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Top Thrill Dragster Incident


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My guess is:  1)  Change launch to LSM; 2) Redirect or cover the queue and 3) Potential name change.  Changing the top hat height would probably require re-engineering some of the supports.  My only wish would be that they would lengthen the coaster to include a better layout but the cash outlay would be enormous, given the potential changeover to LSM's (including retrofitting the trains with that equipment).

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In the report it's clear to me there was a problem from looking at the pictures. This could have been avoided if they would have looked into it. The rust, rub marks and bent metal clearly show it was coming. The bolt had rust in it where it had a fracture for some time and didn't just happen. To me it looks like the train wasn't tracking where it should have been for whatever reason.

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On 9/9/2022 at 9:13 PM, Skibum said:

My guess is:  1)  Change launch to LSM; 2) Redirect or cover the queue and 3) Potential name change.  Changing the top hat height would probably require re-engineering some of the supports.  My only wish would be that they would lengthen the coaster to include a better layout but the cash outlay would be enormous, given the potential changeover to LSM's (including retrofitting the trains with that equipment).

Not to mention the cranes it took to build TTD's top hat in the 1st place are not common and had to be brought in special. 

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2 hours ago, KIBeast said:

Not to mention the cranes it took to build TTD's top hat in the 1st place are not common and had to be brought in special. 

Yep.  There aren't many cranes in the world tall enough to work on TTD's 420' top hat.  They're massive.  Thus, they're expensive to rent.

Any work on the tower short of maintenance tasks like repainting would require cranes of that size to be brought in.  Be that adding to the height, taking away height, re-tracking it, or removing it.

If they're already going to the expense of bringing in the extremely expensive and hard to schedule cranes, it would seem to make more sense to just tear down the entire top hat.  But that's the most valuable part of the structure, at which point, what's the benefit over removing the ride entirely?  All the ride really is, is some shuttle track on the ground to get you around, the launch, and the top hat.  Keeping the top hat necessitates keeping the launch, and almost vice versa.

The hydraulic launch system is notoriously unreliable overall, and has been a safety issue from the start.  Replacing that with the LSMs many of us suspect will be installed would do wonders for safety and reliability.  That's a notable change in the ride experience, even more with the new trains to go along with it.

There's always the chance of the ride being expanded, but the most likely scenario is a full upgrade of the electrical and mechanical systems (control system, launch mechanism, etc.).  Modifying the top hat requires similar expense to just removing the ride entirely and wouldn't significantly improve the ride experience.  It's not a detriment to the ride.  The structure overall isn't a safety or reliability issue thus not a top priority for investment.  Everything else is.

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^ Based upon the vague information given, I can see multiple launches including a launch up a spike, rollback, then launch again with a switch track- similar to Pantheon at BGW just on a larger scale but not using the current top hat.

Intamin has had some recent success with a few new coasters.  Perhaps CF will work with them sooner than later.

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  • 1 month later...

There was an interesting development today.  Playland PNE announced they are building a Zamperla LSM launch coaster for 2024.

https://www.coaster101.com/2022/11/04/vancouvers-pne-playland-opening-zamperla-lsm-launch-coaster-in-2024/

It appears to be Senzafiato, an Intamin Accelerator coaster, from Miragica in Italy.

https://rcdb.com/4194.htm

It appears the track that was removed from TTD was shipped to Genoa, Italy, about a 3.5 - 4 hour drive from Antonio Zamperla S.P.A.

https://old.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/y6reum/someone_on_twitter_discovered_that_ttds_shipping/

 

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  • 1 month later...

Knowing how long major capital projects take, I personally thought 2023 was always aggressive.

After watching the Christmas video with the CP2024PHPNR "hint" only leads me to believe whatever is happening with artist formerly known as Prince ride formerly known as TTD it will be a 2024 event.

But that does open the speculation door- what does CP2024PHPNR mean? 

My quick thought is: Cedar Point 2024 project high point new ride (last "R" could be record but can't wrap my head around why the sudden importance in having the height record).

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2 hours ago, Browntggrr said:

https://www.reddit.com/r/cedarpoint/comments/zr3msr/top_thrill_dragster_dec_aerial_update/

Lots of demo going on.

Christmas tree, finish sign, footers on both launch & brake side still there.  Big hole where transfer track was and clearing at end of station is interesting.

Very, very interesting. I can't think of a reason why the blocks between the final brakes and the station would need to be removed. Or why the supports halfway through the brake run to just after the station would need to be removed.

The launch track and brakes make sense to remove, if the rumored launch conversion is actually happening (and I speculate that it is, though I question if Zamperla or Intamin is doing the conversion.) It's basically a given that new track would need to be fabricated. I could mayyybe understand needing to replace the supports to make that happen instead of being able to make the track work with the existing supports... maybe. But removing the footers, which is what appears to have happened on the back side of the station? I don't want to stir this into a bigger deal than it actually is, but that makes me think this won't simply be a track replacement.

Someone speculated elsewhere that TTD will be converted into an Ice Breaker-style multi-launch. That seems a little far-fetched to me, but the footers going away makes guesses like that seem slightly more realistic. If the park is going to THIS much bother, it makes sense that they might choose to "plus" the ride somehow as a part of rebranding it, to help distance it from being That Ride That Hurt Someone. I don't know that I'd necessarily agree that simply painting New TTD as a new ride is the best move, if that's what they choose to do--it lends itself to the GP idea that amusement parks are unsafe and run by schemers who care little about safety and will slap paint and a new name on something that has had an accident just so they can keep taking your money--but I'm not sure what a better move would be. It's a tough position to be in.

