HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Millennium Force is a
steel roller coaster A steel roller coaster is a roller coaster that is defined by having a track made of steel. Steel coasters have earned immense popularity in the past 50 years throughout the world. Incorporating tubular steel track and polyurethane-coated wheel ...
located at
Cedar Point Cedar Point is a amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Opened in 1870, it is considered the second-oldest operating amusement park in the U.S. behind Lake Compounce. Cedar Point is owned and oper ...
amusement park in
Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Erie County, Ohio, United States. Situated along the shores of Lake Erie in the northern part of the state, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). Accord ...
. Manufactured by
Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement insta ...
, it was the park's fourteenth roller coaster when it opened in 2000, dating back to the opening of
Blue Streak Blue Streak or Bluestreak may refer to: Entertainment * ''Blue Streak'' (album), a 1995 album by American blues guitarist Luther Allison * Blue Streak (comics), a secret identity used by three separate Marvel Comics supervillains * Bluestreak (c ...
in 1964. Upon completion, Millennium Force broke five world records and was the world's first '' giga coaster'', a term coined by Intamin and Cedar Point to represent roller coasters that exceed in height. It was briefly the tallest and fastest in the world until
Steel Dragon 2000 is a steel roller coaster located at Nagashima Spa Land amusement park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Built by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Steel Dragon opened to the public on August 1, 2000. It takes its name from Chinese astrology and zodiac ca ...
opened later the same year. The ride is also the third-longest roller coaster in North America following The Beast at
Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and exp ...
and
Fury 325 Fury 325 is a steel roller coaster located at Carowinds amusement park in Charlotte, North Carolina. Manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Fury 325 opened to the public on March 28, 2015. It features a track that reaches a maximum height of , mak ...
at
Carowinds Carowinds is a amusement park located adjacent to Interstate 77 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The park straddles the North Carolina-South Carolina state line, with a portion of the park located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. However, it has an o ...
. Millennium Force features a cable lift hill with a drop, two tunnels, three overbanked turns, and four hills. The coaster also has a top speed of . Since its debut, Millennium Force has been voted the number one steel roller coaster ten times in ''
Amusement Today ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Ar ...
'''s annual
Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
. Although Millennium Force has been surpassed in height and speed, it remains one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world.


History

The planning, design and development phases of Millennium Force took place over five years, from 1996 to 2000. The first rumors that a new record-breaking roller coaster would be built at Cedar Point, which included speculation about a ten-
inversion Inversion or inversions may refer to: Arts * , a French gay magazine (1924/1925) * ''Inversion'' (artwork), a 2005 temporary sculpture in Houston, Texas * Inversion (music), a term with various meanings in music theory and musical set theory * ...
roller coaster from
Bolliger & Mabillard Bolliger & Mabillard, officially Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, Inc. and often abbreviated B&M, is a roller coaster design consultancy based in Monthey, Switzerland. The company was founded in 1988 by Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabil ...
and an
Arrow Dynamics Arrow Dynamics was an American manufacturing and engineering company that specialized in designing and building amusement park rides, especially roller coasters. Based in Clearfield, Utah, the company was the successor to Arrow Development (19 ...
MegaLooper, began circulating in early 1998. A roller coaster from D. H. Morgan Manufacturing was also rumored. On July 2, 1999,
Cedar Fair Entertainment Company Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates eleven amusement parks, nine included-w ...
filed a trademark for the name Millennium Force, which raised more speculation about what the ride would be like. About a week later, the first track pieces were seen at the park, and it was confirmed that the ride would be manufactured by
Intamin Intamin Amusement Rides is a design and manufacturing company in Schaan, Liechtenstein. It is best known for creating thrill rides and roller coasters worldwide. The Intamin brand name is a syllabic abbreviation for "international amusement insta ...
. Cedar Point officials also confirmed that it would not have inversions.


