Date Ridden: Summer of 2006, 2007 and 2008. Also in the fall of 2007. Times Ridden: 25 in every seat at least once.
Millennium Force is my favorite ride for a number of reasons.
To begin with, let me take you back in time to the summer of 2006. I had just gone through (and was still going through to be honest) the most difficult time in my life. I am a person of stability and that stability was yanked out from under me like a dirty old rug. I was not doing anything but staying at home in my log cabin at the foot of Lookout Mountain in Georgia when an old friend from high school who had heard about my problems sent me an email stating that he was planning a solo trip to what he called "The Roller Coaster Capital of the World" in a place called Sandusky, OH.
I had only ridden about 20 coasters in my life (taking dates to 6 Flags in Atlanta or up to Lake Winnie to the ride the Cannonball) and had never heard of it. I told him I didn't want to go, so
then he called....and called......and called. He wouldn't take no for an answer.
I finally gave in and slept virtually the entire 12 hour ride up to Ohio while he drove and sung along to some old school Run-DMC. He was excited since it was something he had been thinking about doing for over 5 years but his children were not yet old enough. He had gotten "permission" from the family to take me off to "clear my head". I, who definitely needed my hed cleared, had ridden the local coasters but was not aware of what I was getting into.
The next thing I remember is what became the greatest coaster moment of my life and a ride that led to a new hobby of visiting theme parks all over the country. That moment was going up the unbelievably fast elevator cable lift to the top of the famous (so I now know...at the time I had no clue what Millennium Force was and had never heard of an elevator lift) Millenium Force hill while a slight mist was falling during early ride time on a Thursday morning in June. Before I knew it, we were there...(I remember staring out at Lake Eerie and then looking up and seeing we were at the top). I looked over at my friend and asked if we were already at the top.....and then we dropped...and dropped.....and dropped. I had never even been on a hyper coaster before. I was actually more excited about riding Raptor but my buddy insisted that we go here first. I remember the drop with rain pelting me in the face. I remember the huge banked curve and blacking out slightly (I always do). I remember the underrated head choppers as you go around Millennium Island as the train zooms by the support posts.
And I remember speed. An unbelievable amount of speed which is how the ride is built. MF offers different rides depending on where you are sitting but no matter where I ride, it is still my favorite ride in the world. The front offers the unbelievable view of going down the drop. The back offers the sensation of being not just pulled but completely THROWN over the 310 foot hill. But for some reason, I prefer the middle of the train that seems just as fast and offers some surprising airtime over the large hills scattered throughout the course. However, please don't assume that MF is built for airtime. It is not and that is why there are people who dislike it. The forces it offers are awesome but abundant air is not one of them. When riding it, you are going to get a smooth, fast and comfortable ride that you will never forget.
This past summer (2007), we did a crazy thing. We made the long trek to Agawam with the goal of riding the coaster Millennium Force is most often compared to: another Intamin hyper-mega coaster named Superman: Ride of Steel. Following an all night ride and a journey over the GW Bridge in NYC, we arrived with approximately 90 minutes to ride ROS. We then left at park closing, drove a second all-nighter (about 8 hours) to arrive at Cedar Point just in time for ERT. After 7 rides on Superman and 4 rides on MF in less than 12 hours we were able to make a comparison between the two. And guess what? They are both great. One can make an argument for or against either ride but for me personally, Millennium Force will always rank # 1 thanks to that cold dreary ride in 2006.
Overall ranking: 10 (Perfect score)
Take a ride on Millennium Force below.
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