Winter Chill Out is gonna be an interesting one in 2023. Even with the second day being added to it, I expect that it will sell out immediately, and people will be expecting TTD news. And surely Tony Clark knows that.

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 11/4/2022 at 3:34 PM, DiamondbackFan said:

There was an interesting development today.  Playland PNE announced they are building a Zamperla LSM launch coaster for 2024.

https://www.coaster101.com/2022/11/04/vancouvers-pne-playland-opening-zamperla-lsm-launch-coaster-in-2024/

It appears to be Senzafiato, an Intamin Accelerator coaster, from Miragica in Italy.

https://rcdb.com/4194.htm

It appears the track that was removed from TTD was shipped to Genoa, Italy, about a 3.5 - 4 hour drive from Antonio Zamperla S.P.A.

https://old.reddit.com/r/rollercoasters/comments/y6reum/someone_on_twitter_discovered_that_ttds_shipping/

 

If Zamperla ends up reimagining TTD and the ride is reliable I think Cedar Fair might start adding Zamperla launch coasters with lightning trains through out the chain. 

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I have a hard time believing Zamperla is the one doing Dragster as the first lightning train coaster is set to debut in Summer 2024. CP tends to open their coasters in the spring and I think 2024 is when they open the reimagined TTD. Plus, that would be going from barely 60 feet tall to 420 feet which would be a lot for Zamperla. I could maybe see CF doing Zamperla for Xcelerator at Knott's if the prototype in Canada works out, but I don't think TTD is it as I think CF would want to wait to see how the lightning train performs before investing in their own. I could very well be wrong though. 

 

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40 minutes ago, PKIDelirium said:

Zamperla is already converting a hydraulic-launch Intamin Accelerator that was dormant in Italy and relocating it to Playland in Vancouver.

Yes, that's the one hawaiian coasters says is opening summer 2024.

We all know zamperla was probably the cheapest and if the project fails cf will file lawsuit.

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54 minutes ago, PKIDelirium said:

Zamperla is already converting a hydraulic-launch Intamin Accelerator that was dormant in Italy and relocating it to Playland in Vancouver.

Which is barely 60 feet tall and not supposed to open until Summer 2024. I never said TTD was for sure not being done by Zamperla, I'm just saying I have a hard time seeing them go with a company who's prototype model isn't supposed to open until Summer 2024 and the tallest coaster they've built is less than 200 feet tall. I just feel going from barely 60 feet to 420 feet would be a huge undertaking and a bigger risk than going with Intamin or Mack but that is my opinion. Again, I could see them investing in this for like Xcelerator at Knott's, but I think they wait and see how the lightning train performs before taking on the investment. 

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10 hours ago, DiamondbackFan said:

At 1:36 of the below video: "we can go from 0-45 Kph or 0-200 Kph, it's all up to our clients"

200 Kph = 124.274 Mph

rcdb.com lists TTD speed at 120 Mph

 

Adam Sandy is the guy in the video. Formerly a higher-up for Ride Entertainment, the firm that handles sales for Gerstlauer and SkyCoaster, among others. Now the Sales and Marketing Director for Zamperla.

As someone whose career is built on keeping promises, I expect that he chose his words very specifically. You don't toss out "200 kph" without being sure that you can do it.

To be clear, IF I'm on the right track at all, I really, really, really don't think Adam is part of Cedar Point's marketing. In other words, I think this might be an interesting piece of the final picture, but it is NOT a hint. I've been around these parts long enough to know that someone's gonna take an unrelated company's video as a hint from CP's PR department, and so help me, I'm not gonna feed that monster. :P

For the record, this isn't me pretending to know something when I don't. Because I don't know anything about what CP has planned. I'm just offering what perspective I can.

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Or be an allusion to the rumor that the changes are not being made by the original ride manufacturer, but one which Cedar Fair has been working with a lot recently?  

I think we will likely have to wait until August of this year to find out exactly what they are up to.

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3 minutes ago, disco2000 said:

It says at the end of the video "A new formula for thrills"...could this be a hint it will break the speed record of Formula Rossa...

Who knows, Rumor starts to surface for a Sci-fi theme as well, so It could be either 1. Formula 1 cars, or 2. Science Formula. Either way, I think they are missing out calling there tallest coaster after the Lake Erie Monster Bessie.

Lake Erie Monster.jpg

And the story of you the riders protecting Cedar Point from Bessie. It will be something that Lake Erie people will love. The support are going to be painted Dark Grey, and probably the track will be painting Dark Green or what Lake Erie's color is.

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10 hours ago, BeeastFarmer said:

So , in listening to the music I'm the teaser, it sounded familiar.  So I listened to the wicked twister soundtrack, and it sounds, to me, to have borrowed from it.  Is this alluding to a TTD becoming a full circuit Wicked Twister?

No, it is the station music from Top Thrill Dragster at the end.  It is very faint but it is there

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The timing of this announcement seems to coincide with TTD's original 1/9/2003 announcement.

Although nothing points in this direction, I believe this "new formula" will be more than launch-top hat-brake run.

But if this is it, a new launch system will be fun to learn about.

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