Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

djDaemon- You always want to stream your job of mowing the pavement. Its the only way to insure that you mowed the pavement properly.

But for real, I think thats against TOS? Posting pics from inside the closed park? Could be wrong.

Cedar Pointer:

Jeff thats a straw man. I don't think anyone here is trying to argue that needs to have it or that it is 100% necessary.

For real? Because all I've seen Tilt-a-Whirl argue is exactly that, that is has to be the super innovative slam dunk because it's always been that way and it's a destination and leader and whatever else he's been saying.

Could be wrong. Tilt-a-Whirl, is that what you mean?

Cedar Point is a destination. I live in North Carolina and there are people down here that will make the trip up IF they build a record breaking coaster. Cedar Point sees that in their attendance too. Attendance levels out with minor updates and spikes with big coasters. Those spikes are people coming from around the country.

I'm sure someone from Paris, France visits Cedar Point every year, too. These anecdote don't change the fact that the bulk of the attendance comes from the Cleveland and Detroit metros, with Indianapolis, Columbus and Pittsburgh as secondary markets. The long-tail beyond that is a small percentage, that, yes, includes people from North Carolina and "around the country."

Straw man king over here.

Worlds of fun, Kennywood, Dorney Park are all local parks. Cedar Point has a much bigger market then just a normal local park.

MagnumMatt:

Maybe new trains to make them lighter so they could convert to an LSM? Just a thought. Yeah does cost more but if this is the target for 2024 then it’s next years budget for a new ride for 2024.

Have you seen one of the trains unassembled during the off-season? In my opinion, they could easily be modified to whatever they wanted. Even if the trains were 70% new, why not use what you can from the old trains? It would also save time on manufacturing. You wouldn't have to wait for parts that you already have. Here is a photo from 2015 of one of the trains during the off-season.

https://flic.kr/p/rjtVXT

Jeff, I think you're grossly underestimating the draw from Michigan. It extend greatly outside of Metro Detroit. I'm 2 hours north and I have yet to meet a person who hasn't been to CP. And about 80% of those people are lifetime regulars. In my extended family alone we have about 40 passholders. I understand that the population dwindles the further north but there's an enormous amount of people north of Detroit. Michigan is way more than just Detroit. I do agree that it is a semi-regional park bit it's reach is wider than you lead us to believe.

Magnum Chris - Thanks for sharing! Have never been lucky enough to do a winter chill out!

With the way Cedar Fair has been wanting to make things uniform across the board, whatever they change the name of the ride to, I just hope it isn’t renamed “Backlot Stunt Coaster” or “Flight Deck”.

Which brings me to this question: a few years ago, wasn’t it reported that Cedar Fair trademarked the name “Centurion” or something like that? Was that name every used throughout the CF chain?

vwhoward:

Jeff, I think you're grossly underestimating the draw from Michigan. It extend greatly outside of Metro Detroit. I'm 2 hours north and I have yet to meet a person who hasn't been to CP.

Whereabouts do you live, out of curiousity? Because 2 hours north of Detroit is Midland-ish.

It certainly wouldn't surprise me to learn that people along I-69 would be regulars, since many are transplants from Metro Detroit.

I know quite a few in the Saginaw area who are regular Cedar Pointers.

Do y'all not call that Southern Michigan? Is anything not the UP Southern Michigan? I wouldn't know what you call it because of that silly hand thing you do.

vwhoward:

I do agree that it is a semi-regional park bit it's reach is wider than you lead us to believe.

Do y'all honestly think that in 23 years of doing this and calling the former GM a friend who wrote a book about this all, I never had detailed discussions about where the park was drawing people from? Give me a little credit.

The Saginaw area is the line where many michiganders from the south eastern side consider "up north".

All this Michigan talk makes me think of this, lol.

Jeff,

It really depends on who you ask and where they live. For example, I live in Taylor which is about 35 miles north of the Ohio border. If I go to the Gaylord area (middle of the "hand"), I consider it "up north" considering it took me 3.5 hours to get there. It's definitely outside the Detroit metro area though which what I think Joe was referencing.

However, even further north is Traverse City. I was there a few years ago and talking to bartender about how long it had been since I was "up north." He stated that locals only consider the UP as "up north." So it guess it really depends on who you talk to from MI.

I think DRE is right though that someone from the Detroit area would consider anything north of Saginaw as "up north."

the argument from authority is a fallacy.

Jeff - I listened to to your appearance on The Daily J. I think you made a lot of great points however, i guess I don't understand you'r argument on here? Is it that adding to the layout as the ride currently stands too much of a capital investment? Or is it that Cedar Point isn't in the business of bigger and badder? I

What is your possession? Tearing down the tower seems to me just as silly as adding 40ft to the tower.

(whisper voice) by the way. Maverick is taller than 100ft.

Jeff:

Do y'all not call that Southern Michigan?

Depends on who you ask, but no, Saginaw would not be considered Metro Detroit by most people. I've come to define it as anywhere south and east of the city of Flint, which is about an hour NE of Detroit.

The only argument ("possession?") that I'm making is that anyone who believes Cedar Point needs to build the whatever-est because they always have or the park is a super-mega-global destination or whatever is wrong. Nothing illustrates that more than their continued rise in revenue building restaurants while they tear down giant expensive rides. They may very well do so, but to suggest they must is wishful enthusiast thinking.

^ No one is saying they "must".

They are saying that due to the historical moves by the park, it seems likely.

What do you think they're doing, Jeff?

Dude, you're arguing semantics. Past precedent doesn't dictate future action. The entire leadership of the company is different. "They" built a train station to Cleveland once, too.

I don't know what they're going to do, and if I did, I wouldn't put it here. But there's a reason that the Aquatrax meme and others exist, and that's because there's a long history of wild imagination here that generally ignores the most basic business principles.