The Twist

I'm new here but, Do you think that the 270 degree twist should be on the way up the tower instead of down? This way you have a plain straight drop with more air time and a better view. On the way up, the twist so you have no clue where you are going untill your at the top and true, this would be more extreme on the way up, but I think it would be more fun!

To tell you the truth, I think I'd rather just not have a 270 degree twist.. especially because Wicked Twister is right around the corner. I'd want to see what Xcelerator felt like before I could really say though.

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Ryan McCanimal
eye for an eye makes the whole world blind

The 90* drop on Xcelerator is quite intense. I can only imagine what a 420 foot drop would have been like. The twist, however, is a pretty cool addition to the ride and I personally love it. Especially from the front seat when it appears like you are going to decapitated by the overhanging support.
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Dragster Laps - 21
Trips to the Point (2003) - 19

For those of you here who have ridden hypersconic, do you perfer the straight line, or the turn on the way up, turn on the way down (ie- ttd, xcelerator) I havent gotten a chance to ride any of them, however, I think I would like the hypersconic approach better. Especially if it was 420 feet tall!
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"...and enjoy the rest of your day here at Cedar Point, America's 'Roller Coast'"

What do you think of a twist not only down, like john said but up to? That would really make people:

1- really really dizzy, or

2- really really sick.

I would probably get dizzy, but still it would make the ride even better!
*** This post was edited by cp&le rr guy 9/8/2003 6:50:01 PM ***

Leave it the way it is. I love it!

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2003 Stats: Top Thrill Dragster: 11
Magnum XL-200: 52
32 trips to the Point

True, it would be great no matter what else CP could have done to it.

I think Dragster is fine the way it is. The twist on the way down is the spookiest feeling I have ever gotten on ANY coaster. I mean twisting down 400 feet into abyss. It also simulates a spinning plane that's about to crash. Great stuff.

I think that the twist works perfectly in that the whole first part of the ride gives you a sensory overload, and then the twist on the way down totally disorients you. Without the twist it would be one helluva view, but I think the twist makes it much more instead. By the way, looking up while going through the twist is wicked-awesome because you practically get a full view of the park in just 1-2 seconds.

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...and the most anticipated event of summer 2003 is...

The Matrix: Reloaded!

I don't know. After riding both TTD and Xcelerator this summer, I think I enjoyed just the 90 degree twist on Xcelerator better. I was by far out of my seat more on Xcelerator than I was on Dragster. I think an exact copy of Xcelerator, but 420 feet tall instead of 205 foot tall would have been great. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I just really appreciated Xcelerator for the 3 rides I got in my short visit to Knotts.

The twist on the way up would be sweet but I think that it would lose so much speed that it wouldn't work out.

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Just can't live in that negative way... Make way for the positive Day

I read somewhere that Intamin put the twist in because it creates the force to keep you in the back of your seat. This probably means that a lapbar wouldn't work without the twist because you would fall out. Xcelerator's drop is to short for you to come out of your seat. That's why they can do it on that ride. So the question is no twist and OTSR or twist and lap bar.

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CP Coaster Guide Ride Count
TTD: 1; WT: 9; MF: 4; Mantis: 3; Raptor: 6; Mean Streak: 5; Magnum: 5

Gomez, I'd like to see you try to make yourself fall out of TTD's seats (well not really of course!). It's already been heavily discussed that lap bars are the only thing needed, even if it went upside down.

Edit: To give my opinion on the to twist or not to twist, I'd probably have to ride Xcel to give an honest opinion. But for now I'll go with twist, just because it makes the ride that much crazier. Even if the drop was just 90*, I still don't think you'll get the same feeling as a traditional lift hill coaster's drop because you've already experienced the most intense part of the ride, the launch.

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CP 2K3: 17
"No for real, the poopsmith is a good guy. He's just got a crappy job..." -homestar runner
*** This post was edited by mantis_man 9/9/2003 10:24:12 PM ***

The 270 Degree twist down is similar to the horizontal barrel role I experienced on Ultratwister in Six Flags Astroworld in Houston Texas. I feel like I am in one straight line going down and twisting when I am on Top Thrill Dragster and the airtime is still there for me. It's amazing. I notice that i am twisting, but I doubt it would change much if I was just going straight down, the visual aspect of it is amazing.

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Life has it's ups and downs, might as well make it on a coaster!

"The grass is greener on the other side"

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Eddy the retard is awesome.

I would have liked going straight down to me that would have been much better.

Just a question...what is so much fun about the twist to all of you anyway? It just seemed more like a fazed blur to me, and I didnt find it all that much better than the straight drop on Xcellerator.

I think the reason for the twist is this... people were complaining enough that the ride was straight up and down, it was too short...i remember discussing this back in december when they were building the ride, (some were saying the ride should do more, etc.) so anyway to add to the "up and down only" they put the twist to add a little spice to the project. That way its a little different from up and down. That just what I think...but i was totally blown away by the ride...thats what it is and we're gonna have to deal with it.

Yeah, I'm sure it was because of a few whiny little enthusiasts that they added a twist to the drop...sorry, but we aren't nearly that influential as far as Cedar Point and Cedar Fair are concerned.

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...and the most anticipated event of summer 2003 is...

The Matrix: Reloaded!

Geez, a little defensive are we?

I realize now how ignorant my remark was (i musta been really tired and didnt re-read my comment) -this is more what i meant to say- the twist was to avoid an up around and down ride, and to add a little something something...think about it like this...if your telling someone about this ride and you say, it launches you, you go straight up over the top, and drop straight down, people think, 'sounds cool, but not much to it'... You add the twisty twisty 270 in there, straight down, and it adds a little, kick, to the ride...the kick that all Cedar Point rides have that make them stand out from all the others.

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*Perturbed at the world*

No good deed goes unpunished- Ben Franklin

Well in any event, to the person who asked about HYPSERSONIC being straight up and down, as opposed to the twists on Xcel and Dragster, well I have been on XLC and TTD and I like the twisting hills on rides a lot more.

They give you a quick pop out of your seat, or a quick jerk to your body while only when you crest the hill and XLC do you get that feeling.

I think the twists are just more fun.