List highlights local theme park attractions

SANDUSKY — Three Sandusky-area theme park attractions recently received recognition from the USA TODAY 10BEST Readers' Choice Awards in its 10 Best New Theme Park Attractions of 2026 category. It examined rides from across the nation, seeking reader feedback for which ones deserved accolades. Shores & Islands Ohio, the local tourism bureau, brought attention to this designation and award process. "Over the past year-and-a-half, theme parks across the U.S. have rolled out jaw-dropping attractions that amp up the adrenaline and ignite imaginations," the bureau noted. "The team of editors and readers at USA TODAY 10Best came together to pick the absolute best with your votes deciding the favorites." Here are the trio of area attractions receiving attention, their overall rankings within this top 10 and an excerpt to give some insight: • No. 4 — Sirens' Curse at Cedar Point "Cedar Point's first title coaster leaves riders hanging face-down at a 90-degree angle, contemplating their life choices, before plummeting into a twisted layout of airtime and inversions. The mythological theming adds an eerie atmosphere to the mechanical terror with sirens luring unsuspecting victims into 58 mph of calculated chaos across 2,966 feet of track." • No. 6 — Top Thrill 2 at Cedar Point "The colossal triple-launch coaster features a spike that sends riders backward at 101 mph after the initial 74 mph launch, marking it as the fastest backward launch in the world. But wait, there's more: The third launch rockets to 120 mph to crest the main 420-foot tower. The world's tallest and fastest triple-launch strata coaster boasts a surprisingly smooth ride, too." • No. 7 — Dawn Breaker at the Sandusky-area Kalahari Resorts & Conventions "The only two-person boomerang slide in northeastern Ohio, the water coaster has a U-shaped wall that gives riders a feeling of weightlessness as they go up the wall and back down again, then travel through a series of curves and plunges. Dawn Breaker takes riders through the night into an African sunrise during covered and open sections of the ride."