“It’s the Great Amusement Park, Charlie Brown!”
Written and Edited By: Zach Spodek
Photos by: Shelby Brokaw
It was a dark and stormy night before the Peanuts gang arrived at Cedar Point. Their first amusement park presence was found in 1983 at Knott’s Berry Farm, located in Buena, Park California. This park was bought by Cedar Fair Entertainment Company in 1997, the same owners of Cedar Point, King’s Island, and other iconic parks across the country. With this purchase, Cedar Fair also obtained the Peanuts license to use in all of their parks. As the Peanuts were making an impression in California, Mama, Papa, Sister, and Brother Bear from the Berenstain Bears were making their mark in Ohio at Cedar Point, beginning in 1985. They had a special hybrid of indoor and outdoor attractions themed to the world of the Berenstain Bears. These were also partly educational in nature due to the Berenstain Bears being part of a beloved children's literature franchise. The Bears were a hit and stayed at Cedar Point throughout the rest of the 80’s and most of the 90’s.
Snoop Fountain at Kings Dominion By: Shelby Brokaw
By the late 90’s, the contract with the Berenstain Bears license was running up. At the same time, Cedar Fair Entertainment was currently in a long term agreement to have the Peanuts franchise at their parks. With this, they decided to replace the soon to be ending Berenstain Bears license with one they currently had. As a result, beginning in the 1999 season, Berenstain Bear Country became Camp Snoopy at Cedar Point.
Camp Snoopy Entrance at Cedar Point By: Shelby Brokaw
Peanuts themed rides at Camp Snoopy included a steel coaster called Woodstock Express and a plane ride inspired by Snoopy's rival Red Baron. There’s also Snoopy Bounce, a Snoopy themed bounce house and Peanuts 500, a racecar ride with a small circular track. Camp Snoopy had attractions heavily geared towards a younger crowd, which was a contrast to the other high thrill attractions found at the park such as Magnum XL-200 and Raptor. However, the Snoopy theme proved successful as in 2008, a second Peanuts themed land was added entitled Planet Snoopy.
Planet Snoopy Entrance at Kings Island By: Shelby Brokaw
Planet Snoopy is similarly structured to Camp Snoopy, with attractions geared towards a much younger audience. Planet Snoopy’s integration to Cedar Point added 13 more attractions to the park. Attractions include a mini drop tower called Kite Eating Tree, and a pendulum ride called Snoopy’s Deep Sea Divers. The rides at Planet Snoopy were relatively tamer in scope to the rides at Camp Snoopy, most notable by the lack of a roller coaster attraction in the themed area.
Camp Snoop Canoe at Cedar Point By: Shelby Brokaw
In 2013, two new attractions were announced and added to the Camp Snoopy area. The first was a remodel of the mini drop tower ride Frog Hopper, which was transformed into Woodstock’s Airmail and relocated in Camp Snoopy. The second was a remodel of the Gemini Jr. coaster, which was turned into Wilderness Run and the second steel coaster located at Camp Snoopy.
Woodstock Express at Kings Dominion By: Shelby Brokaw
Planet Snoopy at Dorney Park by Shelby Brokaw
The Peanuts gang was a hit with additional attractions and park expansions being made across all the Cedar Fair parks. Because of this, in 2017, Cedar Fair announced it had retained the Peanuts license for all of their amusemant parks from Peanuts Worldwide LLC. for all of their amusement parks until 2025. So grab your favorite blanket for a road trip to Cedar Point because Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, and the rest of the Peanut gang are here to stay!