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Cedar Point

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bighkid (talk | contribs) at 23:42, 29 October 2006 (Updated 2007 season information; edited ride information for uniformity.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Cedar Point
Inside Cedar Point with Corkscrew in view.
LocationUnited States
Opened1870
OwnerCedar Fair, L.P.
SloganThe Roller Coaster Capital of the World; America's Roller Coast; "Ride on"
Operating seasonMay – October
Area364 acres
(1.47 km²)
Attractions
Total68
Roller coasters16
Water rides2
Websitewww.cedarpoint.com/

Cedar Point is a 364 acre (1.5 km²) amusement park located in Sandusky, Ohio, USA on a narrow peninsula jutting into Lake Erie. It is the world's largest amusement park (by ride count) with 68 rides including 16 rollercoasters (17 with the addition of Maverick, debuting in May 2007) and has the world's second tallest and second fastest roller coaster, Top Thrill Dragster. The park also has a mile-long white sand beach, two water parks (Soak City and Castaway Bay), two marinas[1], several hotels, and "Challenge Park" featuring attractions such as go-karts and miniature golf. Known as "America's Roller Coast", Cedar Point has been voted "Best Amusement Park in the World" by Amusement Today for the past nine years.

The park opened in 1870 and is the second oldest amusement park in North America after Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is the flagship park for the Cedar Fair, L.P. amusement park company and, along with Valleyfair!, was one of the original parks in the company. Cedar Point began its 2006 season on May 6.

Cedar Point's normal operating season runs daily from early May through Labor Day, then for eight weekends following Labor Day. The park is scheduled to open for the 2007 season on Saturday, May 12. [2]

History

In the 1860s, during the American Civil War, a housing for a battery of four field artillery pieces was constructed at the tip of the peninsula to guard access to the Confederate prisoner of war camp on nearby Johnson's Island. When the war ended, Cedar Point resumed its role as a summer picnic area, and the initial park was constructed in 1870.

Boeckling era

Marina (east side of park)

Around the turn of the twentieth century, businessman George Arthur Boeckling spent several decades expanding the park by planting flower gardens, adding a boardwalk and rides, constructing lagoons, and opening several hotels including The Hotel Breakers, which opened on June 12, 1905, still operates today.

Cedar Point continued to expand over the course of the century, adding a series of new rides and roller coasters. In 1929, The Cedar Point Cyclone was built by legendary designer Harry Traver. The Great Depression had an adverse effect on Cedar Point, and it did not fully recover until the 1950s when businessmen George Roose and Emile Legros bought the park. When they first bought Cedar Point, Roose and Legros planned on tearing down the existing park and turning it into a residential area. With this in mind, they built a marina and constructed a causeway leading from the amusement area to Sandusky. Once the citizens of Sandusky found out about Roose and Legros' plans, they wrote letters to the governor of Ohio urging him to intervene. With the uproar occurring and the sudden popularity of Disneyland in California, Roose and Legros decided to end their plans to tear down Cedar Point and instead announced their plans to turn Cedar Point into the Disneyland of the Midwest.

Modern era

The park continued to expand rapidly through the next 50 years. Many of its roller coasters were record setters when they opened. The Blue Streak, a wooden coaster and the oldest still operating at the park opened in 1964, having given over 54 million rides in its history. The Cedar Creek Mine Ride opened in 1969 as one of the very first run-away mine train style roller coasters, and one of the first steel coasters. In 1976, Corkscrew was the first roller coaster to turn its riders upside down three times. In 1978 Gemini debuted as the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster on earth. In 1989 Magnum XL 200, designed by Arrow Dynamics, opened as the tallest, fastest, and steepest roller coaster in existence, as well as being the first full-circuit roller coaster to be taller than 200 feet (60 m). In 1991, Mean Streak opened as the tallest and fastest wooden coaster.

Raptor, designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, opened in 1994 as the tallest, fastest, and longest inverted roller coaster with the most inverting elements. Mantis, also designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, opened in 1996 as the tallest, fastest, and longest stand-up roller coaster with the most inversions. In 2000, Cedar Point and Intamin AG unleashed Millennium Force, which at the time was the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster and the first coaster to top 300 feet (90 m) in height. Millennium Force is still consistently voted the top coaster in the world. In 2002, Cedar Point announced Wicked Twister, the world's tallest, fastest and first double-spiraling impulse coaster. Cedar Point continued its record breaking tradition in 2003 with Top Thrill Dragster, also designed by Intamin AG, which features a four-second launch to 120 mph (190 km/h) and a 420 foot (128 m) hill with a 90 degree spiral vertical ascent and a 270 degree spiral on the vertical descent.

