Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

I've worked with a fair share of non-enthusiast park guests over the years with regards to their thoughts and ideas and assumptions about roller coasters. I would say that a common (and logical) belief is that what's associated with "rough and uncomfortable" is the age of the ride, not the material its made from. That is, "if it's old, it's going to be rough".

Makes sense.

Wooden coasters will always have their place. Kings Dominion just announced that Grizzly is getting a much-needed restoration.

I like a good woodie but it has to give me some thrills or cool environment. The Beast for example isn't crazy for thrills but the layout is damn cool especially at night. Mystic Timbers on the other hand is incredible for the thrill factor. Blue Streak is just fun but I do agree the new restraints took a little bit of that fun factor for me away. I still ride it because of its nostalgia and it was my first ever coaster. Unlike The Beast and Mystic I do not go out of my way to ride Blue Streak.

Bottom line is I just want a good coaster ride period at the end of the day. Steel or wood just give me a good ride!

Blue Streak hasn't been tracking all that great in the past few years. The shuffling is getting pretty bad. I hope they are able to consult with Gravity Group and Kings Island carpentering staff to do some refurbs like they did on Racer and Beast. The difference on Racer before and after the work is like night and day. I always though Blue Streak was the better of the classic wood coasters since it's a little more intense, but to me Racer is now the superior coaster.

All 3 wood coaster at KI are well maintained and very popular. It can work.

I rode The Beast this year after the refurb and it was way better. Much more pleasant ride for sure.

Jeff:

Data? Impossible! As a percentage wood coasters have never been dominant, and yet, they still build a few (I'm sorry, about 4 on average) every year.

... before they invented steel coasters there were only wooden coasters and then after the innovation of the steel coaster, there has been a decline of wooden coasters to steel. Right? yes, there are 4 on average built per year, but compare that number to the full amount of roller coasters being built per year and steel easily takes the cake.

I think what Cedar Pointer and I are attempting to communicate is that it seems that for many people (not all) there is a misconception that a wooden coaster automatically means a rough ride. Kevin brings up an excellent point that age of a coaster is another factor in people's perception of roughness. There sure is a Niche in the market for Wooden coasters, however as already stated it takes a special team to ensure that the ride stays well-managed. (KI has a great team to do this). Disney and Universal have never built a wooden coaster throughout their years of running and maintaining all their theme parks. Not once. I am going to guess (and I am guessing here) that they either 1. Don't want to do all the upkeep on wooden coasters or 2. see it as too much of a gamble for the audience that they are reaching.

Tennessee_CP_Fan:
Even if you talked to thousands of people, that sample is still to small to make the generalization that most park guests don't like woodies.

My guess of what people perceive of wooden coasters is not based on what people have personally said to me. It's that most operating coasters (and future builds) right now are steel coasters. This could show us that parks have been strategically moving toward steel and away from wooden coasters. Now, that doesn't change the fact that sometimes parks look to build a wooden coaster to add to their ride portfolio. Wooden coasters after all do offer a completely different ride experience. (and to my knowledge they last longer too, someone correct me on that if it's not true).

We can for sure get back on to top thrill dragster. This was a weird side quest I didn't expect. I would love to sit down and talk with someone from Cedar Point and ask why they haven't added a new wooden coaster since 1991.

Back to TTD, the webcam that was pointing to the tower is now pointing to Sandusky. My guess is that they have started work on the tower whether that be removing the track or repainting or converting it to a wooden coaster. ;) now that would be re-imagined for sure.

RideMan:

Presumably the Blue Streak is still running with its original trains

I'm pretty sure those were brand new trains in 1994, at the same time they removed the manual brakes and rerouted the queue.

Frog Hopper King:

... before they invented steel coasters there were only wooden coasters and then after the innovation of the steel coaster, there has been a decline of wooden coasters to steel. Right?

Considering the oldest operating steel roller coaster in the world was built in 1928, I'm going to go ahead and say no. Before you jump on me about 1959 - that was the first tubular steel coaster. There were PLENTY built out of angle iron long before that happened. The tubular steel concept just revolutionized it. Loop The Loop was a steel coaster that operated between 1904 and 1908 - and there were plenty of wooden coasters built all throughout the early 1900's.

