I've ridden Millennium Force over a hundred times and it NEVER disappoints. When it was designed 2 decades ago, they weren't pushing the limits on every element yet. They were going for height with a steep long drop, sustained speed and making it friendly enough for everyone to ride. They succeeded BIG time! I've ridden every coaster at Cedar Point right after it opened starting in 1976 with Corkscrew, and Millennium's impact at opening was bigger than ANY other coaster they've had. It's iconic and is the heartbeat of the park. I've ridden close to 300 coasters, and Milly is STILL in my top 5! It's WAY better than i305 and is right up there with Fury, Lightning Rod and not far behind the new king...Steel Vengeance! Not bad for a 19 year old coaster in this crazy age of technological advancement in rides!
Robert, great point! When you think of them designing it in 1997/98 and think about what computers were like back then, then it makes a lot more sense. Pushing the envelope to much can have flaws. Look at Son Of Beast... Plus it complimented Magnum.
Ride doesn’t crack my top 20 and is the weakest of the North American Gigas in my opinion. . Maverick, Magnum, Steel Vengeance, Orion, Diamondback, Mystic Timbers and The Beast are in the same state and beat it in my opinion. Solid ride but it’s a little overrated
@@SillyPlushStudios I’m with you on this. It’s a solid ride but it’s definitely overrated in my opinion. I really wanted to like this ride and was hoping I did. After four times of riding it, it was just an underwhelming experience 😢
@@matthewsmith1779 Magnum is one of my favorites. In 89 I waited in the 6 hour lines to ride. Now the third hill still flies but I must say all the bunny hills and the leg restraints almost break your femur bones. Just look at the pictures. Wish CP would design a new train for the 30th year. 6 hour wait is now 10 minutes extra que line behind the bathrooms removed...any questions?
Nothing will ever beat that feeling I had riding this for the first time. I was 10 years old in the early 2000s. I would still get incredibly anxious before riding big rides. This was at night and it had a 2 hour wait... waiting in that queue while the cars zip by and there’s that random live DJ booth all added to the anticipation. Then climbing up the ramp right before the station next to the bunny hilly feeling like you could touch the riders. Then hearing the station music and lights just hit different. You get whisked in the seat before you have a chance to second guess and boom right up the hill. It’s was the most exhilarating coaster experience ever for me and I don’t know that it can ever be topped. This is the goat for me even if there are better rides now.
For the hell of it.... here's my CP top 5: 1. SteVe (duuhhhh) 2. Millie (Still a top 10 coaster ya haters) 3. Maverick (slightly overrated IMO, but still a great coaster regardless) 4. TTD (that launch continues to take my breath away every time I ride it) 5. Magnum (God bless you for all you've done for the amusement industry)
It's been close to a 1/2 decade since I've ridden Millie, but it was the coaster that ultimately sparked my interest in coasters when I first rode in 2013. This was the coaster that ultimately made me visit CP along with TTD and Mav. It was my #1 from 6/25/13 - 6/23/15 and has since fallen to my #10 overall, but I will reride finally in a few weeks!
Still one of my all time favorites. Sure, they're always going to be building something bigger and badder. But when this thing came out? It ruled supreme, without question.
I've been on 110 coasters so far and as soon as I rode this thing back in August of 2000 it took my #1 spot. Last year, after riding Steel Vengeance I wasn't sure if it still had that spot until I rode it in a cold, heavy rain and that completely sealed the deal for me. It felt like being inside a hurricane and was the only thing to completely soak through a waterproof hoodie. Now it's in its 20th season and it's still on top. I'll be riding Fury 325 in a little over a week. I wish it luck, but I'm betting Fury gets its ass kicked.
I first rode Millennium Force in 2019 and I must admit I was terrified waiting in line because I never saw a coaster that big. I've loved it ever since! Millennium Force is definitely one of the greatest coasters ever assembled and it will remain one of the greatest because it was the first 300 foot tall Giga coaster.
There is no Cons... It's the first of it's kind, the first giga. You can't compare it to tht modern gigas. They always learn what's better. So they should be better, but doesn't make Mforce bad.
Coaster capital It’s still a con of the ride, we can argue semantics and say every pro and con sans the trains and welding is Cedar Point’s issue because they asked for this specific ride and chose exactly where to put it, and hired operators, we can also argue semantics that every pro and con you experience on the ride is a pro and con of the ride. Whether or not it’s in your control it’s still something to consider the whole time. Not to mention Cedar points didn’t put the bugs there it’s not their problem either, it’s nature’s problem if we want to go with your logic.
