SANDUSKY, Ohio — Here's a suggestion for any engineers who might be designing roller coasters that will go faster, rise higher and drop more sharply than Cedar Point Amusement Park's Millennium Force: Don't bother.
Common sense suggests that with Millennium Force, they've gone about as far as they can go. They've built a roller coaster 310 feet high, about as high as a coaster oughta grow.
Millennium Force broke world records for tallest and fastest roller coaster when it opened last year. How thrilling is it? The two-minute 20-second ride begins with a 310-foot ascent at a 45-degree angle, followed abruptly by an 80-degree plunge. By the time the coaster reaches the bottom, it's traveling 93 mph. From there, it's a pedal-to-the-metal, mind-boggling race to the finish line.
Millennium Force was such a phenomenon last summer, people came from hundreds of miles away and waited in line up to four and five hours to ride on weekends in July and August. Others — those who weren't bold enough to ride — visited the park just to gaze at this steel skyscraper towering over the shore of Lake Erie.
For the past three years, Cedar Point has won Amusement Today's Golden Ticket Award for "best amusement park in the world." Which means Cedar Point was deemed the best even before it opened the $25 million Millennium Force.
Amusement Today is an industry publication in Arlington, Texas. Voting for the Golden Ticket Awards is done by a database of fans who have experienced amusement parks around the world. They voted Millennium Force the No. 2 steel roller coaster in the world for 2000.
Their No. 1 pick was Magnum XL-200, and No. 5 was Raptor, both of which also belong to Cedar Point.
Magnum is an exceptional roller coaster, rising 205 feet and achieving a speed of 72 mph. But make no mistake, it's a notch below Millennium Force, whose newness probably prevented it from being voted No. 1.
Cedar Point also was awarded its third consecutive Golden Ticket for "best capacity," which assesses how well the park moves guests through its queue lines.
Clearly, Cedar Point knows what it's doing, in part because it's had a lot of practice. The amusement park and resort now occupy an entire sliver of a peninsula that juts into Lake Erie, about halfway between Cleveland and Toledo. Cedar Point began as a bathhouse on the beach in 1870 and opened its first ride, a water trapeze, in the 1880s. Its first roller coaster came along in 1892 — the Switchback Railway stood 25 feet high and zipped along at 10 mph.
That coaster is gone, but the Blue Streak, which opened in 1964, is still there, along with 13 others, giving Cedar Point more roller coasters than any other amusement park in the world. It also has the most rides — 68 — the oldest of which is the Midway Carousel, dating from 1946.
One of Cedar Point's pluses is that it reeks of history without reeking. The park looks modern, not tired, and the employees — everyone from summer interns to the park's executives — walk around picking up wayward trash like beachcombers gathering up sea shells.
Another plus is that, for the most part, the roller coasters are situated on the midway rather than set off on the perimeter somewhere. It's not uncommon to be walking along and have a coaster zoom by just a few feet over your head.
Cedar Point is a traditional amusement park, not a theme park, with an emphasis on its rides. But there is plenty to do for visitors who aren't compatible with roller coasters. There are areas are devoted to children, including Camp Snoopy and Kiddy Kingdom, each of which has a kid's-speed roller coaster. There are a handful of live-entertainment venues, an IMAX theater, an aquatic stadium, a nightly laser show, six restaurants just outside the park's gates, a marina, a water park (Soak City, requiring separate admission) and Challenge Park, offering go-carts, miniature golf and the skycoaster RipCord.
Cedar Point also has four hotels — two adjacent to the park and two off-property — plus an RV campground and new cottages and cabins.
All of which adds up to a No. 1 ranking in Amusement Today's poll.
"The reason they are consistently ranked as one of or the top amusement park in the country is the whole resort atmosphere," says Gary Slade, the publication's editor and publisher.
"You have one of the largest selections of rides and shows and attractions that you'll find anywhere in the country. And along with that, you've got the best selection of roller coasters anywhere on the planet."
Bill Linkenheimer, president of American Coaster Enthusiasts, says he loves Cedar Point but ranks his hometown amusement park, Pittsburgh's Kennywood, as his favorite. But he says many of his organization's 7,000-plus members rate Cedar Point as No. 1.
"There's a member from Florida who is going to Cedar Point this month and will stay almost a week there," Linkenheimer said. "There are a lot of people like him, people who come from all parts of the country and make it a point to get to Cedar Point on an annual basis."
Cedar Point's secret to success is simple, says director of operations Bill Spehn. It's safety first, then guest services, courteous and passionate employees and cleanliness.
In the "est" world of amusement parks — tallest, fastest, wildest — standing pat is anathema. You can open a $25 million ride one year, but you'd better not rest on your laurels.
"Our guests always expect Cedar Point to do something new, something different," Spehn said. "It doesn't necessarily have to be higher and faster, but something that's quality entertainment. When you put in Millennium Force, it's tough to top that."
But a park in Tokyo did just that. It opened a ride last September that was 8 feet taller than Millennium Force and goes 2 mph faster. Now Millennium Force is merely the highest and fastest ride in the Western Hemisphere.
Frustrating?
"I don't think so," Spehn said. "How many people from the United States are going to venture to Japan to ride that ride? Magnum was the first to top 200, and within a short time some others topped 200, but it doesn't mean they were better coasters."
Excitement was running so high before opening day — May 13, 2000 — that Cedar Point was able to raise $50,000 for charity by auctioning off spots in the first ride on Millennium Force. A seat in the front row of the first car went to a bid of $3,000.
The fervor to ride was such that on many days last summer, cars would begin appearing in the parking lot before sunrise, well before the park's 10 a.m. opening. When the gates finally swung open, there was such a race to get to Millennium Force that some employees took to lining up along the midway in marathon fashion and handing paper cups of water to the racers.
Millennium Force accommodates about 1,400 riders an hour. Cedar Point posts guards and takes a firm stance against line-jumping or similar hanky-panky, and smoking is not permitted in the queues. But the park recognizes that human beings have needs, so the guards will issue passes that allow people in line for Millennium Force to take bathroom breaks.
Spehn, the director of operations, marvels at the reaction the ride created.
"People came from all over the country," Spehn said. "I don't recall that happening as much in the past, with people from all parts of the country wanting to come to Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, to ride a ride."