Dragster Too Extreme?

Hello everyone. Whenever I read and hear ride reviews of Dragster, I consistently find people saying "It was the most extreme 22 seconds of my life," or "It was intense!" My question is: Is the ride more intense than it is fun?

I'll be riding TTD for the first time very soon, and I hope it'll be another must-ride for me each trip to CP. However, I'm worried the fun factor might not be there. For example, King's Island's Son of Beast and CP's Mantis both set out to break records in their class of roller coaster, but they are in competition for the absolute worst roller coaster I've ever ridden; these rides are painful, have boring track elements, and they feel slow (I know Dragster won't suffer here). What I'm trying to say is...while these rides were record-breakers and initially praised by critics and riders, the fun factor was just not there (at least for me).

I love Millenium Force, but I nearly black out from the first turn to the tunnel (along with many others). Now I'm picturing this intense 120 mph launch into vertical track. I can't help but think I'd black out for a brief period, and then just wind up with a bad headache after the ride is over.

Finally, I didn't want to start another topic that turned into ride reviews. I can't say what exactly it is (short ride time? lack of surprise?), but I'm just not too excited about riding TTD (versus my extreme excitement for Raptor, Millenium Force, and other roller coasters in their opening year). My question is to those who had similar thoughts about TTD prior to riding: after you rode it, were your lower expectations crushed, or did you walk away with a "Ahh...it's about what I expected." ? Thanks.

I can see why you would say this....but TTD is an awesome experience. It is definately equally fun as intense. You said that you might blackout while going up going 120, it is more a distortion. You wont know which way is up! If you consider airtime fun than this is as fun as it gets. From the moment you begin to slope up the tophat to the time you level out you will be weightless.

-As for you almost blacking out on the first banked turn of MF I dont know. I've never heard that before. Sloping up the tophat is far more intense than MF.

- As for the ride time, it is a bit short, but I could never imagine going through any element at 120 mph. Intamin was right to keep it short.( You can barely talk after 30 seconds of the ride, I dont know how you could even breathe after a 2:00 or even 1:00 ride)

Im pretty sure you will be well satisfied with TTD.......I was!
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Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! Are your ready for some speed? We've got 120 miles per hour! Are you ready to get vertical? We've got 420 feet. Are you ready for the tallest and fastest rollercoaster in the world?! ARE YOU READY FOR TOP THRILL DRAGSTER?!?

My son "greys out" (his words) on the first overbank on MF sometimes. He hasn't had that problem on Dragster, although we've only been on it twice.

The intensity is mostly in the launch. Imagine launching at more than twice the speed of Wicked Twister and having it sustained a bit longer. Once you become vertical, though, the intensity drops and as TopThrill above said, you feel more weightless. There is some floater air across the top, and then you hit that fast spiral down.

The thrill factor comes from three different sensations all within a very short period of time, whereas the sensations and elements on MF and Raptor are spread out. It's almost like your brain doesn't process what is happening quickly enough before it's over. (Or maybe it's because my old brain doesn't work fast enough anymore :) )

Obviously these sensations affect each person differently, and the only way you'll know for sure is to ride it.

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All I can say is that I have seen entire trains of people laghing hysterically as they hit the brakes at the end, as did I. I think that's a pretty good indication of how fun it is.

Top Thrill Dragster is intense, but the launch isnt a jerk it is a smooth launch and that is the good thing. But TTD is way more fun than it is scary or intense!!

An interesting question FFej...I thought about this shortly after I got off my first ride and wondered if there would be some people who would be turned off by the intensity of the launch. Personally, I loved every second of it, and OldCPer's description nailed my experience right on the head.

As far as expectation, I was blown away as the launch was MUCH faster than I thought it would be. I wanted to catch my trains speed on the speedometer and I totally missed the sign!! TTD is as smooth as silk and is definately a 10 on the fun scale. I want to ride it again to confirm those feelings because your first ride is pretty much a blurrrr....

When People say they Black out on MF it is just their eyes being closed by the wind. I do not think MF pulls enough G's to make you black out. I know that when I went on MF for the first time the wind was so powerful that my contacts fell out.

I think people can tell the difference between greying out and having their eyes shut by the wind. A lot of people 'grey out' on the first overbank on MF, including myself and believe me, when most people 'grey out', their eyes are open and black spots appear in front of them.

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Dear Valued Guest, I regret to inform you that Cedar Point’s newest roller coaster, Top Thrill Dragster, is not currently in operation because of mechanical problems.

I grey out on the first overbank on MF. Its definately something other than your eyes being shut.

