Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

From the announcement video:

"Located just steps away from CP's Grand Pavilion is our 18th roller coaster."

CP's website: "17 world-class roller coasters". Wouldn't this mean that all of CP's coasters (including TTD) is staying for 2023?

Key note: Tony Clark announced that the new Wild Mouse will be Cedar Point’s 18th roller coaster. TTD is counted in those 18 roller coasters….Am I looking too far into it? Maybe. But I also think there are a lot of other signs that point to it’s reopening for 2023 as well.

I think the mention of this being their 18th coaster is as close as we're going to get to an announcement of TTD's return.

The announcement of Wild Mouse being Cedar Point's 18th coaster is certainly the announcement that Dragster is staying. I am sure there will be modifications (which we can continue to speculate) but sounds like it will quietly open in 2023!

It's also explicitly mentioned as the 18th both on the "New for 2023" and "Wild Mouse" detail pages, which is probably not an accident. It's a clever way to signal to those who are waiting with baited breath without making a specific announcement. Well done.

Do you all really think…I mean honestly think Tony would have said 17th coaster if TTD was going away anyways? That would have been a PR mistake. They’re not going to say anything one way or the other. I’m still in the camp that it goes away quietly over the off-season.

^This. There is still plenty of time for that number to drop to 17.

I think if TTD were going away, they simply wouldn't have mentioned the count at all.

I agree with the above. Mentioning that it is the 17th coaster would distract from the 2023 announcement.

What Aaronosmer said. There was no need to repeatedly mention that Wild Mouse would be the park's 18th coaster, and yet they mentioned it thrice - once in the video and twice on the site. Their PR game is strong, they don't carelessly put these things together.

"Who the hell says thrice?"

djDaemon said:

What Aaronosmer said. There was no need to repeatedly mention that Wild Mouse would be the park's 18th coaster, and yet they mentioned it thrice - once in the video and twice on the site. Their PR game is strong, they don't carelessly put these things together.

Yet saying it’s the 17th coaster would distract away from todays announcement. We will agree to disagree here. But saying the 18th coaster is a way of playing it safe for now.

Thanks for the laugh Cartwright

Playing it safe would have been to say something like "Wild Mouse, Cedar Point's newest roller coaster." Instead they went out of their way to explicitly call attention to the fact that this will be their 18th coaster. Thrice. :-)

These releases are planned, considered, reviewed, edited, rehearsed, etc., all very meticulously. Their scripts are written carefully, it's not some off-the-cuff thing.

Or that could just tell everybody...

I am going to add a twist....Tony says Wild Mouse will be Cedar Points 18th coaster....what he didnt say it will be Cedar Points 17th OPERATING coaster.

Just want to add this is just a fun post and not to be taken seriously...either way we will know next year (or sooner if the cranes roll in and caught on camera).

The vast majority of people who see the announcement are just going to go, "Oh cool, 18 coasters." Then go on with their day without thinking even two seconds about what coasters make up that number.

Could it be a sign that TTD is staying? Possibly. Could it be Tony's way of muddying the waters even more for the handful of us that noticed and cared? Probably.

I know it's been a bit, but when comparing this to how KI handled SOB, I think all signs point to TTD returning. I remember when going to KI when SOB was SBNO, they basically pretended it didn't exist. I jokingly asked an employee on the Eiffel tower what that giant ride over there was, and he literally pretended it wasn't there. All the signage was removed, and really the park had zero reference to the ride (that I saw).

Meanwhile at Cedar Point, they've still been selling merch. In fact, they ordered more TTD "Squishmallows" at the beginning of the season. It would be one thing if they were just selling off left over stock. Add the lights being turned on suddenly, TTD appearing on the webcam, and mention of 18 roller coasters... While individually you could say, "That doesn't necessarily mean that TTD will return", but add them all together and the writing seems to be on the wall. All signs point to TTD quietly returning next year, with some modifications. While I don't know enough about how the "flag" system works, but it seems like the part that caused all of this could simply be fixed to the train permanently to prevent such an issue.

MichaelB, the first part is, I think, exactly why this was a clever way to indicate that Dragster will return next year. You're right - 90+% of people won't do the math, and simply say "oh cool, new rolley coaster!" Meanwhile, the people around here who are infinitely more likely to care about TTD's fate will do the math.

Tony would not use an official CP video, press release, and their web page simply to mess with us. Delusions of grandeur, you have.

Reading all of these theories and scenario's is nearly as complicated as trying to figure out the Browns QB situation, but infinitely less yucky. It's actually a pleasant distraction from it and isn't that what Amusement Parks are, kinda sorta distraction from more weighty issues in life? I say yes not once, not twice, but thrice.