Cedar Point's new Siren's Curse coaster strands riders again. How often is the ride down?
- Siren's Curse, Cedar Point's newly-opened tilt coaster, has left riders stranded twice in less than a week.
- The park says safety mechanisms have performed as intended when malfunctions have happened.
- Siren's Curse is the tallest, fastest and longest tilt coaster in the world.
It happened again.
For the second time in less than a week, Cedar Point's new record-breaking roller coaster left riders stranded high above the park's Midway. Siren's Curse abruptly stopped atop its 160-foot-tall tower.
Park spokesman Tony Clark said the "delay" on Tuesday, July 22, was the result of the coaster's safety system halting the ride before engaging its signature tilt feature where riders dangle over the Midway while the coaster attaches to the track below. "Its safety system performed as designed, but the ride could not be restarted," Clark said. "Guests were safely escorted off the ride."
At least three other incidents have been reported at the coaster, which opened June 28, less than a month before the incidents. While it's not unusual for new attractions to experience hiccups, coaster incidents always attract extra attention.
So, how frequently is Siren's Curse down? Here's what to know.
Siren's Curse uptime statistics
Since its opening, Siren's Curse has been running about 85% of the time during the theme park's operating hours, according to statistics at Ride Forces Database.
The roller coaster's longest downtime so far has been on July 16, when it was running for only 60% of Cedar Point's day.
How many times has Siren's Curse gotten stuck?
It's happened at least four times, including the night of July 22.
The first time it happened was on its opening day, when the Siren's Curse stopped with the tilt coaster in its vertical position, leaving passengers pointing straight down for about 10 minutes.
It happened again on July 2, when passengers had to walk down from the 160-foot platform after the ride stopped, leaving them seated (but not tilted) for about an hour.
Then on July 19, Siren's Curse got stuck mid-ride, leaving passengers stranded at about a 45-degree angle on the tilt for 20 minutes until the ride was restarted.
"The coaster’s safety system performed as designed, the ride was restarted, and guests continued their ride," Clark said at the time. "It reopened shortly after and all guests exited the ride safely."
What to know about Siren's Curse
The newest addition to the Sandusky theme park is billed as the tallest, fastest and longest tilt roller coaster in North America. The name "Siren's Curse" comes from the mythical sirens who reside in Lake Erie and lure sailors with their singing.
After riders ascend the 160-foot lift hill, they stop on the edge of a piece of "broken" track. Suddenly, that piece of track tilts 90 degrees, connecting to more track below before sending riders straight down.
In all, riders travel 2,966 feet of track at a top speed of 58 mph. The ride features 13 instances of weightlessness (called airtime moments) along with two 360-degree, zero-gravity barrel rolls and a high-speed “triple-down” element with twisted and overbanked track.