Cedar Point’s newest roller coaster is living up to its ominous name in ways that the park never intended.
Siren’s Curse, the much-anticipated addition to America’s Roller Coast, has turned into a literal high-wire nightmare for riders who have found themselves stranded 160 feet above the ground, with only a precarious metal staircase between them and safety.
Laura Johnston detailed on Friday’s episode of Today in Ohio the park’s newest attraction’s repeated failures. “At least three times, people had to evacuate Siren’s Curse from the very top, that tilt section of the roller coaster, because it didn’t work properly, where it lined up with the next track and clicked and everything fell into place. So they had to get off the roller coaster car 160 feet above ground and climb down.”
Perhaps most alarming is that these failures occurred within the first 10,000 cycles of operation, which the podcasters believe is an alarmingly high failure rate for a brand-new, multi-million dollar attraction. And the videos of these evacuations have gone viral for entirely the wrong reasons.
“There is video of this. It shows an employee who appears to be unharnessed, high above the ground and inches from the edge of the roller coaster track,” Johnston explained. “OSHA received a complaint about it.” Cedar Point will not say much about it. The matter appears to be closed.”
What’s particularly unsettling is that Cedar Point appears to have anticipated these failures: the park explicitly lists physical requirements for riders, including the ability to self-evacuate. According to Johnston, “To ride this ride, you must meet certain requirements. You need to be able to climb down. Essentially, one functioning arm consists of a hand with gripping force, excluding a prosthesis, and two functioning legs containing feet.
The videos of these evacuations show how terrifying the situation is for the stranded riders. Chris Quinn described the terrifying scenes: “When you watch the video, even though we’re told it’s safe, the people getting out of those cars don’t feel safe.” They are very tentative. They carefully reach out for the railing. It appears that you could fall through. “That does not appear to be a platform or staircase intended for regular use.”
The mental image of children making the descent is especially disturbing. “There were several small children up there. Can you imagine an 8-year-old who meets the height requirement climbing down there? “I’d be hyperventilating,” Johnston stated.
Despite safety concerns, Cedar Point is pushing ahead with an aggressive promotion, offering a $99 Gold Pass that covers the rest of this season and all of next year. The pass includes free parking and admission to all 40 Six Flags parks nationwide.
As if the mechanical failures weren’t enough, another Cedar Point coaster is causing social media buzz for a different, more unpleasant reason. Quinn stated, “I saw on Instagram this morning that someone posted a video after riding top Thrill Dragster as dusk fell. She’s covered in bug splatters everywhere. Her face and shirt. It sparked a big discussion about how if you get on it right after dark, you’re just blasted by bugs at high speeds.”
Listen to full “Today in Ohio” episodes, hosted by Chris Quinn and featuring Editorial Board member Lisa Garvin, Impact Editor Leila Atassi, and Content Director Laura Johnston.
