Cedar Point

This page is just general information about Cedar Point. You can click on the Cedar Point tab above to see the information on most of their flat rides (rides other than roller coasters) where you’ll see photos and videos of those rides. I hope to add the same for Cedar point’s impressive rollercoaster collection soon.

Cedar Point is one of America’s oldest amusement parks as it opened in 1870. Only Kennywood Park near Pittsburg, PA and Lake Compounce near Bristol, CT are older. This park was one of the first parks to have a new invention called the Switchback Railway from LaMarcus Adna Thompson installed at the park, it became the forerunner to the rollercoasters we know of today. There are several buildings that are still on the property that are historic and well over 100 years old. The oldest of which is the Grand Pavilion which was built in 1888. The Grand Pavilion was a two-story theater and concert hall that also had a two-lane bowling alley and a photography studio which were still pretty new at the time. On June 20, 1925, Helen Keller gave a speech in front on the International Lions Club convention at the Grand Pavilion urging them to help with the American Foundation for the Blind. That speech moved the Lions Club to start a drive which continues to this day, asking for people to donate their old eyeglasses so they could be reused and given to those that cannot otherwise afford glasses to see.

In 1905, the Hotel Breakers opened with 600 guest rooms and a café that could seat 400 people. I believe it was one of the first hotels in the area that had electricity in every room and hot & cold running water in some rooms. The hotel also attracted some notable people like Abbott and Costello, Helen Keller, and Theodore Roosevelt. The very next year, in 1906, the Coliseum was built which was a larger concert hall, theater, and convention center with a huge rathskeller (tavern) underneath, the concert hall is not open to the public but the old rathskeller, now a large arcade, is still open to the public. This building as well as the Grand Pavilion are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, unfortunately the Hotel Breakers was de-listed in 2001 after significant alterations including the demolition of most of the historic buildings in 1999. The pictures below are of the Coliseum and the Japanese Pagoda, which is almost as old as the Coliseum, unfortunately I could not find any information on the Pagoda.

The Coliseum played a major part in supporting the park from the 1940’s to the 60’s when there were no rollercoasters at the park. There were several big-name acts that came and performed in this building including several of the “Big Band” era singers.

150th Anniversary

In 2020-2021, the park celebrated the 150th anniversary with a special parade, a show, and some throw back things like manned information booths.

Here are my videos of the parade and nighttime show.

Frontier Trails

Cedar Point also has a nice farming museum located in the Frontier Trails section of the park which gives you an idea of what farming was like near the turn of the century.

As you can see in the photos above, Cedar Point is a well landscaped park with lots of shade trees and this is pretty true for most of the park. The photo’s below were taken throughout the park.

Forbidden Frontier

This is Cedar Point’s which replaced the Dinosaurs Alive walkthrough attraction in 2022. This also is a walkthrough attraction where you and the whole family can get involved in the story and/or help solve a mystery by walking along the trail and talking with the townsfolk.

There are family attractions here such as the Crystal Rock Rafts where your whole group can pull the raft across the pond. The younger ones can also explore the Highground which is a multistory climbing structure.

Kids areas

Cedar Point does have a few areas for the kiddies to play in. There’s Kiddy Kingdom at the front of the park, Camp Snoopy towards the middle, and several family style rides scattered throughout the park. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos of the kiddy areas but I will post what I have of the family rides.

Restaurants and food

Cedar Point does have a plethora of restaurants located throughout the park like this Johnny Rockets which is located at the front of the park as is Pink’s Hotdogs, a nationally recognized hotdog restaurant that serves hotdogs on a plate. I recommend you grab a fork and a knife as the toppings are pretty large. There’s also the Marketplace which serves family style dinners at the front as well.

Coasters drive in is in the middle of the park and serves the standard park fair of burgers, fries, chicken fingers, and drinks. The Red Garter Saloon is near the back of the park in the Frontier Trails section of the park and is an indoor dinner theater type restaurant with shows at different times of the day.

Mr. Potato is a Cedar point tradition and should not be missed. They only serve French fries and drinks at this location, and they’ve been doing this for many, many years here. Get your fries with garlic sauce from any one of the Mr. Potato stands in the park and you’ll enjoy something that many generations of Cedar point visitors have been enjoying themselves.

Melt

This is a really good option if you have the time and aren’t watching your calories. This is a nationwide chain and is well worth the wait.

Kennel

They do have an on-site kennel service near the park entrance on a first, come first serve operation. It’s located next to the Marina to the left of the main gate and across the Blue Streak wooden rollercoaster and is an air-conditioned kennel. There are a few things you’ll need to bring, and it is an additional fee per pet. There’s also no overnight stays and you’ll need to feed and walk the pets yourself.