Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

Jeff:

veritas55:

I have already agreed (repeatedly) that CF has every valid reason to not wish to work with Intamin again -- and haven't even remotely suggested they should continue to work with Intamin.

Then what are you even arguing about? We're talking about Cedar Point and the lemon ride that they're "reimagining."

well, my intention was to "discuss," not "argue." But, to the extent I am "arguing," it's against the repeated assertions that the "majority" of Intamin's coasters, as a general proposition, are unreliable or have terrible debuts. I didn't inject those statements into the discussion of Cedar Point and the lemon ride -- others (including you) injected those statements about Intamin's record as a whole, versus limiting it to Cedar Fair.

Why you keep lumping me with the "CF should keep Intamin - Intamin is great!" crowd, I'll never know. I have never "argued" that Cedar Fair has no basis to be pissed at Intamin or that it is not making a rational business decision to sever relations with Intamin based on its course of dealing with them, the ride results, and Sandor being an ass.

But when some people discuss Intamin here they don't stop with "Intamin crapped the bed with CF on many rides -- of course CF shouldn't keep working with them" or even "Intamin not only let CF down, but also dropped the ball on several other big ticket rides (e.g., Hagrids, Intimidator, possibly El Toro)" -- both of which are fair statements. Instead, it devolves into global statemetns liike "Intamin's rides are unreliable"; "they have a consistently unreliable/terrible track record," etc. I have simply tried to present data and, dare I say, some basic statistics to suggest those global statements about Intamin's coasters as a whole are incorrect.

I'm somewhat sad CF and Intamin could not work things out because, despite their headaches, I think most of their coasters are awesome, including the ones at CP: MF, maverick, and TTD are all great rides, in my view. But I get it from CF's perspective.

Finally, I haven't dismissed Zamperla. I do have some slight concerns about the scope and size of what they are biting off, but let's see... I think it's doable, especially since I suspect (but do not know) they will farm out the launch mechanism and possibly the control systems? ultimately, we are "just" building a spike and a launch on proven technology. And the block zones are pretty straightforward on this coaster.

TwistedWicker77:

before the internet, did anybody really know (and most importantly care) about the difference between these manufacturers anyway?

Well, yes. Even back in the 70’s we certainly knew an Arrow from a Miler and got excited when our favorite park or manufacturer made their announcements (usually in person somewhere). And we were especially versed on the wooden rides, and learned the different builders of the classic rides and their particular hallmarks and nuances, in a switch from the interests of today’s enthusiast. Which is understandable- there are only a handful of builders that produce viable wooden rides today, many of the old rides are no longer with us and the old guys are dead.
So I guess one can say that there’s been a shift of interest, steel construction has taken the lead. And information comes at us awfully fast now, and the camps of steel coaster fans are quite divided. But it’s unfair to say that early enthusiasts didn’t know or care, because we did, and for that matter there have always been hobbyists in the know. But it wasn’t until the 70’s that we compiled knowledge and started traveling in packs, lol.

I’m aware of the back and forth between Intamin and Zamperla owning this project, but I don’t understand why this week several people started claiming Zamperla is confirmed.

The track that was delivered matches the brake run straight track as well as the transfer track. The same track pieces that were carefully packaged and shipped overseas. The track consists of two parallel tubes with rectangular cross members and two rows of magnets. What feature does this track have that points to Zamperla and not Intamin?

One would think that Cedar Point shipped Intamin track to Italy to receive it at a later date. Could now be the later date?

Some up close and personal shots of the new supports 🤫🤫

Am I wrong to think of Maxx Force when I see this grey and white color scheme?

I was thinking the exact same thing the other day. A red/white stripe up to the top hat would look cool though

I think it looks great. In fact, i think i might prefer if the entire track is white all the way up the tophat, and let the trains be red. Perhaps TTD will be less of an eyesore than before.

The painters said the tophat will be red/white alternating.

I think it would be cool if the entire tophat (upward and downward) was alternating, and give it somewhat a more symmetrical look.

Sam87:
I’m aware of the back and forth between Intamin and Zamperla owning this project, but I don’t understand why this week several people started claiming Zamperla is confirmed.

It's mainly for clout and the whole "cOnFiRmEd" talk is conjecture. Nothing is "confirmed" yet. The most direct evidence I've seen is a coloration between the shipping company handling these shipments and the same company having a history with being used by Zamperla. It's only more evidence to support the Zamperla rumor, not a 100% confirmation.

I actually love the paint scheme.

the dark grey with the white and some red, is a great, unusual look. I was hoping the tower would be entirely grey - certainly better than the faded yellow of TTD.

veritas55:

But, to the extent I am "arguing," it's against the repeated assertions that the "majority" of Intamin's coaster

TL;DR because whatever your intent is, you keep trying to "save" Intamin with no regard relative to its performance in the industry. Everyone can have a bad day, but compared to everyone else, they've been having bad decades.

Also, friends don't let friends watch ****ty YouTube. There's so much trash in there. Watch a Veritasium or Smarter Everyday or even Mark Rober to be a little less stupid.

High Flyer:

Obviously they're not going to know or care who the manufacturer is, but CF will look foolish if their expensive "reimagination" project ends up being down as much or more than the original.

This is a nonsensical statement. If no one knows or cares who manufactured the ride, why would CP end up looking foolish for choosing one or the other? People will just say "dang, the ride broke down and I didn't get to ride. Guess I'll get some funnel cake and ride something else" and move on with their lives. No one outside of enthusiasts knows or cares who builds these things.

TwistedWicker77:
...does that necessarily mean Zamperla will be the one in charge of the ride system’s controls and the launch? Could they just be manufacturing new track and CP has hired an outside source for the rest?

Honest question - are there currently companies that do this?

Sam87:
The track that was delivered matches the brake run straight track as well as the transfer track

Is there a source with some decent shots of the track? Nothing I've seen so far has given a clear view.

djDaemon:

Honest question - are there currently companies that do this?

As for the launch, idk, but Irvine Ondrey Engineering handles control systems for a lot of today's rides. Anne and Brian are really good at what they do.

The letters "PHP" in CP24PHP are not the first letters of anything. PHP is a pictogram which represents the new ride layout. Given that the new ride will launch 90 degrees, if we rotate each "P" 90 degrees on its back and rotate the "H" 90 degrees on its side, you have the new 2 Top Hat layout (P) with the track (H) connecting each Top Hat.

Two Top Hats Confirmed.

Mike I mean this in the nicest way possible. How much crack have you smoked this morning /s 🤣

Jeff:

veritas55:

But, to the extent I am "arguing," it's against the repeated assertions that the "majority" of Intamin's coaster

TL;DR because whatever your intent is, you keep trying to "save" Intamin with no regard relative to its performance in the industry. Everyone can have a bad day, but compared to everyone else, they've been having bad decades.

TL;DR

So not to potentially throw a wrench in everyone’s Intamin vs Zamperla civil war. Is there any chance in hell that Premier Rides who has done spikes, multi-launches and LSM could be the manufacturer on this?

Zamperla is manufacturing the trains and track but the LSM and controls is being done by Indrivetec - a contractor that works for Intamin and is in charge of Maverick’s LSM system. Also there will be an audio package that plays on the trains.

OK, cool, but which company is ultimately responsible for the deliverable attraction? Because regardless of where the individual components come from, the discussion here has been centered on that.