The world’s best roller coasters PLUS all sorts of Halloween mischief (and Snoopy too)? I had a blast during my HalloWeekends visit to Cedar Point, the roller coaster capital of the world.
Hey gang. I’ve just returned home from an amazing week in Northern Ohio. Most of my time was spent in Cleveland, a city I fell for hard and unexpectedly in a way that’s unlike how I’ve ever felt about an American city. Yeah. Cleveland. Ohio. Whodathunkit?
To be sure, I’ll be publishing loads more about Cleveland in the days and weeks to come. I’ve got plenty of stories to share from my visit – including a series of podcast episodes featuring interviews with local makers and food and drink folks. But before commencing with my digital dotes about this off-the-radar Midwestern mini-metropolis, I thought I’d write about one of the more time sensitive aspects of my trip: HalloWeekends at Cedar Point. The highest highs and lowest lows of my itinerary came during an overnight excursion to this amusement park on the shores of Lake Eerie, where every exhilarating up and down was experienced within seconds of each other riding roller coaster after roller coaster.
Roller Coaster Capital of the World
Cedar Point is located in Sandusky, about an hour’s drive west of Cleveland (and an hour or so east of Toledo). Known as the Roller Coaster Capital of the World, It is the only amusement park with six roller coasters taller than 200ft (61m) as well as the only park with coasters in all height classifications. All in all, there are 18 coasters here.
Cedar Point is also the most awarded amusement park in the industry, receiving the Golden Ticket Award for Best Amusement Park in the World from Amusement Today every year from 1997 to 2013. With more than three and a half million visitors in 2017, Cedar Point was the most visited seasonal amusement park in the US.
HalloWeekends
I was there for HalloWeekends. From mid September to the end of October, the park does a double shift on the weekends to transform into one of America’s biggest Halloween-themed destinations. HalloWeekends features ten mazes, scare zones, and shows that are open throughout the night. A few coasters and other rides remain in operation as well, while a large section of the park is designated a “not-so-scary” safe zone for kids and those less inclined to enjoy spooky stuff.
As for me I loved the spooky stuff and managed to check out five of the ten haunted houses over a few hours on a Friday night, returning Saturday morning for a few more hours dedicated to riding as many coasters as I could fit in before having to head to the airport for my flight back to London.
Best haunted attraction? Probably Slaughter House, a “cannibalistic nightmare” where “butchers are looking for fresh meat.”
Favourite coaster? Oooh. That’s a toughie. Though I did savour every woo-hoo moment on the Magnum XL-200. At 205ft tall and reaching speeds of 72mph with a “pretzel turnaround” it was two minutes and 45 seconds of shear fun.
I should mention that some of the rides were closed when I was there. So I didn’t get to queue up for everything I would have wanted to check out. Sadly, that included newest coaster, Steel Vengeance: a 205ft tall climb with 90° initial drop, nearly 30 seconds of “airtime” (the most of any roller coaster) and a number of dizzying dips and flips. I was extremely bummed not to ride this monster.
By the way, Cedar Point’s Fast Lane and Fright Lane options help minimize queue-time and let me access rides and attractions as often as I liked. I’d highly recommend you do the same during your visit.
When not getting whipped about on a ride or creeped out at an attraction, I relaxed strolling around The Great Pumpkin Fest. Mascots for Cedar Point are the Peanuts characters. I’m a huge fan of Charlie Brown, Snoopy et al. So I got a kick out of seeing these guys rambling around and as part of the general park aesthetic.
Cedar Point’s Express Hotel
I stayed at Cedar Point’s Express Hotel, two miles from the park.
There were accommodation options inside the park as well as other places to stay nearby, but I found the Express Hotel a handy option. Amenities included ample parking spaces (I parked just outside my room), free WiFi, in-room coffeemaker, mini fridge and microwave, an outdoor pool, playground, convenience shop and more. My room was quiet, clean and comfortable.
With my booking, I was able to get into the park before the park opened to all visitors and, thus, start out at the top of the queue for my first ride on Saturday.
Online rates start at $175 a night but there are discount packages available. Parking at Cedar Point costs $20 a day, but the attendant I chatted with did me a solid and allowed me to park for free on Friday when I enquired about a two-day discount!
Cedar Point’s Express Hotel is located at 1201 Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky, Ohio 44870.
Cedar Point is located at 1 Cedar Point Drive, Sandusky, Ohio 44870.
For more about the Cedar Point, HalloWeekends and Express Hotel go to cedarpoint.com.
And for tips on having fun around Cleveland visit thisiscleveland.com.
