Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

PyroKinesis09 said:

TwistedWicker77 said:

Either way, CP has done a great job on keeping everyone guessing about this project opposed to many of the more recent projects that got leaked early on before the announcement.

Eh, all we know is a pavilion is coming, and we didn't need some documents to leak to know that; we can literally see the construction happening.

Correct. Which is why I’m saying they’re doing a good job at keeping everyone guessing about this project (the TTD project that we’ve been discussing in this thread) considering a lot of the additions since Gatekeeper and even before were either quite obvious or leaked before the official announcement.

PyroKinesis09 said:

Eh, all we know is a pavilion is coming, and we didn't need some documents to leak to know that; we can literally see the construction happening.

Do we know for a fact that building that pavilion is the only thing they plan on doing in that area? Because if not, the park has been doing a great job of hiding whatever else is in the works there.

Maybe the building is a distraction!

Ooh look vertical construction by the Ferris wheel! Meanwhile in the rest of the park...

MichaelB said:

Additionally, if you draw a bubble that is offset 200 feet from the existing queue and where they would likely build a new one it more or less encompasses all the markings.

Everything you're saying makes sense, and I'm in agreement that we can't make any firm conclusions. But if I had to bet, given the markings on BBQ's patio, which is 300 feet from the launch building, 500 feet from TTD's entrance, and further still from the queue area of concern, I'm having a hard time justifying a bet that TTD is long for this world.

Yes, it's true that markings can show up surprisingly far from a worksite, but 500+ feet is long, long way by any estimate - the equivalent of finding markings on the Main Midway for the work currently happening at the park. Of course, it's possible that for some strange reason reworking the queue necessitates pavement markings damn near a quarter mile away at BBQ, but at a certain point it feels like trying to explain away evidence pointing to an undesirable outcome. Sort of like when Antique Cars was being removed and I was trying to come up with other explanations for the work that didn't include it's removal. :-)

Here's another thought. What if the queue (more specifically the pens) will be by BackBeat? It sounds like they've come up with a safe way for KingdaKa to have something down there? Then they can just run the queue up the outside of the launch track and try and minimize impact to the midway?

There's currently about 1500 linear feet of standard queue line for TTD. From the station to Back Beat is about 1000 feet. If they run the queue the length of TTD and beyond the station a little ways then double back, you'd get nearly the same length of queue again.

Additionally, have we seen any markings in Camp Snoopy? A fair bit of it should be encompassed within the vicinity of the limits of construction, and thus be marked accordingly. I haven't seen them, but I could be wrong. I'd expect to see markings there if the whole thing was coming down.

Assuming Camp Snoopy is void of markings, I'd lean more towards a new queue rather than demolition.

I think besides rerouting the queue they are taking the opportunity to revamp that entire midway area , its design wastes space, is not aesthetically pleasing & mishmash of things. ie... They put a tractor on display for advertising along the midway.

That's a great point! If they redo the queue for dragster this could be an opportunity to overhaul the midway from corkscrew's corkscrews to back beat! That would be great!

We might even get new bathrooms!?

I think the midway refresh makes a lot of sense if they're routing a queue through the whole thing. It's just plain ol' concrete and trees at this point. It would make sense to blend it in with the Gemini Midway.

Even if it wasn't maiming people, I dunno that TTD needs as long as a queue as it currently has.

My 1 fear is that they put a merge point for FL+ & ruin it like they did with Steele Vengeance.

MCQ said:

ie... They put a tractor on display for advertising along the midway.

Hey that tractor display is the only constant year after year in the park at this point.

^ You're not wrong, that lawn care/mower/tractor display has to have been there in some shape or form for at least twenty years now, or at least since 2006ish at a minimum. I figure it's a local advertising deal and nothing wrong with that since it's clearly been a long relationship.

That all being said, TTD being quiet does make you realize how comparatively spartan that section of midway is from the Corkscrew entrance to Magnum's entrance, and while I wouldn't want yet another patch of mature trees to go away, I agree that it could definitely use -something- to change things up.

Looking at old maps and aerials pre-2003, I almost forgot how much more of the lagoons were filled in for TTD, and while I know it was just Troika, Chaos, and Dodgem 1 in the area before, I also want to remember it being as densely wooded as the first part of Frontier Trail beforehand.

Reworking the queue to start under the tower still requires the line passing by the brake run and launch. Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of reworking the queue? Although I suppose that layout would reduce the number of people in harm's way at any given time, which I guess would be an improvement. But enough to satisfy the underwriting?

I think that was a bit silly on my part. I imagine the queue will stay up near the entrance (not downrange).

The Midway refresh idea makes a lot more sense to me.

That Crazy Dan said:

^ You're not wrong, that lawn care/mower/tractor display has to have been there in some shape or form for at least twenty years now, or at least since 2006ish at a minimum. I figure it's a local advertising deal and nothing wrong with that since it's clearly been a long relationship.

Since the 90s as far as I can remember! That advertisement gives the park a great deal on the mowers and tractors the park uses each season. It almost always been John Deere except for a few summers around 2004 when it was Cub Cadet.

I am going to place myself in the "TTD will re-open" camp. Many of you have presented well thought out statements and proposals for what the markings may entail, including demolition, excavation, queue line relocation, midway re-vamp.

My sense of it is only based on non-scientific feelings from what others have stated. I do not foresee a detonation similar to Space Spiral as I do not feel the "safe zone" for it is adequate despite what one of you proposed. I agree with some excavation work to re-fashion the queue lines including some protective overhead shielding at spots that seem critical. I envision some midway pavement construction work, but not a complete overhaul that includes new or relocated rides & restrooms. There are some pavement "tripping" points along that stretch, after all I witnessed a Black Shirt Higher-up with the initials J. Mc. a couple years back looking down and kicking at one. There's some science for y'all.

As much as the widespread markings lead me to believe the ride is coming down, the one thing that leads me in the other direction is that they recently reilluminated the ride. That would be an odd thing to do if the plan was to quietly retire the ride.

Or it could just be Tony messing with us........

Or it could be so the people marking the ground at 10pm can see what they’re doing