Millennium Force (Cedar Point)

Roller coaster in the United States
(Redirected from Millennium Force)
Watch the on-ride POV
Millennium Force
Cedar Point
Location Sandusky, Ohio, USA
Coordinates 41°28′54″N 82°41′17″W / 41.4816347°N 82.6881437°W / 41.4816347; -82.6881437
Status Operating since May 13, 2000
Cost $25,000,000 USD
Rider height 48 inch minimum
Statistics
Manufacturer Intamin
Product Giga Coaster
Designer / calculations Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH
Type Steel - Giga
Riders per train 36
Hourly capacity 1300
Propulsion Cable lift hill
Height 310 feet
Drop 300 feet
Top speed 93 mph
Length 6595 feet
Inversions 0
Drop angle 80°
Duration 2:20
HELP

Millennium Force is an Intamin built giga roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, USA. It was the park's fourteenth roller coaster since Blue Streak in 1964. When it opened on May 13, 2000, it was the first complete circuit roller coaster over 300 feet tall and was briefly the tallest full-circuit roller coaster in the world. It was surpassed by Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land in August 2000.

Millennium Force receives consistently high ratings from the Golden Ticket Awards. It switched between first and second place with Superman The Ride at Six Flags New England until 2016, when it was beaten by Fury 325 at Carowinds.

The ride is marketed with the slogan "The future is riding on it".[1]

History

A train on an airtime hill

On July 2, 1999, Cedar Fair filed a trademark for the name Millennium Force.[2]

The roller coaster was announced on July 22, 1999.[3] It was the first major coaster built to take advantage of the internet, with both a teaser video and construction updates released onto the web.[citation needed]

Millennium Force opened to the media on May 11, 2000, two days prior to the official opening on May 13.[4][5]

On September 2, 2001, Millennium Force was closed after one of the cables separated, leaving 30 employees stranded 275 feet above the ground for an hour.[6]

Design

Elements

Millennium Force uses a cable lift hill rather than a more traditional chain lift. While cable lift hills had been used on smaller roller coasters, this was the first time this technology had been used on a large scale.

Trains

3 trains with 9 cars per train. In each car, riders are arranged 2 across in 2 rows, for a total of 36 riders per train. Riders are held in by individual seatbelts and lap-bars. The trains are colored red, blue, and yellow with the Millennium Force logo on the front.

Color scheme

Blue track and light-grey supports.

Station

Millennium Force has separate areas for loading and unloading. Within the station there is a dedicated queue for the front row.[7]

Ride experience

Overview of Cedar Point, with Millennium Force at the front

The catch car for Millennium Force's cable lift carries the train up the 310 foot hill at a 45-degree angle in a little over 20 seconds by latching onto the middle of the train. The train then drops 300 feet at an 80-degree angle, reaching a top speed of 93 mph. It then climbs a 169 feet overbanked turn at 122 degrees. Then the train travels through the first tunnel and over a 182 feet parabolic airtime hill, passing over a lagoon and down onto Millennium Island. While on Millennium Island, the train completes a 105 feet, 360-degree helix, followed by a left overbanked turn and then a small right-hand turn before traveling over another airtime hill to exit the island. The train then travels over a smaller airtime hill and into another tunnel, right next to the first tunnel from earlier in the ride. A final airtime hill, right next to the queue line, is crested. The train finishes the ride by traveling through a 68 feet overbanked turn over the queue and stops at the brake run. Riders exit the train at the exit platform, and the train then returns to the station.

Rankings and records

When Millennium Force opened, it broke 11 world records:

Coaster records

  1. First ever complete circuit roller coaster to top 300 feet
  2. Tallest complete circuit roller coaster (310 feet)
  3. Longest drop on a complete circuit roller coaster (300 feet)
  4. Fastest complete circuit roller coaster (93 mph)
  5. Steepest non-inversion banked turn on a roller coaster (122°)
  6. First roller coaster to feature a magnetic brake system

Park records

  1. Most rides at an amusement park (68/75)
  2. Most roller coasters at an amusement park (14/17)
  3. Most complete-circuit roller coasters over 200 feet high at an amusement park (first park to have more than one) (2/5)
  4. Most steel roller coasters at an amusement park (12/15)
  5. Most feet of roller coaster track at an amusement park (44,013 feet/53,963 feet)

Note: (Record at 2000/Current Statistic)

Trivia

  • Millennium Force has serviced over 12 million riders since its opening.
  • Part of the area of the park occupied only by Millennium Force's track is known as "Millennium Island."
  • At night, the track is lit up by neon lights.
  • This coaster is one of the few that requires riders to buy lockers in the queue to store loose items.[1]
  • During "Halloweekends," some sections of the track travel through mist.
  • In theme park sim game Planet Coaster, the giga coaster Invincible is based on Millennium Force.

Images

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Millennium Force". Cedar Point. Retrieved October 25, 2020.
  2. MILLENNIUM FORCE Trademark Information - Trademarkia
  3. Cedar Point To Build The World's Tallest Roller Coaster - Ultimate Rollercoaster.com
  4. Cedar Point History - 2000's - PointBuzz
  5. Cedar Point Debuts World's Tallest, Fastest Roller Coaster - Ultimate Rollercoaster
  6. "Cedar Point coaster closed for Labor Day".
  7. Ride Policies & Procedures - Cedar Point

External links

The category Millennium Force (Cedar Point) contains additional media.
Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster
May 2000 - August 2000
Preceded by
Fujiyama
Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster
May 2000 - August 2000
Succeeded by
Steel Dragon 2000
Fastest complete-circuit roller coaster
May 2000 - August 2000
Preceded by
Goliath
Fastest complete-circuit roller coaster
May 2000 - August 2000
Succeeded by
Steel Dragon 2000


Articles on Cedar Point