Millennium Force

logodimensions

200px

imagedimensions

250px

location

Cedar Point

section

Millennium Midway

coordinates

41.48167°N, -82.68806°W

status

Operating

soft opened

May 11, 2000

opened

May 13, 2000

year

2000

cost

US$25,000,000

previousattraction

Giant Wheel

type

Steel

manufacturer

Intamin

designer

Werner Stengel

model

Giga Coaster

track

Out and back

lift

Cable lift hill

height ft

310

drop ft

300

length ft

6595

speed mph

inversions

duration

2:20

angle

capacity

1,300

gforce

4.5

restriction in

48-78‡R1R‡

trains

carspertrain

rowspercar

ridersperrow

virtual queue name

Fast Lane Plus

virtual queue image

Cedar Fair Fast Lane Plus availability icon.svg

virtual queue status

available

custom label 1

Restraints

custom value 1

T-bars with seatbelt

video

Millennium Force Cedar Point Intamin Giga Coaster Off-Ride Footage.webm

rcdb number

594

Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the park's fourteenth roller coaster when it opened in 2000, dating back to the opening of Blue Streak in 1964. Upon completion, Millennium Force broke five world records and was the world's first giga coaster, a term coined by Intamin and Cedar Point to represent a roller coaster that exceeds 300 ft in height. It was briefly the tallest and fastest in the world until Steel Dragon 2000 opened later the same year. The ride is also the third-longest roller coaster in North America following The Beast at Kings Island and Fury 325 at Carowinds.

Millennium Force features a 310 ft cable lift hill with a 300 ft drop, two tunnels, three overbanked turns, and three hills. The coaster also has a top speed of 93 mph. Since its debut, Millennium Force has been voted the number one steel roller coaster ten times in Amusement Today 's annual Golden Ticket Awards. Millennium Force remains the 5th fastest, 5th tallest and 7th longest operating roller coaster in existence.[2][3]

Ride experience

Queue

Millennium Force's entrance is located behind the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad's Millennium Midway station. The queue is situated between the ride's last overbanked turn and the station. A DJ booth was originally provided to entertain waiting visitors; the park's "Jamming DJ's" took requests for family friendly songs from people in the queue.[34] The concrete base of the booth can still be seen as of 2025. About a month after Millennium's debut, Cedar Point introduced a new queue system known as "Ticket to Ride" (later Fast Lane) to reduce the wait time. Visitors could buy tickets then return later and wait in a shorter line.[25][26] This system was discontinued in 2004 after several people complained it was unfair that others were going ahead of them in line.[35] In 2012, Cedar Point introduced its Fast Lane queue system on the ride; visitors can buy a wristband which enables them to wait in a shorter line.[36] The system was tested at Kings Island the previous year, where it received positive reviews.[35]

Layout

Millennium Force covers 13 acre; it runs parallel to the shoreline of Sandusky Bay, then travels to an island located inside the park. There are two tunnels, three overbanked turns and three hills. One cycle of the ride takes approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

While the train is being loaded with passengers, the catch car for the cable lift descends the lift hill and latches onto the middle car underneath the train. Once the train is cleared, the cable lift immediately pulls the train up the 45-degree lift hill at 15 mph to a height of 310 ft. The train then drops 300 ft at an 80-degree angle and reaches a maximum speed of 93 mph at the bottom of the hill. This is followed by a climb of 169 ft through a right overbanked turn at 122 degrees from the horizontal axis, of which the train then travels through a tunnel as it passes over the Frontier Trail. The train proceeds over a 182 ft parabolic hill, which provides a moment of zero gravity as it passes over a lagoon and down onto Adventure Island.

It completes an 87 ft, 360-degree right-handed helix, followed by a 100 ft 122-degree left overbanked turn.[37] This is followed by a small right-hand turn and another hill that leaves the island. The train then travels left through a second tunnel where the on-ride photo is taken, followed by a left turn and a small hill, passing by the queue. Finally, the train travels 68 ft high through another right overbanked turn over the queue and is stopped by magnetic brakes. Passengers disembark the ride at an unloading station and the train moves to a second station where it is reloaded with passengers.[38]

Characteristics

Manufacturer

Millennium Force is a Giga Coaster model designed by Werner Stengel and built by Swiss manufacturer Intamin. It was the first of a series of roller coasters, including Top Thrill Dragster—the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world in 2003—that Intamin built at Cedar Point.[40] As of 2024, Millennium Force is one of two Giga Coasters built by Intamin, the other being Pantherian at Kings Dominion.[41]

Trains

Millennium Force operates with three fiberglass, stadium-style seating trains colored red, yellow, and blue.[42] Each train has nine cars that seat four passengers, allowing a maximum capacity of 36 people per train and 1,300 riders an hour. Each seat has an individual, hydraulic, T-shaped lap bar and seat belt which rests across the rider's lap.[43] Each train weighs 19 tons.[4]

Station

The station has two separate platforms, one for unloading and another for loading. Two trains are loaded and unloaded while the third train is running the course. There is also a separate line in the station where riders can wait for the first seat. The loading platform has red overhead lights, which are located above the train.[44] Millennium Force's theme song is played in the station while riders are boarding.[45] In 2024, 4 confirmed sets of dispatch audio were added for when a train exits the station.[46][47][48] It is also unknown whether these audio sets had previously been featured before its current installment. Two projectors in the station were deactivated sometime in the 2000s, before being reintroduced in a new but limited fashion in 2024.[49]

Track

The steel tubular track is 6595 ft long and the lift is approximately 310 ft high.[43] The track is blue and the supports are silver. The track consists of 229 pieces, each weighing between 11000 and 17000 lb.[4] Intamin supplied the track with hollow structural sections (HSS), which is used in all the track pieces, supports and towers. Millennium Force uses three different track shapes. The simplest sections are two-pipe track, made with two running rails connected by 6 inch square HSS cross-members. The ride also uses three-pipe track, which has two running rails with a backbone of round HSS, which forms a triangle. The third type of track forms a square and is considered the strongest. It has two running rails with two backbone tubes.[50] As both a high altitude and high velocity ride, Millennium Force is affected by unfavorable weather conditions such as rain, lightning or strong winds; under these conditions the ride is closed, but in light rain it can remain open.[51]

History

Announcement and construction

Ride experience

Queue

Layout

Characteristics

Manufacturer

Trains

Station

Track

Lighting

Records

Roller coaster records

Park records

Reception

Rankings

Incidents

External links

References

Opening and modifications