Cedar Point
Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States, owned and operated by Six Flags. It opened in 1870 and is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the US behind Lake Compounce. Prior to the merger with Six Flags in 2024, Cedar Point served as the "flagship park" of the Cedar Fair amusement park chain and hosted the corporate headquarters. Known as "America's Roller Coast", the park features 18 roller coasters, which ties for first among amusement parks in North America joining sister parks Six Flags Magic Mountain and Canada's Wonderland.
Cedar Point's normal operating season runs from early May until Labor Day in September, which is followed by weekend-only operation through Halloween during an annual event known as HalloWeekends. Other amenities and attractions featured within the park include a beach, an outdoor water park named Cedar Point Shores, an indoor water park named Castaway Bay, two marinas, and an outdoor sports complex called Cedar Point Sports Center.
The park has reached numerous milestones over the years, including one in which Cedar Point became the only amusement park in the world with five roller coasters that exceed in height – Magnum XL-200, Millennium Force, Valravn, Steel Vengeance, and Top Thrill 2 – as well as the only park with roller coasters in all four height classifications. Cedar Point also received the Golden Ticket Award for "Best Amusement Park in the World" from Amusement Today for sixteen consecutive years from 1997 to 2013. Among seasonal amusement parks in North America, Cedar Point consistently ranks as the second-most visited behind only Canada's Wonderland, with an estimated 3.44 million visitors in 2022. In addition, several of its buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
History
In the late-19th century, the south shore region of Lake Erie became a popular vacation destination for the emerging middle-class in the United States. The Lake's islands, such as Kelleys Island and South Bass Island, were gaining a reputation for their freshwater bathing resorts. The Cedar Point peninsula, named for its abundance of cedar trees, was originally known for its fishing. Local fishermen leased land and built living quarters there. Sandusky, which featured an important shipping harbor and two railroads, transformed into a major economic center over the next three decades. Railroad and steamship travel supported an emerging tourism industry, and rapid development of the area began.In the 1860s during the American Civil War, housing for a battery of four field artillery pieces was constructed at the tip of the peninsula. It was used to defend a prison for Confederate soldiers on nearby Johnson's Island. Louis Zistel, a German immigrant, built two boats to transport the prisoners. In 1870, he began to ferry locals to the Cedar Point peninsula, which opened as a public bathing beach. Zistel opened a bathhouse on the north shore of the peninsula and the same year built a beer garden with a small dance floor. He charged 25 cents per person to ride from Sandusky to Cedar Point on his boat, Young Reindeer, widely recognized as the beginning of commercial tourism on the Cedar Point peninsula.
In 1878, James West opened a group of bathhouses near the beach. By 1880, a local newspaper had observed that the popularity of the beach was increasing, with picnicking on the grounds becoming a popular pastime. The popularity of the peninsula attracted the attention of Benjamin F. Dwelle and Captain William Slackford, who leased land on the peninsula in 1882 and built eight new bathhouses, a dance hall, and wooden walkways on the beach. The steamboats R.B. Hayes and Lutts provided transport to Biemiller's Cove and Cedar Point Light. Building on early success, Dwelle and Slackford continued to expand the offerings for their visitors each year and added picnic tables, cleared acres of brush, and built a baseball diamond.
After Slackford became ill in 1888, Dwelle entered into a more lucrative partnership with Adam Stoll and Louis Adolph, who owned land at Cedar Point, along with investors Charles Baetz and Jacob Kuebeler. The partnership's first venture was constructing a Grand Pavilion, which opened the same year in 1888 and marked the first concerted effort to operate the peninsula as a public resort. It was a two-story theater and concert hall with a bowling alley and photographer's studio. The building was recognized for its unusual architecture and still stands in the park. The first amusement ride at Cedar Point, a water toboggan ride consisting of a ramp that launched riders into Lake Erie, opened in 1890. Electricity was installed at Cedar Point in 1891. The first roller coaster, Switchback Railway, opened the following year. It stood high and had a top speed of. The Switchback Railway was designed as two identical tracks side-by-side – one for the ride down and the other for the train to be hauled back to the top by the ride attendant.
Boeckling era
Representatives of the Lake Erie and Western Railroad purchased the peninsula for in 1897 and formed the Cedar Point Pleasure Resort Company. The company appointed George A. Boeckling, a businessman from Indiana, as the park's new manager. Under his tenure, the peninsula was transformed from a picnic ground into a nationally recognized amusement park and resort destination.The second roller coaster at Cedar Point, the Figure-Eight Roller Toboggan, debuted in 1902. It was moved several years later and renamed The Racer. A pony track was built near the beach the same year. Mosquitos were an issue, so in 1904, the park hired the Detroit Dredging Company to drain swampy areas on the peninsula, thereby connecting a series of lagoons to form a water passageway that quickly became one of the park's signature attractions. Aside from sightseeing passenger boats, the passageway was used to transport coal to power plants near the center of the peninsula. The historic Hotel Breakers opened in 1905 as one of the largest hotels in the Midwest; it had 600 guest rooms and a cafe that could seat 400 guests. A new area of the park called "Amusement Circle" was designed in 1906 to link the pier to the beach. It was located southeast of the Coliseum, a large arena built the same year that featured a grand ballroom and other attractions.
