1989: Mag XL 200'+ hyper 2000: Millie Force 300'+ giga 2003: Dragster 400'+ strata Since 2003: No 500'+ coaster. (Falcons Flight not operational now...if ever) Dragster is an icon. The hydraulic launch was waaaay ahead of its time and most likely will never be equaled. I would have set up a GoFundMe to keep ride going as it was. Dick Kinzel needs more regrets like the Dragster. I just rode Kingda Ka 15 times last weekend and it was the most reliable coaster in the park. It ran like clockwork. Great ride ops employees.
Gemini was neither the tallest or fastest coaster when it debuted. The park marketed it as such, but other coasters had opened before it that spring, which were taller and faster. Loch Ness Monster at BGW opened earlier than Gemini and was 5 foot taller, with the same speed and drop angle. Gemini didn't open on time and CP didn't realize other coasters had already beat those records.
Living in Ohio as a child I went to cedar point a few times growing up not thinking of it as a park that people from many different countries around the world. Then when I went to Cedar Point when I was 12 I loved coasters so much I decided to look at RU-vid Videos and realized how many records and how well known Cedar Point was known.
Was a teenager & 1st year Magnum was still king of the park in 99 & then the next year there was MF towering above everything else with that awesome lighted lift hill & 2 years later we had Dragster. Magnum had more time to shine with its decade long run being the tallest ride in the park & it's view out over the lake is still 1 of the best views on a coaster. Overall I feel they are all great coasters with their own elements to give riders a awesome experience like no 1 other park has to give.
Magnum wasn't the first coaster over 200 feet tall. Moonsault Scramble in Japan was 229 feet tall at the highest point of its' spike, so Magnum was the first full circuit coaster over 200 foot, just like Milly was the first 300 foot full circuit coaster, but Magic Mountain had Superman: Escape From Krypton, that was 415 feet tall and had opened 3 years earlier.
so does TT2 get the record for tallest SBNO coaster? My 2 faves are Valravn and Gatekeeper. I am old and I need a smooth ride. I agree with you about that final inversion on Valravn. the hang time feels crazy to me and that little air time hill after it is great. as for Gatekeeper, I think the pull out on the Immelman feels absolutely unhinged when you sit on the right hand side of the train. my only problem with Gatekeeper is, well, my ass is short and I have a really hard time getting up into those seats. I wish Cedar Point had sprung for a floor like what Raptor has. guess I just have do more arm workouts
