Cedar Point - Rolling Through the Years - a second edition excels

When Cedar Point celebrated its 150th anniversary in (technically) 2020 but carried into 2021 owing to the global pandemic, the park was the subject of a book equally as monumental as the milestone.

Author Ken Miller worked in the park’s history museum until it closed down around the time of the COVID crisis. He is one of the most knowledgeable people about the park and its history. When issued six years ago, Miller achieved something envious of every park in existence. The size of the book, Rolling Through the Years: A Cedar Point Atlas & Chronology, was gigantic.

“The game plan was always to update the book every five years,” Miller told Amusement Today. “I ran into a delay this time around, so it’s been six. We figured that there were enough changes to the park to warrant a new edition.”

Indeed. The first edition was just shy of 400 pages. The latest edition has added more than 50 pages, with a new page count of an incredible 450 pages. There are numerous changes and additions.

“The new edition includes new biographies, a two-page spread on why Cedar Point doesn’t open in the winter, etc. There are now 1,600 images, up from 1,250 before,” Miller noted. “Feedback on both editions has been great.”

It should be.

Like before, the book is divided into two halves.  The front half, the Atlas, is a tremendous resource that documents everything - Cedar Point boats, hotels, awards, historical designations, key management figures, former rides, current rides, and much more. Now it is even bigger.

The second half is a 155-year chronology that takes the reader back to the beginning. These pages convey what happened each year (events, rides added, attractions removed), and once the 1970’s are illustrated, park maps go along with each year.

There is no way for a review to describe the size and weight of this book. A price tag of $125 might seem hefty, but once the masterpiece is in one’s hands, it is clear that it is a massive accomplishment. Every Cedar Point fan or industry enthusiast should consider this a top-tier acquisition; likewise, any new team member in the park’s management should immediately obtain the masterful resource and consider it essential. It is the industry book to measure all other historical publications against.

Cedar Point-Rolling Through the Years is available in Sandusky at all of the local museum gift stores, as well as on the website 1870PublishingGroup.com or on Amazon. 

Tim Baldwin, Amusement Today Magazine, July 2026