Ranked: The Top 17 Roller Coasters at Cedar Point
Welcome back to another “Ranked" article here on Laughing Place. This summer, my roller coaster and theme park adventures took me to what is often considered to be the roller coaster Mecca for theme park fans – Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. But did the park live up to the hype? Read on to find out my thoughts on the park's 17 coasters (we're excluding the smallest coaster for kids here).
17. Corkscrew
An iconic classic that just celebrated its 50th anniversary this year. Yet, this beautiful coaster is best experience off-ride, as the coaster itself causes massive head-banging and is downright painful. The definition of a one and done for me.
16. Woodstock Express
Woodstock Express is a simple kids roller coaster that offers minimal thrills for adults, but is just perfect for what it is. If you’ve been on The Barnstormer at the Magic Kingdom or Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal’s Islands of Adventure, then you know exactly what to expect here.
15. Rougarou
Originally opening as a stand-up coaster called Mantis in the 90s, this coaster was converted into a floorless model in 2015. In any other park, this would be a stand-out, but amidst the incredible lineup that Cedar Point has to offer, Rougarou kind of falls to wayside. Plus, it's also pretty rough, being a 30 year old coaster, and doesn't have any stand-out exiting elements.
14. Cedar Creek Mine Ride
One of the earliest mine train style coasters to be built by Arrow Dynamics, Cedar Creek Mine Ride still provides an excellent family experience over 55 years since its opening. Taller folk like myself should be aware that the archaic restraint system on this ride leads to a very tight and squished experience, but the coaster is fun enough to put up for a couple of minutes!
13. Iron Dragon
Iron Dragon is one of the last of a dying breed of roller coasters. In fact, there are only 5 of this type of coaster left in the world, with 4 in the United States. While unable to do any inversions, the fun of this ride type lies in the swinging cars. Iron Dragon might not be the most exciting example of this coaster type, but it does have a thrilling ending with a picturesque setting over a lake.
12. Wild Mouse
Cedar Point's Wild Mouse is a relatively recent addition that harkens back to classic wild mouse coasters of the past – but with a modern twist. This modern Wild Mouse has great theming in the form of six delightful mice chasing a block of cheese, comfortable trains, and the ability to spin quite violently!
11. Valravn
The tallest dive coaster in the world when it opened in 2016, Valravn does everything this type of ride does perfectly. While you don't quite feel the same gut punch from the 214 ft drop as you do on other versions of this coaster type, thanks to its vest restraints, it does offer a great sense of speed. I actually enjoyed a couple of moments in the second half of the attraction a bit more, as they felt a bit more unique.
10. Raptor
One of the oldest inverted coasters from Bolliger & Mabillard still in existence, Raptor is an excellent early example of what makes this type of coaster so special. Aside from its beautiful setting along the park's main midway, the ride offers some intense inversions and even more intense helixes on the finale. Unfortunately, the ride does appear to be showing its age, with some rough sections here and there, but it is still enjoyable if you can ride defensively.
9. Top Thrill 2
Back in 2024, Cedar Point transformed their Top Thrill Dragster coaster into the similar Top Thrill 2 – adding a second 420 ft spike, with three launches to get the coaster up to its mind-blowing top speed of 120 mph. This is without a doubt the fastest coaster I've ever been on, and you feel it – especially from the front row! It's an exhilarating ride that does leave you breathless, but it's also simple and short, putting it below a number of other coasters in the park for me.
8. Millenium Force
Throughout its history, Cedar Point has constantly chased records – and Millennium Force was a big one, becoming the first ever giga coaster (a coaster over 300 ft tall) when it opened in 2000. I liked this, but I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I wanted to. The ride's main focus is on speed, which it provides plenty of, reaching 93 mph. However, there's not much in the way of airtime or other moments, leading to me walking away a little disappointed.
7. Gemini
One ride that impressed me far more than I thought it would was Gemini, a strange hybrid steel/wood racing coaster from 1978. Unlike Corkscrew, this ride is still pretty smooth, which is helped by only having lap bars. The large for the time drops provide some excellent and rather surprising airtime. Plus, there's two tracks – so technically, this counts as two coasters.
6. Blue Streak
Despite having a record 18 coasters, Blue Streak is Cedar Point's only wooden coaster, dating way back to 1964. However, this is a tried and true classic, one that, like Gemini, I came away with being really impressed by. I love the blue color scheme, and the airtime and sense of speed provided by this over forty year coaster is better than many more modern rides on this list.
5. GateKeeper
GateKeeper, a wing coaster by manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, sees riders on either side of the track, and provides an excellent first impression with its keyhole threading over the main park entrance. The ride features a unique wing-over drop that provides some excellent hangtime towards the front of the train. That's followed up by plenty of smooth and graceful inversions.
4. Siren's Curse
Cedar Point's newest and perhaps most well-themed coaster is Siren's Curse, which is also America's first tilt coaster – where the track itself rotates 90 degrees and leaves riders hanging as they stare directly down at the ground. The build-up via on-ride audio is great, and that continues with a banging soundtrack throughout the ride. What follows is a series of extremely smooth maneuvers, including plenty of airtime hills and inversions. It's a great, well-rounded coaster, with some fantastic elements and theming. I just wish it was a bit longer!
3. Magnum XL-200
Another record breaker is the classic Magnum XL-200, the world's first hyper coaster (standing over 200 ft). Unlike Millennium Force, Magnum is focused on airtime, which for being a nearly 40 year old coaster, it provides spades of. In fact, some elements are so strong it's close to being painful! Despite some wonky track profiling, this is an excellent coaster with magnificent views and even more magnificent airtime.
2. Maverick
Anywhere else, this would be the top ride in the park – but at Cedar Point, Maverick has to settle for #2. This unique Intamin creation starts off with a fast-paced lift hill that leads into a barrage of fast paced turns, airtime moments and an absolutely breathtaking launch up to 70 mph!
1. Steel Vengeance
But the crowning champion of Cedar Point has to be Steel Vengeance, which is the park's RMC hybrid coaster. Standing over 200 ft tall, this ride reaches 74 mph and never stops going – with four inversions and too many airtime moments to count during its 2:30 ride time. This coaster is often hyped up by roller coaster enthusiasts to be the best in the world – and while I haven't come to that decision for myself yet, I can definitely understand why!