Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

Count the number of "points" on the supposed 90-foot side.

Divide that into 90.

Count the number of "points" on the other sides.

Multiply by the "divide into 90" number.

I'm not bothering to do that.

But just "casually observing" it appears very near equilateral.

:: shrug ::

And the FACT that the dolt from the videos said 90-42-42 makes me want to puke. That's an impossible triangle, M C Escher or not.

If going by that method, long side 20 flanges, 14 flanges on short side, 2 flanges on the "flat corners"

At 90' long, sides would be 63', with flat corners attributing to an extra 9', looking more like "home plate" from above.

Perpetual Obsession:

...surely Intamin has to be involved, right? TTD is their coaster...

No, the coaster belongs to Cedar Fair.

maverickDude:
Agreed, I would be shocked if it's not Intamin. Zamperla does not have the track record with roller coasters of this speed or size let alone being able to come in and retrofit someone's design on a coaster of this magnitude.

You know who else doesn't have a great track record with coasters of this speed and size, and also doesn't have experience retrofitting a new launch system on an existing ride? Intamin.

Especially if they are going to be building a spike and a swing launch which is something Intamin has perfected...

Perfected? How many LSM swing launches have they installed?

Being so close to Power Tower too, that spike and Power Tower are going to be cedar points Pillars of Hercules

CoasterLine... I admit to not really noticing the two flat "points".

I'll move on, then, to the predicted twisted spike as being an "homage" to Wicked Twister.

There's a 90 degree twist UP the current top hat.

And, what is it?... a 270 degree twist DOWN the current top hat.

How much more of an "homage" is needed? WT is gone. And of all the past coasters at CP, it's not one that needs any kind of "homage". It's history, and gave its life for a pavilion. "Homage". I am able to only imagine people looking at a twisted spike and then going all pious and introspective and slowly nodding their heads gazing upon it. (Then wondering where the nearest gravy station is.)

djDaemon:

Perfected? How many LSM swing launches have they installed?

4 I believe? Pantheon, the new Batman one in Spain, Hagrid’s and there’s one in China as well.

Casual Observer, here you go, just because I'm bored: All hypothetical, obviously.

Hagrid's isn't a swing launch, despite the backwards section. Batman is just multi-launch.

I believe the only "true" swings are Pantheon and Toutatis, at the moment.

Soaring with Dragon in China is another one.

I agree with dj that Intamin does not have the best track record. However, I think a lot of their newer additions have been more reliable from what I have seen. I could be wrong. Either way, whether it is Zamperla or Intamin, I am curious to see what the daily mechanical downtime is compared to the OG Dragster with a new launch system.

I was sold it would be Zamperla at first, but now I’m leaning back towards the Intamin side of things. I don’t really have much to base this decision on though. Perhaps it is wishful thinking as I know how intense their installations can be

I said it once and I’ll say it again - this is one of the best teaser projects and kept secrets Cedar Point has done in years. It definitely has coaster communities from all over talking. There is just so much unknown at this point. Even though we have to wait over a year to ride Dragster 2.0, all of this speculation and watching the project come together is what is most exciting to me.

Ah yes, I got Batman and Toutatis mixed up. But I’d argue that the track switch and reversing spike is the real meat and potatoes of what sets these rides apart from a traditional continuous circuit launched ride though. Hagrid’s and Zero Gravity in China is the same concept.

TwistedWicker77:

...I think a lot of their newer additions have been more reliable from what I have seen.

That may be, but has their field support improved for installed rides?

Anecdotally, one of things my job entails is providing field engineering support for industrial production equipment. And while reliability and reparability are key factors in customers selecting a vendor's product, at least as equally important is "aftermarket support". In other words, how good is the field support once our equipment, in the hands of the end user, isn't performing as expected, or if the end user cannot diagnose and correct a problem on their own?

And I've been "lucky" enough to have been sent to put out many a proverbial "fire" in the field, where customers are more than happy to communicate the hourly cost (which is often nontrivial) of our equipment causing production downtime. And I've learned that no matter what the solution is, the key is good communication and assuring the end user that in the end, the situation will be corrected.

I don't know the details of Intamin's dealings with CF. But one need look no further than StR to see that Intamin committed the absolute worst sin imaginable - being unable to make their product work for the end user, resulting in that product being removed from service LONG before its expected end of life, costing the end user money. Which is a particularly unforgivable sin, considering that when it's distilled down, the sole purpose of an amusement product is to provide income for the owner.

Maybe you're right that their products have improved since then. And maybe that's enough for CF to give them a another shot, I don't know. But what I do know is that if I had a customer so dissatisfied with our product that they, at the cost of many millions of dollars, tore out our equipment due to our inability to get it to perform as advertised, our product wouldn't get considered by them until each and every human involved in the original project had long since been buried.

SpeedDemon:

I’m trying to sleuth out what model that green generator inside the triangle is.

Pretty sure it's a water pump.

no homage to wicked twister is needed, that "filler" coaster, dick kinzels words not mine, should be long forgotten. This thing ain't going to be just a bigger wicked twister, buckle up fellas ;)

djDaemon:

Yep, this is commonly done with coaster footers.

So with that being said, I wonder the shape and size of the foundation for the tower of TTD. Maybe it compares in size to what we are seeing in the lagoon? Unfortunately there aren't any public photos of that phase of the construction from back then (though I'm sure the park has some somewhere).

SRE123:

Being so close to Power Tower too, that spike and Power Tower are going to be cedar points Pillars of Hercules

"Land of Giants" deal with those, the original top hat, and even Magnum as you enter/leave the area. I like it.

So curious what y’all think the chances are that this really is just lagoon/drainage maintenance of some kind and not related to TTD?

At this point it’s almost 100% certainly related to Top Thrill Dragster

Plague on Wheels:

no homage to wicked twister is needed

You must not have been sitting tight enough, fella. I thoroughly enjoyed that ride.

He especially loved ‘getting screwed in the rear.’

Guess this means they won't be moving 'Blood on the Bayou' back to this area after closing Forbidden Frontier.