Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

Cedar Pointer said: "IDK if this is real or not. In my opinion it looks fan made to me. This has made the rounds as "concept art.""

That pic goes back to 2002 when the tower was under construction and people were guessing the ride layout. The modified date of the same file that I stashed on my computer back then was 10/4/2002. My oh my, where did last 20 years go?

Seriously. I could've sworn I had saved that drawing once upon a time too, but the oldest files that have survived this long across a half dozen or so computers are from 2004, so alas.

It's still kind of amusing to go back through the archives and see the sheer volume of complaining long before the ride ever actually opened. I feel like you'd still be hard-pressed to find a CP ride addition that had that kind of a reaction.

Does Cedar Fair just own the ride or do they also own access to the IP of the track? I'm not a business person but if they are not working with Intamin do they have the legal right to have another company copy the track design and create new track? I would think that the design of the track is owned by Intamin and thus cannot be replicated by another firm.

You're not a business man, but Dick Swingin' Kinzel sure was. He would have never signed a contract that didn't allow him to modify his own $25 million dollar roller coaster.

I’m terrible at this which is why I never respond or reply… I wanted to reply to the person who posted my drawing. I originally drew that while at College in Southern California. Apparently I wasn’t feeling the current curriculum so I brought some colored pencils with me and just started creating the picture. It was so exciting because at that time no one knew anything about the unknown project that would become TTD. I remember seeing the tower being constructed and becoming taller and taller. There was so much speculation about how tall each section was but no one had any real way of verifying any of it. Not from the shores of Sandusky, and certainly not where I was at in Southern California. I remember using an MP3 file to upload it to a roller coaster fan page but I can’t remember which one. I purposely captioned the picture with something along the lines of “oh my god this is Cedar Points new coaster or “it has leaked”. Something to shake everything up…I went to work for five hours and by the time I came home the drawing had done exactly that. It spread like wild fire to any and all coaster enthusiasts websites and blogs. I was so proud of my artwork and my imagination but it was definitely devious. I remember how convinced so many people were. The exception were a few who asked why it was an mp3 file ?! I am not nor have I ever been very skilled with computers so that was the easiest way to do it with my prehistoric computer. I didn’t care how I was going to get it to the Internet, I just knew I wanted to get it there and I am so glad that I did. I will never forget so many really incredible compliments. In fact it was only a few people that said “stop humoring this guy” “this is never going to happen” “this is not the coaster they’re building”. Very true… but why not get people even more hyped? Now here we are almost 20 years later and I’m thrilled to be seeing speculation all over again. This time if I come up with another cool concept I’ll just post it instead of pretending that it was a leak. No hard feelings but I sure had a good time and I hope that some of you did as well.

Thanks so much for posting North Coaster. This "Concept Art" has been a true mystery for me for years. Its so cool to hear the back story and your passion for kicking the bee hive.

Im a big fan of hoax artists. One of my favorite podcasts is all about a hoax artists, sending people on a wild goose chase. Finding Drago. Worth a listen.

maverickDude:

I would think that the design of the track is owned by Intamin and thus cannot be replicated by another firm.

The following is an educated guess based upon my knowledge in another parallel area.

I would think there is no protected IP in the track design, assuming it isn't patented.

Courts have decided that electronic circuit designs aren't copyrightable.

See the following case:

Mackie Designs Inc v. Behringer Specialised studio equipment (UK) Ltd, Ulrich Bernhard Behringer & Behringer Spezielle Studiotechnik GmbH.

Behringer is a pro audio equipment manufacturer that built a career on reverse engineering and copying hit products from other manufacturers, and selling those products at a drastically reduced price, which they were able to do because they had virtually no R&D cost to recoup compared to the OEM.

Mackie sued them for offering near clones of their audio mixing consoles, with only minor differentiation.

Behringer won.

I would guess that equivalent legal doctrine would apply to track design. If there isn't anything patentable and patented, It can probably be replicated by a third party.

Auto parts stores probably wouldn't exist (except maybe in China) if this weren't the case.

Now, RMC's i-box track did meet the criteria to be awarded a patent, and is in fact patented, so if, hypothetically, CP wanted to hire a third party to re-work SV track, this wouldn't fly at least until the patent expires.

US patents expire 20 years after original application I believe, so in the event that Intamin patented their track design (which I don't think is the case) it would ostensibly be expired by now, assuming the validity window isn't different due to any possible difference in patent law in Intamin's Swiss home turf.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US8590455B2/en

A new manufacturer wouldn’t need to copy the entire Intamin track design, just match the track gauge and rail circumference. For years Phantom’s Revenge had two entirely different track styles merged together seamlessly.

Good stuff! Loving the nostalgia!

I mentioned this many pages back, but I would guess that the biggest concern would be liability. I would guess that Intamin has some clause in the contract requiring Intamin trains to be run, and if Cedar Point doesn’t run Intamin trains Intamin is absolved of liability if something goes wrong.

So I decided to check into Trademarks to see if I could stumble upon a nugget of info...

The only recent trademark Cedar Point has is Cedar Point Boardwalk. I noticed historicay CP registers their trademarks the fall before attractions open.

To me, that says the new experience probably wont open next year.

In recent years, Cedar Point has waited until the day of the announcement to register the TM so the surprise doesn't get spoiled.

Edit: Pictures I saw on fb today show the sections of track that are off site being loaded into large shipping containers.

A recently posted YouTube video would lead me to believe that the station gates and railings have all been removed and that some removed track pieces are being loaded in overseas shipping containers.

I’d suspect that the likes of RMC, Premier, and S&S are not involved with the project. And that the trains will either be replaced or reconfigured (longer/shorter).

Overseas shipping containers is odd... what needs to be done with the track overseas that can't be done here?

The complete gutting of the station is interesting to me.

@PyroKinesis09 - While those type of containers are also used for overseas shipments, they are also used on trains and semi trucks. I've seen that particular shipping company's containers on trains in the middle of the country... so it is clear that their use isn't a definitive sign the track is being shipped overseas.

Getting back to the different manufacturer question, doesn't Mack make track similar to Intamin?

I am also curious if there will be separate load and unload stations.

So it appears they are done removing track, which isn't surprising if we assume a new launch is coming along with updated controls. The more surprising development is that track is apparently being shipped overseas. Perhaps Intamin has interest in seeing how the track has held up? Or it's going elsewhere to be fitted with new hardware?