Top Thrill Dragster Incident

[jsus]

3 hours ago, MDMC01 said:

That’s actually pretty cool, IMO. Is this putt putt course in the main park?

Also, on a larger note, I see this a Cedar Point diversifying their offerings (as in, not just huge coasters) - I feel like this started with things like Vertical Impact and Forbidden Frontier (RIP) and it’s (likely) why the new beachfront building (forgot the name) was added.

It's on level ground inside the Coliseum Arcade...

Quote

Coliseum Arcade

Step inside one of the most historic buildings on the Cedar Point Peninsula! More than 200 interactive games await you in 45,000 square feet of FUN! Test your skills on classic Skeeball® lanes, six boutique bowling lanes, a selection of virtual reality games, a new 9-hole boardwalk-themed mini golf course and more.

Take home special souvenirs when you redeem tickets from our ticket redemption prize games and instant-win games! Ready to score big? It’s GAME ON at the Coliseum Arcade, located on the Main Midway.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/rides-experiences/coliseum-arcade

[AintNutinElse2Do]

If this is indeed Zamperla which it seems it likely will be.  How will the 4 across lightning trains have clearance on that downward spiral?  Would they make a 2 across version or are the clearances bigger than I'm thinking? 

[jsus]

7 minutes ago, AintNutinElse2Do said:

If this is indeed Zamperla which it seems it likely will be.  How will the 4 across lightning trains have clearance on that downward spiral?  Would they make a 2 across version or are the clearances bigger than I'm thinking? 

2-across, you say?  Like this?

https://amusementtoday.com/2022/11/zamperla-reveals-the-lightning/

[AintNutinElse2Do]

2-across, you say?  Like this?

https://amusementtoday.com/2022/11/zamperla-reveals-the-lightning/

Wow my bad.. I could’ve sworn they were four across.


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[WoodVengeance]

1 hour ago, AintNutinElse2Do said:

Wow my bad.. I could’ve sworn they were four across.


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They can be. There are two across and four across variants of the lightning train. I assume Zamperla is using the two across trains for Dragster since that's what they're using for the refurbished Intamin launch coaster at PNE Playland.

[MDMC01]

On 6/30/2023 at 2:32 PM, jsus said:

It's on level ground inside the Coliseum Arcade...

https://www.cedarpoint.com/rides-experiences/coliseum-arcade

Thank you for posting this link! There's also a mirror maze in one of the arcades?!?!?! Pretty cool

EDIT: I wonder if these two Arcades were redone with the Boardwalk/Wild Mouse addition. I also wonder if that mirror maze will become part of a future Halloweekends attraction...

[jsus]

1 minute ago, MDMC01 said:

Thank you for posting this link! There's also a mirror maze in one of the arcades?!?!?! Pretty cool

Johnny Rockets (across Kiddy Kingdom from the Coliseum Arcade) is no longer - seems Cedar Fair is largely doing away with chain food lately.  JR was turned into another arcade complete with the mirror maze.

CP also seems to be consolidating on fewer larger restaurants with indoor serving areas.  Mac Shack (formerly Pinks) is shuttered, JR is gone, Subway is gone from both CP and CPS, Corral used to be 3 different locations but was rebuilt as 1 building serving chicken tenders, Lakeside Refreshments is shuttered (next to GateKeeper).  The new Grand Pavilion where Wicked Twister once stood is presumably expected to take up a lot of the slack there.  Round-Up (near Maverick) is no longer, Stockade Refreshments (just past the railroad tracks near Gemini, opposite CCMR) now is just sweets.  Farmhouse Kitchen & Grill replaced those in the back of the park.  Chick-fil-A (next to Maverick) is back to Frontier Inn.  Not sure if they learned their lesson the last time they replaced CfA, but if Corral its first couple years was anything to go by (cold, hard, stale chicken that spent way too long under the warming lamps), CfA would've been the better option.  Plus other changes here and there.

But that's more than you were asking about. 

[MDMC01]

According to the website, it looks like there are still a lot of food places inside the park. That being said, it is a shame so many food places closed - perhaps there were too many? Glad they still have the Grilled Cheese place, though

[disco2000]

30 minutes ago, MDMC01 said:

According to the website, it looks like there are still a lot of food places inside the park. That being said, it is a shame so many food places closed - perhaps there were too many? Glad they still have the Grilled Cheese place, though

Tell us how you feel about the number of food places the next time you go up and wait in line LOL.

