Do You Have What It Takes to Ride the Top 10 Coasters at Cedar Point? (2024)

Cedar Point is the self-proclaimed "Roller Coaster Capital of the World," with an overwhelming collection of 16 coasters. However, unless you're planning on spending at least a couple of days at the legendary park, you're going to have a problem. With such a large collection of rides and only so many hours in the day (and only so much intestinal fortitude), which ones should merit your attention?

Have no fear. (Well, have a little fear. We are talking about thrill rides after all.) To help guide you, we have rounded up Cedar Point's ten best coasters, ranked in order. As for the intestinal fortitude, you're on your own.

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Steel Vengeance

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Not only do we consider this the best coaster at Cedar Point, but we also consider it to be among the best hybrid wooden and steel coasters anywhere. Some enthusiasts even proclaim Steel Vengeance to be the single best roller coaster in the world, period.

It rises 205 feet before dropping 200 feet at a freaky 90-degree angle, hits 74 mph, includes four inversions, and keeps delivering thrills for an impressive two minutes and 30 seconds. And despite all of that intensity, the ride is rock-solid smooth–which is all the more remarkable, because Steel Vengeance was built using the structure of the notoriously rough wooden coaster, Mean Streak.

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Maverick

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Sure, Maverick isn't the tallest or fastest ride in the park, but it packs a lot into its comparatively small frame. There are two take-your-breath-away launches, a beyond-straight-down first drop, nice pops of airtime, and some inversions and overbanked turns. The whole experience is well-paced and gloriously smooth. It is, in our estimation, not only among the best coasters at Cedar Point but one of the best in the country.

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Top Thrill Dragster

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When it debuted, Top Thrill Dragster was the world's tallest and fastest coaster. Using a hydraulic launch system, it accelerates from 0 to 120 mph in no time flat (4 seconds, actually). It then climbs straight up a 420-foot top hat tower and freefalls 90 degrees down the other side. The whole thing is over in 30 seconds. But it may be the most terrifying 30 seconds of your life.

Millennium Force

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At 93 mph, Millennium Force also boasts ferocious speed. But unlike Top Thrill Dragster's wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am quick burst, the giga-coaster (so named because it was the first full-circuit coaster to rise over 300 feet) climbs a more conventional lift hill and sustains its fierce speed and face-melting G-forces for almost two-and-a-half minutes. At 182 feet, Millennium Force's third hill is taller than most coasters' first drops.

Continue to 5 of 10 below.

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Valravn

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Valravn is one of a handful of dive coasters. Its unusual floorless train (with three long rows of eight seats), climbs 223 feet, crawls to the edge of a 90-degree precipice, lingers for a few knee-knocking moments as passengers contemplate what awaits them, and dives straight down. Inversions and a second, smaller dive follow. For maximum knee-knocking views, it's worth waiting for a front-row seat, especially the ones on either of the cantilevered ends of the train.

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GateKeeper

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Cedar Point is so crazy about coasters, it built one that straddles its front gate. Known as a wing coaster, GateKeeper features seats that are located to the left and right of the tracks on the train's "wings." Among its elements are two "keyhole" towers towards which the extra-wide train barrels headlong. Just when it seems like it couldn't possibly fit through the narrow openings, the train turns sideways and just barely threads the needle.

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Magnum XL-200

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It was the first thrill machine to break the 200-foot-tall threshold, and ride fans were stunned by Magnum's seemingly incomprehensible height when it opened in 1989. Among today's much taller behemoths, the hypercoaster (a term coined to describe the ride's new breed of extreme height and speed) seems almost quaint. Its ride has become a bit rough through the years, but Magnum still delivers plenty of its characteristic out-of-your-seat airtime and stunning views of Lake Erie.

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Raptor

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As an inverted coaster, Raptor's train hangs suspended beneath the tracks and its exposed cars are little more than a collection of seats. It's quite a sight to see 32 passengers, with their legs freely flailing, get tossed upside down in a 100-foot teardrop loop. And that's only one of Raptor's six inversions.

Continue to 9 of 10 below.

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Rougarou

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Cedar Point traded out the trains and transformed Rougarou from a stand-up coaster (complete with uncomfortable bicycle-like saddles) into a sit-down, floorless coaster hurtling passengers through a 137-foot drop at speeds of 60mph. Riders also soar through the ride's several loops and other inversions with their legs dangling.

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Gemini

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This '70s thriller is named after NASA's Gemini space missions. With its timber lattices, it may look like a traditional wooden coaster, but Gemini actually uses tubular steel tracks. It is a racing coaster; if the ride ops dispatch them at the same time, the red train races alongside the blue train. Sometimes passengers in both trains get so close, they can high-five each other (violating the "keep your hands inside the moving vehicle at all times" policy). Despite its vintage, Gemini is surprisingly smooth and lots of fun.