Top Thrill 2 Pit Stop - Ep 4 - Lightning Train at IAAPA

Zamperla’s Wild Mouse has entered the chat.

Deja vu? No wait, we had this same exchange right after the announcement. Again, I'm absolutely not advocating for seat belts. I sincerely hope the ride doesn't have them. But I'll be shocked if that's the case, Wild Mouse notwithstanding.

Me rolling up to the queue line on opening day to check out them 20 inch dubs

Nah, Big Wheels did not originally come with holes.

Same here:

True, you had to add the holes yourself. Which didn't take long in my experience.

Scott Cameron:

But I'll be shocked if that's the case, Wild Mouse notwithstanding.

It's hard to tell from the pictures, but I don't even see any mounting provisions for a seatbelt, and it looks like those trains are more-or-less ready to go on the track, so...

I looked at that too and agree with your assessment. I'm just going off of Cedar Fair's history here. Ride a B&M hyper or giga at any other park, no seatbelts. Any CF park, seatbelts. Heck, they even added seatbelts to Corkscrew and Mine Ride. Any other non-CF park, those type of rides don't have seatbelts. It seems like they always let the lawyers/insurance company make the decision and I'm guessing whomever they answer to will want seatbelts on their 420 foot ride too. Definitely hope I'm wrong though!

I assume we're talking about across the lap belts. Would adding between the legs belts or even vests later be any more or less likely? (Gatekeeper, Valravn, Maverick as apples/oranges counter examples) Don't they usually say they're following the manufacturers requirements.

So.. hidden among everything else happening at IAAPA. Cedar Point DID in fact reveal the other two train colors incognito on random screens at the convention hall. I present white and black trains:

You think the larger wheels will give a much smoother ride? TTD was smooth but I would think it might make it even better.

Sweet looking trains for sure!

I'm guessing the holes in the wheels are for some combination of heat dissipation and achieving an optimal strength to weight ratio.

It’s not a question of where he grips it. It’s a matter of weight ratios!

A video from Zamperla's YouTube page confirms the 3 different train colors.

Oh that black one though!

Hudson:

I assume we're talking about across the lap belts.

I would think (and definitely hope) that if we have to have belts that would be the most feasible.

Hudson:
Don't they usually say they're following the manufacturers requirements.

I can't confirm whether they've said that or not but even if they have, I wouldn't say they follow it. I was at BGW earlier this year:

Loch Ness, no seatbelts. Corkscrew, seatbelts.

Apollo's Chariot, no seatbelts. Diamondback, seatbelts.

Those are just a couple quick examples. While I can't say I know for sure the decision making of upper management, the evidence definitely points to CF going "above and beyond" with seatbelts. So perhaps they "at least" conform to manufacturer requirements? Meaning if the manufacturer doesn't require seatbelts but CF adds them anyway, I don't believe that makes them non-conforming to manufacturer requirements.

I hope to be pleasantly surprised and wrong!

^ Yeah that black one does look good.

I call shotgun on the black one. Opening day.

Was that video taken down? Anyone have a screen shot of the other trains?

Idk why it's not showing it here now, but you can see it on zamperla's YouTube page.

Anybody see that Falcon's Flight train reveal at Iappa? That's the real reveal here. 515ft camelback beats a 420ft spike all day everyday. I'm a little jelly of the Saudis, but enjoy seeing our journalists stay in one piece here in Sandusky 😉

I'm on Zamperla's Youtube page and don't see any videos showing off multiple colors of the trains.

Is there something I'm missing?