Pros: great drop, the view especially hugging the lake coast is 👌😎, real big, the overbanked turns are a mood and the floater airtime that it has delivers, super memorable layout, the intamin track is *s k i n n y* and makes the coaster look & feel taller, the trains are super long, and you really feel the speed. Con: its a little bit forceless, there’s not a _lot_ of airtime, but there _is a lot_ of overbanks, and the coaster still has a lot of momentum at the final brakes
Very good review, you made really fair points 👍 Only got the chance to ride MF once, as it was down the second day I visited Cedar Point. The breathtaking speed was indeed the major selling point for me! In the end, I'd say Millennium Force was pretty much a 'prototype' version of the Gigacoaster. Really amazing for its time, but over the years manufacturers have fleshed out the concept and optimised the intensity, airtime and overall experience on Gigacoasters. I'd be very curious to see Intamin build another Giga someday. Their new Taron restraints fixed the complaints you mentioned, and I'd love to have the amazing elements Intamin now does on a 300ft+ coaster!
I'm a huge fan of Millennium Force, having ridden it first in 2014, when my coaster count was still under 50, so it was my # 1 at the time. Totally agree about the trains & T-bars!!! You're definitely right about the bugs. Last year, I had passholder ride time on this on Tuesday night, getting 10 rides in, and plenty of bugs on my shirt. You are right that there's not too many airtime moments (4), but that's true of the other 2 US gigas as well, with Fury barely beating it with 5 airtime moments. Those camelback hills gave me great airtime last summer, sustained ejector on the big one. I felt like that moment rivaled the 2 big sustained airtime moments on Steel Vengeance. Those 3, plus Mako's big camelback, are the airtime moments that make me feel like my eyeballs are up in the top of my head. However, my October rides on MF didn't give nearly as strong airtime on either camelback. I was disappointed that those rides weren't as good, because those were my mom's first rides on it.
the bugs is a part of the experience!! The music in the station gets me so happy and excited and makes me remember riding it for the first time after riding it every year now for 10 years. Gotta love it! And the airtime moments are so perfect but yes this ride almost feels relaxing sometimes
oh yeah....the drop is the bomb. I have always dreamt they would add the drop from MF onto the Superman at SF New England! And of course kept the old T-bar restrains as well !!!
@@mulinhuan8410 ÁOu You don't have an unpopular opinion because I am not a fan of B&M AT ALL. Intamin pushes the envelope and delivers....I wouldn't ride a B&M if I had to wait more than 10 min.for it.
I have experienced sustained ejector on MF. The floater is great but if you ride it at the right time you will get what I think is one of the best airtime experiences out there.
I became a coaster enthusiasts in the late 90. My very first glimpse of Millennium Force was on the Discovery Channel special "Extreme Rides 2000", and it immediately became my #1 bucket list coaster. Everything about it shouted "most awesome coaster ever" to me as a young enthusiasts. Though I wouldn't get to visit Millennium Force till 2010, MF remained my #1 bucket list coaster throughout the decade. When I finally got to ride it, it absolutely lived up to my expectations, and to this date, remains my #1 favorite roller coaster ( even with Magic Mountain as my homepark, it's disappointing we don't have a giga here. Or a airtime heavy hyper, for that matter). Sure, it's not an airtime machine, and its elements may be tame today, but it gave a unique ride I have yet to experience on a coaster to this date. Of course, I need to return to Cedar Point someday to try out Steel Vengeance, and make my way over to Carowinds for Fury 325. Till then, Millennium Force remains the GOAT for me.
I unfortunately haven’t been to that many real designated coaster parks, but when I was at cedar point right after steel vengeance’s opening, I got to marathon ride millennium force with no wait times and it as of now is my favorite thrill ride. I like the meandering nature because it’s well suited for the kind of speed it has. What good is a meandering coaster if you can’t see the scenery from all the grey? Prolly did like 300 circuits on that ride in total.
If you're coming in from out of town (like, you won't make it back for a few years), buy the Fast Pass Plus. I hate it, its $85 per person, but buy it. Unless you go midweek in May or midweek at the end of August.
Nice video, Millennium Force looks really fun and the sensation of speed I imagine must almost be unbelievable. I actually may go to Cedar Point this year so I am excited to see where it’ll rank for me and what I’ll think of it.
