Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio has been voted the best amusement park in the world for good reason. For our family, summer wouldn't be summer without our annual visit.
Open since 1870, it is the second oldest operating amusement park in North America (source), and I think one of the things that keeps it so popular is a healthy balance of tradition and change.
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| Coming down the first hill of the Millennium Force |
Some of the old comforts bring us great memories, like the Millennium Force Roller Coaster. This roller coaster has provided us with the best 'eek' face I've ever seen in a picture, when my oldest son and I rode it when he was 12-years-old. I still laugh just thinking of the picture. If I knew which of our nine million photo albums it was in (slight exaggeration), I would scan it for this post. :)
Here is a video of that coaster, which takes you 310 feet into the air on an elevator cable (no click, clack slow-going up those hills, this baby flies!). The Millennium Force is my 2nd favorite coaster at the park (second only to the Top Thrill Dragster).
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| The mill in Frontier Town has been there since I was a kid. |
There are even older nostalgic favorites for me. Frontier Town is a trail at the back of the park (depending on which way you go). For me, it always signaled the end of the day as a child because it was the end of the huge circle we took through the park on the days we were visiting. I never noted it before, but I still take that big circle path when I visit today. :)
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| Pretty sure that's one of the coolest displays I've seen. |
The trail is awesome and could make a blog post of its own! There are old buildings, a running water mill, and great displays like this really old train pictured above. There's also a petting zoo, a place to watch blowing glass, eat bbq, etc. The whole trail has an old town feel to it that's hard to beat. I appreciate that trail more and more as I get older (while my kids are out running around to get in as many coaster rides as possible, just like I did when I was their age...and I still do, just not to the same extent). :)
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| There are three huge areas for kids to play in. They have live shows, a ton of rides, character meet-and-greets, and so on and so forth. |
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| One of the many rides for the younger crowd. |
There are three (huge) kid areas, and one smaller one (with a baby coaster). If you have small children, they will not want for things to do at Cedar Point. There are pint-sized bumper cars, slower going mini scramblers, flying rides, small swings, etc. These areas used to be a huge thrill for every one of my four children. My youngest dabbled in each area a bit when we went last weekend (and he enjoyed them), but he was tall enough to ride big rides this year, and wanted to do that, of course. He even rode the new Pipe Scream rollercoaster. Everyone did...except my mom who was with us this go around. She opted to stay on the ground and wave to us when our turn to ride finally came around. ;)
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| I think The Gatekeeper has a cool design. |
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| It goes right through the front gate structure. |
Even with the older constants/favorites, Cedar Point is certainly not afraid of change. Every year they've got something new going on. This year, like most years, they have new rides. The roller coaster pictured above isn't new this year, but it was last year, and I think the design of the route is so very cool. You can see in the picture above that it travels right through the front gate of the park.
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| See how the big blast of water goes up when the boat hits the ground? If you look carefully you can see people deliberately standing on the bridge. They're waiting to get soaked by that huge splash... and they do. |
There are many other things I could write about. And some of the areas in the park could stand alone for blog posts, they're just that cool. But I'll end with the water. Not the water that surrounds the peninsula the 364-acre park is on (though that is cool in itself) but the water on the bridge of Snake River Falls that allows you to get SOAKED when you cross it (some people stand there on purpose waiting for the next boat to drop, others high tail it out of there so they won't get wet ... or wetter, as the case may be). I could not talk any of my party into taking that water blast on the bridge. My youngest was vehement that nuh uh, he did not want to get that wet.
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| At the end of our day, I told Mr. 'Nuh-Uh, I do not want to get wet,' that he could do one more thing before it was time to leave. The irony in his choice did not go unnoticed. ;) |
On the way out, I told him he could do one more thing before we got to the parking lot. Mr. 'Nuh-uh, I do not want to get that wet!' selected the splash pad. The irony of his choice did not go unnoticed. ;)
Cedar Point is fun for every age. There is really something to do and enjoy for everyone. If you're in the area go visit. And if you're not, go visit too, lol!! I have gone every year of my life, even when we lived far away in Florida. It's just that good!
You can learn more about the park by visiting the website.
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