SANDUSKY, Ohio — 2020 was supposed to be a big year at Cedar Point as the park was planning to celebrate its 150th anniversary season.
But the COVID-19 pandemic changed all that.
Although the 150th anniversary celebration has been delayed until 2021, Cedar Point is still honoring the achievement with the release of a new book that details the park’s lengthy history.
“This book is dedicated to the fans,” it says on the first page of Cedar Point 150 Years: The Fun Is Just Beginning. “The friends, families, aunts, uncles, co-workers, parents, grandparents, cousins, children and park associates. Without your love and appreciation for this special place, we would not exist. Thank you. Here’s to another 150 years of summertime fun on Lake Erie.”
The book (available to purchase HERE), begins with an impressive timeline that showcases how the park has evolved from Cedar Point’s first summer in 1870 through with 48 significant milestones highlighted through the decades. What follows are 14 chapters that offer a historical glimpse at the park with more than 300 photos – many of which have never been published before.
Among the top highlights? Fans will appreciate concept art for the following rides:
- Top Thrill Dragster
- Raptor
- Mantis
- Avalanche Run (later updated to Disaster Transport)
- Millennium Force
- White Water Landing
- Magnum XL-200
There’s also multiple “Then & Now” features scattered throughout the book with side-by-side images depicting how the park has changed from specific vantage points, including a snapshot of the Main Midway and the transformation of Mantis into Rougarou.
Are you a fan of nostalgia? Cedar Point's book has you covered there, too, with memories of rides and attractions from yesteryear – including Jungle Larry’s Safari Island, the Pirate Ride, Jumbo Jet, the aquarium and Berenstain Bears. HalloWeekends fans will also be thrilled to know the extinct Happy Jack’s Toy Factory haunted house and the popular parade both get some love in the book.
But Cedar Point's book isn’t just about the park’s iconic rides. There’s a focus on food, live entertainment, the water park and Hotel Breakers. The legendary cheese-on-a-stick and fresh-cut fries both get a full page dedicated to their iconic status -- which leads us to the next neat feature...
The book also pinpoints random facts throughout its pages like these:
- 5,730 pounds of cheese are used at Cedar Point every season for the signature cheese-on-a-stick.
- Each season, the park uses 188,750 pounds of potatoes for the famous fresh-cut fries – that’s 95 tons!
- More than 100 tons of nuts and 568 tons of steel were used to build Magnum XL-200.
Cedar Point 150 Years: The Fun Is Just Beginning concludes with a look at things to come – including the new Snake River Expedition boat ride, which was supposed to debut this summer but was delayed until the 2021 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.
NOTE: Video above is from Dec. 11, 2019 before the park delayed the new ride until 2021.
“The new Snake River Expedition is a hybrid of sorts,” the book teases in its final page. “Like the Western Cruise and Paddlewheel Excursions that have gone before it, Snake River Expedition makes the connection to the past with a comfortable, serene cruise around Adventure Island in the middle of the park. But you won’t just find corny jokes on this iteration. A combination of live actors, animatronics and you, the rider, make Snake River Expedition a ride unlike any other at Cedar Point. It’s appropriate for all ages, so it’s a great place to create new moments for the whole family.”