Cedar Point 2023

Maybe not changed the plans but perhaps accelerated them or revised the timeline or made a decision they had been on the fence on for them.

Just think of how much the 3-5 year plans have been forced to be changed since 2019. At this point, being adaptable is just synonymous with being viable as a business. Not that it wasn't before, but not to the extent it has been the past couple years.

I'm in the take-it-or-leave-it camp, and leaning towards the it's-probably-gone camp, if I had to place a bet.

I get that other rides have had accidents with worse outcomes, but Cedar Fair is lucky TTD hasn't killed a human on multiple occasions (not just the last), and I have zero doubt that there are some higher-ups in all different colored shirts that would love the chance to pull the plug.

I also disagree that it's iconic, at least in a positive way that I would associate with that word. Relatively speaking It hasn't even been around that long, and while it dominates the skyline and it's one hell of an intimidating ride (for first-timers, at least), it's also iconic for just as many miserable reasons.

If I had to put TTD in a box, it would be labeled "more trouble than what it's worth".

It’s likely that if the park decides to remove TTD, it’ll be done without any fanfare and likely over the off-season with a minimal press release. In my opinion I suspect the fenced in area is for TTD, only because I don’t think a couple flats would require staging off-site. (Based off the teaser posters it seems likely more flats are joining Troika) Unless of course they’ve been hiding footers in the park somewhere for a full scale rollercoaster.

Son of Beast sat for 3 years before a decision was made to remove it. It could be years before anything happens with Dragster.

^There's a staunch mechanical difference between the two, however. TTD's intricate launch mechanism is a far cry and shout away from a chain lift wooden coaster, and having all those parts sitting unused for years is not good for their upkeep. The longer it stays closed, the more likely it is that it's got a date with the chopping block, in my opinion. In fact I'd venture to guess that if it doesn't open next season, it's never opening again.

Is it physically and technically possible to replace the cable launch with a magnetic one? Could the system be replaced with new technology?

Tony Clark posted today that he was finalizing the release for their 2023 plans. I’m thinking we will know more about the beach project and any additions by end of August. I am curious to see what the final design will look like for the grand pavilion.

Is it technically possibly to convert it to LIM or LSM launch? Yes, but would it be economically feasible? For a problematic twenty year old attraction? I would hazard a guess that it will come down quietly in the off season, with the pieces stored in the fenced off area, and eventually the remains hauled off to a salvage yard in the course of several nights.

Wouldn't an LSM or LIM launch need a longer runway?

That's the question. I was having a conversation with @cedarpointer about this. Can the LSM or LIM Launch with enough power to get over the hill? Can the trains be modified to use magnets instead?

I really don't know.

Starting with the second part of your question, the train's already have a similar magnetic configuration to Maverick. They both use Eddy current breaking (the retractable metal fins) those don't contact the train but instead run between two set of high powered magnets. When the metallic fin moves through the magnet's it induces a magnetic field that pushes back against the train and slows it down. The faster the train is moving the harder the breaking force this system applies just due to the laws of physics (no external power involved once the fins are in position).

So if these are of similar dimensions to the Maverick system then it's almost ready in my mind for LSM from a train standpoint. The electrical systems and motors for LSM would need to be added to the ride and launch track though, which could be quite the undertaking.

Now the power standpoint is a little bit out of my knowledge but I do know some. If I understand correctly acceleration is much harder to do under the system in the distance needed and you hit a point of diminishing returns. I think I've seen the numbers once before but someone said if dragster were to have a LSM launch system they would have to use the original ride layout which crossed over the midway into Gemini's plot of land. Now how old those calculations were and if the technology has changed substantially yet I don't know. But as others have said the cost of such a conversion is probably a deterrent all on its own.

The launch, while responsable for most of the downtime, isn’t the cause of a few of the big accidents. So you still have potential for issues.

While we're armchair pondering the cost of various options for removing or refurbing Dragster, I'm wondering if there would be any point to doing a Ship of Theseus-style rebuild like more or less what was done with Hulk at Islands of Adventure. Granted at that point it -is- pretty much a remove and replace and you're basically preserving the launch and the tophat parts of the ride experience, plus or minus whatever infrastructure from Dragster 1.0 you'd be able to keep, like the station, queues, maybe the tower itself...

I really hope TTD stays however that is a great plot of land the park could do great things with.

I think TTD will reopen for its 20th anniversary next year. Its sister coaster Kingda Ka never shut down, they know what part fell off and can correct the problem in a matter of hours. Just closed as a matter of respect to the victim. As to whether it is iconic, as far as the general public goes, there hasn't been any coaster in the world built as impressive and intimidating. Where is our 500ft coaster? Still waiting. To throw in the towel over a 6 inch piece of angle iron that had a screw fall out smacks of millennial teenager troubleshooting. "We tried everything, it couldn't be fixed!" Sorry, get back off my soapbox and chase kids off my lawn.

I think it is no secret that CP’s maintenance department has been lacking the past few years. Granted, the final report suggested Cedar Point was not at fault for the incident. However, I strongly believe that the piece of metal that came off of the train was something that could have been caught during the thorough inspection that is supposed to take place during daily ride inspections.

Selfishly I want the ride to stay because I think it is awesome. The launch is a feeling unlike any other ride. Not to mention, TTD just dominates the history of the coaster wars, and having the “bragging rights” of the 1st 200, 300, and 400 ft. really just completes the quality of the Roller Coaster Capital. However, I would be curious what the public’s perception of it is, and what CP will do to correct the problem if they choose to keep it.

It would be quite difficult to convert Dragster from Hydraulic to LSMs. Take Red Force. It takes 5 seconds to reach 112 MPH. The launch section on Dragster would not be long enough, assuming similar LSMs to Red Force. In order to make it work, the LSMs would have to run along the curve up. I see no way in which Cedar Point could justify the cost of this change.

IF they wanted to use electric motors, a more feasible option would be to keep the winch style launch, but drive it with electric motors, rather than hydraulic. This could potentially have slightly less maintenance requirements, and less electric use over the hydraulic system, but I still don't see how the cost could ever be justified.

One thought that just occurred to me, the piece that was involved in the accident is not a part of the launch system at all but instead the train positioning safety system. That flag would be on that style train (barring some variations likely) with or without being a hydraulic launch specifically. I don't think the launch is of the greatest concern in this case so much is other design elements of the ride. If anyone knows of a way that changing the launch would impact the train positioning system I would be curious to hear what those may be.

HotSauceJunky said:

To throw in the towel over a 6 inch piece of angle iron that had a screw fall out smacks of millennial teenager troubleshooting. "We tried everything, it couldn't be fixed!" Sorry, get back off my soapbox and chase kids off my lawn.

Tell me you know nothing about the complexity of a situation by not telling me you know nothing about the complexity of a situation.

We were talking to one of the maintenance workers during our Sunrise VIP tour. The park is having issues with experienced maintenance workers leaving to work for Ohio state ride inspectors as the pay is better.