View of back half of park

Over the years, Cedar Point has developed from being a straight amusement park to a full-service resort, boasting numerous hotels and camping areas. While bathing along its Lake Erie beach has been a popular activity for the existence of the park, Cedar Point has also added Soak City, an 18-acre water park largely surrounded by the path of the Magnum XL 200, including more than 12 water slides, two lazy rivers where guests can float on innertubes, a 500,000 gallon wave pool, two kids' areas, an adult pool with a swim-up bar, and plenty of shaded and sunbathing areas. Admission is separate from admission to the park.

Between Soak City and the amusement park is Challenge Park, which has two 18-hole miniature golf courses, two go-kart tracks, and the RipCord, a bungee-style thrill ride.

In 1971, Cedar Point opened the Camper Village, located behind the park, where guests could rent a lot and live out of their campers or RVs while they enjoyed the park. In 2001, Cedar Point opened Lighthouse Point near Camper Village, with individual cabins located between Camper Village and the amusement park, and single-family cottages along the waterfront of the Point. Guests staying at the cottages enjoy views of Sandusky Bay, Lake Erie, the Lake Erie Islands, and the Marblehead Peninsula from their private decks.

In 2004, Cedar Point opened Castaway Bay, a resort-style hotel near the entrance to the Cedar Point Causeway, situated on a large lake and with an indoor water park. Castaway Bay is open year-round.

Maverick

Main article: Maverick (roller coaster)

On September 7, 2006, Cedar Point officially announced the construction of its 17th roller coaster, Maverick. It is located in Frontier Town on the former site of White Water Landing, which was demolished in October of 2005. Scheduled to open in May, 2007, it is a sit-down, Linear Synchronous Motor-launched roller coaster. It will feature a 105-foot (32 meter) LSM-launched lift hill with 100-foot (30.5 meter) drop at 95 degrees (meaning the track on the first drop curves inward upon itself before leveling off) two 360 degree corkscrews, a second mid-course LSM-launch to 70 miles per hour (112.7 kilometers per hour) through a 400-foot (121.9 meter) tunnel, ten banked turns, and a 360 degree heartline roll.[1]

Facts

  • Built in 1905, Hotel Breakers is owned by Cedar Fair and located at the rear of the park, features original Tiffany stained-glass windows in its lobby. The Presidential Suite is one of the most expensive hotel rooms in Sandusky, demanding $1000 per night during the peak season. The Hotel Breakers has hosted six American Presidents in its history, Taft, Coolidge, Wilson, Harding, Roosevelt and Eisenhower. Another aspect of the Breakers is that the map of the hotel's layout given to guest upon check-in to help them find their rooms 'hides' several areas of the complex, including an entire hallway on the second floor devoted to employee housing. The Hotel is also the de facto headquarters for several Cedar Point departments including Central Reservations (Department 402), Park Operator / PBX and Housekeeping.
  • Recent additions at Cedar Point include the 2006 addition, Skyhawk, a "screaming swing" manufactured by S&S Power and Associates. In 2005, maXair opened. The Giant Frisbee, manufactured by HUSS Maschinenfabrik, operates very similar to a clock pendulum, swinging riders at 70 mph (110 km/h) while spinning them simultaneously.
  • In contrast to many parks that have completely modernized, Cedar Point has retained some older rides as well. It has three antique carousels which retain their original wooden animals, many smaller carnival-type rides, as well as county-fair style booths and games and a variety of musical shows.
  • Cedar Point has five arcades on the peninsula. Coliseum is the largest and includes the arcade maintenance office. The same building also holds Cedar Point Police, Park Operations and the Ballroom. Coliseum features over 30 lanes of Skeeball and over 100 video and redemption games. Gemini arcade is located across from the Gemini roller coaster and features Skeeball and boomball. Jitney is located in the rear of the park and has Skeeball. The two other arcades are technically outside of the park. Challenge Park arcade is located in a building that also houses a food stand. Hotel Breakers arcade is located at the base of Breakers Tower.
  • Cedar Point also retains 2 of the top 10 longest Roller Coasters in the United States, Mean Streak in 9th with 5427 feet of track, and Millennium Force in 3rd with 6995 feet of track. Millennium Force is also the 7th longest rollercoaster in the world.
  • Cedar Point has the distinction of having 4 Roller Coasters over 200' tall, 2 of which are over 300', and one is over 400'.
  • The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad operates 6 actual steam locomotives, carrying park guests on a circuit with two stations -- one near the Iron Dragon toward the front of the park, and the other in Frontier Town at the rear of the park. Its return path takes it through an animatronic ghost town with skeletons acting out scenes from the Old West. The steam whistles from the trains can be heard as far away as Marblehead, Ohio, on the other side of Sandusky Bay. It was once one of only two ways to reach Frontier Town, the other being the now-defunct Frontier Lift.
  • The original proposed name for Mantis was Banshee and the proposed coaster would be painted black and silver. The name was quickly changed when the marketing department realized the full negative connotations of the word 'banshee' and all 'The Banshee' stickers, pins and other promotional materials that had been given to employees were recalled. Many of the original souvenirs and materials were burned or destroyed.
  • Some past employees who have gone on to fame include Sam Warner, Arsenio Hall, and Knute Rockne. Rockne, who worked as a lifeguard at Cedar Point in 1913, experimented with the seldom-used (at the time) forward pass with teammate Gus Dorais on the beach during their off-time.
  • The Running of the Bulls nickname has been given to the opening of the gates each day. Often serious tourists and/or fans (many of them season ticket holders) will eagerly line up at the entrance to the park, and upon opening, flood the grounds in a scramble to the newest and greatest rides.