[silver2005]

I just went on the Tuesday and Wednesday of the first day of summer and I thought the amount of food stands being open and the service was fine.  A lot of the drink stands were closed, but food variety was really good compared to my last visit in 2018.   Had good BBQ wings by Magnum, turkey at the Grand Pavilion (a MUCH needed addition to the CP beach front), and pizza near Raptor (CP's pizza leaves a lot to be desired).   Got glimpses of the food I didn't get and thought most of it looked pretty good.  

Assuming the final colors on TTD 2.0 will be white and grey, I'm only assuming its to help whatever lighting package they have planned.  Hangtime at Knott's has similar looking track and the way the light glows through the track looks pretty cool.  Doing it on TTD's 420 ft tower will look awesome. 

[KIBeast]

Lake Erie Lifestyles, a YouTube channel, posted an update today. I knew there was new track on site, but apparently there are some crates which have been confirmed to be Zamperla. No questions any longer about exactly who is doing the re-imagining. I hope this works out for Cedar Point. Zamperla does not have any experience with any projects of this scale. CP already gambled once with Intamin and we know how that has worked out. I do hope for the best, to be clear.

[silver2005]

You know, before Intamin and S&S first  went to 100 mph, they didn't have anything of note either at their respective times.

[KIBeast]

True, but I figured Cedar Fair was done with risk taking, in regards to that. However, Intrasys or Indrivetech could still be providing the LSM's that provide the launch. 

[robintodd]

22 hours ago, jsus said:

Johnny Rockets (across Kiddy Kingdom from the Coliseum Arcade) is no longer - seems Cedar Fair is largely doing away with chain food lately.  JR was turned into another arcade complete with the mirror maze.

CP also seems to be consolidating on fewer larger restaurants with indoor serving areas.  Mac Shack (formerly Pinks) is shuttered, JR is gone, Subway is gone from both CP and CPS, Corral used to be 3 different locations but was rebuilt as 1 building serving chicken tenders, Lakeside Refreshments is shuttered (next to GateKeeper).  The new Grand Pavilion where Wicked Twister once stood is presumably expected to take up a lot of the slack there.  Round-Up (near Maverick) is no longer, Stockade Refreshments (just past the railroad tracks near Gemini, opposite CCMR) now is just sweets.  Farmhouse Kitchen & Grill replaced those in the back of the park.  Chick-fil-A (next to Maverick) is back to Frontier Inn.  Not sure if they learned their lesson the last time they replaced CfA, but if Corral its first couple years was anything to go by (cold, hard, stale chicken that spent way too long under the warming lamps), CfA would've been the better option.  Plus other changes here and there.

But that's more than you were asking about. 

The JR Arcade wasn't open when I went earlier in the year.  I wonder why have an arcade so close to the Coloseum arcade.  Unless they have other plans for the Coloseum, like a dark ride maybe?

[jsus]

8 minutes ago, robintodd said:

The JR Arcade wasn't open when I went earlier in the year.  I wonder why have an arcade so close to the Coloseum arcade.  Unless they have other plans for the Coloseum, like a dark ride maybe?

Yeah, oddly, they didn't really start working on the remodeling until the season started.  Either it was a low priority project (not unlikely given The Boardwalk's construction around the corner taking priority) or they made the decision rather late not to renew the JR contract.

Ultimately, this arcade is cheap games-related filler space after JR's closing, probably.  After all, that whole L-shaped building is games, with a couple more freestanding ones out front.  Why waste perfectly good revenue-generating space?  Whether it gets replaced in the coming years or sticks around a while remains to be seen.

[PKIVortex]

JR was gutted during Winter Chill Out back in February..

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[jsus]

18 minutes ago, PKIVortex said:

JR was gutted during Winter Chill Out back in February..

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Then the remodel was likely just a low priority.

[SonofBaconator]

[silver2005]

I hope they use paint that sticks for a while because this is also giving me Flight Deck vibes with the white and grey, and Bat as Flight Deck became a bit of an eyesore after a while.  Now they're possibly doing it to a 420 ft structure. 

[MDMC01]

I like it. Reminds me of (pictures I’ve seen of) Stealth at Thorpe Park.

[silver2005]

Giving TTD a gradient color scheme would be cool.

[KIBeast]

New track being added for TTD

From Lake Erie Lifestyles, there has been some new track added to the old brake run side of Dragster. 

[BoddaH1994]

How tall do y’all think the spike will be?

