Some roller coaster enthusiasts at Cedar Point got an unexpected thrill this past weekend when Siren’s Curse got stuck, at least once with passengers on the tilt coaster facing straight down.
The newest roller coaster at the Sandusky, Ohio amusement park experienced “technical delays” that paused its operation for about 20 minutes on both Saturday, June 6 and Sunday, June 7, park spokesman Tony Clark said in a Monday, June 8 statement. He compared the system to a check engine light in a car.
“Its safety system performed as designed, keeping all guests safe,” Clark said.
After a complete system check, Siren’s Curse started again and riders completed their trip that reached a top speed of nearly 60 mph.
Ohio has strict amusement park ride inspection rules
Siren’s Curse has stranded roller coaster riders before
This isn’t the first time Siren’s Curse, which debuted in May 2025 at the start of season, has stranded its passengers.
By August 2025, the Beacon Journal reported that the roller coaster had gotten stuck at least five times at the top of the lift hill, either delaying the ride or forcing riders to evacuate, climbing stairs down from the 160-foot tower. Twice by that point, riders were stranded on the tilt portion of the coaster, which tips a piece of track 90 degrees down before continuing the ride. One of those times the riders pointed straight down.
No injuries were reported in any of the incidents.
Siren’s Curse getting stuck is a sign of safety, engineer says
Roller coaster enthusiast and mechanical engineer, Nick Weisenberger, who has written books on the science of coasters, told the Beacon Journal that the safety systems on Siren’s Curse are performing as they should.
“It’s important to understand that thrill rides are over-engineered for fail-safe performance,” he said. “There are hundreds of sensors and they all have to agree; otherwise, the ride stops out of an abundance of caution.”
All about Siren’s Curse, Cedar Point’s record-breaking ’tilt’ roller coaster
The newest coaster at Cedar Point is billed as the tallest, fastest and longest “tilt” roller coaster in America, the Akron Beacon Journal previously reported. The name Siren’s Curse comes from the mythical sirens who reside in Lake Erie and lure sailors with their singing.
After riders ascend the 160-foot lift hill, they stop on the edge of a piece of “broken” track. Suddenly, that piece of track tilts 90 degrees, connecting to more track below before sending riders straight down.
In all, riders travel 2,966 feet of track at a top speed of 58 mph. The ride features 13 instances of weightlessness (called airtime moments) along with two 360-degree, zero-gravity barrel rolls and a high-speed “triple-down” element with twisted and overbanked track.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Siren’s Curse strands riders. It’s happened before on Cedar Point coaster
Reporting by Chad Murphy, USA TODAY NETWORK / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Chad Murphy, USA TODAY NETWORK | USA TODAY Network
