Make Memorial Day plans with rides, slides and savings

Spring is giving way to summer — and in the Roller Coaster Capital of the World(R), Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff to hotter weather, longer days and cooling off the fun way.

What you need to know: Cedar Point is putting its season into full gear with summer operations officially starting May 9. Cedar Point Shores Waterpark will open May 23.

• Plus, the park's Gold Pass includes perks like free parking, access to Cedar Point Shores Waterpark and other regional parks.

Before we get started: Cedar Point has welcomed guests for more than 150 years and today spans 364 acres along Lake Erie with 66 rides, 18 roller coasters and world-class live entertainment scheduled all season long, making it a one-stop option for both adrenaline and downtime.

🎢 What's in store: First, hit up the park's record-breaking coasters, including some new classics.

• Siren's Curse celebrates its first full season of operations this year as North America's tallest, fastest and longest tilt coaster, featuring 13 weightless airtime moments and two 360-degree barrel rolls.
• Top Thrill 2, another new coaster in just its second year of operations, puts riders on next-gen motorsport machines to race a course unlike any other on the planet — including the world's fastest reverse launch at 100+ mph.
• Steel Vengeance is the world's first and only hyper-hybrid coaster.
• Millennium Force holds the title of the world's first giga coaster and has been one of the park's signature skyline rides since opening in 2000.

Here's what else: Check out new and familiar seasonal events at Cedar Point that round out the day for the whole family.

• 🍺Barrels & Bites (new) pairs the region's finest beer, bourbon and wine with chef-crafted food and live entertainment along the Frontier Trail June 5-28.
• 🦅Star-Spangled Celebration (new) honors 250 years of American history June 29–July 4 with live music from the Ohio National Guard's 122nd Army Band, specialty food and beverages, interactive contests and a culminating fireworks display over the Great Lakes.
• 🏖️Boardwalk Nights returns with games, music, dancing and more for its third year from July 17–Aug. 16, and features a nightly grand kickoff procession that celebrates the park's history as a mile-long beach and boardwalk
• 🍟Happy Friar's Fresh-Cut Fries Fest celebrates the park's fresh-cut fries, a Cedar Point staple since 1942, from Sept. 11–13.
• 🎃HalloWeekends brings back nightly frights Sept. 17–Nov. 1 with haunted mazes, immersive scare zones and millions of cornstalks, pumpkins and straw bales.

Plus, plus, plus: With a Cedar Point Gold Pass, you can stop next door at Cedar Point Shores, an 18-acre water park.

• 😱 Take the plunge on Point Plummet, where a near-free-fall drops riders into an enclosed tunnel before sending them through twists and turns to the splashdown below.
• 🌊 Go head-to-head on Riptide Raceway, or hit the new-and-improved Crosscurrent dual waterslides if your group wants something competitive before heading back to the coasters.
• 🧒 Cedar Point Shores also offers pools and family water play areas, making it easier to mix splash time for little ones with bigger slides for older kids and adults.
• 🏖 Slow things down a bit at the water park's cabanas — plus Cedar Point's mile-long beach nearby — to give the day a more relaxed, resort-style feel between rides.

Even better: If Cedar Point is just the start of your summer plans, the new Regional Gold Pass gives you more than one destination to build around.

• Along with season-long Cedar Point perks, it now unlocks regional access to sister parks across the Midwest and beyond, including Kings Island, Canada's Wonderland, Six Flags Great America and Six Flags Darien Lake.

The takeaway: Memorial Day plans can spiral fast. Cedar Point works because it bundles the thrill, the cooldown and the all-day entertainment into one easier, more affordable option close to home — with nearby Cedar Point Resorts making it possible to stretch the fun into a full weekend getaway.

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