[jsus]

Getting back to the original topic of this thread, the lawsuit was filed this afternoon:

https://www.wtol.com/article/news/local/woman-injured-cedar-point-dragster-lawsuit/512-05e25cd9-5030-4ac6-95a1-d2f559e763d6

Quote

According to Rachel Hawes' lawsuit, the incident happened while she was waiting in line to ride the Top Thrill Dragster on Aug. 15, 2021, when she was visiting the Sandusky amusement park with family. Hawes alleges the incident caused injuries including a traumatic brain injury, skull fracture and bleeding in the space surrounding the brain.

 

Hawes, of Michigan, is seeking a trial by jury and an undetermined amount of financial compensation for her injuries. The suit was filed Wednesday in Erie County Common Pleas Court.

According to the lawsuit, her "serious and permanent injures, including, but not limited to" are:

• Head trauma with a resultant traumatic brain injury;
• Subarachnoid hemorrhage with cerebral edema due to traumatic head injury;
• Cerebral venous thrombosis of the sigmoid sinus;
• Right subdural hematoma;
• Communicating hydrocephalus with VP shunt placement; and
• Right open skull fracture associated with cerebral laceration and contusions and resultant prolonged loss of consciousness (more than 24 hours).

 

[SonofBaconator]

I wonder what the PR for CP will be like in the coming years. No matter how many modifications they make to that ride, no matter if they repaint it, reprofile it, and rebrand it, it’s always going to have that unfortunate incident tied to it. 

[disco2000]

29 minutes ago, SonofBaconator said:

I wonder what the PR for CP will be like in the coming years. No matter how many modifications they make to that ride, no matter if they repaint it, reprofile it, and rebrand it, it’s always going to have that unfortunate incident tied to it. 

If only a well-known PR person was available in the coming years...

[malem]

The full text of the lawsuit filing:

https://www.scribd.com/document/658711741/Hawes-Case#

[KIBeast]

On 7/12/2023 at 5:48 PM, BoddaH1994 said:

How tall do y’all think the spike will be?

I was thinking about that myself. How tall would the spike need to be to clear the tophat?

[disco2000]

47 minutes ago, KIBeast said:

I was thinking about that myself. How tall would the spike need to be to clear the tophat?

It comes down to how much is by gravity and how much is by an accelerator.  The more it is going to rely on gravity, the higher it needs to be.

[jsus]

2 hours ago, KIBeast said:

I was thinking about that myself. How tall would the spike need to be to clear the tophat?

The real determining factors would be the phasing of the launch (how many times forward/backward, if it's expected to rollback on the top hat each cycle, etc), how much distance the LSMs cover, how far back the launch ends en route to the new tower, and how powerful the LSMs really are these days.  The back tower would only need to be tall enough to bring the train to a stop, plus safety margin.  It's really only acting as a brake and a way to convert a backwards launch into forward kinetic energy.

Or, to put it simply, all that matters is the speed that the train needs to enter the rollback element and the mass of said train.  Except the mass doesn't actually matter.  Depending on how they've laid out the launch phasing, the new tower may not need to be anywhere near 420 ft.

Gravitational potential energy -- U = mgh
Kinetic energy -- KE = 1/2 mv^2

Setting those equal -- where, ignoring things like rolling and wind resistance, you'd come to a stop -- you get:

mgh = 1/2 mv^2 
gh = 1/2 v^2
h = 1/2 v^2 / g

Let's take the example of the TTD 1.0 launch.

h = 1/2 (120 mph * 5280 ft/mi / 3600 s/hr) / (32.17 ft/s^2)
h ~= 481 ft

Let's keep in mind a few things with the launch, though.  It's elevated off the ground, so the height difference is closer to 400 ft.  You're still moving when you crest the top hat, albeit slowly.  The 481 ft figure assumes there's no wind/rolling resistance or anything else to impede your movement.  So, the 420 ft top hat makes sense.

Now, let's say that on the fastest (of 1?  2?) backward launch has you start to go vertical at 90 mph.

h = 1/2 (90 mph * 5280 ft/mi / 3600 s/hr)^2 / (32.17 ft/s^2)
h = 270 ft

So, if you enter the new tower at 90 mph -- 75% of the speed necessary to clear the top hat with TTD 1.0 trains' aerodynamics -- then a ~300 ft tower is sufficient.  Keep in mind again that you actually enter from ~10-20 ft, you enter a bit slower than the end of the launch as there's an unpowered stretch between launch and tower, this doesn't factor in wind/rolling resistance, etc.