Saturday, May 4 Cedar Point will be opening its gates for the 2024 season. Since 1970, Cedar Point has reigned as one of the top amusement parks in the country. According to Queue Times, in 2022 over 3.4 million people visited the theme park and beach. 

    Recently, Cedar Point Shores was named the best water park in the country. SwimOutlet gave the shores a score of 9.2/10 with a total of 68 rides, next in line was Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon in Flordia with a score of 4.2/10 and only 19 rides. 

    One of the most anticipated event for this upcoming season is the opening of the new roller coaster Top Thrill 2. The original Top Thrill Dragster opened in 2002, was a record-breaking 420 feet tall and reached speeds up to 120 mph in less than a minute. Top Thrill Dragster was notorious for safety hazards over the years: small pieces of metal hitting four riders in 2004, a cable coming loose and injuring guests in 2016, but the major incident would come about five years later. On August 15, 2021, Rachel Hawes was visiting Cedar Point when part of the ride fell off and directly fell onto Hawes’ head. Hawes was rushed to Firelands Regional Medical Center but then transferred to a different hospital in Toledo. Hawes later went on to sue Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point, for causing permanent skull and brain damage. 

    Following this incident, the Ohio Department of Agriculture got involved to investigate the safety of Top Thrill Dragster. Although the department found no issues with the ride itself, Top Thrill Dragster closed in September of 2022. 

    In August of 2023, after months of teaser trailers, Cedar Point officially announced the remake of Top Thrill Dragster, Top Thrill 2, to open in 2024. On the Cedar Point website, the description for Top Thrill 2 matches the original height and speed for Top Thrill Dragster, but more technologically up-to-speed and updated safety information and precautions. 

    Senior Lily Fawcett said one of her most memorable moments at the park was passing out on Millennium Force the first time she ever went to Cedar Point. Although Fawcett said she only went three or four times last year, she is super excited for this year and already bought a season pass. 

    Junior and roller-coaster enthusiast Will Gee said that he was very excited about the upcoming Cedar Point season. 

“My favorite ride would be Millennium Force, one hundred percent,” Gee said, “it’s really different from any of the other rides that are there, and it was my first big roller coaster that my dad made me go on. I would say Corkscrew is my least favorite, it’s useless and kind of lame honestly.”

      Gee also said that he and his family stay up at the Cedar Point hotels for the Fourth of July and he was looking forward to that again this summer. 

     “I’m so excited, especially since Top Thrill 2 is opening, I love roller coasters and I don’t have much of a fear of heights, so I’m super pumped,” Gee explained.

Alexa Thomas / Staff Writer

…continued from the print edition of the Stohion

     Freshman Aya Abbas used to visit SKIP’s Playground when she was younger. She discussed her memories of the experience. 

     “Every time I left my house when I was younger, I would ride my bike to SKIP Park and play there 24/7,” Abbas stated. “I could ride my bike or walk there, and it was always so fun to go. I was really sad when they took it down, but I’m so glad they’re reopening.”

     Abbas claimed that the only thing she did not enjoy about the old SKIP Park was it was only made out of wood, so she was more prone to splinters, and she would hurt her foot occasionally. She didn’t find it safe enough, and she hopes the new upcoming SKIP’s Playground will be much safer than the one previous. 

     Mayor Pribonic introduced the final footprint and equipment selection that was decided upon.

     “The new SKIP Playground components and amenities were ordered. Expected delivery of equipment is June 2022, and then, installation of the playground will take approximately 4 to 6 weeks.” 

     Prior to COVID-19, the administration had managed to acquire an estimated amount of $275,000 in pledged private donations for the project. As a result, Mayor Pribonic and the administration, along with the assistance of others, managed to raise a total of $656,000. 

     Abbas stated her feelings and input of the new SKIP Playground project.

     “I feel very happy and excited for SKIP Park to open back up again because it’s very close to my house, and I can take all my siblings. SKIP Playground was a very fun place to go, and I hope this new one will continue to be a nice and new environment for my family to enjoy, and I think parks are always fun to go to in general,” Abbas said.

     Abbas claimed she was in high spirits for the next park to reopen, and she is glad that the younger kids get to experience what she had when she was a child and begin to gather like she and her friends used to.

     “I hope all the little kids and my neighbors come back again and have a great time. I hope the park will be built more professionally than it was before, and I can’t wait to see it,” Abbas stated.

     SKIP Playground lives in the hearts of many and will continue to live in the hearts of more as the new and improved SKIP Park will be officially constructed in summer 2022.