Frontiertown

The Rides

To the left of the entrance to Frontiertown is the Wave Swinger. This old ride has been spinning away at the park for many years.  After getting soaked on all those water rides, the Wave Swinger is a great place to dry off. Just don't expect the ride hosts to laugh when you call it the "spin cycle." They've only heard that joke about 500 times each day since the opening of Thunder Canyon.  Next to the Wave Swinger, you may notice Undertaker U., which is a HalloWeekend fun house. This location used to house the Haunted Carousel. Hmmm, sounds like another Cedar Point ghost story is coming up.

There are actually multiple versions of this story, but I'm going to tell one of the more interesting versions.  As the story goes, when the ride was being built, around the turn of the century, the builder murdered his wife. He put her remains inside one of the horses. Only one horse on the ride has any weaponry painted on it. It is that horse that contains the corpse. It is said that every midnight of a full moon, the wife comes back to ride on her horse. The carousel mysteriously begins running, with her apparition seen riding the horse.

Ah, but the tale does not end there. There have been times when the park was open at midnight when there was a full moon. It seems that the ghost does not like this situation! First, it should be stated that the horse is located on the outside ring of the carousel. The outer horses do not move up and down. As midnight approaches, riders have claimed that the horse has started to move. I, in fact, was riding the carousel with some friends about an hour before midnight. One of my friends rode on the spirited horse, while I rode on the horse next to her. She claimed that she could feel the horse move up and down, and, I must admit, it looked to me like she was moving!  When midnight gets closer, the ghost gets more aggressive. There have been cases where a person has left the ride with a horse bite on the leg. Ooh, eerie!

There have been times when the ghost became a bit playful. There was one work crew shared between the Wave Swinger and Frontiertown Carousel. One night, the crew was getting ready to go home. One of the girls went to the carousel to turn off the lights, while the others waited near the Wave Swinger. After about five minutes, they began to get concerned. The girl had not returned, and the ride's lights were still on. They went to investigate, and discovered that the girl had gotten locked into the room in the center of the carousel, so they needed to let her out. Of course, the room is only supposed to lock from the inside in order to keep people out, so the unanswered question remains, how did she get locked in? To this day, no one knows why she was unable to open that door. I have some additional questions, however. When the ride was relocated to Dorney Park, did the ghost follow? Or is she still roaming around Cedar Point, looking for her carousel?

Frontiertown contains one of several interlocking midway loops. We have a choice of turning right or left to traverse the loop. Since there isn't much of interest to the left beyond the Wave Swinger, we are going to go to the right.
 

As we travel down the Frontiertown midway, we see the Antique Cars on the left. These cars are very similar to the Cadillac Cars on the Main Midway, but with a quieter, more peaceful atmosphere. Here, you can see my nephew driving the car, while I relax and enjoy the scenic beauty of Frontiertown.  At one point along the Antique Cars path, you will be able to see a Guessing Game just before entering a covered bridge. For some reason, the cars occasionally get stuck on that turn, usually if the driver wasn't steering properly! While I was working at that Guessing Game location, I would frequently play "Super Guesser!" Leaping the rail in a single bound, I'd hurl myself in front of the car and, with Herculean strength, pull it back on to the track, allowing the riders to continue their journey! Just another day in the life of the mild-mannered Super Guesser, keeping the park safe for continued fun. Gee, sounds like a great concept for a TV series! Perhaps it could be called, "Real Stories of the Guesser Patrol." Or perhaps we could get Dick Martin to host it, and it could be called, "Harper and Martin's Guess-In." Well, maybe not.

Welcome to the only ride that takes you up 50 feet and drops you three, the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. This ride is a bit sprawling, making it very difficult to photograph. However, the ride is like an old runaway mine train.  Cedar Creek Mine Ride, built in 1969, was one of the first coasters to use the tubular steel rail track, paving the way for a whole new generation of roller coaster excitement.

Being a rather small coaster, the line is often short for the Cedar Creek Mine Ride. As a result, you may notice that the back cars are closed. If you should arrive at any coaster and find the back seats closed, don't be angry. Cedar Point is just trying to ensure that you get a full ride. When the front is empty and the back is full, the trains have trouble latching on to the chain systems. There have been times when I have seen the Mine Ride stuck at its second lift due to improper loading.
 

After passing the Mine Ride, we approach a fork in the midway. If we turn right, we get to the Gemini Midway. Well, we aren't quite ready to get there just yet, so we are going to turn left, passing the Trading Post, General Store, Guessing Game, the Frontiertown Arcade, and some restaurants. We finally see White Water Landing on our left.

Remember that 1990 suicide story about the Giant Wheel, where the guy jumped after breaking up with his girlfriend? No?  Oh, that's right -- we haven't gotten to it yet, since Giant Wheel was relocated from the Wildcat Midway to the Twister Midway.  Anyway, that story is coming up.  Meanwhile, it looks like 1990 must have been a tense year in northern Ohio, as White Water Landing is the site of a story similar to the one that you've not yet heard. Gee, this narrative is getting complicated!  Anyway, on with the story.  It seems that a girl broke up with her boyfriend during the spring while at the park. In this case, the girl was distraught. She attempted to commit suicide by jumping out of her boat while at the top of White Water Landing.  The girl survived, although I imagine that she wasn't feeling all that good!

