Avalanche Run opened in the 1985 season at Cedar Point. It was a bobsled coaster, there were no rails and you would ride down it completely dependent on gravity. Because of the coaster basically being a giant slide, wind from Lake Erie would constantly blow sand into the track and the coaster would have to be shut down to clean. It cost lots of maintenance money and eventually closed down after the 1989 season.
Star Tours (Based off the Star Wars Franchise) had recently opened at Disney World and had been a huge hit. Taking some inspiration from the ride, Cedar Point created its own ride called Disaster Transport. As to not waste anything, Cedar Point used the Avalanche Run track and made it an indoor coaster. The story of the ride was you were on a vacation trip to space and your ship malfunctioned. This did not make sense because at the end of the ride there was a sign saying, "Welcome to Alaska."
Riders said the story was, Hard to follow and was like they threw a bunch of random space-themed stuff together and called it a day.
The structure which housed the coaster was not built well, any time it rained the coaster would have to close because of water piling up on the tracks. In addition to this, the ride experience slowly got worse as they took away effects. The final straw was the new branding of Cedar Point, which emphasized the Lake Erie beachfront. The Disaster Transport building was a huge eyesore to the beachgoers. Disaster Transport closed for good in 2012. Gatekeeper sits where it once was.
Defunctland: The History of Cedar Point's Disaster Transport on the Defunctland YouTube Channel.
Back to Homepage