The Dip the Dips Scenic Railway roller coaster opened in 1908, but it was soon overshadowed by the larger Leap the Dips ride that opened in 1912. In 1917, Dip the Dips was razed and replaced by the Leap Frog Scenic Railway. With a growing assortment of rides including three roller coasters, Cedar Point was beginning to grow as an amusement park. However, that wasn't a priority for Boeckling. He marketed the peninsula primarily as a bathing resort complete with shows, exhibits, motion pictures, and other forms of entertainment, but did not place emphasis on the park's rides.
Several additional hotels and restaurants were constructed in the remaining years of Boeckling's tenure, including Hotel Cedars, White House Hotel, Crystal Rock Castle and Crystal Gardens Ballroom. Cedar Point continued to update its ride attractions, replacing the Racer, the Circle Swing, and other rides to make way for a Shoot-the-Chutes water ride, a Tilt-A-Whirl, and fun houses such as Noah's Ark and Bluebeard's Palace. The Cyclone, a wooden roller coaster, opened in 1929. Boeckling, who was still attempting to expand the park, died from uremia on July 24, 1931.
After Boeckling: the George A. Roose era
Edward Smith took over Cedar Point's management after Boeckling's death. As a result of the Great Depression, little expansion happened through the 1930s. One of the few rides built in during this time was the Tumble Bug. The decaying Leap the Dips coaster was demolished in the mid-1930s. In the late 1930s, the resort was on the brink of being sold to the state of Ohio for. After the 1938 season, the directors had the second floor of the Coliseum modernized in the art deco style with a new stage. In the middle, the giant dance floor remained. Some of the top bands of the time played in the ballroom. As a result, it kept Cedar Point operating through the rest of the Depression. Momma Berardi's Home Made French Fries came to Cedar Point, Momma Berardi's family played an important role in the food industry at Cedar Point. Momma Berardi's fries were sold there from 1942 until 1978, winning four Reader's Choice Awards.By the end of World War II, Cedar Point was in need of financial help. The wood of the Cyclone roller coaster was rotting, the boardwalk was cracked in many places, and the fishing dock was in need of repair. In 1946, Cedar Point's oldest still-existing ride, the Midway Carousel, was installed. By 1951, the Cyclone coaster was razed because of its poor condition, leaving the resort without a roller coaster. As the Cyclone was being removed, the Laff-in-the-Dark, Rocket Ships, and Loop-A-Plane attractions were installed. Cedar Point Causeway was built in 1957 and is still in use. The president of Cedar Point, Bernie Zeiher, was replaced by George Roose around 1958, and Emile Legros was elected chairman that same year.
In the 1950s, the Pagoda Gift Shop was a post-office and the Crystal Rock Castle was turned into a maintenance shop in the late-1950s. In 1959, the hotels were repainted, new admission gates were installed, and over was spent to refresh Cedar Point. The park's first roller coaster since the Cyclone, the Wild Mouse, was built. The resort also got a new kind of ride, a monorail, that was the most popular ride in 1959. Breakers Hotel was restored and the neglected cottages were demolished. The Coliseum and Grand Pavilion were both painted and remodeled. The Crystal Rock Castle Maintenance Shop, bathhouses, and the old powerhouse were demolished, and a new $50,000 bathhouse, boiler house, and maintenance shop were built in their place.
In the 1960s, the idea of "pay one price" season passes became common. On March 28, 1960, Cedar Point announced plans to transform the park into a "Disneyland" amusement center. Those plans fell through, however. Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad opened in 1963, transporting passengers from the middle of the park to the back. In 1964, Cedar Point built its oldest surviving roller coaster, the Blue Streak. It was named after the local high school's sports teams, the Sandusky Blue Streaks. Jungle Larry's Safari Island was a well-known attraction that operated from 1965 until 1994 despite the death of Jungle Larry in 1984. The Cedar Creek Mine Ride opened in 1969; it is currently the second oldest roller coaster at Cedar Point.
In 1970, the Centennial Theatre, named in honor of Cedar Point's 100th anniversary, was built. 1972 brought Giant Wheel and the now-defunct Jumbo Jet coaster. During the summer of 1974, Cedar Point reached an agreement with Marriott Corporation to be acquired in a stock-trade, where Roose and Legros would receive Marriott stock in exchange for Cedar Point stock. At the time, Marriott was expanding into the theme park business with locations in Illinois and California. The agreement was short lived as the deal was called off by Labor Day of that year. Around the same time, Cedar Point acquired property in the Irish Hills of Michigan in an attempt to build a second amusement park. The project was eventually cancelled due to local opposition. In 1975, Robert L. Munger Jr. took over as president of Cedar Point after Roose retired. The record-breaking Corkscrew roller coaster was built in 1976; it was the first roller coaster to span a midway and have three inversions. Gemini opened in 1978 and was advertised as the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster in the world. A kiddie coaster, named Jr. Gemini, opened the following year across from the Gemini. White Water Landing opened in 1982, replacing the original Shoot the Rapids log flume. In 1983, Demon Drop was built at the front of the park. Avalanche Run opened in 1985 close to the beach and would later be re-themed as Disaster Transport. That same year, the San Francisco Earthquake Ride was transformed into the Berenstain Bear Country.
While Cedar Point operated independently up until this point, Munger saw the opportunity to expand by acquiring Valleyfair amusement park in Minnesota in 1978. Parent company Cedar Fair Limited Partnership, commonly known as Cedar Fair, was later formed in 1983. Its name was derived from both parks – "Cedar" representing Cedar Point and "Fair" representing Valleyfair. The company went public on April 29, 1987.