Your assessment of this ride is pretty well spot on. My daughter is 9 and already has 283 rides on it thanks to its 48” ride height. Gigas are my favorite type of coaster. I tolerate the bugs you mentioned because they’re one of the environmental elements that make this ride what it is. We wear impact resistant sunglasses (even@nite) to protect our eyes and nasal breathing is a requirement during bug season. My forearms and face resemble a windshield sometimes, especially after a few laps. Fury is excellent, I-305 is way more intense. Millie is best tho simply because it’s near enough to ride 100 times every year. 🤷♂️
Every time I’ve ridden this coaster I’ve loved it. As I got older magnum beat me up more and more but this one is always just fast and smooth and great views.
I love going on this ride. Like you, it was one of my favorites upon first visit to the park in the early 2000s. As the years have gone by, I too, have experienced new favorites. Sometimes it hard for me to rank coasters though because I know one rides better, but I have a soft spot for certain ones for certain reasons. For example, I loved Volcano and am sad to see it go. In the grand scheme of things though, was it all that impressive? I'll have to sit down and really contimplate my Top 50. Would love to compare ours as it seems like we have lots of similar tastes. You've been to more parks than I have, however. I'm around 315 or so off the top of my head. I have a list with everything, but it's not handy right now.
I have a special consideration for some coasters that bump them up in my rankings. Its..."are they cool" X2, Ghostrider, Millennium Force all fall into that category. Its kind of a nostalgia/iconic thing
Millennium Force camelback hills airtime are always hit or miss. Sometimes I feel hardly any airtime sometimes I feel wonderful floater airtime. Biggest con for me is I have become quite prone to graying out on the first overbank and I usually don't recover til the first airtime hill.
That happened to me as I got older too. Try tightening all the muscles in your legs and butt. It kind of forces the blood to stay in the top half of your body and really seems to help me.
I had the privilege of being one of the first people to ride Millennium Force when it opened. A friend and I attended on opening day (May 13th, 2000) and were on the 11th public train to leave the station (media and special VIP members rode first). We got to the park only about 1/2 an hour before opening. The main gates were PACKED with people. We decided to try to enter the park via the season pass holder entrance on the west side of the park. Lucky for us, as we approached the gate, there were ROWS of season pass holders waiting in line to enter the park, but almost no one with a hard ticket. They motioned for us to go through a small line on the right side and we got shuttled past HUNDREDS of season pass holders and got into the park. (I still have no idea why this was allowed to happen) Once inside we took off running(when security wasn't yelling at us to walk) We got in the queue which was still mostly empty and turned around to look towards the main park entrance. There was a literal MOB of thousands of guests speed walking / running to get in line. Security was overwhelmed by this point and was yelling at the crowd to walk, but they quickly lost control and everyone broke into a full on sprint. My friend and I had made it into the queue very very early. As we came to a stop in the queue we got to hear them make some formal announcements and welcome everyone. There was a 'VIP' line that they emptied out first before general boarding began. Everyone was so pumped on this day! The ride attendants were calling out which train number you were on. As we boarded they told us that we were on the 11th public train to leave the station! We only waited about 40 minutes in line on OPENING DAY to ride the Millennium Force! After riding, we were so blown away with the experience that we wanted to ride it again. We went back to the entrance to see how long the wait was.....7 hours. We were told there would be about a 7 hour long wait to ride again! The entire queue line was filled to capacity along with other temporary queues nearby that had been created. The line then wrapped all the way to the front of the park, around the entrance to the Sky Ride, and back the the entrance of Millennium Force. Yowza! They told us that they would be closing the entrance to the ride sometime just after lunch to ensure they could get everyone onto the ride before park closing. We opted not to ride it a second time that day. We stayed at the park all day long and were able to ride every single other major coaster (some multiple times) due to the lines being so short. What a freaking awesome day to be a part of and something I won't soon forget. I was 15 at the time. To this day Millennium Force is my favorite roller coaster. You just cant beat that first drop (I prefer to ride in the back of the train for maximum speed and freefall) and the first parabolic hill.
Wow, I once waited 3 hours for Raging Bull at SF Great America. Can't even imagine waiting 7...at least back then people couldn't cut others with Fast Lane Passes. Thanks for sharing
Still my favorite first drop in the world from the back seat. You're completely off your seat and just falling, falling, falling, for what feels like forever.