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July 4th, 2003-7:37 p.m...... I reopened Dragster.
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*** This post was edited by Gerg 7/19/2003 11:33:06 AM ***

HAHA! I grey out too, I thought that was just me! And nope, eyes definitley OPEN!

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I think intense usually equals fun, so its one in the same :)

"these rides are painful, have boring track elements, and they feel slow"

...I have never ridden SOB, but I couldn't imagine it as being slow. Painful, I'm sure! Boring ... mantis ... never. I love the inversions, and the QUICK changing track direction element is a favorite too. I don't remember mantis being so ruff in it's early years, but maybe sitting on "wet" land has changed this with time.

"but I nearly black out from the first turn to the tunnel (along with many others)."

..That's just crazy! Do you think one should continue riding a roller coaster if it brings you to the point of a near blackout? I almost wish it could happen to me so I could more understand this "fun-factor" robbing experience.

"but I'm just not too excited about riding TTD"

...If your there the same day as me. Please, get in line after me!

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The B E S T SEVENTEEN s-e-c-o-n-d-s of SHEER >>InSaNitY<< I've E V E R experienced!

I also grey out on the first over banked turn on MF, and i have ridden TTD twice and both times i havnt experienced a grey out. Now with me, TTD is a cheap one trick poney. the best part of the ride is the luanch, thats about it, i havnt experiecned this "geat" air time everyone always talks about. the ride is to short, but you have to remember why it was built, to be the tallest and fastest, it wasnt built to be the new #1 caoster-a la MF. The first time i rode it it was great fun, but the 2nd time it kinda lost its charm on me, maybe its becasue i wasnt in the front the 2nd time. Im going again next week with my riend who hasnt ridden it yet, so ill see what the 3rd time brings for me.

hey i thought that i was weird for greying out on the first overbank on MF, my friends say i am a freak and have somthing wrong with me...its good to hear that i am not the only one... i have ridden MF more than 100 times and i have greyed out more than half of those rides....

join the club everybody...greying out is cool:)
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TTD=10(frontseat=3)double digits baby!!!
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I absolutely love Millenium force. It is still my favorite ride over Top Thrill Dragster because its a longer ride and its more reliable but i like them both almost the same. Millenium force has never done it to me before, but for some reason starting this season it causes me to "grey out" around the first overbank. Dont know why it does now, but it does not rob from the rest of the ride. For those of you unfamiliar with the experience of a "grey out" basically everything starts to go out of focus and then it gets darker and darker. Like playing with the brightness and contrast on your monitor. It still boggles my mind but despite it all definitely my favorite 2 rides!

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Thanks for all your replies; I'm happy to hear that this ride is just plain fun also. I wanted to point out that I am excited to ride TTD, just not as much as Millenium and some past roller coasters in their opening year.

As for the blacking out on MF: it just feels like a great deal of pressure (G's), and then everything slowly fades to a dark grey (I guess I wouldn't be a good astronaut/pilot lol). But as soon as the first weightless hill on MF, that sensation disappears. I'm glad people don't seem to experience that on TTD.

I can imagine the lauch is intense. I also wear contacts. For those that do wear contacts, did you find the launch to be a problem (worried contacts would blow out/eyes drying out)? Would you recommend sun glasses, or does the launch suction the contacts to the eyes?

Ok i have contacts and i did not wear them the 1st time i rode TTD, when i was in the front seat. my eyes did water though. Now the second time i rode it i was in the second row and did in fact wear my contacts and had no problems what so ever with them. my suggestion would be to bring a small bottle of eyes drops to put in your eye throughout the day when ever you feel your contacts getting a little bit dry, thats what i do, and i have only lost 1 contact once....lol and that was on Raptor-go figure.

I have contacts, and I was just wondering, how did you lose them on Raptor?

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LeWiS

lol really i have no idea. well maybe i do. ok so i was waiting in line and something flew into my right eye, so i rub it a little, flatten out my eye lashes to make sure its not them, i finally get what ever it was out. then i put in an eye drop just before i got onto the train, so im thinkin' that maybe it was just to wet, and flew right out of my eye. but ive been to CP 10 times with my contacts and thats the ONLY time i have ever lost one.

Luke,

The key word was feel slow. Son of Beast (78mph) and Mantis are both not slow rides, they just feel that way (to me). It's all in the design. For example, Blue Streak sometimes feels faster than Mean Streak, as Blue Streak is about quick hills whereas Mean Streak has more gradual motion (I'm sure some will agree with me). Son of Beast has this HUGE gradual turn around that hurts and feels slow. Regardless, the point was bigger is not always better.

"Greying out" on MF does not rob its fun factor, as it's only a very small portion of the ride.