Cedar point: Disaster Transport closes forever on sunday

SANDUSKY -- A Lake Erie legend is about to be silenced forever. The Disaster Transport indoor roller coaster at Cedar Point will make its final screech-filled run on Sunday, July 29.

The ride, which has been sittingnear the park's main entrance since opening in 1985, will be completely demolished and removed to make room fora new attraction set to be unchained in 2013.

Park officialsannouncedDisaster Transport's closure back on July 13.

Photos: Cedar Point closing Disaster Transport, Space Spiral

The ride first made its debut as Avalanche Run -- an outdoor bobsled-style coaster. Then, in 1990, the ride was re-named Disaster Transport, enclosed and given a new outer space theme.

The two-minuteride, which takes 10-person trains along the dark track at speeds up to 40 mph, has thrilled more than 30 million people since it was first unleashed.

A "last ride celebration" will be held at 9 p.m. Sunday to use Disaster Transport's final day as a way to raise money for Give Kids The World. Registration for the party, which involved a $20 fee and $50 minimum donation, ended at noon Friday.

As of Friday afternoon, more than $16,000 had been raised.

Those at the party will be given a Disaster Transport T-shirt and a souvenir.

The special eventwraps upwith an hour of exclusive ride time on Disaster Transport from 10:30-11:30 p.m. Those who raised the most money will have the privilege of choosing their seats on the last train while riding with the lights turned on.

Disaster Trasnport will become the second roller coaster permanently closed at the Sandusky scream park this year.Prior to the 2012 season starting, Cedar Pointsent the WildCat roller coaster to its ride graveyard and removed ittocreate space for Luminosity, a new night-time show.

In addition to Disaster Transport, the Space Spiral, a 330-foot rotating observation tower and icon of the park's skyline, will also be closed before the end of the 2012 season. It, too, will be demolished to make room for the new 2013attraction. Its final operating day has not yet been announced.

Photos: Cedar Point debuts Luminosity

As far as the new attraction for 2013, a leaked memo indicated it would be a wing-style roller coaster with the biggest drop, fastest speed and longest run of any similar ride.

It would be the first roller coaster Cedar Point opens since they first debutedMaverick in 2007.

Park spokesperson Annie Zelm said an official announcement about the 2013 attraction should come in mid August. Until then, the park has beenreleasing multiple teases about the upcoming attraction.

Meanwhile, Kings Island, which is Cedar Point's sister park near Cincinnati, announced on Fridaythe permanent removal of the long-dormant Son of Beast wooden roller coaster.