NEED TO KNOW
- The new Siren’s Curse roller coaster experienced a mishap on its opening day
- For nearly 10 minutes, riders were suspended in a vertical position at the ride’s pivotal point, where the tracks break off and tilt 45 degrees, before being pulled back up to safety
- In 2023, Cedar Point made headlines after riders were stuck on another attraction for 20 to 30 minutes
Thrill-seekers got more than they bargained for at Cedar Point amusement park in Ohio on Saturday, June 28.
On its first day open to the public, the park’s new Siren’s Curse roller coaster left riders suspended for just under 10 minutes, according to the Akron Beacon Journal. It occurred on the ride’s signature ‘tilt’ portion, where the track breaks off and tilts forward 45 degrees before reconnecting to another piece of track at a 90-degree angle to the ground below. The ride vehicle is then released, sending riders into a straight down drop.
Video footage captured by Fye Coasters shows a maintenance employee tilting riders back up into a horizontal position.
Tony Clark, a spokesperson for the Sandusky, Ohio park, told PEOPLE the ride “experienced a delay that paused the ride’s operation” on Saturday afternoon.
“The coaster’s safety system performed as designed, the ride was restarted, and guests continued their ride,” Clark said. “Siren’s Curse reopened shortly after and all guests exited the ride safely.”
The ride was stuck in the air for nearly 10 minutes. After riders were safely evacuated off the ride, Siren’s Curse closed for 25 minutes before resuming normal operations.
Siren’s Curse was first announced in September 2024, promising to be the “tallest, fastest and longest ‘tilt’ roller coaster in North America.”
The ride, which officially opened to the public on June 28, features 2,966 feet of track; 13 weightless airtime moments; two 360-degree, zero-gravity barrel rolls and a “triple-down” element with twisted and “overbanked” track, all at a top speed of 58 mph.
Cedar Point, sometimes referred to as the “roller coaster capital of the world,” features a lineup of 19 coasters including Millennium Force, Valravn and Top Thrill 2 — the world’s tallest and fastest triple-launch roller coaster.
This isn’t the first time Cedar Point has made headlines for a coaster stopping mid-ride. In August 2023, riders aboard the Magnum XL 200 were stuck for 20 to 30 minutes. Local news outlet Cleveland 19 spoke to one of the families on the ride.
“It took them a while before they came over the speakers to say that they were sending maintenance,” Laina Cafego told the outlet. But the worst part was evacuating and taking the stairs down.
“There’s not a lot of space to squeeze through and you’re at such an angle, that was definitely very very awkward,” she said.
For their troubles, each rider was given a fast-pass voucher for one ride.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
“Things happen, I’m not gonna let this stop me from having the thrill of more roller coasters,” Cafego said.
Last July, Cedar Point’s parent company, Cedar Fair, merged with Six Flags to form a theme park giant, Six Flags Entertainment Corporation.
Read the full article here
