Maverick To Be Cedar Point's 17th Roller Coaster

Article written by:
Eric Gieszl, Editor

Sandusky, OH -- Cedar Point today announced details about a new launched, inverting roller coaster that the amusement park will open in 2007. Named Maverick and boasting a western theme, this new thrill ride will be located in Frontiertown and feature what the park is calling "terrain-hugging" elements that will be a first for a Cedar Point roller coaster.

"Maverick represents a new brand of roller coaster," said John Hildebrandt, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. "It is only right that it be built at the Roller Coaster Capital of the World, Cedar Point."

The ride will begin when Cedar Point guests board a steam-era-styled coaster train with an ultra-sleek profile. The trains will accommodate 12 passengers while they travel along the 4,450-foot long course.

To kick off the ride Maverick will use high-tech linear synchronous motors to propel the trains up the coaster's 105-foot tall first hill. From there, riders will encounter a beyond vertical the first drop, described as not straight down, but more than straight down. Maverick is to descend a 100 vertical feet at a 95-degree angle where it will reach a speed of 57 mph.

From there the roller coaster will hug the terrain as it twists and banks around hairpin turns with quick, but smooth changes in direction. Along the way there will eight "airtime" hills, three inversions and ten banked turns ranging from 62 to 92 degrees.

An unexpected surprise will come halfway through the ride inside a 400-foot long dark tunnel. A second set of linear synchronous motors will launch the trains a second time to reach a speed of 70 mph. It will be an uncommon twist making the second half of Maverick faster than the first.

The entire ride will last 2 minutes, 30 seconds and riders must be at least 48 inches tall to ride.

Maverick is currently being built on 5.5 acres of land between the Mean Streak roller coaster and Thunder Canyon water raft ride in Frontiertown.

To make room for Maverick, Cedar Point closed the former White Water Landing ride at the end of the 2005 season and demolished all but the station, which remains for use with Maverick's queue line. Throughout the winter and spring of 2006, construction crews prepared and poured footers for Maverick, even before the park opened for the season.

Online web sites like this one have been buzzing with speculation about the roller coaster for nearly a year. Cedar Point also helped fuel the speculation with their "On-Point!" web log on cedarpoint.com.

Maverick is estimated to cost $21 million, according to Cedar Point.

With the addition of Maverick, the park's 17th roller coaster. Cedar Point which is already home to the world's largest collection of thrill rides, will now have more roller coasters than any other amusement park in the world.

For more details on Maverick see Maverick and Cedar Point.

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