Patrons of Kings Island, near Cincinnati, Ohio, tend to get a bit confused with some of the names of Cedar Point's water rides. Kings Island had a raft ride called White Water Canyon. Cedar Point has a raft ride called Thunder Canyon and a log ride called White Water Landing. When Thunder Canyon was new in 1986, people would often come up to me and ask where White Water Canyon was located. I would typically instruct them to get on I-75 and travel south to Cincinnati. However, if they wanted to stay in the park, I would allow them to choose which ride they desired, then give them the appropriate directions. Since I was working in Frontiertown that summer, the directions would be to travel about 200 feet to the left of the scale, or about 300 feet to the right of the scale. Either way, they were very close.
 

Frontiertown has the second station for the Cedar Point & Lake Erie Railroad. If you board the train at this point, it will take you back to the Funway Station, located at the Wildcat Midway. In addition, you will get to see Boneville, an animated town of skeletons living, er, uh, un-living (un-dying?), in the old west. The Boneville sound system has been failing over the years, but it apparently got an overhaul for 1997, so you can enjoy the music of Mr. Bones and his jug band, and Mr. Possum and the Polecat Pickers, plus the skeletons singing while they are working on the railroad. Look out, those are real flames in the burning building! Too bad the skeletons don't have very good aim with their water hose!

	That huge wooden structure, built in 1991, is the Mean Streak. At the time of construction, it was the tallest, fastest, and steepest all-wooden roller coaster ever built.  The picture to the upper left was taken from the Giant Wheel when it was on the Wildcat Midway.
	Prior to 2000, Mean Streak was ROUGH.  If the Mine Ride fixed your back, Mean Streak was sure to get even! Now, however, the ride seems to have new shock absorbers.  It's not nearly as smooth as Millennium Force, but the ride will no longer loosen your fillings!. Part of the fun of a wooden coaster is the way its personality changes with the weather. When the wood is wet, as on days when it has rained, the track gives a bit, providing a much smoother ride. On dry days, the wood doesn't give as much, causing a bumpier sensation.  Smile when you ride that, Pilgrim. Once again, your picture is being taken while you ride.

If the line is long for Mean Streak, you might want to take in a beverage. The queue is surrounded by the wooden structure. The wind doesn't make it through all that wood, but the sun keeps on beating down, so it gets HOT in there!  This coaster is nearly identical to the Texas Giant at Six Flags over Texas, with only minor differences. However, when I was on the Texas Giant, I couldn't help but notice that it was a bumpier ride than Mean Streak. I can't be certain, but it felt like there were quite a few wheels that needed replacing. The ball bearings do wear out. Cedar Point is very good with their maintenance, which is why the park has such a fantastic safety record. The feel of the Texas Giant led me to believe that Six Flags may not be quite as tight with their maintenance. Keep in mind, this statement is merely my impression. Others may have different beliefs.

I actually wish I could have worked at the park in 1991, when the Mean Streak was new. I can imagine that many people asked, "Where's the Streak?" Well, being a bit of a joker, had someone asked me that question, I would naturally have sent them to the Blue Streak, back on the Main Midway. After all, it was there first! Just a word of warning. If you ask directions from a guesser, make sure you use the correct names, or you might find yourself going in the wrong direction!

For The Kids

Have a 48" tall child who is a bit nervous about roller coasters? The Cedar Creek Mine Ride might be a good place to start. If they do well on that one, then move up to some of the bigger roller coasters.

Shows

At the Palace Theatre, Twistin' to the 60's is a 25 minute show running from May 29 through August 22 (except Tuesdays).  Travel back to the time of behive hairdos and slumber parties while enjoying some great oldies.  Prior to 2002, this building had a much more colorful name.  It was previously known as Lusty Lil's Showtime Palace.  I guess someone decided that "Lusty Lil" is just a bit too racy a name for a family amusement park!  Whatever the name on the front may be, it'll always be Lusty Lil's to me.

It's not really a show, but the Town Hall is a nice place to visit. This site is often overlooked, which is too bad. You can see some memorabilia from Cedar Point's long history. There are pictures, models, movies, old game machines, and various old souvenirs and artifacts. Included in this area is an original wood horse from the Kiddy Kingdom carousel. This horse was featured on a U.S. postage stamp. (The horse on the carousel was replaced with a fiberglass replica so the original could be preserved.)