Even after riding coasters like Fury 325, I 305 and the Orion at Kings Island (from the future I know ;) I still think MForce is still a smooth, long and well balanced coaster or speed and limited airtime in the beginning. Between the tunnel headchopper moments and the feeling of the restraints not really being restraints, nothing more gives me words for this ride, and despite others being arguably better, Cedar Fair sure did outdo themselves with this monster of a ride, that remains a monster to this day.
Biggest con for me is that long stretch of queue as you approach the loading platform with no shade from the sun. Also, there's no organization on the loading platform. It's a free-for-all.
Yeah that ramp is uncovered but it allows for some good pics. The station is a little awkward, I agree. I think sometimes they have an employee feeding people from the ramp into the station
I had en employee feeding people into the station, so that the station wouldn't get too full. But I do like that we get to pick our own row. On Fury, they assigned rows. Even when requesting back row, they weren't allowing it, until the last hour of the day.
@@OklahomaCoasterFan when I was there yesterday they had an employee assigning seats. I don't think a single person listened to him though so I felt kinda bad.
I love Millennium Force, from the station music to the ride itself. I do agree, it has it's flaws, but it's still my second favorite coaster at the park and (probably, haven't really gone through it in a while) my top 5 ever (mind you I've only been on 60 coasters.) Great video!
Just visited Cedar Point this week for my 4th time. MF is still my favorite coaster there. It could have some more airtime, but Steel Vengeance and Magnum XL have such small airtime hills that the airtime is borderline painful because I'm forced up into the restraint so hard. My top 5 at CP are MF, SV, Maverick, Gatekeeper, TTD.
Hey so about the loose item policy, Top thrill dragster was a large reason for that. I spent a lot of time at the park its opening year and they didn't really have a policy for it at the time. So people had glasses, hats, cell phones, bags etc on the ride. So right directly behind Top Thrill at the time was snoopy land for kids and the launch side of the coaster, launched you right towards this kids land before pulling straight up. The amount of Shit they flew off the ride and went like a missile straight into snoopy land that first year was insane. I almost got taken out by a cell phone while sitting on a bench in that area. I think a couple kids did get hit at some point and after that they took a far more serious approach to it.
The T-bar restraints I agree are amazing, Superman the ride at Six Flags New England was great with the T-bar restraint but now with the new system it hurts to ride the coaster and it just isn't the same.
I have ridden this ride twice, once in the back, once in the front. The pros are true, the cons not all. The loose article system didn’t bother me since U didn’t need it, and the bugs on TTD are more. And honestly, it was pretty damn forceful when I rode it. Just behind Leviathan (which I only prefer because of the Night front row). I like Airtime, but a ride going this fast the entire time doesn’t need much. It’s my No. 3 in the Park behind TTD and SteVe, And overall on my No. 5. Everyone said it was forceless and boring, and than it blew me away.
Unpopular opinion, but I prefer this to i305. The biggest thing for me is just the sensation of being open to the air, especially on the way up. On i305 you sit lower into the car and the shoulder restraints make it feel much more closed off. Both are incredible rides, but Millennium is just so re-rideable, ironically thanks to its lack of force. Both give a similar speed rush, but i305 covers it up with sheer intensity, and it’s hard to ride more than a couple times in one day because of it. That being said, neither are really high up on my favorites list. I agree that Fury does everything better, despite being a shorter ride, and I’d definitely pick it over both MF and i305 any day.
Fury is actually longer than MF, by mere feet. They both have almost equal durations. I definitely agree with you regarding i305. I like MF more than i305, mostly because of those shoulder restraints making it feel more closed off & restrictive. The intensity does cover up that speed sensation, however, I found myself really loving the intensity, and I rode it 24 times in one day. But MF is still my favorite.
Iron Rattler fanboy I guess MF just feels shorter then. I tend to like more intense rides so I was expecting to like i305 better, but I definitely wanted more airtime to make up for the insane positive G’s. That’s why when I first visited CP, Maverick was my favorite ride in the park by far (and now SV has taken that title). The best thing about both i305 and MF though is that the lines are usually next to nothing on an early season weekday so you can just ride them as much as you want
@@AdamS32828 Oh, I thought you meant Fury was shorter. Yes, MF is shorter, by 7 feet. If you count duration in terms of from the start of the drop to hitting the brakes, both Fury and MF are about 65 seconds. Very long rides! But if one is longer, the difference is probably at most 1-2 seconds.
