Cedar Point Announces Luxury Camping Complex For 2001

Sandusky, OH -- Cedar Point, one of the largest amusement park properties in the world, today announced plans to expand the famed 364-acre amusement park/resort with the addition of a luxury camping complex to its popular Camper Village RV campground that will feature upscale overnight cottages, cabins and RV campsites.

Named Lighthouse Point, the new camping accommodations at Camper Village are part of Cedar Point's $14 million capital investment program for the 2001 season and will continue the park's commitment to develop into a complete resort destination. With this new project, Cedar Point will have added or expanded to its "resort side" with seven overnight accommodations' facilities at the venerable 130-year-old park since 1990. The announcement of Lighthouse Point comes just a year after the epic debut of the 310-foot-tall, 93-mph "giga-coaster" Millennium Force, which as Cedar Point's 14th roller coaster, is more than anywhere on Earth.

Designed with an atmosphere reminiscent of nautical New England towns, Lighthouse Point will be located on 15 acres of prime lakeside real estate on the west bank of the Cedar Point Peninsula near the Cedar Point lighthouse and adjacent to the original RV campground, which opened in 1971.

Fifty cottages, 10 cabins and 59 luxury RV campsites will offer sweeping views of Lake Erie. The cottages will be one-story units with cedar-shingle exteriors, while the cabins will have a loft in addition to the floor level and will feature log exteriors. The cozy cottages and cabins will have 400 square feet of living space, including a bedroom, living room, kitchenette and bathroom; plus a walk-out patio. Each cottage will sleep up to six people with a double bed, futon and bunk bed; each cabin will accommodate at least eight guests with a double bed, two futons and sleeping space for children in the loft. A microwave, refrigerator, two televisions with cable, telephones and an outdoor grill will also welcome modern-day campers in each unit.

The 59 luxury RV campsites will feature 18 pull-through sites and 41 back-in sites, accommodating large upscale recreational vehicles on an 80-foot-long concrete site. Electricity, cable television, water and sewer will be available at each campsite. With the addition of Lighthouse Point, Camper Village will have a total of 283 RV campsites.

"We are ushering in a new era of camping with Lighthouse Point," says Wayne Olcott, vice president of accommodations at Cedar Point. "This will be an entire camping community for overnighters searching for the ultimate camping experience. Guests will get the true sense of camping, but with first-class flair and comforts."

Lighthouse Point will offer amenities such as an outdoor pool; recreation area with shuffleboard, grass-court croquet and other lawn games; arcade; a pier; eatery; and the preservation of the historic Cedar Point stone lighthouse (circa 1862), which will be renovated into an upscale nautical merchandise shop and gallery on the ground level. The park's boardwalk, which stretches along the sandy shores of Lake Erie and the Cedar Point Beach, will also be expanded to wind around the perimeter of Lighthouse Point and Camper Village.

In the last 10 years, Cedar Point has transformed into a resort destination with the addition or expansion of the following resort accommodations: Sandcastle Suites Hotel in 1990; Sandcastle Suites Hotel expansion in 1992; Breakers East in 1995; Radisson Harbour Inn in 1996; Breakers Tower in 1999; Breakers Express in 2000; and now Lighthouse Point in 2001.

"Our vision of Cedar Point becoming a total resort environment continues to be realized with the exciting addition of Lighthouse Point," confirms Richard L. Kinzel, president and CEO of Cedar Fair L.P., which owns and operates Cedar Point, along with four other amusement parks and four water parks.

Also new for 2001 at Cedar Point will be a renovation of the park's Main Midway that will include an elaborate "dancing water fountain;" a major expansion to the popular HalloWeekends for Cedar Point's fifth annual Halloween event; a seasonal employee dormitory; and other park upgrades and improvements.