Announcement and construction

Millennium Force was announced on July 22, 1999. It would be the tallest roller coaster in the world, taking the record from Fujiyama at
Fuji-Q Highland is an amusement park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Japan, owned and operated by the namesake Fuji Kyuko Co. it was opened on 2 March 1968. The theme park is near the base of Mount Fuji. It has a number of roller coasters, as well as two hau ...
in Japan. Don Miears, General Manager of Cedar Point said, "Millennium Force introduces the world to a whole new level of roller coaster riding." The ride cost $25 million to design and build. Cedar Point, Intamin, and
Werner Stengel Werner Stengel (born 22 August 1936, in Bochum) is a German roller coaster designer and engineer. Stengel is the founder of Stengel Engineering, also known as Ingenieurbüro Stengel GmbH (or Ingenieurbuero Stengel GmbH). Stengel first worked on ...
designed the layout of the ride. After the ride was announced, several disputes about whether Millennium Force or Superman: The Escape was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world arose between Cedar Point and
Six Flags Magic Mountain Six Flags Magic Mountain, formerly known and colloquially referred to as simply Magic Mountain, is a amusement park located in Valencia, California, northwest of downtown Los Angeles. It opened on May 29, 1971, as a development of the New ...
. Superman: The Escape is high and its speed is ; however, it is a
shuttle roller coaster A shuttle roller coaster is any roller coaster that ultimately does not make a complete circuit, but rather reverses at some point throughout its course and traverses the same track backwards. These are sometimes referred to as boomerang roller c ...
, not a complete-circuit roller coaster. Construction started in August 1999 when the site was cleared. Millennium Force was built in the Frontier Trail section of the park. The ride involved the relocation of the Giant Wheel and the
Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad is a narrow-gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction located in the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The railroad opened in 1963, making it one of the oldest operating rides at Ce ...
. The removal and relocation of the Giant Wheel began in October on closing day; the first of 226 supports was installed on October 11, starting at the
brake run A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...
. Two hundred twenty-six footers, each about deep were dug; the largest ones were . The concrete construction was done by Mosser Construction. The
lift hill A lift hill, or chain hill, is an upward-sloping section of track on a roller coaster on which the roller coaster train is mechanically lifted to an elevated point or peak in the track. Upon reaching the peak, the train is then propelled from t ...
was topped off in early January 2000. The ride's construction took seven months, and 120 construction workers and project managers participated. Testing took two months. The park conducted a "pull-through" by pulling a train along the course to ensure proper clearance. The ride was inspected and tested with water-dummies on the trains.


Opening and modifications

The first media event was held on May 11, 2000, and the ride opened to the public two days later on May 13. When it opened, it broke six world records. It was the first Giga Coaster and was the world's fastest complete-circuit roller coaster, but was later overtaken by other rides. The ride was so popular that guests consistently waited three to four hours to board. About a month after Millennium's debut, Cedar Point introduced a
virtual queue Virtual queue is a concept used in inbound call centers. Call centers use an Automatic Call Distributor (ACD) to distribute incoming calls to specific resources (agents) in the center. ACDs hold queued calls in First In, First Out order until ag ...
system, "Ticket to Ride", which allowed visitors to buy a ticket then return later and wait in a shorter line. In August, Cedar Point engaged John Hancock and Associates and Stalker Radar of Indianapolis to measure the height and speed of Millennium Force. The height was measured at , and the speed was measured at , slightly faster than what the park had been advertising (). Before the start of the 2004 season, Millennium Force's seat belts were modified because of an incident that occurred on Superman the Ride, a similar roller coaster at Six Flags New England. The new seat belts were shorter and some riders had difficulties with them. The roller coaster's layout was repainted over a three-year period, before the 2011, 2012 and 2013 seasons. In 2012, the park added a new LED lighting system. For the 2020 season, following the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
, timed boarding passes called "Access Passes" were used temporarily to comply with
social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious dise ...
guidelines in effect at the time.


Ride experience


Queue

Millennium Force's entrance is located behind the
Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad The Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad is a narrow-gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction located in the Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The railroad opened in 1963, making it one of the oldest operating rides at Ce ...
's Millennium Midway station. The queue is situated between the ride's last overbanked turn and the station. A DJ booth is provided to entertain waiting visitors; the park's "Jamming DJ's" take requests for family friendly songs from people in the queue. It was then replaced by Cedar Point's FUNtv, which plays music videos of popular songs, the Gatekeeper/Maverick shuffle, park trivia, sports news, park advertisements, weather forecasts, and popular news headlines. About a month after Millennium's debut, Cedar Point introduced a new queue system known as "Ticket to Ride" (later Fast Lane) to reduce the wait time. Visitors could buy tickets then return later and wait in a shorter line. This system was discontinued in 2004 after several people complained it was unfair that others were going ahead of them in line. In 2012, Cedar Point introduced its Fast Lane queue system on the ride; visitors can buy a wristband which enables them to wait in a shorter line. The system was tested at
Kings Island Kings Island is a amusement park located northeast of Cincinnati in Mason, Ohio, United States. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park first opened in 1972 by the Taft Broadcasting Company. It was part of a larger effort to move and exp ...
the previous year, where it received positive reviews.


