Power Tower

Power Tower
1998
25th Anniversary Edition

Power Tower opened in 1998 as the world's tallest drop tower. Power Tower is 300 feet tall, making it one of the park's tallest rides. When it opened, it was the second tallest ride in the park!

The 1990's saw an aggressive approach of new thrill rides and roller coasters for Cedar Point. In 1990, Cedar Point enclosed Avalanche Run into Disaster Transport. In 1991 the might Mean Streak began to tower over frontier Town. In 1992, Challenge Park opened between Cedar Point and Soak City. 1993 saw the addition of Snake River Falls. Raptor started to invert its guest in 1994. Also in 1994, Jungle Lary's saw its final season at Cedar Point. In 1995 Cedar Point celebrated its 125 anniversary. Riders started standing up on Mantis in 1996. In 1997, Soak City was expanded and Chaos and Swan Boats opened inside the park.

During the summer of 1997 Cedar Point was clearing land near Corkscrew that had been previously home to the former Jungle Larry's. The area had been sitting empty and unused since the attraction closed in 1994.

As the summer kept going on, vertical construction on towers started going up. The towers kept getting taller and taller.

On August 20, 1997, Cedar Point announced it was building Power Tower. The attraction was to be the tallest and fastest drop ride ever built. While there had been other combo tower rides built, Power Tower would be the only one to feature four sides. As of 2020, Power Tower was the only one built to have four sides.

Power Tower would be an icon for Cedar Point. It towered over Cedar Point as the second tallest ride at the park. Power Tower was a much needed thrill ride for Cedar Point.

Power Tower is located on the Corkscrew Midway. The ride is located between Corkscrew and Top Thrill Dragster.

After weeks of testing Power Tower, the ride finally opened to the pubic on May 9, 1998

Power Tower Facts

Opened: May 9, 1998
Manufactured: S&S Power Logan, Utah
Height: 240 feet
Tower Height: 300 feet
Special Features: Power Tower is a combo tower features 4 towers. 2 Turbo and 2 Drop.
Seating: 12 people per tower.

Power Tower was a huge addition to Cedar Point. It gave the park a very intense thrill ride and a great way to view the park!

Ride Experience

The Power Tower ride experience begins with riders getting in line for the ride. It is here that you pick if you want to ride the shot tower or the drop tower.

Shot usually has the shortest line. Riders could wait anywhere from 5-30 minutes.

The shot side has a longer wait. Riders can expect to wait anything from 10 minutes to an hour to ride this side.

Power Tower is an air power drop tower. It uses S&S Power's air launch technology. Power Tower is really 2 rides in one. The two sides are Turbo side and Drop side.

Turbo Side

The Turbo side is the red side of Power Tower.

Turbo side begins by lifting riders a few feet and pauses a few seconds and weights its riders to see how much air is going to be needed.

Without warning riders are blasted 240 feet into the air at speeds of 50 M.P.H.

Riders are then bounced up and down the tower a few times. Turbo side features air time and is a great ride.

Drop Side

Drop side begins by lifting riders a few feet and pauses a few seconds and weights its riders to see how much air is going to be needed.

Power Tower the slowly lifts its riders 240 feet into the sky!

When riders get to the top of the tower they sit there and wait to be dropped.

Riders are suddenly dropped 240 feet at speeds of 50 MPH! The drop on Power Tower is faster then a free fall. Riders are then bounced up and down the tower a few times.

A great addition to Cedar Point

Power Tower gave something Cedar Point a massive thrill ride, something it didn't have before.

When Power Tower opened in 1998, it was the tallest and fastest ride of its kind. It was very popular. It became the second tallest ride in the park. Today Power Tower is the 4th tallest ride in the park.

Power Tower is a great thrill ride. It opened to huge lines of guest. It was placed in the middle of the park so it could be seen from pretty much every where in the park.

'' I have been riding rides since i was really little. I've been to Cedar Point every year of my life. When I started riding Cedar Point's bigger rides I was really scared of them and It took me a long time to get on them. By August of 2013 I had rode all of Cedar Point's rides except Drop side of Power Tower. It wouldn't be until October of 2017 when my best friend had finally talked me into riding it. While it wasn't all that bad, it was terrifying. As of 2022, I still haven't rode it since.'' - Jake Hamons, Founder of CP Insiders.

Power Tower has a nice entrance plaza. When riders go to enter the ride they choose to ride either the turbo or drop side.

Power Tower has a really cool lighting package. The entire ride is colored in LED lights. The lights really help make the ride stand out at night. The new LED light package was added in 2012.

Power Tower's legacy

Since Power Tower opened, Cedar Point has introduced 33 new rides to Cedar Point. Camp Snoopy was introduced in 1999. Over the next 20 years Cedar Point added: Millennium Force (2000), Wicked Twister (2002), Top Thrill Dragster, (2003) maXair, (2005) Skyhawk, (2006) Maverick, (2007) Planet Snoopy, (2008) Shoot the Rapids (2010-2015), WindSeeker (2011), GateKeeper (2013), New Gemini Midway (2014), Rougarou (2015), Valravn (2016), Cedar Point Shores Water Park (2017), Steel Vengeance (2018), Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island (2019), Cedar Point's 150th anniversary Celebration (2021), and The Boardwalk (2023). In the 25 years since Power Tower opened, Cedar Point added things that helped make their line up better.