On Tuesday 10th June 2025, we were able to experience the Sunrise Thrills Tour at Cedar Point. Known as the roller coaster capital of America, this tour allowed us to see behind the scenes of a few of the park’s major roller coasters including Valravn, Millennium Force and Top Thrill 2.
After being introduced to our tour guides, we were taken over to Valravn for the first experience of the tour. When Valravn opened at Cedar Point in 2016, it was the tallest, fastest and longest dive coaster with a height of 68m / 223ft, a top speed of 70mph and a length of 1041m / 3414ft. The ride also opened with the most inversions on a dive coaster with three. All of these records have since been beaten by another roller coaster within the same theme park chain known as Yukon Striker at Canada’s Wonderland which opened in 2019. It is likely that these records will be beaten yet again in 2026 by the new dive coaster going to Six Flags Over Texas. The introduction of Valravn also meant Cedar Point was the theme park with the most rides in the world at 72, featuring the most roller coaster track with 11.4 miles, as well as the park with the most coasters over 200ft – with five.
The rides team at the park then took us up the Valravn lift hill within a funicular vehicle. This is a special type of elevator which is built onto a slope. Two of this lift type feature at Cedar Point, Valravn and Millennium Force. The primary function of the funicular is to assist with maintenance and any ride evacuations which take place. On the lift hill you can see the lift chain which when engaged with the chain dog on the train, pulls the car to the top, as well as anti-rollbacks installed on the track which are used to stop the train from rolling back down the lift hill. On the track there are also magnetic brakes which can assist with the regulation of the train’s speed as well as proximity sensors which monitor moving components and the ride vehicles. When riders complete the turn and arrive at the drop, the train engages with the drop chain, this then allows the train to dangle riders over the edge for approximately four seconds prior to spinning freely until the train has disengaged. Also at the top of the lift are panels to assist with maintenance work on the ride as well as equipment to assist with any ride evacuations that may take place.
The views overlooking the rest of the park from the top of Valravn are spectacular as there are roller coasters, rides and the lake on all sides.
After coming back down from the lift hill, we were guided around some other backstage areas. The station for Valravn features floor panels which allow riders to get on and off the floorless trains. These panels use pneumatic cylinders to move the floor in and out of place which are controlled by the seven PLC’s located under the track. The train has to park within 0.8mm clearance of the floor for the panels to move. The platform of Valravn also uses pressure pads instead of buttons to mark the presence of a ride host, this system is used at Steel Vengeance, Rougarou and Gatekeeper as well. This coaster is also one of the only rides at Cedar Point to feature its own maintenance bay, with the majority of the rides at the park requiring the use of trucks to transport the trains back to the main engineering workshop for winter. This isn’t as easy to do with Valravn due to the size and weight of the trains. Evacuation platforms are located across numerous sections of the ride including the mid-course brake run and main brake run for evacuation and maintenance purposes. Valravn has a storage track and a transfer track for the engineering team to be able to access and inspect all the components. When engaged, the main running wheels come off the track and the trains are held up by smaller, separate wheels on the sides of the trains which glide across blue beams. This is also where trains sit when they are out of service to not fully halt ride operations. All Cedar Point’s rides undergo a constant safety programme that requires three shifts of around-the-clock care. Each night the attractions will be inspected fully to cover every component possible.
Siren’s Curse was within the testing and commissioning phase during our visit, and was one of the quickest constructed coasters in the industry, which took about eight months. To ensure this quick and speedy construction process, each support goes down to bedrock, something that is rare on new coasters. These supports are the deepest in the park behind Top Thrill 2. The most expensive and challenging part of the construction process was the tunnel which goes approximately 25ft below the lake, also being the only place on any ride in the park that goes underground. Interestingly, we discovered that Siren’s Curse has onboard audio and lighting effects which are powered by the onboard battery which is charged every time the ride goes into the station. There are waypoints across the track that trigger audio clips to ensure that the sound is synced to the ride. The tilt track features three track locks as well as a physical claw that grabs the back of the train and a bumper at the end of the tilt track which sits in front. All six safety parameters need to be met for the tilt track to move.
Millennium Force opened at Cedar Point back in the year 2000. When it first opened it was the world’s tallest roller coaster standing 310 foot tall, and the fastest with a top speed of 93 mph. At the time, it gave Cedar Point the record for the most roller coasters in one park with fourteen, and the most rides in any park with 68. Millennium Force was the first ever Giga coaster, meaning a roller coaster which is over 300 feet tall, and it was the world’s first roller coaster to use an elevator lift system. Despite having no inversions, the ride features the world steepest non-inversion bank turn on a coaster at 122°.
During the behind the scenes tour we were able to go underneath the station of Millennium Force. Here, we could see the catch car which is used to pull the train up to the top of the lift hill. The catch car is broken up into little segments to allow it to curve around the track as needed. The catch car dog is on the third car of the Millennium force train; and rolls back to allow the pin to engage. There are also proximity sensors which monitor the position of the catch car. From underneath the station we were also able to see the arms that control the gates movement. Millennium Force is also equipped with wheel sprayers – despite rarely being used, these can help to cool the wheels in the station in hot on hotter days to prevent the trains from over-speeding due to reduced friction caused by the heat.
For the 25th anniversary of Millennium Force, it has received an updated LED lighting package as well as a new paint job which will take place over the next two seasons. The ride also received a new motor that moves trains up the lift hill even faster at 25 mph to increase the ride throughput. There is a counterweight which balances out the tension on a cable when the train disengages. The two cables bring the catch car up and down the lift hill, these are attached to a drum which is seen at the end under the lift. Millennium Force also has an unconventional anti rollback system where the teeth only drop down from the train and engage with the track if the catch car slows down or comes to a halt.
We then took a backstage path from near Millennium Force to Top Thrill 2. While walking down this path, we were able to see some back of house angles of Rougarou and Iron Dragon. Rougarou originally opened as Mantis, a B&M Stand Up roller coaster in 1996 and was converted to Rougarou with floorless trains for the 2015 season. Iron Dragon opened in 1986, originally featuring three trains but the ride was scaled back to two as if it took too long to dispatch, it was causing a train to stop at the bottom of the second lift and would require a staff member to head over to the lift to restart it.
Heading over to Top Thrill 2, we were able access some of the restricted areas to get some amazing views of the ride. Top Thrill 2 reaches a maximum speed of 120mph, which generates a lot of heat, therefore the wheels are larger than on most other rides and have been designed to dissipate the excess warmth. The retrofit of Top Thrill Dragster to Top Thrill 2 saw the introduction of an LSM launch system – if this ran at full power on launch one, it would only reach the point on the main tower where the ride starts to crest. The magnetic field of the stators on the track are designed to retract from the permanent magnets installed on the train which move the train. The computer system produces the exact amount of force to reach each top speed regardless of the train weight. This system can also be used as a braking system if the ride does not make it over the tower on the third launch or in case of a ride stoppage. The Top Thrill 2 trains are constructed from carbon fibre and aluminium. When the ride reopened for 2025, two vibration dampeners were added to counteract the forces on the structure.
Overall, Cedar Point’s Sunrise Tour is an incredible experience for any roller coaster enthusiasts. It was our first time at Cedar Point and this tour offered an amazing first impression of the park. Our tour guides Gwen and Joanna were extremely friendly, welcoming and informative. Included with the tour were priority boarding passes to Millennium Force and Top Thrill 2, two fast tracks, breakfast, a lunchtime meal voucher and a digital photo pass. We would highly recommend booking this package the next time you visit Cedar Point.
