Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

Month earlier than the park normally opens but it would be pretty cool for them to do an event based around the eclipse!

They've started painting the track white on the way up the top hat, most likely primer.

I assume they’ll do track up to the top and then do Tower supports top down? That way any track drip or Tower drip gets covered as they go down.

I doubt that's primer. The paint they use is likely a one coat type of paint that bonds to prepared steel surfaces. In which case, the power washing they did last week was sufficient. Not to say that primer won't be used, as there are definitely situations where it is needed. But, judging by the pics I've seen on twitter, it's the color/tint it's going to be.

Holy crap (please excuse my rambling nature in the following:)…. If they leave it “candy caned” up the hill like it was before it will look like F1 turn kerbs (see below). F1 theme allows them to keep the light sequence start on the top hat (F1 uses a similar enough start light sequence that it still makes enough sense to use it). The new gray supports could be “asphalt grey”. And what it the keychain isn’t a CP but two P. I pres my newest theme/name idea: Pole Position. Also could be a play on the spike being called a “Pole”. Lets them keep the gift shop race themed and the grand stands on the midway would make sense within the theme to stay! (Also fits the “New Formula for Thrills” teaser). If Cedar Point manages to be the theme park to pull off an (official) F1 roller coaster collab before Ferrari World imma be flabbergasted .

I'm not gonna lie, I think you nailed it.

Ill be back in a month to laugh at how wrong we were.

Thanks for rehashing lots of childhood memories. Played Pole Position for hours.

Your speculation about the potential name makes sense, and fits with what info we have.

I do wonder, though, if Atari (still) has has naming rights to that, and what that could mean about using it.

Looks like the only trademark for “Pole Position” out there is with a company called IndyWorks and only covers computer software.

Come ride the pole in 2024!

(a possible future conversation)
What do you guys want to ride next? SteVe or the Pole?

Track today on the return side is being painted white. Was not expecting that.

Is all the track being painted white, or just every other piece to give it that candy cane look?

Was explaining to my wife the swing launch concept. And she asked “So how do you get up the back spike? Do they chain lift?” And all I could think of is Vekoma being the company and making a giant boomerang reverse lift into a launch. 300+ feet of Ching Ching Ching Ching ching to be dropped and then instantly launched up the top hat. The thought had me laughing much harder than it should.

eChameleon:

Is all the track being painted white

Too early to tell.

Over the next couple days, though, it should be obvious.

Definitely loving the “old school” …not knowing wtf we’re getting.

With Everything being leaked early these days, I’m Surprised they’ve kept this a “secret” for this long.

TTD 120mph:

Not to say that primer won't be used, as there are definitely situations where it is needed.

My initial inclination is that they would avoid primer even if one coat paint costs considerably more, since they'd save money if only on labor. But one situation where primer might be used would be when going from a darker color to a much lighter one. Going from light gray to dark gray on the supports wouldn't likely require primer, but going from dark red to white could.

Or it could be that the condition of some surfaces require primer and others don't, though I'm not sure why that would be the case here, since everything was repainted relatively recently, and appears to be in decent shape.

But in any case, I would imagine they'd tint the primer to be somewhat close to the final color, assuming that's possible with the type of paint they're using.

mildly interesting there will be an elevated control booth

Huh…. So like Gatekeeper I assume. Maybe so they have the height to verify switch track is operating correctly visually?

I think that depends on what qualifies as a "second story" according to the state of Ohio. Most coaster stations at CP have elevated control booths.

What surprises me most is that they specify the "elevated control booth" as the second story. I guess I never paid close attention at TTD, but I assumed there was maintenance access to service the station track from below. And if so, is that not considered a "story" because it's considered a "basement"?