Cedar Point is the World’s Best Amusement Park (named for 16 years in a row!) – and one of the thrills of going to Cedar Point is the Roller Coasters. Cedar Point has 17 world-class roller coasters – something for everyone! We’ve shared, here on wandering educators, several articles about Cedar Point:

The Complete Guide to Cedar Point

Cedar Point Roller Coaster Guide: Advice from a Local

Disability Access at Cedar Point

 

But since I wasn’t brave enough didn’t get a chance to ride all the coasters, I thought I’d ask my fellow travel writers for their experiences with roller coasters at Cedar Point. And they chimed in, and provide a wealth of experience and opinions. One thing’s for sure – Cedar Point means FUN. Here’s what they had to say…
 

 

Travel Writers' Favorite Cedar Point Roller Coasters

 

Hannah Miller is a lifelong traveler, is currently attending University, and can currently be found (writing, at least) at http://www.edventuregirl.com/​ 

Valravn

Valravn was an exhilarating ride. It's a record breaker, famous for being the "fastest, tallest, longest" steel rollercoaster in the world, and it lives up to its fame. The initial drop is not near-vertical... it is vertical. The state of the art coaster takes you through loop the loops, letting you "kick the sky," swoops you around hair pin curves, and corkscrews thrillingly. Valravn is easily one of the best rides in the park, holding its own against other classic favourites such as Gatekeeper or Magnum. Due to its popularity, the line can be a long one. Invest in a FastPass or plan to ride early. It's worth the wait!

 

Brianna Krueger is the Chief Editor for Wandering Educators.

 

Top Thrill Dragster

Waiting in line for the top thrill dragster is almost as intense as riding it. Watching every car take off to 120 mph at a 90 degree angle, you question your sanity. 'Can I really ride this?' You hear their screams and if you blink, you miss the ride, so waiting can make you very anxious. Especially since the line tends to be long. You'd think with such a quick ride (it's 17 seconds) it'd move fast, but it doesn't. I would recommend doing it first, except if you do ride it first, no ride will compare, which takes away some of the fun of the park. Suddenly, anything that doesn't go as fast or to such heights lacks thrill. Oh, the Millennium Force only goes 93 mph? Pshhh. So I would actually recommend waiting to ride the top thrill dragster till later. It's like dessert - the perfect ending.

Riding the dragster is a mixture of nerves and adrenaline. At takeoff, you're forced against your seat as you fly into the sky like a rocket. Unfortunately, it's over so quick. Luckily, you'll feel satisfied as the nerves are gone and adrenaline is left, pumping through you saying 'let's do that again!'

Perfect for the person who feels the need... the need for speed.

Loading zone of Top Thrill Dragster to the right

Mantis, Iron Dragon, and Power Tower

Mantis, Power Tower, Iron Dragon, and Windseeker

 

Nick Huggins is an adventure traveller and craft beer enthusiast. You can usually find him checking out a new brewery or getting into some kind of mischief like hang-gliding through the Swiss Alps, scuba diving in Thailand, or trying (unsuccessfully) to surf in Costa Rica. http://NicksTravelBug.com

As far as waiting in lines, the park was almost empty the day I went and I didn't have to wait more than 5-10 minutes for any of the rides. I'm not sure why and that's definitely not a normal experience, but I got to ride everything a few times.

Top Thrill Dragster

Top Thrill is an instant burst of adrenaline. After being shot off at 120mph in under 4 seconds, by the time you realize what's going on you're looking straight down from 420 feet in the air. The entire ride is only 17 seconds, but it will probably be the best 17 seconds of your day!

Gatekeeper

The Gatekeeper is definitely one of my new favorite rides. It's the tallest, fastest, and longest wing roller coaster in the world. The best part is that since the track is below you, you can look up and it seems like you're flying...really fast!

Gatekeeper. Photo courtesy and copyright Cedar Point

Millennium Force

Millennium Force has been my overall favorite ride since it opened. It has the most exhilarating first drop of any ride in the park. Since the place was nearly empty the day I went, I was able to ride this several times back to back. Pro tip: the camera is in the second tunnel.

Millenium Force

Maverick

Maverick has more twists and turns than I think any other ride I've been on. I liked it, but just be prepared to be thrown around a bit throughout the ride.

Maverick. Photo courtesy and copyright Cedar Point

Raptor

The original legs-dangling coaster. It's right at the front of the park and makes for a good starter to the day. Just make sure not to wear flip-flops on here as you'll probably lose them.

Raptor
 

Karen Presley Dawkins writes at Family Travels on a Budget, which doesn't always mean cheap. She finds creative ways to make travel dreams come true.
 

Gemini

Gemini is the best of the classic coasters out there. The wood frame makes it a nostalgic coaster, but it still delivers. Racing a twin coaster adds to the experience.

Gemini

Magnum

Of the newer coasters, Magnum is fantastic (though it's not that new anymore). Climbing 200 feet above Lake Erie adds to the thrill of the ride, that's for sure. I still don't think I've kept my eyes open the whole way up!

Magnum. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons: a_d_y_a

Top Thrill Dragster

When my husband and son stood in line two full hours to ride Top Thrill Dragster for a whole 17 seconds, I thought they were nuts! Then watching them ride, I knew they were! But to this day, they insist it is the absolute best roller coaster ride they've EVER experienced. I still think they're crazy, but it seems the 17 second ride leaves quite an impression. If you don't want to ride I sure don't blame you, but I do suggest watching. Sometimes the ride doesn't make it all the way to the top and riders slide backwards to the launch to try again. Trust me, it'll make your stomach flip while you stand on solid ground!

