Intamin’s Millennium Force is a coaster that is extremely highly regarded in the enthusiast community, and I’ll be doing it for my first review from Cedar Point.  I find that there’s two main opposing camps with the affectionately-named Millie: some say it deserves every ounce of praise and is nearly the perfect coaster, while others claim it to be maybe the most overrated ever.

My opinion lies somewhere in the middle. While to a lesser degree I see why it was renowned for such a long time and received so many Golden Ticket Awards, I definitely wouldn’t call it the #1 steel coaster in the world, or even close. And that was one of the titles that it held for many years in those awards. It was an entirely new breed of coasters upon release, and people were blown away by the very statistics. I do wonder if the Golden Tickets had some Cedar Point bias being that it’s such a great park, the “Coaster Capital of the USA”, but I digress.

As the first ever Giga coaster, it amassed a great deal of popularity. Ardent defenders of Millie’s greatness will likely point out the many positives it has, such as the admittedly stunning view of Lake Erie from atop the 310 ft. tall lift hill. There’s not a lot of rides that I’ve been on yet that compare, view-wise, outside of maybe Tatsu at Six Flags Magic Mountain and to a lesser extent, Bizarro/Superman at SF New England. It’s pretty breathtaking to have the lake on your left side, and seeing nearly all of the park and its rides on your right.

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Another plus for Millie is the station, with its futuristic aesthetic, and the cute little electronic theme song they have playing in the background. The majority of the queue line is outside, but despite the crowds and how many people want to ride (and re-ride) this coaster, it loads very efficiently and quickly. Dispatch at Cedar is usually always good in general, but this is maybe one of the quickest loading major rides here due to its excellent capacity (36). They’re always running multiple trains. I think the longest I’ve ever waited to get on was an hour, and that was during peak season. Typically it ranged anywhere from 15 minutes to 30, which really is not bad at all considering how popular Cedar Point is with both enthusiasts and the general public.

Looking gorgeous is certainly a selling point, because aside from loving the color scheme, I just think it’s an awesome-looking coaster, day or night. And night is my vote for preferred ride time, because of THOSE. LIGHTS. SO PRETTY. Rainbow color changing lights, my friends. It doesn’t get any cooler than that. I still remember how I felt on my first trip to Cedar for my honeymoon with my husband, when we drove under these lights, and I was practically drooling at how epic it looked. One of my many favorite coaster memories.

The rest of the park is lit up beautifully as well, so it makes the view all that much more spectacular. The real only issue with night is that you’re going to swallow and get pelted in the face by bugs, and a whole lot of them. We all laugh a lot about it. It’s kind of funny honestly, but also gross. Though not as bad as being held off the edge of the dive coaster Valravn, for the three whole seconds or whatever that they are all swarming around you because of the lighting. Blegh.

The restraints are typical Intamin Hyper/Giga fare, with a lap bar in addition to a seatbelt, no OTSRs. I do find these quite comfortable and pain-free, but feel that they limit the airtime you get to a significant degree. I’m not sure why that is, but it’s one of my strikes against Intamin in general. B&M seems to have really nailed those out-of-seat moments with me with their restraints which is part of why I typically prefer their Hypers. At least it’s not at ALL painful though, so there’s that. Zero issues or complaints there whatsoever.

So far I’ve been basically showering Millennium Force with praise… so what’s the issue, exactly?

Here’s where my big criticism comes in, and it’s a very significant one – the layout. I went into this ride with a lot of pre-existing hype based on everything I’d heard about it online, and for me, it just didn’t deliver what I’d hoped. This was my first Giga ever. This was rated the best steel coaster in the world at the time. And you know what? That really didn’t mesh with my experience.

The first drop, while its exciting that you go up the lift hill quickly, didn’t feel nearly as forceful as I expected for 300 feet. And it’s FAST too, at 93 mph, so why? I suspect the restraints are part of the problem, but I just don’t get much airtime. Even in the back seat where you’re pulled with more force over the top, it’s not as good as it could have been. And sadly, the drop is one of the better moments.

Afterwards you’re taken immediately into a sharp overbanked turn, and to my surprise, I greyed out. This was my first time ever feeling this sensation on a ride, so I didn’t know what was happening to me (“why is my vision fuzzy??”). It’s easily the most intense part of the ride. This continues to happen most times that I ride it.

The other elements afterwards are… okay. There’s some more banked turns, a few big hills that give some decent ejector air and a small amount of floater air, but it’s hampered so much by how strongly you’re held down into your seat.

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You know what I’m partial to in rides, that Millie DOES have going for it? Tunnels. Two, to be exact. So that’s something I like. The second tunnel is where your picture is taken, so my coaster family and I love to make tons of ridiculous poses. We’ve dabbed, we’ve had mock battles, my husband has flashed his chest, and even somehow took off his shoes and put them on his hands. Good times.

But yeah, the layout is in general just underwhelming. It’s a long ride, but kind of over before you know it because it wasn’t all that inspired. And it’s sad, because I really do feel like this coaster has so much going for it that it could have been in my favorites had it given more to offer in the elements department than turns, dark moments, and airtime-starved hills.

Point of contention: It gets big points for re-rideability as far as I’m concerned, because of the end of certain day that I was just drained and headache prone from heat and standing in line two days straight. I proclaimed that I was done for the day, only to get back in line for Millie no less than 6 times in a row. It was a lot of fun. Unlike I-305 at Kings Dominion, this is one that I can do over and over with little issue. The adrenaline rushes really perked me right back up, so our coaster family jokingly credits Millie for “bringing me back to life” that day.

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Statistics:

• Type: Steel Giga coaster
• Manufacturer: Intamin
• Height: 310 ft.
• Drop: 300 ft.
• Speed: 93 mph
• Duration: 2:20
• Length: 6,595 ft 
• Inversions: 0
• Max vertical angle: 80°
• Height restriction: 48 in.
• Opened on: May 13, 2000

Relevant links:

Millenium Force Theme Music – Plays while you wait in the station.

Score: Millie, the internet’s BEST COASTER EVAR!!1! is just not what I’d consider as my own. In summary, it’s a very solid and thoroughly fun roller coaster with many pros, but the major con is a huge deal in my mind. Having a reputation as the world’s #1 steel coaster is not an easy title to live up to, and for me, it does not.  But besides the lackluster layout and the lack of airtime, it has a lot to offer, and I still like it quite a bit. I’m going with 9/10.