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Always Cedar Point: A Memoir of the Midway
Hold on tight!
“Always Cedar Point, a Memoir of the Midway” gives the reader an insider’s view of the operations of the world’s greatest amusement park, Cedar Point. From a summer as a 20-year old ride operator on the Frontier Lift to becoming the park’s general manager 35 years later, John Hildebrandt brings the reader inside the fascinating world of what it takes to market and operate a destination built for fun.
Hildebrandt walked the midway every day for 40 seasons, talking to guests and employee. He collected a lifetime of stories. There is humor, history, disappointment, thrills, and excitement in his storytelling. And there are memorable people as well. Cedar Point truly is The Amazement Park.
The focus of the book is Hildebrandt’s relationship with the park’s most iconic attractions—its legendary collection of world class roller coasters—including Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Magnum, Maverick, Corkscrew, GateKeeper (to name just a few). As marketing vice president, it was Hildebrandt’s job to introduce these magnificent scream machines to the world. From how the coasters were named to thrilling first rides to the creation of memorable advertising campaigns, Hildebrandt gives the reader a unique perspective, including lessons learned.
“Always Cedar Point” is one of the best books yet written about life inside an amusement park. Part memoir, part history, part business brief, part autobiography, “Always Cedar Point” is also Hildebrandt’s love poem to a remarkable place, a nearly 150-year old amusement park and resort in Sandusky Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie.
“Always Cedar Point, a Memoir of the Midway” gives the reader an insider’s view of the operations of the world’s greatest amusement park, Cedar Point. From a summer as a 20-year old ride operator on the Frontier Lift to becoming the park’s general manager 35 years later, John Hildebrandt brings the reader inside the fascinating world of what it takes to market and operate a destination built for fun.
Hildebrandt walked the midway every day for 40 seasons, talking to guests and employee. He collected a lifetime of stories. There is humor, history, disappointment, thrills, and excitement in his storytelling. And there are memorable people as well. Cedar Point truly is The Amazement Park.
The focus of the book is Hildebrandt’s relationship with the park’s most iconic attractions—its legendary collection of world class roller coasters—including Millennium Force, Top Thrill Dragster, Magnum, Maverick, Corkscrew, GateKeeper (to name just a few). As marketing vice president, it was Hildebrandt’s job to introduce these magnificent scream machines to the world. From how the coasters were named to thrilling first rides to the creation of memorable advertising campaigns, Hildebrandt gives the reader a unique perspective, including lessons learned.
“Always Cedar Point” is one of the best books yet written about life inside an amusement park. Part memoir, part history, part business brief, part autobiography, “Always Cedar Point” is also Hildebrandt’s love poem to a remarkable place, a nearly 150-year old amusement park and resort in Sandusky Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie.
- GenresNonfiction
641 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 9, 2018
23 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
November 12, 2021
If you’re familiar with the park, you’ll appreciate this book. It’s well-written, informative, and I really like Hildebrandt’s candor. It’s great to hear origin stories behind many of the park’s rides, regular events, and cultural practices. My gripes are that it can be a bit bogged down in digressive, irrelevant details, some stories are repeated, and sometimes, the captioned photos don’t match the appropriate passages which seemed like it could have been an easy fix.
On an unrelated note, it’s also a bit discouraging because it kind of reads as a snapshot of late capitalism. The book details the acquisition of so many parks that this fun local park has grown into a faceless mega corporation. Hildebrandt even touches upon this in the book when he discusses how the park is kind of losing its unique identity through company-wide standardizations, such as uniforms. It feels like the park is starting to lose its character, especially with the introduction of fast lane which feels like a massive cash grab at the expense of working and middle class guests. With such a large growing corporate level, I find it hard to believe that any future GM would be so personally invested into the park to write a memoir like this in the future. The GM of CP will probably seem like just another rung in the ladder.
With all of that being said, I still really enjoyed the book and strongly recommend it to any Sanduskian or CP fan.
