27 m)
• Fifth hill height: 100 ft (30 m)
• Sixth hill height: 105 ft (32 m)
• Seventh hill height: 68 ft (21 m)

Vehicles

The Millennium Force has three trains colored red, blue, and yellow. Each train has nine four-passenger coaches, allowing for a maximum capacity of thirty six people per train. The trains are stainless steel with stadium style seating. Each seat has an individual hydraulic lap bar and seat belt.

World records

When it opened in May 2000, Millennium Force broke many world records:

Coaster records

• First ever complete circuit roller coaster to top 300 feet (91 m)
• Tallest complete circuit roller coaster (310 feet (94 m))
• Longest drop on a complete circuit roller coaster (300 feet (91 m))
• Fastest complete circuit roller coaster (92 miles per hour (148 km/h))
• Steepest non-inversion banked turn on a roller coaster (122°)
• First roller coaster in the United States to utilize a cable lift system
• First roller coaster to feature magnetic braking system

Park records

• Most rides at an amusement park (68)
• Most roller coasters at an amusement park (14)
• Most steel roller coasters at an amusement park (12)
• Most feet of roller coaster track at an amusement park (44,013ft)
• Most roller coasters over 200 feet high at an amusement park (2)

Rankings

Millennium Force has been ranked consistently high in coaster polls, and has won numerous awards:

Golden Ticket Awards: Top Steel Roller Coasters
Year	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008
Ranking	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	2

Mitch Hawker's Internet Poll: Best Steel-Tracked Roller Coaster
Year	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007
Ranking	n/a	2	2	1	3	2	3	4

NAPHA Survey: Favorite Steel Roller Coaster
Year	2005	2006	2007
Ranking	1	1	1

Gallery

• 310 foot lift
  310 foot lift
• Lift hill
  Lift hill
• 300 foot drop
  300 foot drop
• Overbank
  Overbank
• Lift hill and overbank
  Lift hill and overbank
• First and second airtime hills
  First and second airtime hills
• Final airtime hill
  Final airtime hill
• Final overbank turn before brake
  Final overbank turn before brake

External links

• CedarPoint.com - Millennium Force Official Page