Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Cedar Point Sky Ride Artist’s Conception – March 1962

Despite the snow this past weekend, it’s always nice to know that Cedar Point will soon be open, even if I don’t go there very often. Opening Day this year is Saturday, May 7, 2022.

Although almost every ride that I ever enjoyed has been replaced by something else or just removed entirely, it’s good to know that the Sky Ride will always be there. It’s one of the few iconic rides left from the 1960s.

And that’s the subject of today’s post. The artist’s rendering below of the new Sky Ride appeared in the Journal on March 21, 1962.

The caption notes, “An artist’s conception of the new Sky Ride that will open at Cedar Point on May 26. Passengers ride at a height of 90 feet for a distance of 1,300 feet. Cost of the ride, now being completed in Switzerland, is $300,000. Foundations for the steel work are now being prepared at a cost of $48,000. 

“Cedar Point will be one of the very few recreation areas in American with such a ride. There are similar rides in Disneyland and Freedomland.”

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Click here to read the Wiki entry on Freedomland. The postcard below (Courtesy eBay) shows its version of the Sky Ride.


And follow this link to read my past posts on Cedar Point. There’s thirty of them!


4 comments:

-Alan D Hopewell said...

This was always the first ride I went on!

Don Hilton said...

A long story but stick with me...

In his younger days my dad was h3ll-raiser, but by the time us kids came along he had mellowed to one of the one of the gentlest and kindest souls you'd ever want to meet.

Mom was afraid of heights, so on our first visit to Cedar Point, us three kids and Dad rode the "sky ride." About half-way along the distance, and without saying a word, he suddenly gave us a devil's look that we had never seen before and just as suddenly, spit over the side of the car. He winked at us and then went right back to being Regular Old Dad. After a few stunned seconds, the three of us kids began to laugh hysterically. Dad didn't even crack a smile.

We were still laughing when we landed. Mom asked what was so funny. Dad shrugged and said "who knows? Kids." Which made us laugh even more. We never told Mom what had happened. It was a guy thing, y'know?

Fast forward thirty years. Me and my young kids in the cable cars at Cedar Point. I do the same, exact thing and get the same exact results.

I suspect they'll do the same. As long as there are cable cars at Cedar Point there will be generations of Spitting Hiltons, continuing on, until the end of time.

Anonymous said...

It's Kings Island's 50th Anniversary in 2022! A much MUCH better amusement park than The Point. This year CP's dismantled Wicked Twister and Top thrill Dragster is kaput for the entire year. Every year there are less attractions at CP ... unless you call food stands an attraction. Cedar Fair runs Ohio's two amusement parks, of course, but they're worlds apart in terms of quality. Cedar Point is not worth a trip anymore.

Anonymous said...

Our sky ride only lasted 8 years at KI. They mentioned something about spare parts.