Top Thrill 2 Pit Stop | Episode 2

BleauxJays looks like you were spot on with the crane.

Is it just me or does the brake run have a much more noticeable slope leading up to the drive tires?

Ain't no pit stop without my man Tony. A.k.a. T-Bone.

TwistedCircuits:

Is it just me or does the brake run have a much more noticeable slope leading up to the drive tires?

I thought the same thing. Looks much steeper.

Love that head chop affect were gonna get entering the station after the spike!

The angles we see these rides in pictures play tricks on us. There are some floating around of Maverick’s track in the launch tunnel and the angle is crazy to see because it is unnoticeable when you’re riding it.

I wasn't thinking as a ride experience element. I remember discussion that the flat brake run impacted cycle times. If they increased that brake run, even a bit, I imagine that could help if a train is empty or slow.

The brake run angle looks identical to the original.

One observation: will the switch track be on an incline? I'm assuming it would have to be, as the entire launch track is on an incline.

I don't think so? Original TTD's transfer track was flat and the switch track is pretty much in that same location right?

I'm hoping to get an Episode 3 here, soon...

The LEL video from yesterday shows additional progress on the spike, though it seems like vertical construction has, or is beginning to, outpace delivery of supports and track. Maybe a result of better-than-expected weather allowing for accelerated crane work.

I would imagine that they are trying to get all the work that requires that crane done as soon as possible. Those things are a might bit on the expensive side to rent.

There is no shortage of (high quality) construction content during the week from LEL and these videos from CP are a great supplement as well. Is this project out of the norm when it comes to the webcams, though? My memory may be playing tricks on me, but I can't remember recent projects not having at least 1 dedicated webcam for the construction process once it was announced to the public.

They might be trying to avoid the infamous construction worker relieving himself incident when TTD was originally built

I kinda wish I lived nearby, because I know my drone would have little issue flying from Battery Park to the area over the park for footage. It would probably only have about 5 minutes to shoot before it had to come back, but that would be enough.

Only issues with that are that park rules do not allow drones over the property, and even if they did it would be a part 121 violation flying over people.

Wrong. The park does not have jurisdiction over the air space. Furthermore, you're not flying over people if there are no people in the park and you're not flying over where the people are working.

If I remember correctly from the last time I looked over the FAR/AIM documentation for UAV operator licencing any private entity can "regulate" their airspace up to the 400' limit in the sense they can report violations of their space and theoretically trigger the proceedings for a 121 violation. But it's been awhile since I've read up on that so I may be wrong and wouldn't be surprised if someone can quote the section showing my misremembering or changes in policy. I'm also too lazy to go look it up for myself right now.

Summary being you're both right but that doesn't contribute much to the conversation.

My actual question is what is y'all's opinions on how LEL is getting this footage then? Are they above 400'? Off-site with a good zoom lense? Etc? I've been curious about that for awhile.

From cedarpoint.com

Can I fly my drone at the park?

All drones (Unmanned Aerial Systems) are prohibited at (in) all Cedar Fair parks, including Cedar Point, and any unauthorized drone(s) observed over Cedar Point will be reported to the FAA and local law enforcement, regardless of its point of origin or operation. Drones may pose a potential safety risk and may violate Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.

I don't know if this has been brought up already but I thought it was interesting:

skip to 0:49

He says 84 mph (not the advertised 74) for the first launch and over 120 for the third launch. I'm pretty sure I remember him saying the same thing in another interview I saw on YouTube, but I can't find it.

Either he misspoke, or TT2 will be slightly faster than advertised-- maybe to ensure that a rollback doesn't happen after the third launch...? (just my guess)