Millennium Force

Millennium Force is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. 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 roller coasters that exceed 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 cable lift hill with a drop, two tunnels, three overbanked turns, and three hills. The coaster also has a top speed of . Since its debut, Millennium Force has been voted the number one steel roller coaster ten times in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards. Although Millennium Force has been surpassed in height and speed, it remains one of the tallest and fastest coasters in the world. History The planning, design and development phases of Millennium Force took place over five years, from 1996 to 2000. The first rumors that a new record-breaking roller coaster would be built at Cedar Point, which included speculation about a ten-inversion roller coaster from Bolliger & Mabillard and an Arrow Dynamics MegaLooper, began circulating in early 1998. A roller coaster from D. H. Morgan Manufacturing was also rumored. On July 2, 1999, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company filed a trademark for the name Millennium Force, which raised more speculation about what the ride would be like. About a week later, the first track pieces were seen at the park, and it was confirmed that the ride would be manufactured by Intamin. Cedar Point officials also confirmed that it would not have inversions. Announcement and construction Millennium Force was announced on July 22, 1999. It would be the tallest roller coaster in the world, taking the record from Fujiyama at Fuji-Q Highland in Japan. The ride cost $25 million to design and build. Cedar Point, Intamin, and Werner Stengel designed the layout of the ride. After the ride was announced, several disputes about whether Millennium Force or Superman: The Escape was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world arose between Cedar Point and Six Flags Magic Mountain.