Cedar Point has had a series of high-profile roller coaster and ride breakdowns lately, leaving passengers stranded while the safety system resets or forcing them to evacuate, descending emergency staircases from 150 feet or more in the air.
Now, an Ohio lawmaker is pushing for change at the Sandusky amusement park and its sister in the Cincinnati area, Kings Island. State Rep. Sean Patrick Brennan (D-Parma) has introduced the Real-Time Ride Status Notification Act, which would require Ohio’s permanent amusement parks like Cedar Point and Kings Island to provide real-time public updates on ride availability.
“Families spend hundreds of dollars and travel across the state to visit these parks,” Brennan said in an Aug. 13 statement. “They deserve accurate, real-time information so they can plan their day and avoid the frustration of walking across the park to find a ride shut down.”
Here's a look at what the proposal would require.
What would the Real-Time Ride Status Notification Act require at Cedar Point, Kings Island?
The bill mandates that Ohio's major amusement parks post up-to-date ride status both through digital signage at the parks as well as online through their official apps or websites. Parks would be required to update this information within five minutes of any ride becoming temporarily closed or returning to operation.
The official mobile apps for Cedar Point and Kings Island already provide live wait times for rides as well as notify parkgoers of ride closures.
In his statement, Brennan said the bill takes data that many parks monitor internally and makes it public in a timely and consistent way.
"Just like we expect real-time updates from public transportation or airports, parkgoers should be able to know which rides are operating before getting in line—or before leaving home,” he said.
If passed, the bill would take effect one year after the new law is enacted to give Ohio theme parks time to implement the required systems.
Siren's Curse, Top Thrill 2 roller coasters, Power Tower at Cedar Point malfunction
The latest ride malfunction at Cedar Point was at the Power Tower, which launches riders 240 feet in the air or drops them from the top of one of its four towers. One of the cables "detached" on one of the towers, leaving riders stranded. Park spokesman Tony Clark said the ride's safety systems performed as expected, and park workers manually lowered riders to the ground to safely exit. No injuries were reported.
And the park's newest roller coaster, Siren's Curse, has left passengers stranded at least five times at the top of its 160-foot hill since opening in late June. In a couple of those instances, riders had to evacuate the ride, walking down the emergency stairs. And twice, riders were stranded on the coaster's tilt mechanism, which stops the cars on a "broken" piece of track only for that track to tilt down 90 degrees and reconnect to continue the journey. In one of those instances, riders were stranded pointing straight down.
And then there's Top Thrill 2, which made its debut in 2024 but closed after only eight days. It reopened this season after spending the rest of 2024 undergoing modifications. However, the roller coaster briefly closed in June for unspecified "mechanical reasons," Clark said at the time. A Reddit user, a Cedar Point Mechanic as confirmed by site moderators, said a crack was found in a support. The park brought out a crane to make repairs.
Sporadic reports of other coaster closures have popped up on social media, like one Reddit user who posted a photo of people descending the spiral staircase from Valravn on Aug. 7. Another Reddit user posted a photo stating Millennium Force was stuck at the top of the hill on Aug. 8.
At Kings Island, power was out for much of the park on June 30, closing some rides that day, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cedar Point roller coaster breakdowns pushes lawmaker to act. See bill
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