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Cedar Point is a 364-acre (147 ha) amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and operated by Cedar Fair and is the flagship of the amusement park chain. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 16 roller coasters – fourth-most in the world behind Canada's Wonderland and Energylandia (17), as well as Six Flags Magic Mountain (20). Cedar Point's most recent roller coaster, Steel Vengeance, opened to the public on May 5, 2018.
Six Flags Entertainment Corporation, more commonly known as Six Flags or as Six Flags Theme Parks, is an American amusement park corporation, headquartered in Arlington, Texas. It has properties in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Six Flags owns the most theme parks and waterparks combined for an amusement park company and has the seventh-highest attendance in the world. The company operates 27 properties throughout North America, including theme parks, amusement parks, water parks and a family entertainment center. In 2019, Six Flags properties hosted 32.8 million guests.
Paramount Parks was the operator of Paramount's Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Dominion, Paramount's Great America, Paramount's Carowinds, and Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. National Amusements-owned Viacom assumed control of the company as part of its acquisition of Paramount Pictures in 1994. On June 30, 2006, Cedar Fair acquired the company, and the deal included a ten-year license to use the Paramount Parks name and theme, and a four-year license to use Nickelodeon names and themes.
Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates twelve amusement parks, nine included admission outdoor waterparks, four separate admission outdoor water parks, one indoor water park, and fourteen hotels/lodging in the US and Canada. Cedar Fair also managed Gilroy Gardens under contract with the city of Gilroy, California until December 2021, after which the contract ended and was not renewed.
Top Thrill Dragster is a steel accelerator roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the sixteenth roller coaster to be built at the park since Blue Streak in 1964. It opened in 2003 as the tallest roller coaster in the world and the first full-circuit roller coaster to exceed 400 feet (120 m) in height. Its height record was later surpassed by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005. Top Thrill Dragster, along with Kingda Ka, are the only strata coasters in existence. It was the second hydraulically launched roller coaster built by Intamin, following Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm. The tagline for Top Thrill Dragster is "Race for the Sky".
Valleyfair is a 125-acre (51 ha) amusement park in Shakopee, Minnesota, United States. Owned by Cedar Fair, the park opened in 1976 and now features over 75 rides and attractions including eight roller coasters. Valleyfair also has a water park called Soak City which is included with the price of admission. Cedar Point and Valleyfair were the first two parks in the Cedar Fair chain and a combination of the park names – "cedar" and "fair" – were used to name the company.
Matt Ouimet is executive chairman of Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, a publicly traded company that owns 12 amusement parks in the United States and Canada.
Magnum XL-200, colloquially known as simply Magnum, is a steel roller coaster built by Arrow Dynamics at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. When it opened in 1989, it was the tallest, fastest, and steepest complete-circuit roller coaster in the world as well as the first hypercoaster – a roller coaster that exceeds 200 feet (61 m) in height. Some have credited Magnum with starting a period in the industry known as the roller coaster wars, in which amusement parks competed with one another at a rapid pace to build the next tallest and fastest roller coaster. More than 40 million people had ridden Magnum as of 2009.
Wild Thing is a hypercoaster located at Valleyfair. It is an out-and-back roller coaster with more than one mile (1.6 km) of track. Its first hill is 207 feet (63 m) with a 60 degree drop, and reaches speeds of up to 74 mph (119 km/h). Wild Thing's height was set by the FAA, due to the nearby presence of Flying Cloud Airport.
Gemini is a racing roller coaster with a wooden structure and steel track, located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Built in 1978 by Arrow Dynamics and designed by Ron Toomer, it is one of the oldest roller coasters in the park. When the ride opened, it was marketed as the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster in the world. All three record-breaking claims were falsely made as other coasters around the world already beat Gemini. The all-steel Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, opened earlier that year before Gemini and was taller but had a shorter drop. Screamin' Eagle at Six Flags St. Louis opened two years prior to Gemini and was faster at 62 mph.
D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, later simply known as Morgan, was a manufacturer of roller coaster trains, custom amusement rides, roller coasters, children's rides and other amusement devices. Founded in 1983, the company was originally headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. In 1991, the company moved to La Selva Beach, California, and into a new 55,000-square-foot indoor manufacturing facility. That facility was later increased to 75,000 square feet. The company produced a variety of rides from 1983 until 2001, but is probably best known for its steel hyper coasters.
