Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

With the very large rectangular footer directly behind the station that has two mounting positions, I envision two large diagonal supports here that would support the curve into the spike passing over the station. It does not strike me that there is any chance they are going to have a high speed train passing so close to people also on a loading platform.

Possible candidate for the track Pic I posted yesterday. Universal Hollywood concepts leaked recently of a Fast and the furious coaster to be built in the next few years…. And those supports are a familiar orange

That track looks green, not blue. But I doubt that ride will look anything like the renderings anyways

djDaemon:

I'm not going on Stratacoaster 1, the initial launch is lackluster.

-No one, ever.

You’re right, I can totally see the new ride having an initial launch 0-45mph in 8 seconds, followed by a backward launch 45-60mph, a 145ft spike, and then up and over the top hat. A totally worthy replacement for 0-120 in 4 seconds. But the general mindset around here is “nobody cares about anything”, so that tracks.

CPVet:

You’re right, I can totally see the new ride having an initial launch 0-45mph in 8 seconds, followed by a backward launch 45-60mph, a 145ft spike, and then up and over the top hat. A totally worthy replacement for 0-120 in 4 seconds. But the general mindset around here is “nobody cares about anything”, so that tracks.

Everything you just said IS lackluster and a downgrade from the 0-120 in 4 seconds launch.

(I think that was their point)

Maybe it’s one of these

djDaemon:

You mean, other than immediately shuttering the ride and completely renovating it to a literally-unprecedented extent?

Yes, I would hope that CP learned something from this accident, and made some changes to their maintenance protocols, other than just : shutter a ride if it almost kills someone.

CPVet:

But the general mindset around here is “nobody cares about anything”, so that tracks.

I'm just pointing out that it's kind of silly to suggest that whatever they're doing to TTD has to hit certain metrics based on meaningless terms ("reimagined", "lackluster", etc.) in order to not disappoint guests, or will hit those metrics based on arbitrary interpretations of footer size and shape.

Maverick is one of the most popular rides in the park and barely crests 100 feet and launches to a "mere" 72MPH for a few brief seconds before hitting trim brakes. Anecdotal, but I've never heard anyone describe Maverick as "lackluster".

Also, is it really a "given" that this will have the same launch cadence as Pantheon? The distance between Pantheon's rear spike and top hat is roughly 400 feet. The distance between TTD's top hat and the new footer is over 1000 feet. They have a lot more room to work with in Sandusky, so an initial reverse launch would be more than enough to get to ~120MPH going forward to clear the top hat.

If one should wish for a dynamic feature from Intamin it shouldn’t be Pantheon II, right? I mean, it’s a great ride but it already exists, and with a great back half at that.
No, I’d hope for something a little more innovative and exciting. At least that would fall in line with what the park has said, something about “never seen before”. A rider-friendly reverse launch to a 300 ft. backswing? I guess that’s a start, lol.

Interesting pic taken on April 2023. They fabricate track for Intamin

If that's for CP, I'm puzzled by the colors. When they converted Mantis to Rougarou, they went with dark teal and orange, which was... fine, I guess? But uninspired, especially compared to Mantis' superb color palette. And the very next year they debuted Valravn right next door, with blue supports and orange track. And if the track above is coming to Sandusky, it's yet another blue(ish) and orange coaster, all within a short distance of one another.

Intamin has 10 known rides going in this year, and four more next year. Of those, five are open or nearly open. That someone is making track is not indicative of anything other than Intamin is making roller coasters.

Yea, true, thought it was interesting anyway. Who knows, the speculation is fun though.

While the track photos from the plant are exciting (any new coaster is exciting for us nerds) I think its kind of a nothing burger. Unless there is some way to see a shipping label heading toward Sandusky there is nothing to get excited about yet. (Jeff hit the nail on the head).

And yeah brandon, I agree. I would be disappointed if this is the new color pallet.

Not for nothing, has anyone been by the B&M plant? I doubt they're on this project, but hey, you never know.

So of interesting note, I was poking through Google street view more. There's also white track of the same style. The majority of this yard (48.5 thousand square feet) is apparently filled with this white blue orange track and support collection as of 2023. Does this line up with any of Intamins current projects?

There's also a picture uploaded in 2022 of a section of box style track which appears to be the "top" of a hill with a support connection center bottom. It's sitting upside down. It looks suspiciously like the top piece of dragsters top hat.

Edit the second image I'm referring to is uploaded in the pictures for their business listing on Google maps.

How do you know the dates of Google Street view? Those can be very outdated.

In the new version of Google maps it shows the date of the image on the top left.

The uploaded photos in the business listing have similarly marked dates.

whats the address of where the track is