I recently visited Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. I love roller coasters and visiting Cedar Point has been on my bucket list for some time. Cedar Point has been around since 1870 and is consistently ranked as the best amusement parks for roller coasters.
Cedar Point merged with Six Flags and apparently is having financial challenges. They have introduced an MVP promotion (Most Valuable Pass) where if you buy a season pass now (August, 2025) at any park, it is good until the end of 2026 at any of the 40+ Six Flags/Cedar Point parks. It also includes free parking at the parks.
I purchased the Gold Pass for Cedar Point for $99 (plus tax and fees for $116 total) and planned to visit for a day and a half to see what the hype is about. You approach Cedar Point from a causeway and the park itself is surrounded by Lake Erie. You can see the “skyline” of the coasters as you approach from the causeway to the parking lot. It is quite impressive.
While there are a lot of non-coaster rides at Cedar Point, for the most part those are aimed at kids. For teens and adults, the point of the park is the roller coasters. As you would expect, there are also a ton of places get food and to shop. I’ll cover my experience with the food in a separate post.
As I was only visiting for a day and a half, I decided to splurge on their Fast Lane wristband (along with a Premium All Day Dining pass). The rate of the band goes up the closer to the date, so I ended up paying a whopping $209 for a one day pass. The pass allows you to bypass the lines on most rides. While the wait times for those without the wristband were sometimes close to two hours, I never had to wait more than 30 minutes (and sometimes was able to walk right on to the ride). It is another instance of division in our society by those that have money and those that do not; but I’ll save my thoughts on that for another day. For now, I was focused on getting on as many roller coasters as possible.
I was able to ride every roller coaster in the park (and some multiple times). Below are my ratings of each coaster. I didn’t ride the kids coasters; so those are not included. There were also two coasters that were closed the days of my visit so I couldn’t review them. I ranked the rides on the following criteria:
- Speed – How fast did the coster go?
- Height – How big were the drops?
- Comfort – How did it feel to ride? Was it painfully jerky or smooth?
Top Thrill 2
Year Opened: 2024
Maximum Height: 420′
Top Speed: 120 mph
Track Length: 3422′
Top Thrill 2 opened in 2024 (for only a short time with a full opening in 2025), replacing Top Thrill Dragster which closed due to maintenance issues and injuries. While the waits during my visit were 100+ minutes, with the Fast Lane I was able to essentially walk right onto the ride. Which I did three times in a row. This is a marque coaster. It is the tallest in the park and the fastest. It hits 120 mph and shoots riders up 420 feet in the air before plummeting straight back down. You start the ride being shot at 70 mph straight forward and halfway up the incline. You then accelerate backwards at 101 mph, up the opposite incline.
You then accelerate forwards at 120 mph and this time are launched up and over the 420 foot tower; twisting up and over before coming back to the ground and back to the station. It is an incredibly smooth ride; the only disorientation is the twist in the track on the way up and back down. In 2025, it is the tallest roller coaster in the world.
- Speed – 10
- Height – 10
- Comfort – 10
- Overall – 10
Millenium Force
Year Opened: 2000
Maximum Height: 310′
Top Speed: 93 mph
Track Length: 6595′
Millennium Force, which opened in 2000, was a world record setter at the time. It was the first coaster in the world to hit over 300 feet in height (310’ to be exact) and hits 93 mph. For a ride that is 25 years old, it is quite smooth. One of the best parts is the view at the top of the hill as you look out across the park and Lake Erie. In my opinion, it is the best traditional roller coaster in the park. In only rate Top Thrill 2 higher because it is just so extreme. But Millennium Force has all the drops and banks you expect in a coaster. It also is a really long ride covering over a mile of track.
- Speed – 10
- Height – 10
- Comfort – 10
- Overall – 10
Siren’s Curse
Year Opened: 2025
Maximum Height: 160′
Top Speed: 58 mph
Track Length: 2966′
Siren’s Curse is Cedar Point’s newest coaster, opening in June 2025. The claim to fame for the ride is that it is a tilt coaster. Once you get to the top of the first hill, the train stops and the track lifts from a horizontal position to a completely vertical position. Riders are held completely vertical for a few minutes before being dropped to start a race through the track.
It isn’t the fastest or tallest or longest coaster in the park, but the tilt feature is well executed and if you are sitting in the back as I was, you get an incredible thrill as you are looking down waiting for the drop. It is also an incredibly smooth ride complete with an on ride soundtrack.
- Speed – 7
- Height – 8
- Comfort – 10
- Overall – 9
GateKeeper
Year Opened: 2013
Maximum Height: 170′
Top Speed: 67 mph
Track Length: 4164′
GateKeeper opened in 2013 when Cedar Point built a new entry plaza. As the name would suggest, the coaster soars over the front gate of the park. It is a wing coaster, meaning that guests seats are set out on either side of the track with your feet free to dangle; which gives it more of a flying feeling. It is an impressive coaster that catches the eye when you first approach the park.
- Speed – 8
- Height – 8
- Comfort – 10
- Overall – 9
Valravn
Year Opened: 2016
Maximum Height: 223′
Top Speed: 75 mph
Track Length: 3415′
Valravn opened in 2016 and has trains that almost feel like three rows of stadium seating. It is classified as a dive coaster as you suspend a few moments at the top of the 223’ hill before diving 90 degrees straight down before going through some twists and inversions.