SeaWorld Ohio was a theme park and marine zoological park, located in Aurora, Ohio. It was owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment, formerly known as Busch Entertainment Corporation. The Ohio location was the second SeaWorld park to be built in the chain, following SeaWorld San Diego which opened just six years earlier. The park was developed by George Millay, founder of the SeaWorld brand. Wildwater Kingdom, a waterpark built by Cedar Fair in 2005, occupied the property until its closure in September 2016.
Firehawk was a flying roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Manufactured by Vekoma, it originally opened as X-Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure on May 26, 2001, billed as the Midwest's first and only flying roller coaster. Cedar Fair purchased Worlds of Adventure in 2004 and began efforts to downsize the park. X-Flight was relocated to Kings Island following the 2006 season, where it reopened as Firehawk on May 26, 2007.
Sandusky is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Erie County. Situated in northern Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo and Cleveland.
An Impulse roller coaster is a form of a launched inverted roller coaster manufactured by Intamin. The first Impulse roller coaster appeared in Japan, and the ride type has since evolved to include four specific layouts, three of these varieties being built in the United States. It uses LIMs to launch a train out of the station and up a vertical spiral. The train then falls backward, is powered again through the station, and heads up a back tower. The train then falls forward, and continues in this fashion for a total of 2½ cycles per ride. On the final forward launch, with a slightly reduced speed, the train is sent up the front tower, and brakes then deploy on the launch track. The train then slows down and heads back into the station.
Wildwater Kingdom was a water park located in Aurora and Bainbridge Township, Ohio, United States. Owned by Cedar Fair, the park opened in 2005 as part of the larger Geauga Lake and Wildwater Kingdom resort. The site was previously the location of SeaWorld Ohio (1970–2000) and later served as the marine life section of the larger Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (2001–2003). Worlds of Adventure was purchased by Cedar Fair in 2004 and the marine life area was converted into a water park for the 2005 season.
Dinosaurs Alive! was an animatronic dinosaur themed area which formerly operated at several amusement parks, but has since been closed. Woodbine Fantasy Fair was the first park to open the attraction in 2007. The version of this attraction at Kings Island was the world's largest animatronic dinosaur park. A $5–6.00 fee was charged to enter the attraction. At Carowinds, admission was free with a Gold or Platinum Pass. Each park also featured Dinostore, a gift shop filled with dinosaur toys and souvenirs. On October 27, 2019, the two remaining Dinosaurs Alive! exhibits closed permanently.
Luminosity – Ignite the Night!, often shortened to Luminosity,, was a nighttime show performed nightly at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. It replaced American Portrait and the WildCat roller coaster. The show opened for previews on June 1, 2012 and held its grand-opening one week later. It ran nightly at 9:15 pm until August 19. From 2013 to 2017, the show ran every night at 9:30 pm except Tuesdays from May 31 – August 18.
GateKeeper is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), it was the fifth Wing Coaster installation in the world. The ride opened on May 11, 2013, on the most successful opening weekend to date in the park's history. GateKeeper featured the highest inversion in the world when it opened, with its 170-foot (52 m) Wing Over drop. It also broke several Wing Coaster records, including those for height, speed, track length, drop height and number of inversions. The coaster has a 170 ft (52 m), 40-degree inclined lift hill with a 164 ft (50 m) drop and features two support towers with keyhole elements that the trains travel through. Its maximum speed is approximately 67 mph (108 km/h).
Valravn is a steel roller coaster at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Built and designed by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), it is the first Dive Coaster model in the Cedar Fair chain of parks and opened on May 7, 2016, as the tallest, fastest, and longest of its kind in the world. It remains the tallest, sharing its height record with Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland. Valravn is also the first Dive Coaster to use B&M's vest-style, over-the-shoulder restraints and the third Dive Coaster overall to open in the United States. The installation marked the hundredth roller coaster from B&M, dating back to the company's founding in 1988.
References
- ↑ "Press Releases :: Cedar Fair Entertainment Company". Cedarfair.com. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- 1 2 Chavezblade, Jon (2011-12-25). "Kinzel reflects on wild ride". Toledo Blade. Retrieved 2012-01-20.
- ↑ Topey, Melissa (May 9, 2013). "Kinzel stepping down from Cedar Fair board". Sandusky Register . Retrieved May 10, 2013.