Latest news with #PowerTower
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Cedar Point's Power Tower evacuated after cable fails
SANDUSKY, Ohio (WJW) — Cedar Point evacuated and shut down its Power Tower attraction on Sunday evening after a cable detached from the ride vehicle, a park spokesperson confirmed to FOX 8 News. 'The ride's safety system performed as designed, the ride vehicle returned to the loading position and all guests exited the ride safely,' park spokesperson Tony Clark told FOX 8 News in an email. Ohio man wins for a third time playing same scratch-off game A video posted to YouTube appears to show the cable lying on the ground after the ride was shut down. The ride is expected to remain closed while the park performs a 'thorough review and inspection,' Clark said. A Ohio Department of Agriculture spokesperson told FOX 8 that Cedar Point contacted them about the incident around 8 p.m. on Sunday. ODA's Amusement Ride Safety Division issued a 'stop operation order' on the ride that will be released 'upon a complete reinspection of the ride,' the spokesperson said. 'No injuries have been reported to ODA at this time,' the spokesperson confirmed. Ohio woman wins $2M but won't get even half the cash The 300-foot-tall vertical drop attraction stands right in the middle of the park. It opened in 1998, according to the park's timeline. Power Tower lets riders choose whether to be propelled upward or downward at speeds of up to 60 mph. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
‘Like a giant whip': Cedar Point ride malfunction frightens parkgoers
SANDUSKY, Ohio (WJW) — What started as a fun Sunday night at Cedar Point quickly turned into a frightening experience for Ryan and his family. 'Me and my two daughters were next in line, standing directly below the drop towers,' Ryan said. 'I heard a twing type of sound—like tension being released—and then this giant cable came down. It was like slow motion.' VIDEO: Myles Garrett caught driving Ferrari at 100 mph on I-71 Ryan said a cable snapped on Cedar Point's Power Tower—an almost 300-foot-tall vertical drop attraction that towers over the middle of the park. 'I yelled, 'Oh my God!' It happened so fast. Then the cable hit the guard tower, and it sounded like the earth was coming to an end. That's when everyone started freaking out, scattering, and running,' he said. The park immediately evacuated riders and shut down the attraction. Thankfully, no one was hurt. 'That guard shack was 10 feet from us,' Ryan said. 'It was very close to being a bad situation.' According to Cedar Point, a single cable detached from one of the ride vehicles. A spokesperson said the ride's safety system worked as designed and all guests exited safely. New video: Police continue investigation into Cuyahoga County Fairgrounds shooting For many visitors on Monday, the incident was still on their minds. 'That's scary—you think about what could happen to people on these rides,' parkgoer Katrina Rueberger said. 'It also makes you wonder how often they test the rides, inspections and things that need to be done.' The Ohio Department of Agriculture's Amusement Ride Safety Division said it is investigating the incident. 'ODA's Amusement Ride Safety Division and its inspectors have placed a Stop Operation Order on the ride and are working with Cedar Point and the ride's manufacturer to determine the cause of the incident. The Stop Operation Order will be released upon a complete reinspection of the ride,' the department said in a statement on Monday. The ride will remain closed until a complete reinspection is finished. Jury acquits Cleveland activists of extortion, intimidation 'It broke from the top. Whatever the weight of a steel cable falling from 250 feet is, it was like a giant whip. It was scary,' said Ryan. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Did sirens curse Cedar Point? Power Tower cable snaps, roller coasters shut down, evacuated
The Power Tower breakdown at Cedar Point is the latest in a series of malfunctions at the Sandusky, Ohio, theme park. In the most recent incident, one of the ride's cables snapped, leaving riders stranded in the air. The Power Tower rockets riders 240 feet in the air before dropping them back to the ground. And that's not the only instance of ride malfunctions at Cedar Point. Siren's Curse, the park's newest roller coaster, has been evacuated several times when the tilt coaster got stuck. Top Thrill 2 was closed for repairs in June, despite being shut down for nearly all of the 2024 season for modifications. And the Raptor has been closed since Aug. 4. Here's a look at the recent breakdowns. Cable snaps on Power Tower, leaving riders stranded In the Power Tower incident, park spokesman Tony Clark said a single cable detached from the ride vehicle on one of the towers on Aug. 10, the Beacon Journal reported. The ride's safety performed as expected, he said. Cedar Point workers