On an unrelated note, it’s also a bit discouraging because it kind of reads as a snapshot of late capitalism. The book details the acquisition of so many parks that this fun local park has grown into a faceless mega corporation. Hildebrandt even touches upon this in the book when he discusses how the park is kind of losing its unique identity through company-wide standardizations, such as uniforms. It feels like the park is starting to lose its character, especially with the introduction of fast lane which feels like a massive cash grab at the expense of working and middle class guests. With such a large growing corporate level, I find it hard to believe that any future GM would be so personally invested into the park to write a memoir like this in the future. The GM of CP will probably seem like just another rung in the ladder.
With all of that being said, I still really enjoyed the book and strongly recommend it to any Sanduskian or CP fan.
February 21, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It is a “must read” for anyone who is a fan of Cedar Point. It is a delightful mix of Cedar Point history along with interesting and sometimes humorous details of what it takes to run the best amusement park in the entire world!! It gave me an even greater appreciation of the people who run the show. From behind the scenes organization and management to the seasonal employees who see us safely onto our rides, serve us our favorite treats, and keep the park pristinely clean and beautiful. It is easy to see why Cedar Point is one of my favorite places on earth!
February 11, 2020
An amazingly detailed view of the marketing and operations of Cedar Point from the 1970's through 2013. Growing up during that 70's and 80's, it was fun to read about the origins of the Gemini and how Cedar Point became the Coaster King. Lots of detail, however.
July 9, 2019
I love Cedar Point, and I started off loving this book. However my issue with it was the sense of rambling from the author. It made the rest of the book difficult to finish.
April 15, 2021
Interesting, and a no-brainer pick for CP fans, but poorly written. Hildebrandt has a tendency to repeat stories or tidbits thereof, and has trouble telling a linear narrative rather than one in bits and pieces, with trains of thought dropped and picked back up at will. (This as much an editing issue as a writing one, to be fair.)
There are also quite a few typos, and some factual errors (blatant enough that I, someone who knows nothing about CP history, noticed them). My favorite was the claim that stunt pilot Art Scholl performed at Mantis' press day, then a few years later died while filming Top Gun. Top Gun, of course, was filmed in 1985, ten years before Mantis was announced (and Scholl did die during filming, so unless they hired a ghost, in which case well done, he wasn't the pilot at Mantis' launch).
There are also quite a few typos, and some factual errors (blatant enough that I, someone who knows nothing about CP history, noticed them). My favorite was the claim that stunt pilot Art Scholl performed at Mantis' press day, then a few years later died while filming Top Gun. Top Gun, of course, was filmed in 1985, ten years before Mantis was announced (and Scholl did die during filming, so unless they hired a ghost, in which case well done, he wasn't the pilot at Mantis' launch).
July 4, 2025
Cedar Point is one of my favorite places on earth. Hildebrandt has written a book which is part memoir, part history, and part leadership. it is full of really interesting anecdotal stories from the park's past told from his unique perspective as 40-year insider. Overall, I really enjoyed it and learned lots of fun stories and left me even more appreciative of the amusement park that has been a part of my life.
It does drone on a bit, especially the second half, as he gets a bit lost in lengthy references from his personal work happenings and relationships ... much of that could have been trimmed down and cleaned up and was a little distracting. As a whole, though, it is an entertaining traipse through one of the most unique places in America.
It does drone on a bit, especially the second half, as he gets a bit lost in lengthy references from his personal work happenings and relationships ... much of that could have been trimmed down and cleaned up and was a little distracting. As a whole, though, it is an entertaining traipse through one of the most unique places in America.
October 21, 2019
The author has a great voice for telling personal stories. This was such an easy/great read. I really enjoyed learning about different aspects of Cedar Point, how decisions were made and what went into them. Great book!
November 30, 2018
A very interesting behind the scenes look at Cedar Point, by the park's former general manager.
May 2, 2019
Good Book, especially if you love Cedar Point. Shown from a different angle, Marketing, it shows a growth of him thru his many stages and jobs in the park. Good to read about the coasters I love.
August 15, 2019
Absolutely amazing if you grew up going to Cedar Point. A wonderful inside look at the last 40 years of the park. I did not want the book to end!
March 16, 2025
I’m so sad I finished this book. Now I want to read about the park and the inside stories from 2013 to 2024. There’s so much I didn’t know and now I’m forced to use Google for more information.
March 15, 2025
Loved this book.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews