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CEDAR POINT COASTER
CHRONOLOGY |
| 1870: |
Cedar Point opened (although the exact date is unknown, it was sometime
during the month of July) |
| 1880: |
The park's first ride, a water trapeze, was installed |
| 1888: |
The historic Grand Pavilion was built |
| 1892: |
Cedar Point's premier coaster, the Switchback Railway, debuted |
| 1897: |
George A. Boeckling acquired ownership of Cedar Point |
| 1899: |
The park's first hotel, the 20-room Bay Shore Hotel, was erected |
| 1905: |
The grand 600-room Hotel Breakers opened |
| 1906: |
A new midway was built with rides, games, fortune tellers, shops, skating
rink, funhouses and a shooting gallery |
| 1910: |
Aviation great Glenn H. Curtiss completed the first long-distance flight
over water and landed on the Cedar Point Beach |
| 1913: |
University of Notre Dame football standout Knute Rockne worked as a
lifeguard on the Cedar Point Beach |
| 1925: |
Helen Keller was the guest speaker at the Annual Convention of Lions
International hosted by the park's Convention Center |
| 1929: |
The legendary Cyclone scream machine coasted onto the midway |
| 1957: |
The Cedar Point Causeway opened |
| 1959: |
Construction was completed on the Cedar Point Marina |
| 1964: |
The famous Blue Streak roller coaster was introduced |
| 1968: |
Frontiertown opened and the first live stage show debuted |
| 1969: |
The Cedar Creek Mine Ride, one of the first coasters to use a steel
tubular track, rolled onto the park's scream machine lineup |
| 1970: |
A new pay-one-price admission policy was established |
| 1971: |
Frontier Trail connected the midway with Frontiertown and Camper Village
RV campground was built |
| 1972: |
The Giant Wheel, Jumbo Jet and Frontier Carousel joined Cedar Point’s
roster of rides |
| 1975: |
The spellbinding Cedar Point IMAX Cinema opened |
| 1976: |
The revolutionary Corkscrew, the first triple-looping roller coaster in
the world, was constructed |
| 1978: |
Gemini, a twin track racing coaster, debuted as the tallest and fastest
scream machine in the world; Cedar Point purchased Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minn. |
| 1980: |
Oceana, a marine-mammal complex, opened |
| 1983: |
The free-falling Demon Drop was built |
| 1985: |
Avalanche Run coaster and the indoor Berenstain Bear Country debuted |
| 1986: |
Thunder Canyon, a white water rapids adventure ride, opened |
| 1987: |
Iron Dragon, a suspended coaster, was erected |
| 1988: |
Soak City water park made a wave of excitement with 10 slides |
| 1989: |
The world-record-breaking Magnum XL-200 roller coaster opened and Cedar
Point entered the Guinness Book of Records for the first time |
| 1990: |
Disaster Transport, a space adventure in the dark, debuted and Sandcastle
Suites Hotel was built |
| 1991: |
Mean Streak, one of the world’s tallest and fastest wooden coasters,
opened |
| 1992: |
Challenge Park, a go-kart raceway and 36-hole miniature golf course, was
built and Berenstain Bear Country was expanded with an outdoor portion; Cedar Fair, L.P.
acquired Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pa. |
| 1993: |
Sponsored by Pepsi, Snake River Falls made a big splash as the tallest,
fastest and steepest water flume ride in the world |
| 1994: |
Raptor, a high-tech inverted roller coaster with no floors, made its debut
as the tallest, fastest and steepest in the world |
| 1995: |
Cedar Point celebrated its 125th Anniversary season with a record $17
million in improvements, including a wing of accommodations at the Hotel Breakers named
Breakers East, a massive expansion to Soak City and "Cedar Point Summer
Spectacular," a laser, light and sound show presented by Pepsi and Meijer, made its
debut. Cedar Fair acquired Worlds of Fun and Oceans of Fun in Kansas City, Mo. |
| 1996: |
Cedar Point debuted the single largest ride investment in its history --
Mantis, a $12 million stand-up roller coaster that is one of the tallest, fastest and
steepest of its kind in the world |
| 1997: |
Cedar Point debuted a major expansion to its Soak City water park, along
with Midway Market, a sit-down restaurant; Chaos, a spinning thrill ride; and the Swan
Boats paddleboat ride |
| 1998: |
Power Tower, an incredible 300-foot-tall thrill ride, blasted its way onto
Cedar Point’s list of world-record-breaking thrill machines. Cedar Fair
acquired Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park, Calif., and assumed management of
Knott’s Camp Snoopy at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn. |
| 1999: |
Camp Snoopy, a major family playland; an expansion to the Hotel Breakers
called Breakers Tower; improvements to the Cedar Point Marina; Coasters restaurant; and
the new stock-kart raceway at Challenge Park will debut. |
| 2000 |
Millennium Force |
| 2002 |
Wicked Twister |