Layout

Millennium Force covers ; it runs parallel to the shoreline of
Sandusky Bay Sandusky Bay is a bay on Lake Erie in northern Ohio, formed at the mouth of the Sandusky River. It was identified as ''Lac Sandouské'' on a 1718 French map, with early variations recorded that suggest the name was derived from Native American la ...
, then travels to an island located inside the park, where the Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island is located. There are two tunnels, three overbanked turns and four hills. One cycle of the ride takes approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds. While the train is being loaded with passengers, the catch car for the cable lift descends the lift hill and latches onto the middle car underneath the train. Once the train is cleared, the cable lift immediately pulls the train up the 45 degree lift hill at to a height of . The train drops at an 80 degree angle and reaches a top speed of at the bottom of the hill. It then climbs through a right
overbanked turn This list of roller coaster elements contains the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation. Introduction Roller coaster elements are the individual parts of roller coaster design and operation, such as a track, hill, loop, or turn ...
at 122 degrees from the horizontal axis, then travels through a tunnel as it passes over the Frontier Trail. It then travels over a parabolic hill, which provides a moment of
zero gravity Weightlessness is the complete or near-complete absence of the sensation of weight. It is also termed zero gravity, zero G-force, or zero-G. Weight is a measurement of the force on an object at rest in a relatively strong gravitational fie ...
as it passes over a lagoon and down onto Adventure Island. It completes a , 360-degree right-handed helix, followed by a left overbanked turn. It then completes a small right-hand turn before traveling over another hill to leave the island. The train then travels left through a second tunnel where the on-ride photo is taken, followed by a left turn and a small hill, passing by the queue. Finally, the train travels high through another right overbanked turn over the queue and is stopped by
magnetic brakes A brake run on a roller coaster is any section of track meant to slow or stop a roller coaster train. Brake runs may be located anywhere along the circuit of a coaster and may be designed to bring the train to a complete halt or to simply adjust ...
. Passengers disembark the ride at an unloading station and the train moves to a second station where it is loaded.


Characteristics


Manufacturer

Millennium Force is a Giga Coaster model designed by Werner Stengel and built by Swiss manufacturer Intamin. It was the first of a series of roller coasters, including the now-defunct
Top Thrill Dragster Top Thrill Dragster is a hydraulically-launched steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel, it opened in 2003 as the in the world, as well as the first ...
the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world in 2003that Intamin built at Cedar Point. , Millennium Force is one of two Giga Coasters built by Intamin, the other being Intimidator 305 at
Kings Dominion Kings Dominion is an amusement park located in Doswell, Virginia, north of Richmond and south of Washington, D.C. Owned and operated by Cedar Fair, the park opened to the public on May 3, 1975, and features more than 60 rides, shows and attr ...
.


Trains

Millennium Force operates with three stainless steel,
stadium-style seating Stadium seating or theater seating is a characteristic seating arrangement that is most commonly associated with performing-arts venues, and derives its name from stadiums, which typically use this arrangement. Description In stadium seating, ...
trains In rail transport, a train (from Old French , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles that run along a railway track and transport people or freight. Trains are typically pulled or pushed by locomotives (often k ...
colored red, yellow, and blue. Each train has nine cars that seat four passengers, allowing a maximum capacity of 36 people per train and 1,300 riders an hour. Each seat has an individual, hydraulic, T-shaped lap bar and seat belt which rests across the rider's lap. Each train weighs 19 tons.


Station

The station has two platforms, one for unloading and one for loading. Two trains are loaded and unloaded while the third train is running the course. There is also a separate line in the station where riders can wait for the first seat. The loading platform has red overhead lights, which are located above the train. Millennium Force's theme song is played in the station while riders are boarding.


Track

The steel tubular track is long and the lift is approximately high. The track is blue and the supports are silver. The track consists of 229 pieces, each weighing between . Intamin supplied the track with
hollow structural section A hollow structural section (HSS) is a type of metal profile with a hollow cross section. The term is used predominantly in the United States, or other countries which follow US construction or engineering terminology. HSS members can be cir ...
s (HSS), which is used in all the track pieces, supports and towers. Millennium Force uses three different track shapes. The simplest sections are two-pipe track, made with two running rails connected by square HSS cross-members. The ride also uses three-pipe track, which has two running rails with a backbone of round HSS, which forms a triangle. The third type of track forms a square and is considered the strongest. It has two running rails with two backbone tubes. As both a high altitude and high velocity ride, Millennium Force is affected by unfavorable weather conditions such as rain, lightning or strong winds; under these conditions the ride is closed, but in light rain it can remain open.


