Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

Perhaps they've changed their focus in recent years, but CP has been the following the marketing "leadership" law ever since they built Magnum. First to 200, 300, and 400. If the opportunity presents itself and is feasible to be the first to reach 500, they've shown us nothing other than that they do care to be the first to reach new heights.

I would love if they would break the 500 foot barrier, but it seems like an awfully expensive proposition when that 420-foot tophat remains an amazing sight and experience.

My guess is that the back spike will be closer to 350 feet? Thinking you have an initial ~100 mph launch, get up about ~330 feet, come back with minimal launch to about same height on back ~ 330-ish, and then final launch over top hat. They can then market it as the ONLY coaster to cross the 100mph barrier 4 times! etc.

And, yes, they MUST put an airtime bunny hill in there -- not the dismal one like Kingda Ka but something like the Intamin one just opened in France (Touta-something).

"MUST" is a strong statement, and they certainly mustn't. But I get it. Toutatis looks incredible, and assuming the spike is coming, I'd agree that having an airtime hill would be fantastic.

I agree about the airtime hill, but didn't they go to the trouble and expense of shipping track overseas? That seems like a waste of money if that track is being replaced instead of modified.

On the other hand, I recall that not all of the track removed from TTD was shipped. Some remained at the Amazement Shop, though I don't think it was very many pieces. Physics dictates that an airtime hill at ~120MPH would need to be rather long, so you'd expect quite a few pieces being replaced rather than shipped to Europe.

They couldn't reprofile the existing track while fitting for new launch equipment could they?

I imagine an airtime hill would make all the forces different to a point that whichever side (if not both) were to get an airtime hill rebuild the track from scratch would be more cost effective than trying to chop shop the existing track to curve.

I doubt it's even possible to reprofile flat track into curved track, to say nothing of being cost effective, given all the weldments.

As far as a spike breaking the 500 foot barrier, on one hand the park has smartly veered away from the overall height record, opting instead for more practical and efficient "-est of its kind" records. On the other hand a vertical spike is probably the most cost effective way to break that barrier. But doing that would probably require some serious speed trimming before the train crests the top hat, which would be strange. Then again maybe there's enough friction to slow the train sufficiently such that it would only require a small set of trim brakes on the top hat apex, like Velocicoaster?

I am a physics dummy, but I feel like even with a 500ft spike the train would still require a boost to make it over the tophat given the length of the launch track. And of course with LSMs, the computer would be able to calculate exactly how much to accelerate the train to get it over.

A 500 foot vertical spike doth not maketh a 500 foot tall roller coaster, and especially not when the entire train doth not maketh past said height.

Also, put me in the camp that hates bunny hills on launches. I find them jarring and uncomfortable, and having to go over them thrice on these types of coasters is more of an annoyance than a thrill. Sustained speed hills with ejector air like Mako and (yes) Kingda Ka are much more comfortable.

I want the extended layout to also visit the area cleared in recent years over by the marina, on the other side of the midway. Screw just a spike with swing launch, lets get some velocicoaster type elements, with the finale being the tophat at 120mph.

^^So how tall was Wicked Twister exactly? The maximum height achieved by the exact train midpoint on both the forward and rearward spikes?

italianstallion:

A 500 foot vertical spike doth not maketh a 500 foot tall roller coaster, and especially not when the entire train doth not maketh past said height.

What book of the Bible is this from again?

The same one that says: Our Dragster that reacheth heaven, hallowed be thy name.........

So I can’t tell if it is just the perspective of the footage we have seen. But if that really is for a spike I can’t help but to think it is going to be slightly curved dropping into the launch run? (See my pic below. I was expecting A. But it almost looks like B. from the drone footage.)

It's definitely A.

Dvo:

^^So how tall was Wicked Twister exactly? The maximum height achieved by the exact train midpoint on both the forward and rearward spikes?

My answer: depends on where you sat. Even then it’s not clear because while the spikes were both 215 feet tall, the train got close, but never all the way to the top on either of them. Now for the straw man argument: if those spikes were 300 feet tall and the trains only got up to 215 feet on them, would you say it’s a 300 foot tall roller coaster? If not, where do you draw the line? And if you draw a line, even then I’d argue the train is reaching a different height every time due to changes in factors such as temperature, wind strength/direction, train load weight, etc (even if imperceptibly so).

This is where the crest of a hill on a traditional coaster or a tophat on launched coasters helps to remove all ambiguity: either the entire train makes it over the advertised height or it doesn’t and you get to jump on an Internet forum and brag about getting a roll back or an evac.

italianstallion:

This is where the crest of a hill on a traditional coaster or a tophat on launched coasters helps to remove all ambiguity:

Unless the drop from the hill goes down into a valley, then we get all amiguitiness again.

^^Yes, I would say that if WT spikes were 300 feet tall, it would have been a 300-foot tall roller coaster. Where is the ambiguity? It's exactly why parks advertise attraction heights vs drop heights. Don't overthink it.

I've tried every seat on Raptor but have yet to reach the advertised height of 137'. I would like to speak to a manager.

Sounds like we’re in class action territory then.

Magic Mountain’s Superman and Moonsault Scramble have entered the chat.

Someone help me with something. I was taking to a friend today and we couldn’t think of a single ride with a swing launch that didn’t include a bunny hop, and usually two, one at each end. I’ve always wondered if the hops aren’t there not just for a thrill but to act as a guide, or to force a certain action in the event of a launch fail or a roll-back.