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Disaster Transport (originally known as Avalanche Run) was a steel enclosed bobsled roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio.

History

The coaster was originally manufactured by Intamin at a cost of $3.4 million and opened on May 11, 1985 as "Avalanche Run" on the former site of Jumbo Jet and WildCat. In 1990, Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel was fascinated by Disney's Space Mountain. ITEC Productions spent an additional $4 million dollars enclosing the coaster and adding special effects to transform Avalanche Run into "Disaster Transport". The new name is referencing a company named Dispatch Master Transport. While coaster's building was air-conditioned during the humid days, the coaster had to be closed during rainy days, due to the roof being susceptible to leaks. This meant that the bobsled track had to be emptied out. Nevertheless, this coaster still gained a cult-following.[1]

Closure

After Matt Ouimet became the new CEO of Cedar Fair in 2012, he decided that Disaster Transport could no longer be salvaged. The ride was becoming an outdated attraction, as well as an eyesore.[2] On July 13, 2012, Cedar Point announced that Disaster Transport would close on the following July 29th.[3] It was the second roller coaster at Cedar Point to close in 2012. A charity auction was held for the final riders, benefiting the Give Kids the World charity foundation. The last ride was given at 11:53 PM on July 29, with the lights turned on.[4]

Demolition of the ride began on August 6, using about 380 trucks to transport scrap materials. A portion of track, two cars and the main entrance sign were donated to the National Roller Coaster Museum.[4] Less than a month later on August 29, the last section of Disaster Transport was demolished. The 12E part of the building was the last section left standing.[5] In 2013, GateKeeper immediately replaced both Disaster Transport and its neighbor Space Spiral.[6]

Cedar Point is still in possession of many of the props used in the ride and often use them for decorations for haunts during their HalloWeekends event. As of May 2021, Dave, one of the animatronics used in the ride's queue line, is operational and on display in a gift shop adjacent to GateKeeper, Disaster Transport's replacement.[1][7]

Gallery

Video

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sim, Natalie (2016-09-20). Disaster Transport: Cedar Point’s Unforgettable Disney Knock-off Coaster Catastrophe. Theme Park Tourist.
  2. ↑ Disaster Transport: Cedar Point's Unforgettable Disney Knock-off Coaster Catastrophe (20 September 2016). Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved on October 19, 2020.
  3. ↑ Gimbel, Cristy (July 13, 2012). Cedar Point makes special announcement. WTOL. Archived from the original on April 20, 2013. Retrieved on October 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fans say goodbye to Disaster Transport. WKYC (July 30, 2012). Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved on July 30, 2012.
  5. ↑ Disaster Transport reduced to rubble. WKYC (August 29, 2012). Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved on August 30, 2012.
  6. ↑ Cedar Point announces Gatekeeper coaster for 2013.
  7. ↑ FUN Food Blog (2021-05-28). This...is...AWESOME! The old Dave animatronic from Disaster Transport is now operational and on display at the GateKeeper gift shop..

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