Siren’s Curse, the new coaster coming to Cedar Point was previewed recently during the Winter Chill Out event.
Considered a “legend” in the amusement park industry, Ohio’s Cedar Point has announced major plans for the 2025 season during their Winter Chill Out Event. The huge announcements for the park are to hopefully compete with looming competition from Universal Studios with Epic Universe and the ever-growingly popularity of Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Winter Chill Out is a special event hosted by the park that gives many coaster enthusiasts and fans a behind-the-scenes look at many of America’s most beloved attractions from Millennium Force to Magnum XL-200. While tickets are limited, those who manage to get in receive both an inside look at park operations and special announcements not yet known to the public. We got a special chance to attend the event and learn of Cedar Fair’s big plans for 2025 as well as more insight on their latest roller coaster currently under construction named Siren’s Curse.
Siren’s Curse will be a 160ft tilt coaster and one of the first in the United States to utilize a tilt-section since Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts did back in 2014. The tilt function was made famous in coaster circles by Dutch manufacturer Vekoma, who is also in charge of the much-anticipated Siren’s Curse.
“As the track locks into place, you’ll flee from the beckoning call of the siren and plunge into the abyss, speeding through 2,966 feet of track at a top speed of 58 mph. Come face-to-face with 13 weightless airtime moments, two 360-degree, zero-gravity barrel rolls and a high-speed “triple-down” element with twisted and overbanked track.”
– Cedar Point
One of the highlights and major announcements of the tour was an exclusive look at one of the ride vehicles for Siren’s Curse. No recording devices were allowed in the event building, however, video footage has unfortunately leaked online. However, what can be described is what was present during the ride presentation and more highlights of the overall event.
Located inside an operation room for Top Thrill 2, a vehicle intended for use on Siren’s Curse was unveiled to fans for the very first time. These new vehicles look to be sleek with lights built into them similar to the upcoming Starchasers at Universal’s Epic Universe. What sets these vehicles aside from their Florida competitor is a sound system built into the ride.
That’s right, the ride has a soundtrack!
While it was specified during a housed portion of the event that the music featured in the tour would not be the final music, fans can expect to be “jamming out” to a very unique coaster experience very soon.
A POV ridethrough of Top Thrill 2 – YouTube, Marcus Leshock
During a Q&A segment with various designers of the park located in the Lakeside Dining Hall, the team stated that they hope for the trains to have a translucent wrap similar to that found on cars. The early design showcased shows a possible green and black color scheme with a sort of seaweed design. Siren’s Curse will be 58mph and they hope to have it ready to open in early summer 2025.
Also announced during the presentation was that Top Thrill 2 is anticipated to be ready for opening day on May 3, 2025. The problematic roller coaster designed by Zamperla had not even been open more than a week before the ride had to be shut down due to problems with the ride vehicles, causing it to miss most of the 2024 season. It’s theorized that the unexpected closure of Top Thrill 2 led to Siren’s Curse moving up to open as soon as possible and at a very random time of year for a seasonal park.
Perhaps the announcement that garnered the most praise was the announcement that both Top Thrill 2 and Siren’s Curse will be including a free locker system for all guests similar to Velocicoaster at Universal Studios and Cedar Point’s own, Steel Vengeance. Top Thrill 2 experienced criticism for requiring riders to pay to store their possessions on a ride with a very strict policy against carry-on objects.
The construction of the Siren’s Curse roller coaster – YouTube, Cedar Point
With two brand new rides opening in 2025, Cedar Fair will likely have some big “star power” to stay relevant in possible vacation discussions. Their Winter Chill Out, which originally started as a smaller fan event, has now raised over $800,000 for the charity, A Kid Again. The number will likely continue to grow with the popularity of the program. Tickets sold out in 2025 with many having missed out on the chance for the tour, so hopefully, Cedar Point can find a way to get more coaster enthusiasts involved in the future and expand the program.
Cedar Point also made some smaller announcements such as Famous Daves moving from their Marina area to Castaway Bay, a new revamped Happy Frair walk-in food place and two new water slides to be added to the waterpark.
With a must-ride tilt coaster in Siren’s Curse and a 420ft goliath in Top Thril 2 set to be one of the tallest coasters in America, Cedar Fair hopefully has a bright future ahead of them despite competition looming from Epic Universe. Theme Parks tend to be very different in terms of what their mass appeal and audience focus are, but anyone who loves a great vacation will hopefully be excited for the industry as a whole.
Are you excited for Siren’s Curse? Are you scared to ride Top Thrill 2? Are you interested in attending Winter Chill Out? Sound off in the comments below and check out That Park Place for all the news that should be fun!!
Thankfully it’s not easy to make a roller coaster woke, and because it’d take creativity to do so, they won’t manage it.