I grew up as a roller coaster fanatic, and I don't remember when I WASN'T one. So I want to say I think air-time is over-rated. I've never been on MF, but I don't think the lack of air-time would bother me at all.
I hate people saying it’s forceless, I went on August 7th and my legs felt like jelly the whole time and the bottom of the first and second airtime hills had a lot of force for me, maybe I got a good ride?
One con you skipped was the length of the queue. I waited over 2 1/2 hours and sorry, but that is just too long of a wait. We went on a weekend (bad) Mid-August (also bad), but the Friday night line was just as long. My biggest con after the line would be lack of airtime, but that drop and climb is amazing. No better view IMHO.
Rode it for the first time just the other day...love that drop and that first high over bank. It has a lot of speed which I like with the length. I did get a few pops of airtime but not a ton. 3nd favorite in the park.
Its obviously not the best coaster in the world anymore, but its probably my number 1 bucket list coaster. I remember when I got into coasters and this was just the most insane coaster around, and I would just watch pov after pov of it.
In my opinion, I think calling this ride forceless is ridiculous. Not all coasters are constructed to turn you into a brick. If 4.5 g's isn't forceful, I am not really sure what would satisfy you. (Other than I305) But overall i enjoy your rating of the coaster. One last thing, you said that the ride still has a lot of speed at the end, which it does. I think that having a large amount of speed up until the end is best. Likely because every time I am on a ride and I feel that speed die, you know the fun/joy is near its end.
I first rode it in September of 2001, literally less than 3 weeks after 9/11. I was literally more terrified of the idea of a plane crashing into it more than the first drop 😅
At the time of this debut Millenium Force wasn't set on fun, it was trying to break records for tallest and fastest, which at the time it was. Just as the Magnum XL was once a record breaker. There will always be bigger, better, faster, funner.
. The first drop feels catastrophic and the I grey out at the bottom sometimes. Steel Vengeance is the new sheriff in town as that is now my number 1 but it is my number 2 with Orion my number 3 it will always be my favorite coaster and my childhood as it was my first really tall coaster as I skipped the hyper coaster mainly because there were none around me. I was to scared to ride son of beast as a kid but my father made me ride Millennium as a 10 year old in 2002 I felt like my life was coming to and end I had no warm up for it because the tallest ride I had ridden before this was Vortex at Kings Island. Millennium Force really traumatized me as a kid and it took me about 3 rides before I started liking I was afraid of any coaster after this even X at magic mountain didn't really scare me because of this. That drop is just so powerful and its the most terrifying moment I ever experienced on a coaster/
For the most of the airtime hills try riding in the front two cars. You will fly for over 5 to 7 seconds. Millennium was built for height and speed. Hard to find a 3 min ride like this in other park.
I Looooove your video I got a model of the MILLENMIUM FORCE, Train I love it at night when the train climbs the hill & the tracks light up, it's beautiful.👍🎢
I have no idea if I just got a bad ride but when I rode it a couple of months ago for the first time it was very bumpy and gave me and my family headaches. But I’m confused because no one else thinks it’s bumpy. If someone else thinks it’s bumpy please tell me cause i feel like I have too go back and give it another shot.
I hate the over banks tbh, I wish there was more airtime hills And people say it’s a long coaster, it’s actually really short imo, there’s not much to the coaster itself. But it’s fun but It’s also getting rough as the years go on as I noticed. It gave me a headache
It definitely helps capacity but I cant imagine it helps much. You save the 2 seconds it takes people to get out of the train while the others get on. Not having bins on the platform does help capacity a lot though but it sucks for people with bottles or bags
Cedar Point, Home of the first Hyper, the first Giga, and the first Strata. Go for the 500 mark, call it a LunaCoaster, (Luna, as in to the Moon, and Crazy)
Not a fan of the seating on Millennium Force. I'm not a "big guy" but I have a high waist and it made it difficult to get the restraints locked. Wish the lift was actually SLOWER - I like to look out and such, this is too fast that you don't even get to anticipate the drop.
#me too, but its my motivation to slim down, not easy.. I remember my 1st ride in 2000 i was 17 the speed, the smoothness & that stunning view was like light years of ahead of its time, other giga coasters should be better after Millie showed them the way, I took i305 10 years to debut after this ride & 3 years after Maverick combining both..Too bad Cedar Fair doesnt choose to work with Intamin