Lighting

When the ride opened in 2000, Cedar Point chose High End Systems, headquartered in
Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...
, to light the ride. Rob Decker, Cedar Point's Corporate Director of Planning & Design, said that they thought they would have to mount multiple floodlights on the tower. However, they were able to install thirty EC-1 floodlights at the base of the lift hill structure which provided lighting throughout the ride's structure. Of the six main support towers, three had six EC-1s, and three towers had four EC-1s. The three tallest towers had another unit in the middle. Over the years, the lights were not maintained and grew noticeably dimmer. In 2012, Cedar Point introduced a nighttime show, Luminosity — Ignite the Night!, to "re-energize" the park at the end of the day. New LED lights from
Sunrise, Florida Sunrise is a city in central-western Broward County, Florida, United States, and is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 97,335. Sunrise was incorporated in 1961 and founded ...
-based Chauvet Professional were installed to illuminate the ride. Twenty COLORado Range and ten COLORado Ridge wash lights were installed at the base of the lift hill structure.


Records

When it opened in May 2000, Millennium Force broke five world records among roller coasters and introduced a new magnetic braking system instead of the commonly used friction brakes. This new system enabled the use of a shorter brake run, enabling the train to slow down from to a standstill in only six seconds. Millennium Force's records as the tallest and fastest complete-circuit roller coaster were broken several months later in August when
Steel Dragon 2000 is a steel roller coaster located at Nagashima Spa Land amusement park in Mie Prefecture, Japan. Built by D. H. Morgan Manufacturing, Steel Dragon opened to the public on August 1, 2000. It takes its name from Chinese astrology and zodiac ca ...
opened. It remained the tallest and fastest at Cedar Point until 2003, when the park debuted Top Thrill Dragster, the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world.


Roller coaster records

Millennium Force held the following records at the time of its debut: * First ever complete-circuit roller coaster to top * Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster () * Longest drop on a complete-circuit roller coaster () * Fastest complete-circuit roller coaster () * Steepest non-inversion banked turn on a roller coaster (122°) (Half Corkscrew)


Park records

At the time of Millennium Force's debut, Cedar Point held records for the following: * Most rides at an amusement park (68) * Most roller coasters at an amusement park (14) * Most steel roller coasters at an amusement park (12) * Most feet of roller coaster track at an amusement park (44,013 ft)


Reception

Millennium Force has one of the longest lines in the park, with passengers waiting over four hours when the ride debuted. The ride received positive reactions from visitors, many of whom said it was smooth and very comfortable. Others said, "It'll scare the daylights out of you". In its first six years of operation, Millennium Force had over 10 million riders. By August 2012, Millennium had given more than 21 million rides. Several television shows, including the
Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, which had previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in New York, New York, United ...
's '' Extreme Terror Rides'', ''
Bert the Conqueror ''Bert the Conqueror'' is an American reality television series which premiered on the Travel Channel on June 16, 2010. In the show, American stand-up comedian Bert Kreischer travels across the United States to amusement parks and other entertai ...
'', '' Off Limits'', the
Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...
's ''Extreme Rides'', and the
National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by the National Geographic Global Networks unit of Disney General ...
's ''Super Coasters'' have featured Millennium Force. Out of over 500 roller coasters that Werner Stengel has engineered, he stated that Millennium Force is his favorite. Robb Alvey, a notable roller coaster enthusiast, called it a "milestone in roller coaster history".


Rankings

Millennium Force has consistently ranked high in various polls and has won numerous awards. Millennium Force and Superman the Ride (formerly Bizarro) at Six Flags New England held the top two places in the
Golden Ticket Awards ''Amusement Today'' is a monthly periodical that features articles, news, pictures and reviews about all things relating to the amusement park industry, including parks, rides, and ride manufacturers. The trade newspaper, which is based in Arl ...
from 2001 to 2015, and Millennium has continued to rank among the top three steel roller coasters since then. In the Travel Channel's '' Insane Coaster Wars'', Millennium Force was voted the "fan favorite" in the ''Extreme Heights'' and ''The Top 10'' categories. In 2013, ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' ranked Millennium Force as the top roller coaster in the United States.


References


External links


Official Millennium Force page
*
Millennium Force
at The Point Online
Millennium Force
at Coaster-Net {{Intamin Buildings and structures celebrating the third millennium Cedar Point Roller coasters in Ohio Roller coasters introduced in 2000 Roller coasters operated by Cedar Fair