Avalanche Run
​1985-1989

Avalanche Run was Cedar Point's Bobsled Coaster that was located on the Cedar Point Beach. 

Corkscrew opened in 1976. It was Cedar Point's first record breaking roller coaster. In 1977 the Corkscrew midway was expanded to include Witches' Wheel. Witches' Wheel was Cedar Point's first inverting thrill ride.  Gemini opened in 1978 as Cedar Point's racing roller coaster. In 1979 WildCat opened in the former location of Jumbo Jet on the Cedar Point beach. Oceania became Cedar Point's marine life complex in 1980. Ocean Motion started sailing the high seas in 1981. White Water Landing became the world's largest hydro flume in the world in 1982. In 1983 rides would drop 99 feet on Demon Drop. With all of these changes, faster rides would come in the 1980's.

The 1980's was a changing time for Cedar Point. The park would be adding rides that would be the largest of their kinds. 

​1985 would be no exception. 

To make room For Avalanche Run WildCat and Matterhorn were relocated to other areas of the park. 

WildCat would be relocated to the Million Dollar Midway. The ride was placed where the Bayern Kurve and Schwabinchen was. The Million Dollar Midway was also renamed to ''WildCat Midway". WildCat remained until it was removed in May 2012. Today the midway is Celebration Plaza.

 Schwabinchen relocated to the Beach Midway where it replaced Rotor. Schwabinchen was retired in 2002. Today a 3 Point Challenge is where the ride was located.  

Matterhorn was relocated to the end of the Main Midway where it replaced Tiki Twirl. Matterhorn is still in this location today. 

With all of these rides being relocated, Cedar Point would have a decent size plot of land to put a special roller coaster on.

Avalanche Run was Cedar Point's Bobsled Coaster that opened to the public on July 1,1985.

Avalanche Run was located on the beach. It was also the approximate location of the former cyclone coaster. 

Avalanche Run was a bobsled roller coaster. The tack was very unique. Trains would race thru a flume on this roller coaster. 

Avalanche Run was built by Intamin AG. Over the years Intamin would build 5 of these coasters. There are only two left in operation today. They are located at Six Flags Over Texas and The Great Escape. 

Avalanche Run Ride Fact:
Height -                      63 Feet
Drop -                         50 Feet
Speed-                       40 MPH
Length -                     1,932 Feet
Hills -                          0
Inversions  -                0
Type -                          Bobsled
​Company -                  Intamin
Capacity -                   UNKNOWN
Year Opened -           1985
Coaster number at Cedar Point when opened - 7          

After Cedar Point added Avalanche Run it would continue to add bigger and faster rides. Over the next several years Cedar Point would add: Thunder Canyon (1987), Iron Dragon (1987), Soak City Water Park (1988-2016), and Magnum XL-200 (1989)

Avalanche Run was a very loud ride. You could hear it from down the midway. 

The ride had very long lines due to its low capacity. 

Avalanche Run would close on October 1, 1989.

In 1990 Cedar Point would work with ITEC Productions. They worked to gather to enclose and re-theme Avalanche Run. 

The ride was completely enclosed into a new show building. The ride was themed as an outer space ride. It was renamed, Disaster Transport. 

​The show effects were really cool. It gave Cedar Point a themed experience that it had not had before. 

Cedar Point considered the ride a complete flop. The CEO considered the ride to be one of his worst additions to the park.

Over the years Disaster Transport's popularity would decline. As things broke they were not fixed. 

Disaster TransportDisaster Transport would close forever on July 29, 2012. 

The nearby Space Spiral would close on August 13, 2012. It would be removed in September 2012.

Disaster Transport was removed from Cedar Point during the late summer of 2012. The ride location would be opened up and would make room for the next big thing. 

On August 13, 2012, Cedar Point announced that it was building Gatekeeper for the 2013 season. GateKeeper would replace Disaster Transport. 

GateKeeper opened on May 11, 2013 as the world's tallest, fastest, and longest Wing Coaster. 

GateKeeper was a very successful roller coaster. It gave a new experience for the Roller Coaster Capital of the World. 

Even tho Gatekeeper looks better and is more thrilling, Avalanche Run is really missed. Avalanche Run had a charming feeling, and was a unique experience. Since Avalanche Run has opened, Cedar Point has added 17 roller coasters.

Last Updated: 05/01/2025

Photos by: Andrew Borgen, Cedar Point, Coaster-net, Jake Hamons, Joel Rogers, Ron Hintz, The Lost Coaster, and Russ Haudan