Snake River Falls

Snake River Falls
1993

Snake River Falls was Cedar Point's tallest water ride. Snake River Falls opened in 1993 in Frontier Town. Riders were sure to get a splash on this ride!

In the 1980's Cedar Point began adding bigger and better rides that would get the attention of the world. In 1985, Avalanche Run was added that gave Cedar Point a unique thrill. Thunder Canyon and its river adventure arrived on Frontier Trail in 1986. The suspended style Iron Dragon began slaying its riders in 1987. Soak City Waterpark opened in 1988. Magnum XL-200 became the world's tallest roller coaster and the first roller coaster over 200 feet. Magnum XL-200 was such a great ride that Cedar Point was looking for a different thrill to follow up the ride. Avalanche Run was enclosed to become Disaster Transport in 1990. Mean Streak became the world's tallest wooden roller coaster in 1991. Challenge Park opened in 1992. With all of these great new additions, Cedar Point would add something cool for 1993.

On September 9, 1992, Cedar Point announced it would build Snake River Falls for the 1993 season. The ride would be the tallest of its kind. Snake River Falls was built on land in Frontiertown that was mostly a lagoon.

Snake River Falls was built over the winter of 1992 and the spring of 1993.

Snake River Falls was located in Frontier Town. The ride was located between Maverick and Skyhawk.

Snake River Falls opened on May 8, 1993, as the tallest and fastest water ride in the world!

Snake River Falls Ride Facts:
Opened: May 8, 1993
Height: 82 feet
Type: Shoot the Chute
Drop: 82 feet
Speed: 40 MPH
Manufacturer: Arrow Dynamics
Ride Time: 2:20
Boats: 5
Closed: September 2, 2024

Snake River Falls was built by Arrow Dynamics of Clearfield Utah. Arrow Dynamics had built several other of Cedar Point's rides including: Caddallic Cars (1958), Turnpike Cars (1959-2014), Mill Race (1963-1993), Earthquake (1965-1985), Pirate Ride (1966-1996), Shoot-the-rapids (1967-1981), Cedar Creek Mine Ride (1969), Antique Cars (1969), Corkscrew (1976), Gemini (1978), White Water Landing (1982-2005), Iron Dragon (1987) and Magnum XL-200 (1989). Arrow Dynamics was an innovating American amusement ride design company that pushed the boundaries of ride design. Cedar Point holds the largest collection of Arrow Dynamics roller coasters. Snake River Falls would be the last Arrow Dynamics ride built at Cedar Point. Arrow Dynamics went out of business in 2002.

Ride Experience

The ride experience on Snake River Falls started with guests going through the ride entrance and, most of the time, going to the station to board the ride.

Snake River Falls was themed as being a wood packing company. The station was given a cool and unique look to fit in with Frontier Town.

Riders were loaded into boats that can hold up to 20 people each. The boats were bench-style and just a lap bar was holding you in.

Snake River Falls lifted its riders 82 feet in the air. Going up the lift, riders got a great view of Frontier Trail. It took about a minute for the ride to get to the top.

Once the boat got to the top of the lift it entered a tunnel. The tunnel was added to help keep the noise level down.

The tunnel functioned as a turnaround point for the ride. Riders floated around while the boat traveled the channel.

At the very end of the tunnel, the boat got ready to drop. Before the ride dropped, riders were lifted back up a few feet on a conveyor belt. This extra lift is used so the ride can operate using more boats.

Snake River Falls dropped its riders 82 feet at a 50-degree angle. In 1993, this drop on Snake River Falls was the steepest and longest drop on any water ride in the world.

Riders dropped into a huge pond of water. The drop on Snake River Falls was really cool. Riders experience airtime as the drop goes on.

When the boat hit the bottom of the flume, it sent a wall of water into the air!

Snake River Falls had the largest splash of any ride in the world when it opened in 1993.

After the drop, the ride then floated back to the station.

The boats had a path to follow in the pond but they were not on a track. The path took the boats back into the station.

Riders exited the station by getting off on the opposite side they entered.

When riders exited the ride they were sent down a bridge that crossed the ride path. Riders would often get soaked on this bridge!

Snake River Fall Makes An Impact on Cedar Point

The summer of 1993 ended up being a very hot summer, so naturally, Snake River Falls ended up being a big hit for Cedar Point. The ride had very long lines and was a popular addition for Cedar Point.

Snake River Falls became a guest favorite. It would go on to be the last ride built at Cedar Point by Arrow Dynamics. Arrow was a huge manufacture for Cedar Point. They helped Cedar Point become what it is today.

In the years following the opening of Snake River Falls, Cedar Point turned its focus into adding roller coasters and rides that would better help its line up. In the past 25 years, Cedar Point added 14 roller coasters. The park would grow adding: Raptor (1994), Mantis (1996-2014), Power Tower (1998), Camp Snoopy (1999), Millennium Force (2000), Wicked Twister (2002-2021), Top Thrill Dragster (2003-2021) maXair (2005), Skyhawk (2006), Maverick (2007), Planet Snoopy (2008), Shoot The Rapids (2010-2015), WindSeeker (2011), Dinosaur's Alive (2012), GateKeeper (2013), Pipe Scream (2014), Wilderness Run (2014), Rougarou (2015), Valravn (2016), Cedar Point Shores Waterpark (2017) Steel Vengeance (2018), Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island (2019), Cedar Point's 150 Anniversary Celebration (2021), The Boardwalk (2023), and Top Thrill (2024). All of these new attractions have brought something unique to Cedar Point.

Snake River Falls was a ride that most guests wouldn't ride all that often because they didn't want to be soaked.

Snake River Falls almost always was a walk on. Guests rarely waited more than 5 minutes to ride this ride.

On August 2, 2024, Cedar Point announced that Snake River Falls would be closed for the last time on Labor Day.

Riders were given a month to get their last riders on Snake River Falls.

Cedar Point sold special shirts and buttons during the final day of Snake River Falls.

The last riders of Snake River Falls were given special mugs.

Snake River Falls closed its entrance shortly after 6:00 p.m. for the last time on September 2, 2024. The line was about 1 hour long, the longest line the ride had seen in years.