Games

Draw, pardner, 'cause yer in my territory now! I spent two of my four Cedar Point summers working at the Frontiertown Guessing Game, commonly referred to as the Town Scale. This picture was taken early in the summer of 1987, shortly after I arrived for the season. For about the first half of the season, Violetta Severkoski (guess which one she is!) was running the scale. For the second half of the season, I took over. All summer long, however, Vi and I worked together, along with two first-year guessers, to make the Frontiertown Scale crew the best crew in the park.  (Of course, I may be just a tad biased in that assessment!)  I could tell many stories about that summer, such as the time that some men carried Vi away as the "consolation" prize, but left her sitting on a trash can because they decided she was defective. However, if I were to get started, I wouldn't stop. I don't have enough server space for all those stories! Despite having to walk very briskly to its remote location, my two years at the Frontiertown Scale were, without a doubt, my favorite Cedar Point summers. Don't get me wrong -- the other two summers were great, also, but the first two were extra special.

That storm was a small one, even though it damaged my location. The next storm, happening later that summer, was quite a bit more potent. I was stocking the scale, getting ready to take over the microphone, when I noticed some fast moving clouds coming from the north. I called the office to see if a storm warning was in effect, and was told, "Not yet, but there are some things coming over the radio." Well, considering the speed with which those clouds were moving and the fact that Cedar Point's worst storms come from the north, I decided that was good enough. I contacted the other scales, telling them something big was coming, then, as I took the microphone, I instructed my first-year guesser to start pulling things down to get ready for a storm. Being that my scale was the only one with a clear view of the north, I was the only one who didn't lose any merchandise! As my first-year was pulling things down, I continued to survey the situation. At one point, I looked up, and saw a funnel cloud directly overhead. This funnel cloud proceeded to tear out a large tree and part of the entrance to Thunder Canyon, nearly wrecking the glass shop, as mentioned on the Frontier Trail page. It then ripped out a guard booth just outside the park. As soon as I saw the funnel cloud, I dropped the mic and started working with my first-year to prepare the scale to shut down in an instant, if needed. Once we were ready to close, I got back on the mic, hoping to look calm and sound calm, thereby trying to reduce the panic that was quickly forming in the crowd. Then the storm hit in its full fury. I immediately pulled down the prize door, and my first-year and I took cover behind the scale. Trash cans and light posts went flying horizontally down the midway. The scale has a heavy rubber mat on it, which started to lift up to fly away. I reached around from behind the scale and grabbed it. My first-year then grabbed my arm to keep me from going with it! I pulled the mat into the back, and tossed it into the store room. About 15 minutes into the worst of the storm, the phone rang. The office called to tell me that there was a storm warning in effect. Gee, thanks. They did have some useful information, however. They said to head to the office when the storm let up enough. The Sunday night inventory was canceled. That was the only time during my four summers that we did not do inventory on a Sunday night. After the storm ended, I took a tour of the park. There were lights and trees down throughout, with trash cans strewn all about. The maintenance crew lived up to their reputation, however -- they put in a long night to get most of the park back to normal by the next morning. Here's the moral: if you see a storm coming quickly from the north while at Cedar Point, find a safe place and fast!

The scale isn't all to the gaming in Frontiertown. Across the way is the Frontiertown Arcade. The arcade even includes Skee-Ball. So, test your skill, and have some fun!

Food

There is all sorts of food in Frontiertown. If you continue past the Wave Swinger and Carousel Pavilion, you will see the Frontier Inn, serving pizza. For the fast-food style pizza, Frontier Inn is the best choice in the park. There is a better pizza place, but you may need to wait, as it is a sit-down restaurant on the Twister Midway. If you want to minimize your wait and still get good pizza, try the Frontier Inn.

There are a couple of hot dog and hamburger stands, including Round Up, which is the building that actually got hit by lightning when the charge went racing through my scale.  Try the Sugardale footlong hot dogs with cheese.  That's mighty good eatin'!
 

If you'd like some real Western-style grub, try out the Chuck Wagon. It's not one of my favorites, but it does appeal to some.  Don't forget the Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Parlour located next to the "Comfort Station". It's in a small alcove, so it's somewhat easy to miss if you don't know to look for it.

The Palace Theatre has sandwiches that you can enjoy while watching a show.

Right next to the crossing gate heading towards Gemini is the Stockade.  It has burgers and other standard amusement park fare.  Those Elephant Ears will give you a sugar buzz that'll last a week!

Shops

The main gift shop of Frontiertown is the Trading Post. It has all sorts of interesting stuff, including quite a few items with a western theme. One year, the trading post was robbed just after the park closed. I was walking towards the office when someone went running past. A few moments later, one of the Trading Post employees hurried up to me, asking if I'd seen someone run by. I indicated that the guy had quite a head start, but he was heading for the front of the park. Feeling ambitious? I don't suggest trying this move. He was caught by the Cedar Point Police, which is an actual police force, not just security guards. He was arrested and prosecuted. People seldom get away with stealing anything from Cedar Point. In other instances, I was personally involved in nabbing someone who attempted to steal a Skee-Ball, and in getting someone who stole a 35 cent hurricane lamp from my scale. In both instances, Cedar Point prosecuted.  In 2004, the Frontiertown Shooting Gallery was converted into the General Store, located right next door to the Trading Post.

The Frontiertown Emporium, located next to the train station, is another nice gift shop.  It includes some unique items that are not found in other Cedar Point stores.

Return to the Frontier Trail	Go to The Point Tour	Continue with the Gemini Midway