Cedar Point, The Roller Coaster Capital of the World!

Last summer, during my family's vacation across the eastern United States, we spent two days at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

Cedar Point is, without question, the greatest amusement park on the face of the Earth. This is not an opinion, this is undisputed FACT. Cedar Point is the Mecca of Rollercoasters. They have held the title of world's tallest rollercoaster on four separate occasions, including currently. They hold the record for most rollercoasters in one location. They have every kind of rollercoaster you can think of.

* Traditional Suspension? Check. (Raptor)
* Suspended car? Check. (Iron Dragon)
* Track over the midway? Check. (Corkscrew)
* Stand-up coaster? Check. (Mantis)
* Tallest (420 feet) and fastest (0-120, less than 4 s.) in the world? Check. (Top Thrill Dragster)
* Third tallest (330 feet) in the world? Check. (Millenium Force)
* Wooden? Check. (Blue Streak and Mean Streak)
* Indoors on tubes instead of track? Check. (Disaster Transport)
* Forward *AND* Backward rollercoaster? Check. (Wicked Twister)
* Racing rollercoaster? Check. (Gemini)
* Previous tallest in the world record holder? Check. (Magnum XL-200)

There is such a variety of coasters, plus tons of other quality thrill rides too. You can never go back to Adventureland again after you experience Cedar Point. 90 foot high coasters (Tornado and Dragon) just aren't that great after you've gone on 420, 330, and 200 foot coasters.

Top Thrill Dragster was my second favorite coaster there. It is the now-infamous tallest/fastest coaster in the world. It's not your traditional "ride the chain up the hill and coast through the rest of the track" business. No sir. It's supposed to simulate what it's like to be in a dragster. You get loaded into you car, and it pulls up to the starting line. Cedar Point saw fit to pipe in engine-revving noises. At this point, your heart is beating nearly out of your chest as you stare down the track. Way off in the distance, you see the hill. At 420 feet high, it is the tallest object on the Cedar Point penninsula. It towers alone. Millenium Force, the previous tallest coaster in the world sits 90 feet below the hill. It's a 90 degree angle. Straight up in the air. A quick turn, and you come straight down, again 90 degrees. It's so far off in the distance, it's hard to discern the individual crossbars on the track.

The engine revving continues. You can't take the suspense anymore -- why won't they launch the damn thing already? All of a sudden, the sound of tires screaming fills the air. Suddenly, you're pressed into your seat harder than you've ever felt before. The forces are amazing. The wind is nearly drying out your eyes you're moving so fast. You try to scream, but can't. You can't even blink. The hill, which was once far off in the distance is now hurtling toward you so fast you can't comprehend it. You can't be moving THAT fast. All of a sudden, you're flipped 90 degrees. Now you're heading straight toward the sun. Gravity AND centripetal force are both acting on you. The car slows... nearly crawls to cross the top of the hill. You're at the top, and you look around for a second. What an amazing view! Cedar Point's on a peninsula, so you see nothing but water on three sides. You can look down on Millenium Force (no small coaster itself) like it's some weak Adventureland ride.

The beauty's over. The horizon flips again, and now you can see only one thing -- the ground. You are now heading straight down. Not 70 degrees, not 80 degrees, but 90. What was nearly indistinguishable becomes real big, real fast. Again, you can't scream. Just as you think you're going to meet a horrible death, the coaster straightens out and quickly slows to a crawl. You can't do anything but sit there and suck in air. It feels like you haven't had a breath for a minute. Your heart better stop beating so hard, or it's going to beat right through your ribcage. You smile, realizing you just rode the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world. You rode Top Thrill Dragster, and it's one of the most exhilirating rides you will ever experience.

TTD was just one of my favorites. My other two were Millenium Force and Raptor. Millenium Force was built in 2000, and used to hold the record of tallest and fastest. It's a bit more traditional than Top Thrill Dragster is. It is indeed your usual "ride the chain lift to the top of the hill and coast through the rest" kind of rollercoaster. However, Millenium Force was so tall, it wasn't feasible to use a chain to lift the train to the top of the 330 foot hill. They invented a new technology, called "elevator lift" to take you to the top. It glides smooth, like an elevator, and is very quick -- I think we climbed Millenium Force's 330 foot hill faster than Magnum XL-200's 200 foot hill.

Of course, the elevator lift failed when I rode Millenium Force near the top of the hill, leaving us stranded 300 feet in the air for nearly 20 minutes. Of course, this owas the one coaster we convinced my mom to ride. She almost freaked out. She hates coasters. Eventually, the problem was resolved, and we rode through the rest of the ride without a problem. What a ride it was! The turns are hyper-banked, they are actually banked more than 90 degrees, so the train is kind of upside down as you go through the turns. The first drop is breathtaking. It is an 80 degree angle, and it is so steep, it almost seems like the hill goes under itself. It's hard to explain, but as the train turns to take the angle, it just keeps turning and turning, you can't believe how steep it is. It's your traditional coaster on steroids (no loops), and is just an absolute blast.

My other favorite is Raptor. Raptor is your traditional suspension coaster ala "Batman: The Ride" at Six Flags, to give an example. This is an absolute MUST to ride front row. There is nothing in front of you... or below you. Raptor is neat because it's not just a big out-and-back coaster. It's a very tight layout, with tons of loops and inversions. The forces are very, very, strong, and I've never given my inner ear such a workout. This is one coaster we rode twice, and for good reason -- it rocks.

Zakk, Mike Keesy, myself, and maybe someone else are going to make the trek to Sandusky, Ohio either the last week of July, or the second week in August to take in Cedar Point in all its glory ourselves. We're going on either Sunday, July 26th and Monday July 27th, or Sunday, August 8th, and Monday, August 9th. Yes, it takes two days to fully experience Cedar Point. If anyone would be interested in going with us, you should contact me. We'd like to have someone else go with us. It would be even cooler if someone else would helm another car and we could have a whole group hit CP, but only four people can ride in my car, so someone else would have to take the initiative to put together another group of people. I might be able to arrange some deals on hotels through Matthew Thomas Ward, so consider it!

Link: Cedar Point Amusement Park