What to See in Sandusky - Top Sights and Attractions

Roller coaster in Sandusky, Ohio. Top Thrill Dragster is a steel accelerator roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the sixteenth roller coaster to be built at the park since Blue Streak in 1964. It opened in 2003 as the tallest roller coaster in the world and the first full-circuit roller coaster to exceed 400 feet in height. Its height record was later surpassed by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005. Top Thrill Dragster, along with Kingda Ka, are the only strata coasters in existence. It was the second hydraulically launched roller coaster built by Intamin, following Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm. The tagline for Top Thrill Dragster is "Race for the Sky".^[1]

Steel roller coaster with a twisted roll. Maverick is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Manufactured by Intamin at a cost of $21 million, it was the 500th roller coaster designed by German engineer Werner Stengel and the first to feature a twisted horseshoe roll element. There are two launch points along the 4,450-foot track that utilize linear synchronous motors. Maverick features a beyond-vertical drop of 95 degrees and reaches a maximum speed of 70 mph.

Maverick was originally scheduled to open on May 12, 2007, but the opening was delayed after testing revealed that its heartline roll element, which followed the second launch, was too intense and placed excessive stress on the trains. It was replaced in favor of an s-curve element that joins two banked turns, and the coaster opened to public on May 26, 2007. The slogan used in the ride's promotion was "The Old West Was Never This Wild."^[2]

Roller coaster in Sandusky, Ohio. Magnum XL-200, colloquially known as simply Magnum, is a steel roller coaster built by Arrow Dynamics at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. When it opened in 1989, it was the tallest, fastest, and steepest complete-circuit roller coaster in the world as well as the first hypercoaster – a roller coaster that exceeds 200 feet in height. Some have credited Magnum with starting a period in the industry known as the roller coaster wars, in which amusement parks competed with one another at a rapid pace to build the next tallest and fastest roller coaster. More than 40 million people had ridden Magnum as of 2009.

Magnum XL-200 held the title of tallest roller coaster in the world until 1994 when Pepsi Max Big One opened at Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the United Kingdom. Amusement Today presented Magnum with its "Best Steel Roller Coaster" Golden Ticket Award for three consecutive years from 1998 to 2000. As of 2014, it was ranked thirteenth in the world by the same publication.^[3]

Roller coaster in Sandusky, Ohio. Rougarou, formerly known as Mantis, is a floorless roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Designed and built by Bolliger & Mabillard, the roller coaster originally opened in 1996 as a stand-up roller coaster called Mantis, which at the time was the tallest, fastest, and longest of its kind in the world. Cedar Point had planned to name the ride Banshee, but due to negative publicity following the announcement, the name was later changed to Mantis.

In September 2014, Cedar Point announced the pending closure of Mantis, scheduled for the following month. The park later revealed that Mantis would not be removed but would be transformed into a floorless roller coaster design for the 2015 season. It reopened as Rougarou on May 9, 2015 and is now a completely different experience.^[6]

Roller coaster. Valravn is a steel roller coaster at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Built and designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, it is the first Dive Coaster model in the Cedar Fair chain of parks and opened on May 7, 2016, as the tallest, fastest, and longest of its kind in the world. It remains the tallest, sharing its height record with Yukon Striker at Canada's Wonderland. Valravn is also the first Dive Coaster to use B&M's vest-style, over-the-shoulder restraints and the third Dive Coaster overall to open in the United States. The installation marked the hundredth roller coaster from B&M, dating back to the company's founding in 1988.

Following on the heels of Rougarou, which opened at Cedar Point in 2015, Valravn also takes its name from cultural folklore. The ride's theme is based on a mythological bird from Danish folklore called the valravn, which means "raven of the slain".^[7]

Wing rollercoaster at Cedar Point. GateKeeper is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. Designed by Bolliger & Mabillard, it was the fifth Wing Coaster installation in the world. The ride opened on May 11, 2013, on the most successful opening weekend to date in the park's history. GateKeeper featured the highest inversion in the world when it opened, with its 170-foot Wing Over drop. It also broke several Wing Coaster records, including those for height, speed, track length, drop height and number of inversions. The coaster has a 170 ft, 40-degree inclined lift hill with a 164 ft drop and features two support towers with keyhole elements that the trains travel through. Its maximum speed is approximately 67 mph.

