2006 marketing!!

It seems like there are less breakdowns every year, so it can seem like thisyear there should not be that much down time.

No, its the fact that they destroyed a very nice area of the park to put in a ride that is short, unreliable and an eyesore. Although I don't think there is anywhere that it could have been put in that it would A) fit physically and B) fit visually.

Jugga, do you ever ride it when you visit the park?

It's been 4 years, and you're still looking back. I hate Camp Snoopy because they knocked down trees to build it and I don't like any of the rides there. I say CP should stop building new rides and just plant trees for the next 10 years. People would stop coming to the park, but at least the park would look nice.

I won't wait longer than 30 minutes anymore. I've been burned for the last time standing in line for hours, only to have the blasted thing break while I'm on the platform.

MrScott

It looks sweet, and who care about 1 landscaping area. Many people love that ride, so get over it.

Gomez said:
Looks like our regime has grown Adam.

Whats it now, 6, 8??:)

Add it to 9 here!

I'm not very vocal, but I've been visiting this site for about year.

I will take our faithful riders any day over someone who says they are "Dragster biggest fan" and we dont even know who they are.

Our faithful are there every Sunday and ride till we are very busy then they go home. They know who they are and we love you all.

Long Live Top Thrill Dragster and here is to the best year EVER

^One of its biggest fans are stuck 2.5 hours away in a suburb of Detroit. In my mind I'm always riding it. :)

How many other rides in the industry have their propulsion systems catastrophically fail during a season? How about more than once in a season?

The cable has snapped countless times over the past few years, and everytime it does, I'm afraid that it will whip over the fence onto the midway or through the "employee only" area beside the hydraulic room. Once when it snapped during a morning test run the cable smacked up against the wall in the "employee only" area and stripped it of its paint where it hit. Imagine if a maintenance person had been down there when that happened. Last year (after 3 years of operation) they finally realized that they needed a different cable to reduce the number of failures. Hopefully this problem has been fixed because the last thing I'd want to hear about is a cable snapping and injuring/killing someone.

Next we get to talk about the ride's gear boxes. I heard that they are valued at something like $250,000 a piece. I'm not sure how accurate this number is, but it wouldn't surprise me considering how big they are. Last year the reason for the extended downtime late in the season was because one of them gave out and they had to get a replacement from Intamin. I'm don't know if Intamin completely built a new one or if CP had to send the one they had back to Switzerland and get them to rebuild the existing one. In either case, they finally got it back and--wouldn't you know--the other gear box gives out that very same week. Now I don't know about you, but as a customer, I'd be a bit upset about having to drop half a million bucks every 3 seasons just to keep the ride running.

I'm in agreeance with some others who are upset with the adverse affects Dragster has had on the atmosphere of where it resides. I used to love walking down that midway (especially at night) because it was so quiet and overgrown with vegetation. Now it's another concrete jungle and quite loud. Iron Dragon used to have much of the ride secluded, but now it's almost entirely exposed.

As for the ride experience? Give me Magnum over Dragster any day.

Amen. I'm not against you Dragster fans, but CP_bound makes some good points. You can say whatever you want (i.e. "Then don't ride it" or "Don't wait in line"). The truth is that the coaster could (and should have) perform a lot better.

And yes, to clear out a nice area of the park to spend $25 million (Actually more than that counting all the down time) on a coaster that has not performed well overall since day one is not impressive. I'm not raining on the parade, just telling it like it is.

yep.

MrScott

I'm in the middle of both situations. Dragster cost a lot, financially and atmospherically. I never saw the park pre-Dragster and I'm disappointed in that, but from the vague pictures and descriptions it sounded like it was very nice. However, I'm sure when the idea of Dragster first appeared on drawing boards it was loved by many. They probably thought of the attention it would draw and crowds that would come to the park, not the extreme failure and problems it would cause.

Bottom line here is that the ride itself is pretty fun and when it is running it draws the crowds. Cedar Point is doing their best to fix it and keep it running. That is why people love Cedar Point, they do what needs to be done to keep their rides working. Kinzel said himself that the ride isn't what he expected so we know that they see the same problem that we do, it shows strength that they can admit their faults. They know the ride doesn't live up to its expectations, they realize the problem and assess it as needed.

Perfectly said Vince.

arms_down said:
I will take our faithful riders any day over someone who says they are "Dragster biggest fan" and we dont even know who they are.

Our faithful are there every Sunday and ride till we are very busy then they go home. They know who they are and we love you all.

Wow, that kind of makes me mad. First off, not everyone can go to the park every Sunday. Some of us fans(Gomez and I) live 2+ hours away from CP and just cant make those kinds of trips...even though we really want to. And second, if I could ride it all day I WOULD! But every time I go, it's with other people that cant do something like that and who dont allow me too.

It's like you're saying, "Haha, you're not a fan because you live in *insert far lacation*. Which makes anyone who comes to the park more often, because they live ALLOOTT closer, the true fan and allot better than you."

I'm sorry arms_down but that hurt me...seriously.(and I dont care how weird or stupid that sounds)

^Right on the money. :)

Ok i will insert far away place Lansing is for 2 of them and there is a family from new york that comes down. I am not trying to hurt your feelings but We all have fun with those people and they are the ones that help make my job fun.

Heck I live well over 2 hours from the park and i went every weekend in 2004 except for 3 and in 2005 i was there until I started working Dragster.

You have the 16 year old fans with hardly no money and the fans with the money to pay for the gas to get you there.

Of course they are what make you’re job fun, it just seems that you acknowledge them more than you would say a fan like me or Gomez. I mean, don’t we too make you’re job better since we take the time on our trips to ride Dragster the most we can? And that we make it the first on our list?
I guess you can say that to find a true Dragster fan is hard, but to say that a person who loves, yes loves, Dragster and picks it as the best thing to have happen in the coaster world(even if other people think differently), is not a true fan seems to be a little...cold. The thing is, how do you know that those people you spoke of love Dragster as much as I (or any other Dragster fan) do? Have you talked to them?

Riding it an extensive amount of time is one thing, but to ride it, have an appreciation for it, understanding of it, faith in it, and over all love for it is what a true fan is all about. Now I'm not saying that those people don't have any of those qualities, I'm just saying that riding it extensively and coming to the park on a weekly basis doesn’t automatically make you a true fan.
Faithful? yes. True? maybe...

In short, any person who waits in line(once or even twice in a day), doesn’t get mad if it breaks down and waits it out while other people leave the line, and just loves waiting for it, is a faithful fan. That quality anybody can have, but appreciation, understanding, and faith for it is what a "true" fan is.
You see where I'm getting at?

Wouldn't CP have 'gear boxes' and extra cables in stock in some building so they don't have to wait a month to get some new ones..?