Frog Hopper King:

...but compare that number to the full amount of roller coasters being built per year and steel easily takes the cake.

That's not what you were arguing. You said the industry was "moving away" from wood coasters. The numbers over time show it ebbs and flows, but the trend line is pretty flat, and it has been for a long time. No one disagrees that there are more steel coasters being made.

Also, Cedar Pointer knows some people who can build you a deck.

Hmm, let's take 1959 (Matterhorn Bobsleds, first modern steel coaster) and 1975 (first modern corkscrew, with modern loops to follow in 1976) as our benchmark years. One would presume that somewhere in that time period or just afterwards, you'd have a fairly equivalent number of wooden and steel coasters being built. You also figure the 70s are also when the Taft/Paramount parks and the Marriott Great Americas were being built, and it'd be interesting in hindsight to compare the opening day lineups of all of those parks that opened around the same time.

Jeff:

You may know carpenters who worked on the ride, cool, but I know the guys who designed it, and they're still quite employed, innovating and profitable.

OK, boys... let's whip 'em out and lay 'em down!

No fluffers.

JHCA.

Jeff:

That's not what you were arguing. You said the industry was "moving away" from wood coasters. The numbers over time show it ebbs and flows, but the trend line is pretty flat, and it has been for a long time. No one disagrees that there are more steel coasters being made.

I never made that argument.

Whose ready for the new trains to be absolute garbage!!!

e x i t english:

Considering the oldest operating steel roller coaster in the world was built in 1928, I'm going to go ahead and say no. Before you jump on me about 1959 - that was the first tubular steel coaster. There were PLENTY built out of angle iron long before that happened. The tubular steel concept just revolutionized it.

That's really interesting, i didn't know that. Most sources that I looked at wrongly stated that Matterhorn was the first steel coaster. Thanks for letting me know.

I would modify my argument to say that once steel coasters became easier to build then it seems more companies focused on building them. Just looking at this wiki page, a quick glance at the 70-80s shows a disproportionate amount of steel to wooden coasters being built.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Roller_coasters_introduced_in_1987

@speed demon. I hope not! Dragsters trains were so awesome. That's why I was hoping for Intamin to be involved. The trains/seats on Velocicoaster are amazing. Here is hoping for lap bar only!

SpeedDemon:

Whose ready for the new trains to be absolute garbage!!!

Wouldn’t make sense for Premier to be doing the conversion if the old track was being send to Europe. But a lot of the puzzle pieces aren’t fitting into place, so who knows?

Stupid question... was the track for CP's Intamins manufactured at the same plant in Clermont that B&M uses, or does that facility only do B&M track? Couldn't remember if the track was originally made in Europe and shipped over or not.

Frog Hopper King:

I never made that argument.

Wait, what? First, Cedar Pointer made this claim (which you +1'd):

Cedar Pointer:

The market has been moving away from wood coasters for years.

To which Jeff responded:

Jeff:

Again, the companies building wood coasters would be shocked to hear this.

To which you responded:

Frog Hopper King:

Then why of the 96 new coasters being built next year is only one of them a wooden coaster? Seems like the overwhelming data disproves your anecdote. right?

Which I pointed out was a poor argument given the data literally shows that wooden coasters, while rarer than steel, are basically as popular as they've been throughout modern history.

CPVet:

Wouldn’t make sense for Premier to be doing the conversion if the old track was being send to Europe.

I mean. If Intamin is doing the track/launch conversions and premier is only handling the trains. I don’t think it would matter where the track goes. “industry legend” could very well suggest they are working with intamin not CP.

The terms "Industry legend" and "legacy attraction on a grander scale" could mean damn near anything about many people, companies, parks, and attractions.

Fair point. But those things combined with what we know make me suspect it’s TTD. Do we have any other huge rides being reworked in the same way that we know about (other than RMCs)?

That Crazy Dan:

Stupid question... was the track for CP's Intamins manufactured at the same plant in Clermont that B&M uses, or does that facility only do B&M track? Couldn't remember if the track was originally made in Europe and shipped over or not.

Stakotra Manufacturing in Slovakia. Here are pics from when they prefit the track and supports while the tower was laying on its side, all before it was shipped to CP!