Cedar Point

Around the turn of the century, businessman George Arthur Boeckling spent several decades expanding the park by planting flower gardens, adding a boardwalk and rides, constructing lagoons, and opening several hotels including The Breakers Hotel which opened on June 12, 1905, and still operates today. Cedar Point continued to expand over the course of the century, adding a series of new rides and roller coasters. In 1929 The Cedar Point Cyclone was built by legendary designer Harry Traver, who also designed the Coney Island Cyclone. The Great Depression had an adverse affect on Cedar Point, and it did not fully recover until the 1950s when businessmen George Roose and Emile Legros bought the park and turned it around. They constructed the Cedar Point marina, which is one of the largest on the great lakes and added modern rides following the style of Disneyland.

The park continued to expand rapidly through the next 40 years. Many of its roller coasters were record setters when they opened. The Cedar Creek Mine Ride opened in 1969 as one of the very first run-away mine train style roller coasters. In 1976 Corkscrew was the first roller coaster to turn its riders upside down three times. In 1978 the Gemini debuted as the tallest and fastest roller coaster on earth. In 1989 Magnum XL-200 opened as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in existence, as well as being the very first roller coaster to be taller than 200 feet. In 1991 Mean Streak opened as the tallest and fastest wooden coaster. Raptor opened in 1994 as the tallest, fastest, and longest inverted roller coaster with the most loops. Mantis opened in 1996 as the tallest, fastest, and longest stand-up roller coaster with the most loops. In 2000 Cedar Point unleashed Millennium Force, which at the time was the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster and the first coaster to top 300 feet. Cedar Point continued its record breaking tradition in 2003 with Top Thrill Dragster, which features a four-second launch to 120 mph and a 420 foot hill with a 90 degree ascent and descent.

Cedar Point ties with Six Flags Magic Mountain[?] for having the most roller coasters at any park; they have 16 each as of 2003.

In contrast to many parks that have completely modernized, Cedar Point has retained some older rides as well. It has several antique carousels which retain their original wooden animals, many smaller carnival-type rides, as well as county-fair style booths and games and a variety of musical shows.

The beach on Lake Erie is wide, and both it and the shore have a generally gradual slope. The sand is the right texture for making sand castles.