I had a hard time deciding if I liked Valravn or GateKeeper more as they are actually quite similar. Valravn has a slightly higher thrill factor do the to dive at the start and being taller, but GateKeepr is a longer track and the location at the front of the park and along the beach adds a wow factor.
- Speed – 8
- Height – 9
- Comfort – 10
- Overall – 9
Maverick
Year Opened: 2007
Maximum Height: 105′
Top Speed: 70 mph
Track Length: 4450′
There are a lot of people out there that love Maverick and it often has some of the longest waits in the park. It was the longest wait I had in the park with a Fast Lane Pass of around 40 minutes. It “only” has a 100’ drop, so it isn’t going to stand out in that area. But what Maverick does well is fits a lot into a tight space; including two launch points and a 95 degree drop (yes, that is more than straight down). It also is one of the few roller coasters at Cedar Point to have some theme elements on the ride. I think I would have liked it more had I gone on it again. However, at this point in my rankings I get into the coasters that hurt — that toss you around or shake your brains; such that as my middle-age self felt relief when it was over. It would be a lot more fun if it was a smoother ride.
- Speed – 8
- Height – 6
- Comfort – 6
- Overall – 8
Steel Vengeance
Year Opened: 2018
Maximum Height: 205′
Top Speed: 74 mph
Track Length: 5740′
Sitting across from Maverick in the western theme portion of Cedar Point is Steel Vengeance, a Frankenstein’s monster of a roller coaster. It took over a wood coaster, Mean Streak, which opened in 1990, and used much of the originally wooden structure. But it replaced the track with a modern steel coaster track creating a hybrid coaster (wood + steel) and created an eye popping 200’ drop. This coaster does some crazy stuff. This is not your typical wooden coaster. But my body took a beating on this one. I found the lap bar cutting into my stomach and I came away wondering if it is possible to bruise a kidney. Of course I was fine a few minutes later, but I felt flipped around like a rag doll.
- Speed – 8
- Height – 9
- Comfort – 5
- Overall – 8
Magnum XL-200
Year Opened: 1989
Maximum Height: 205′
Top Speed: 72 mph
Track Length: 5106′
Back in 1989, Magnum was THE roller coaster and it transitioned Cedar Point into the roller coaster park. Tallest, fasted, steepest drop in the world at the time. Plus it runs along the beach for some cool views. It never goes upside down. It also is a pretty rough ride.
- Speed – 8
- Height – 9
- Comfort – 6
- Overall – 7
Iron Dragon
Year Opened: 1987
Maximum Height: 76′
Top Speed: 40 mph
Track Length: 2800′
Iron Dragon is a suspended coaster with a track overhead and a train of cars suspended below. The train is built to allow the cars to sway, which results in smooth, but fairly tame, ride.
- Speed – 4
- Height – 4
- Comfort – 10
- Overall – 6
Gemini
Year Opened: 1978
Maximum Height: 125′
Top Speed: 60 mph
Track Length: 3935′
Gemini is supposed to be a dueling coaster, but during my visit only one of the two tracks was running. I think the idea of two trains racing is what makes the ride; so not having that experience reduced the thrill of the ride. Instead it was a pretty standard, traditional wood coaster.
- Speed – 7
- Height – 6
- Comfort – 7
- Overall – 6
Cedar Creek Mine Ride
Year Opened: 1969
Maximum Height: 48′
Top Speed: 42 mph
Track Length: 2540′
Cedar Creek Mine Ride is an older ride, and doesn’t have a Fast Lane. The lines during my visit were never super long. It is similar to Disney’s Thunder Mountain but less themed and more jerky. It is a good coaster for kids but not one that I would ride more than once.
- Speed – 4
- Height – 3
- Comfort – 6
- Overall – 4
Corkscrew
Year Opened: 1976
Maximum Height: 85′
Top Speed: 48 mph
Track Length: 2050′
Corkscrew is a disorienting but, thankfully, short ride. It mostly stays low to the ground, including zipping over guests walking through the park.
It is a steel roller coaster that could be found in any number of parks around the world.
- Speed – 5
- Height – 5
- Comfort – 3
- Overall – 3
Blue Streak
Year Opened: 1964
Maximum Height: 78′
Top Speed: 40 mph
Track Length: 2558′
Think of a traditional wooden roller coaster and you’ll think of Blue Streak. The oldest coaster at Cedar Point, you click click click up the main hill, then drop down a hill, up and down a few humps, out and around a banked turn to return to the start after a few smaller humps. It is a bumpy ride that will jerk you in every direction.
- Speed – 4
- Height – 4
- Comfort – 1
- Overall – 2
Closed
Both Raptor and Rougarou were closed during my visit so I didn’t have a chance to rate them.
Family Coasters and Other Rides
There are two kid coasters (Wilderness Run and Woodstock Express) that I didn’t try out. I also didn’t do the Wild Mouse as it is a generic ride that can be found at any county fair. It also had long lines with no Fast Lane. Finally, some consider Pipe Scream a roller coaster, but it isn’t. So I’m not including it here.
What do you think of my rankings of the roller coasters at Cedar Point? I notice that a lot of my rates are based on comfort; I’m at a point in my life where being in pain isn’t fun for me. Do you rank some of the more rough rides higher than I do? Share in the comments.