Construction began in September 2012 and took roughly eight months to complete. Cedar Point built a new entrance plaza featuring the keyhole towers as the centerpiece. The roller coaster replaced Disaster Transport and Space Spiral, both demolished during mid-2012. It was Cedar Point's first new roller coaster since Maverick debuted in 2007, and the third B&M coaster in the park following Raptor (1994) and Mantis (1996). In 2013, GateKeeper was the most frequently-ridden roller coaster at Cedar Point, and it ranked 28th among steel roller coasters in the annual Golden Ticket Awards poll from Amusement Today.^[9]

Thrill ride with racing roller coasters. Gemini is a racing roller coaster with a wooden structure and steel track, located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Built in 1978 by Arrow Dynamics and designed by Ron Toomer, it is one of the oldest roller coasters in the park. When the ride opened, it was marketed as the tallest, fastest and steepest roller coaster in the world. All three record-breaking claims were falsely made as other coasters around the world already beat Gemini. The all-steel Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, opened earlier that year before Gemini and was taller but had a shorter drop. Screamin' Eagle at Six Flags St. Louis opened two years prior to Gemini and was faster at 62 mph.^[11]

Steel Vengeance, formerly known as Mean Streak, is a steel roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. The roller coaster was rebuilt by Rocky Mountain Construction and opened to the public on May 5, 2018. It features RMC's patented I-Box Track technology utilizing a significant portion of Mean Streak's former support structure. Upon completion, Steel Vengeance set 10 world records.

Originally constructed by Dinn Corporation, Mean Streak opened to the public on May 11, 1991, as the tallest wooden coaster in the world with the longest drop height. After more than 25 years of operation, Cedar Point closed Mean Streak on September 16, 2016, casting doubt and uncertainty regarding the ride's future. Over time, the park dropped subtle hints about a possible track conversion, which was officially confirmed in August 2017. It was marketed as the world's first hybrid hypercoaster – a wooden and steel roller coaster at least 200 feet (61 m) in height – and reemerged as Steel Vengeance. A minor collision on opening day led to a temporary closure and later modifications from RMC.^[12]

Amusement park ride in Sandusky, Ohio. Snake River Falls is a shoot-the-chutes water ride attraction located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Designed by Arrow Dynamics, the ride opened to the public on May 8, 1993. Its theme is loosely based on a wood packing company, and it is one of three water rides at Cedar Point along with Thunder Canyon, and Snake River Expedition.

Snake River Falls debuted as the tallest, fastest and steepest water ride in the world. Guests board flat bottom, 20-passenger boats that advance directly onto the lift hill. Upon reaching the top of the 82-foot-tall (25 m) hill, the boats make a U-turn left into a 50-degree splashdown drop at 40 mph (64 km/h). A bridge sites at the bottom of the hill directly over the path of the ride providing spectators a view up close and the opportunity to get wet. An artificial mountain was originally planned to sit underneath the highest point of the track, but the idea was later abandoned.

From the ride's opening in 1993 until the 2012 season, Snake River Falls was sponsored by Pepsi. After Cedar Point switched to Coca-Cola in 2013, the ride now operates without a sponsor.^[17]

Waterway in Ohio. The Huron River is a 14.9-mile-long waterway in the north central Ohio in the United States. The watershed drains large portions of Erie County and Huron County, the northeast corners of Seneca County and Crawford County, and northern portions of Richland County.

The mouth is on Lake Erie at the city of Huron. The main branch of the river is formed when the East and West branches merge near Milan.

The East Branch, 31.8 miles (51.2 km) long, rises west of Fitchville and flows west to North Fairfield, where it bends north and flows through Peru and Norwalk before reaching Milan.

The West Branch is 54.5 miles (87.7 km) long. It rises about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Greenwich and four miles east of Shiloh, near the intersection of Gilger Road and Noble Road in northern Richland County's Blooming Grove Township. This is within a few miles of the headwaters of both the southwest branch of the Vermilion River (which also flows north to Lake Erie) and Shipp Creek, which is part of the Ohio River watershed via the Black Fork, Mohican, Walhonding, and Muskingum rivers. The West Branch of the Huron flows north and west from Blooming Grove Township through Huron County's Ripley Township, then back into Richland County's Cass Township and into Plymouth. It is here where the river bends north to flow across the Richland/Huron county line into Huron County's New Haven Township and into New Haven. It passes to the east of Willard, although other tributaries rise north of Willard. Still in Huron County, the West Branch continues north through Greenfield Township, Peru Township, and Ridgefield Township. The West Branch continues north into Monroeville and through the balance of Ridgefield Township. Next, the river crosses from Huron County into Erie County and then bends in an easterly direction through southern Oxford Township before reaching the confluence with the East Branch in the Milan State Wildlife Area.^[18]