Thrill rides

  • Chaos -- A Chance-Morgan designed ride, which made its debut in 1997.
  • Demon Drop - An Intamin-designed ride installed in 1983. Four riders are loaded into a single car, which is lifted to the top of a 131 foot tower. The car is then slowly propelled over the edge of the tower, before performing a track-guided 60 foot freefall drop. The ride was advertised for sale in 2005, and is expected to leave the park at the end of 2006.
  • Dodgem - A dogem hall.
  • maXair - A HUSS designed Giant Frisbee, opened in 2005.
  • Ocean Motion - A 43 foot long steel and fiberglass HUSS designed Pirate Boat, opened in 1981.
  • Power Tower - A combination of two Space Shot and two Turbo Drop tower rides. Opened in 1998, the assembly is 300 feet tall, and was designed by S&S Power.
  • Skyhawk - A 40-passenger Screamin' Swing, designed by S&S Power and installed in May 2006.
  • Troika - A HUSS Troika, opened in 1976.
  • Witches' Wheel - A HUSS Enterprise opened in 1977.

Children's rides

  • 4x4's
  • Balloon Race
  • Bumper Boats
  • Camp Bus
  • Dune Buggies
  • Frog Hopper
  • Helicopters
  • Hot Rods
  • Krazy Kars
  • Lolli Swing
  • Motorcycles
  • Mustangs
  • Old Timers
  • Peanuts 500
  • Peanuts Express
  • Police Cars
  • Red Baron
  • Rock Spin & Turn
  • Roto Whip
  • Sir Rub-a-Dub's Tubs
  • Sky Fighters
  • Space Age
  • Tilt a Whirl

Other rides

  • Antique Cars
  • Cadillac Cars
  • Calypso
  • Cedar Downs Racing Derby
  • Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad
  • Giant Wheel
  • Kiddy Kingdom Carousel
  • Matterhorn
  • Midway Carousel
  • Monster
  • Paddlewheel Excursions
  • Scrambler
  • Sky Ride
  • Snake River Falls
  • Space Spiral
  • Super Himalaya
  • Thunder Canyon
  • Turnpike Cars
  • Wave Swinger

Awards

Cedar Point has been ranked #1 park in the world by Amusement Today for 9 straight years. It is also home to the most top rides in the world.

Roller Coaster Highest Rank

The following coasters where ranked by Amusement Today:

  • Millennium Force: 2nd
  • Magnum XL 200: 3rd
  • Top Thrill Dragster: 10th
  • Raptor: 13th

References

  1. ^ "Stats and Layout". Retrieved 2006-09-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)

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