Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

RCMAC:

I thought the TTD station and front of house appearance was some of CP’s finest creative work

I always thought the Maverick building was the best. I really enjoy being in the old WWL loading station and remember it fondly when I'm waiting in line. Recalling the boats never stopping as you load/unload.

Then picture what happened to WWL happening with TTD 2.0.

WWL had a sweet station...Maverick just inherited it. TTD 2.0 will also inherit a creatively designed station as well.

If only they could have found a way to keep the rotating platform with Maverick....;)

It would have made the queue line more enjoyable ;)

With an ATM machine using your PIN number?

Scott Cameron:

Let me be the first to claim 2024 season for the Dragster reimagining.

Actually... ;-)

But lately I'm a tiny bit more on the fence. Assuming they're "only" replacing the launch, controls, and track in and around the station, we've seen that work completed within a single offseason over the years. And they've gotten to work pretty quickly, and seem to be making fast progress. So there's some support in favor of a 2023 opening.

On the other hand, even repainting TTD took two off-seasons, and one would hope that the changes they're making include a comprehensive theme change to the ride, including a new coat of paint, which to my knowledge they haven't started on yet.

On the other other hand, it's late September 2022 and they haven't communicated anything about what the new ride will be. I don't recall being that the case for any previous addition this late in the year.

On the other other other hand, who knows if we should expect their typical marketing for this modification given the circumstances.

In any case, at the end of the day I guess I'm still pretty firmly in the 2024 camp. But as I said before, I'd love to be wrong.

They didn't announce TTD until January 2003.

^^ Get this man 4 gloves.

^Brandon, forgot about that. I guess I'm the second. Anyway, I still lean to 2024 because the park already has a new development planned for next season. Even if they reasonably could (which the evidence is pointing towards) get the Dragster remodel done by next year, waiting until 2024 allows them something "new" to market for that season.

Agreed. While I think the new additions by the beach are excellent, they're not exactly on the same level, marketing-wise, as a Valravn or Steel Vengeance, so as you suggest it wouldn't make sense to step on that promotion with whatever is happening to TTD, since the latter will almost certainly be a bigger news story.

There's still the '18th coaster' statement. Plenty of wiggle room for whatever they're going to do but its harder to include dragster in that count (even as SBNO) with track missing.

Jeff:

With an ATM machine using your PIN number?

Yes. Withdrawing money to buy a new hot water heater.

djDaemon:

On the other other hand, it's late September 2022 and they haven't communicated anything about what the new ride will be. I don't recall being that the case for any previous addition this late in the year.

While it is later than usual, Rougarou wasn’t announced until September 18th. The closure of Mantis was announced earlier in the month and then the announcement of Rougarou came just via a tweet from Tony saying “let me put this right here”.

With that said, not saying this will all of a sudden be a 2023 attraction (though that would be awesome). I’m glad they’re getting started so we can keep tabs on it, but the “we’ll have more information at a later date” makes me hopeful that maybe we’ll hear something hopefully somewhat soon, even if it’s not a full on announcement.

Maybe the overhaul is what they meant when they said back In 2018 that the next thing would be even better than steel vengeance. Or not

djDaemon:

On the other other other hand, who knows if we should expect their typical marketing for this modification given the circumstances.

This is something I have been riding the fence on. On one hand, marketing this as an essentially "new" attraction is 2024 seems like a good idea if there aren't any other big changes coming for that year....but, like you said, the circumstances leading us to this kinda make it seem like it should be an add-on or second fiddle to a bigger announcement (maybe not bigger but more heavily marketed). Being safer could be part of the promotion, but at the same time, do you want to put doubt in to your consumer's mind that your rides weren't safe? Or worse, might still not be safe now? I'm not sure I would even want to talk about safety and/or being a safer ride and open that can of worms...

I know I am not the norm, but most people in my area, if they have heard of CP, know nothing about the accident. CP is a regional park and most of the people inside that region know the backstory, but I'm sure Cedar Fair is ready to move forward and let the accident be a part of the past.

Just seems like a PR nightmare to find a way to market a ride formerly known as TTD. There's gonna be a fine line to walk.

Tennessee_CP_Fan:

Being safer could be part of the promotion, but at the same time, do you want to put doubt in to your consumer's mind that your rides weren't safe?

Exactly. Marketing something as "safer" is an explicit admission that the thing was less safe before. Even before the accident I would think that would be something they'd want to avoid.

The "safer" thing is why I think it will be more than just a paint job, launch, retheme. I believe it needs to be a different ride to stop people from calling it dragster, referring to it as "basically the same ride", etc. It doesn't need to be marketed as safer ride. It needs to be marketed as a different ride. Whatever that may be.

I would contend that for the vast majority of the public, simply making it look, feel, and sound different (with a new name) is all their brains would need to think of it as new. As it should, because it would be.

Most people out there (meaning, people unlike us who don't have more than a few dozen neurons dedicated to thinking about Cedar Point) don't think of the original attraction as having been unsafe. If they do know that something happened, they also know that Cedar Point is making it new and different, and new and different means "it's fine now".

I have no doubt it will be marketed as a different ride, even if it still goes fast up a hill, down that hill, and then stops.

Jeff:

Cross posting, since I was looking at Red Force photos, I saw this. I mean, he did it, but he's a special kind of stupid.

Absolutely bananas. I have no idea why he didn't just climb up the elevator guide structure, but I suppose this was much more impressive.

I guess you're right, Kevin. We definitely see things differently from our perspective.

Me and the usual suspects said some words.