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Cedar Point Rides Graveyard

Cedar Point Rides Graveyard / Cedar Point Closed Rides Tribute review & pics – As I head to Cedar Point for the umpteenth time for HalloWeekends, I wanted to pay tribute to the Cedar Point Closed Rides that lit up my childhood.

CEDAR POINT HALLOWEEKENDS INFO

Cedar Point Closed Rides Tribute

One of best parts of being a kid when I grew up was looking forward to the annual Cedar Point trip. Cedar Point did a wonderful job in those pre-cable TV days of bombarding local kids TV programming with endless teases of the latest rides. Talking about “the new ride at Cedar Point” was appointment discussion at elementary school lunchrooms across the mid-west every spring.

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My personal heyday for Cedar Point rides was that sweet-spot from about age 10 through age 15. The big Cedar Point rides from my youth were Demon Drop, White Water Landing, Thunder Canyon, Iron Dragon, and Magnum XL!

I marvel today when I take my kids to Cedar Point. The park just gets better and better. While many of my favorite rides (including many I just listed) are now closed to make way for the latest and greatest, I’d like to pay tribute to the Cedar Point Closed Rides. Some may even include a short vignette about my memories of the ride.

You can now remember many of these Cedar Point Closed Rides at HalloWeekends in the Cedar Point Ride Graveyard!

Cedar Point Rides Graveyard Pics

Cedar Point Closed Rides List (*Rides in the Cedar Point Rides Graveyard)

  • Sky Slide (1968-1991)* – A long, hilly slide you propelled down on with sitting on a canvas mat. What may have been huge in ’68 is merely just a carnival ride today.
  • Frontier Lift (1968-1985)* – Sky Ride that took you from Frontier Land to different parts of the park.
  • Pirate Ride (1966-1996)* – I don’t remember this one at all.
  • Rotor (1961-1984)* – So common in mini carnivals today as the Gravitar or some other centrifugal force ride.
  • Demon Drop (1983-2009)* – This ride was a game-changer in ’83. The sad reality was that you waited in line for 45 minutes for a 20 second ride.
  • Jumbo Jet (1972-1978)* – One of Cedar Point’s first steel coasters. It’s currently still functional at an amusement park in Belarus.
  • Space Spiral (1965-2012)* – Cedar Point’s version of the Space Needle
  • Frontier Carrousel (1972-1995)* – I just remember this as a giant wooden carousel or “merry-go-round”.
  • Tiki Twirl (1965-1984)* – I LOVED the Tiki Twirl. It was one of those fantastic rides that never really had much of a line. If we were going from part of the park to another, we’d always hit the Tiki Twirl.
  • WildCat (1979-2011)* – An underrated coaster. It just couldn’t compete with the bigger ones at Cedar Point.
  • Funhouse (1966-1981)* – Not that fun and only slightly better than what you’d see at an ordinary carnival funhouse today.
  • Star Voyager (1960-1986)* – This ride was REALLY dated by the 80s.
  • Trabant (1965-1990)* – Had a giant disco ball in the middle.
  • Disaster Transport (1985-2012)* – I remember it started as Avalanche Run. The “roller coaster without tracks” theory sounded great but this ride simply wasn’t very much fun.
  • Schwabinchen (1970-2002)* 
  • VertiGo (2001-2002)* – Cedar Point’s Edsel.
  • Sky Wheel (1964-1980)*
  • Mill Race (1963-1993)* – This was a pretty dated (but fun) water ride. I’m surprised it made it to 1993.
  • Wild Mouse (1959-1963)* – Tiny individual cars zoom around on this mini coaster. It’s hear a new modern version of Wild Mouse will debut in 2023.
  • Earthquake (1965-1984)* – I loved this one as a kid. Mini-cars transport you through dark tunnels with twists and turns to simulate the SF 1906 earthquake. It was really creative.
  • White Water Landing (1982-2005) – White Water Landing had ALMOST as much hype when it came out as the Magnum did. On the plus side, this was a very long ride that was worth the long wait in line. The downside was that it only had 1 thrilling part – the huge drop at the end of the ride. For a water ride, there wasn’t enough riders getting wet.
  • Bayern Kurve (1970-1984)* – Think of The Matterhorn at your local carnival.
  • Mean Streak (1991-2016) – HUGE wooden roller coaster but jerked you around too much (but that was its charm!)
  • Wicked Twister (2002-2021) – This inverted coaster died too young, I liked this one when it came out
  • Top Thrill Dragster (2003-2021) – It’s a shame we lost this 120mph, 420+ foot coaster – but it had so many issues.. especially when on days when the winds were above 3 miles per hour

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FUN FACTS ABOUT THE CEDAR POINT GRAVEYARD

The oldest grave belongs to the Monorail, built in 1959 (although the grave is undated). The ride with the longest lifespan was the Space Spiral, running from 1965 to 2012.

Special thanks to Cedar Point Public Relations Manager Bryan Edwards for helping me with some of the dates and info on this list. I also used portions of this wikipedia article for info.

OAKLAND COUNTY MOMS BLOG ENTRIES

Which are your favorite Cedar Point Closed Rides at the Cedar Point Rides Graveyard?

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