Top Thrill Dragster (above and below)

 

Tonya Prater enjoys traveling with her family which includes two teens, a young adult and a rescued pound puppy named Vincent. She spent four years on the road traveling with her husbands job which lead her to begin to document their travel adventures at The Traveling Praters. What began as a journal has grown into a resource for those seeking road trip tips, travel product reviews and recommendations of places to visit throughout Ohio and the US.

From my daughter, Chelsea: I really didn't like the Gatekeeper. It didn't go very high and just didn't give me the thrill I was looking for. One ride was enough on this coaster. This ride always seems to have a wait.

I also didn't like Power Tower. It goes up so high that it really freaks me out and makes my want to pee my pants.

Power Tower and Iron Dragon

Raptor

I love the Raptor. It's super fast and your legs dangle from your seat. It is so much fun! The best time to ride this is in the evenings, as the park gets ready to close, after everyone has made their way towards the back of the park and forget about those in the front. I rode this eight times in a row with my friends last time I was there.

Raptor

Iron Dragon

I don't really call myself a roller coaster fan but my daughter convinced me that I couldn't go to Cedar Point and not ride the Iron Dragon. I was apprehensive but the ride was so much fun! The ride swings and sways along the track and if you really want to feel it, sit in back. My husband and I rode this twice- once in the front and once in the back. We rode this the opening night of HalloWeekends and the wait was minimal.

Iron Dragon. Photo courtesy and copyright Cedar Point

 

Bradley Saull is half of the DINK couple behind the popular travel blog My View from the Middle Seat. When he's not traveling, he works in homeland security. He's also written about Cedar Point and its rides in the article, My Quintessential Summer.

The first coasters I ever went on were the Iron Dragon and the (now gone) Disaster Transport (it was the Avalanche the first time I rode it). My favorites to this day are the Millennium Force, Raptor, Magnum, and Gemini - more on them later.

Blue Streak

The Blue Streak is the classic ride from 1964 named after the local high school in Sandusky. It's the oldest existing coaster at CP. It a classic wooden coaster in "out and back" format with many "floater hills" that have you flopping out of your seat. In 1994, when they put in the Raptor they reconfigured the line, upgraded the breaks from the leaver breaks, and installed modern handle bars like the Mean Streak. It took some of the charm away, but I suppose that is like adding turn signals to a classic car - it's for safety. I have a childhood story where I rode the Blue Streak and my sun glasses flew off from around my neck and were caught by a female rider five rows back who had their hands up. I got them back.

Blue Streak. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons: Stratosphere

Mean Streak

The Mean Streak was built in 1991 was a big wooden coaster. It's CP's longest ride, but in classic wooden form is very bumpy. The last time I rode it, I got a headache afterwards. It's not for the faint of heart.

Mean Streak. Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons: Cmedinger

Magnum XL-200

The Magnum XL-200 was my favorite ride for a long time. It really put CP on the map and in to the Book of World Records. It was usually the first ride we rode in the morning (camper entrance is near the ride) and the last ride we rode at night. 205 feet high, 194 feet drop at a 60 degree angle at 72mph. There were always great crowds at night waiting in line for the ride. There would also usually be a DJ. Many times people would win beach balls at the games in the park and then hit the beach ball back and forth while in line with the music going. It was always a "party atmosphere" (in a good way) while waiting. I have ridden in about every seat on the ride. The front row has its perks (you just hang over the first hill and see everything), but the back car is probably my favorite because you go over the first hill at a greater speed than others. The Magnum is also an "out and back" coaster with a pretzel turnaround. The second hill drops right on the edge of the Lake Erie coast. Magnum has many floater hills too - especially on the way back. As a first of its kind at CP, Magnum also has three tunnels. The last one always had fog and lights to make it extra thrilling.

Magnum. Photo Wikimedia Commons: Nick Nolte

Raptor

The Raptor is an inverted coaster with your legs dangling like a ski lift. It's just a great ride sending you upside-down six times (cobra turn in the middle).

Raptor (above and below)

Millenium Force

The Millennium Force is my favorite ride at CP to date. I enjoy Maverick and I haven't ridden Gatekeeper yet. Millennium is tall, extremely fast and incredibly smooth. It is a complete adrenaline rush. The ride goes by in like a minute and a half. It too has steep drops, tunnels, speed, etc. It's like an updated, more interesting and smoother Magnum.

Millenium Force

Gemini

Gemini from the 1970s is the "racing coaster" - blue versus red trains. This is fun because you can literally slap hands with the other riders while you are riding. In high school when the marching band would go to CP right before school started, we would always meet at the Gemini and hour before we were supposed to meet the chaperones. We would ride as many times with different combinations of friends slapping hands during that last hour. Tip: if the red and blue leave at exactly the same time, blue wins (it has one more inside turn than red).

Gemini (behind Lake Erie Eagles)

Soak City

Soak City is the water park outside the park (part of Challenge Park) we would go there quite often as kids, but the thing I probably remember most is that it was always playing music from the Beach Boys. I associate the Beach Boys and the sound of the Magnum first hill with summer.

 

I can run off a whole bunch of rides from the 80s and 90s during the expansion days - 87 Iron Dragon, 89 Magnum, 90 Disaster Transport, 91 Mean Streak, 92 Challenge Park, 93 Snake River Falls, 94 Raptor, 95 Expansion of Soak City and Bernstein Bear country, 96 Mantis, 97 Chaos (might be gone - was on the first public ride of it), 98 PowerTower, 2000 Millennium Force, I get a little fuzzy after this, as I went to college and wasn't back as much.

 

For more information on Cedar Point, head to:
https://www.cedarpoint.com

For more great articles by any of these travel writers, please click the links in their bios. Big thanks to them for sharing their experiences with us!

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Photo Wikimedia commons: Gregory Varnum, adapted by Wandering Educators

 

 

 

All photos courtesy and copyright Jessie Voigts, except where noted