5 Out of 5-Star Thrills and a 310-Foot Drop at 93 Mph Are Traits of the Millennium Force

It's a well-known fact that roller coasters are fantastic at ripping screams of delight from our bellies. With that in mind, I invite you to take a little journey right from you're sitting on a ride on one of America's most loved adrenaline-pumping machines. The Millennium Force is a 310-foot-high (95-meter) ride that will push the limits on its rails with speeds upwards of 93 mph (150 kph), all experienced in just two minutes.

Ok, so the first 30 seconds of riding this coaster are nothing but a chain lift up a hill that overlooks the Great Lakes and Cedar Point from an elevation of 310 feet. And just as you're starting to soak in the view, your car will drop headfirst into a nearly, if not entirely, vertical drop, only to shoot out at the other end through a hard right bank, shoving you into the bucket seats.

Since this coaster is all about speed and that feeling you may get from riding shotgun in a sports car, you won't find any loops in this ride, but rather, fast straightaways, gut-wrenching ups and downs, and those G-pulling turns, all of which, designed to give you a thrill you'll come back for again and again. After all, roller coasters are a business, and return customers are the best customers.

The minds behind the 2,010-meter (6,595-foot) steel snake? None other than Intamin, a manufacturer known for building some of the world's most hair-raising rides. Its completion also meant several records, one of which is "Longest drop on a complete circuit roller coaster," "Steepest non-inversion banked turn on a roller coaster," for pulling those Gs o talked about, and a few more. According to Coasterpedia, 11 records were broken with this bugger on opening day, costing $25 million to complete.

Since I'm on the topic of money, let's take a slight look at just how much cash this bugger may have made for Cedar Point since May 2000. Now, the cost for a one-day admission can be as low as $50 on Cedar Point's website, and the Millennium Force can accommodate 1,650 people per hour (PPH). That's 13,200 people in just eight hours of operation. Multiply that number by $50, and that's the amount of cash the Millennium can make in just one day of magic.

As I explored this ride, I ran across something odd: "Guests must have a minimum of three functioning extremities." This raises so many questions, but in the ride's history, only two minor malfunctions have been recorded, one of which happened just recently, in August 2022, when a train car stopped at the top of the chain hill; no biggie. Some blogs and forums showcase folks ranting about how the support structure is too close to passing trains, and I think you can imagine the rest.

Nonetheless, no Halloween-worthy incidents have ever happened on the Millennium Force, and that just makes me want to ride it even more. While I may be landlocked behind a computer screen, the magic of YouTube can still offer you a free ride on this coaster. For maximum effect, I recommend ticking that full-screen button and maybe even taking a seat on a waterbed. The rest is up to your imagination. Or you can just go to Cedar Point and get your adrenaline that way.