manually lowered riders to the ground, where all safely exited. No injuries were reported. "Safety is a top priority, and the ride will remain closed while we complete a thorough review and inspection of the ride," Clark said. Bryan Levin of the Ohio Department of Agriculture's Division of Amusement Ride Safety & Fairs said the Power Tower will remain closed until the state does a complete reinspection of the ride. Siren's Curse roller coaster strands riders, evacuated at least 5 times At least five times now, Siren's Curse — which has been open since the end of June — has stranded passengers at the top of its 160-foot lift hill, forcing either an evacuation or a delay as the coaster was restarted, the Beacon Journal previously reported. Twice, riders were stranded on tilt portion of the coaster, which tips a piece of track 90 degrees down before continuing the ride. One of those times the riders pointed straight down. Clark said the coaster had been experiencing minor technical issues, which he compared to the check engine light in a car, resulting in the safety system halting the ride. If the safety system can be reset, the ride continues. If not, riders are evacuated. One coaster enthusiast and mechanical engineer, who has written books on the science of coasters, said the safety systems on Siren's Curse are performing as they should. "It's important to understand that thrill rides are over-engineered for fail-safe performance," Nick Weisenberger said. "There are hundreds of sensors and they all have to agree; otherwise, the ride stops out of an abundance of caution." Top Thrill 2, closed for most of 2024 season, shut down for 'mechanical reasons' in June 2025 Top Thrill 2, which made its debut in 2024 but closed after only eight days, reopened this season but still has had a few issues crop up. In June, the roller coaster shut down for unspecified "mechanical reasons," Clark said at the time. According to a Reddit "ask me anything" on June 8, an anonymous Cedar Point ride mechanic, whose identity Reddit moderators verified, said a crack was found on a support. A crane, spotted by an X user, was brought out to repair it. "There was a decent size crack found on a support post on the spike," the Reddit user wrote. "That's the only reason we have a crane on site, for the welders to address the crack found. Once they finish the fix and the state okays it, the ride should be back to operational orders." Another Top Thrill 2 closure happened on the park's opening day, May 3, when the coaster didn't have enough power to get its train over the hill, resulting in an extra rollback. One rollback on Top Thrill 2 is by design. The coaster first launches its trains forward; they run out of momentum on the 420-foot hill and roll back toward the start. Then, the train is launched backward up a vertical track. When that runs out of momentum, the train rolls forward toward the start, where a third launch finally sends it over the tophat hill at 120 mph. According to the statistics at Ride Forces Database, Top Thrill 2 has been operational for 64.3% of the time Cedar Point has been open in 2025. Social media reports Valravn evacuated, Millennium Force stuck Sporadic reports of other coaster closures have popped up on social media. On Reddit, a user posted a photo of people descending the spiral staircase from Valravn on Aug. 7. The website Queue Times, which reports when rides are open or closed as well as the wait times based on user submissions and reports from the theme park itself, shows an nearly two-hour closure for Valravn, from 2:10 to 3:50 p.m., that day, and sporadic closures otherwise. Another Reddit user posted a photo stating Millennium Force was stuck at the top of the hill on Aug. 8. However, Queue Times shows only sporadic closures for the ride that day, which opened around 9:15 a.m. and closed shortly after 10 p.m. Reddit users complain about number of coasters that are down Other Reddit posts complain about the number of coasters that were closed on specific days. One claims seven were down on Aug. 3, while another posted a screenshot from Queue Times showing closures and significant delays at the majority of coasters. According to Queue Times, Top Thrill 2 and Rougarou were closed the full day on Aug. 3, with Raptor open briefly. GateKeeper opened late, around 3 p.m. And on Aug. 4, Raptor, Rougarou and Top Thrill 2 were closed the full day. Gemini, Pipe Scream and Wild Mouse opened late that day, with the other coasters opening between 9:30 and 11 a.m. and only closed sporadically throughout the day, per Queue Times. Rougarou was closed from July 31 to Aug. 7, per the website. And, Raptor has been closed since Aug. 4. Cedar Point's spokesman said the park is waiting on a part, and the ride should reopen soon. This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Did sirens curse Cedar Point? Power Tower breaks, coasters evacuated Solve the daily Crossword
