Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

I have been a little perplexed as to why they seem to be pushing ahead with the construction over the winter with a 2024 opening date. The ride layout doesn't appear to be getting any additions. So why do all this construction work in the winter, when the weather isn't cooperative? It would be much easier to do all this work in the summer. I'm now starting to think that they may start testing the ride this season. Pretty much every ride that has attempted a 100+ MPH launch has had massive problems to be worked out. It would make for a smoother opening if they had 3+ months this season to test the ride, as opposed to maybe 1 month in the spring for most other ride openings.

Is it really easier, though? I would think the best time to get anything done is when you're not in an operating season.

As far as construction goes, weather be damned...and to be honest it's been a fairly tame winter so far. Mostly just blah 40ish-degree weather.

I think your latter point is probably why. Let's assume for a second this is Zamperla with their new trains. This will be "uncharted territory" (*cough cough* "one of a kind and innovative") for them, and better to have the luxury of time to get everything right and ready to go.

Construction in the year 2022/2023 means do not waste a day because you never know what road blocks will pop up in the future

You'd love the Sandor emails. (I think a few people here have seen those.

Consider me as someone that would love to see the emails. I’ve heard things about Sandor that are not pleasant.

Construction with guests in the park carries some risk, especially in an interior location that requires crossing a midway. But also, nobody wants to hear that noise. [BEEP... BEEP... BEEP...] Down here at Epcot, they only work at night on the interior of "World Celebration."

I’m not sure why the park is making the investment if the recent Zamperla rumors are true. It’s seems it will just be the same ride with a lesser launch and lesser capacity. I just don’t see great marketability in this vs something brand new and superior

Zamperla doesn’t exactly have the best reputation for quality and smoothness. It seems Cedar Fair may have teamed up with them recently for their lower costs.

Zamperla employs people all across the political spectrum, not just republicans.

We can all be thankful for that. Republicans aren't known for being very smooth. All over the place, really.

Last time I looked like that, I was on Son of Beast,

Laugh/Love option not yet installed. So I liked.

On the other hand, Intamin doesn't exactly have a great reputation for reliability or safety.

Hudson:

...2023 was just too optimistic?

Debuting TTD in 2023 never made any sense. Even if the logistics allowed for the ride to be ready in time, which is far from a given considering Playland's smaller project won't be ready until 2024, CP already has stuff to debut in 2023, so stepping on that with TTD dilutes the value of the Boardwalk renovation.

Like the layout change, debuting in 2023 was fabricated based on what people want to happen, rather than what makes the most sense.

Slightly off topic side comment about Intamin. I was doing some research on an amusement park I may be visiting in Germany this summer called Phantasialand. They manufactured the coaster Taron which I understand is highly regarded but more surprisingly they also manufactured what many consider "the best" or one of the best log flume rides in the world, Chiapas. It made me think about Shoot the Rapids. I'm definitely not excusing Intamin for the failure of STR but I'm sure part of the problem with that ride was the budget allowed by Cedar Point. Obviously if you look up Chiapas you will see that it is truly a world class log flume (probably with a much higher budget). So Intamin is certainly capable. Was CP trying to be pretty cheap with STR?

djDaemon:

Debuting TTD in 2023 never made any sense

Yeah, I won't deny I wanted 2023 to happen.

It was my (probably wrong) understanding that advertising like 'best' and 'one of a kind' were fine, but when you used facts and figures you started getting into false advertising territory. I think that's why I put so much stock in the 18th coaster lines, which led to the 2023 assumption.

To be overly cynical, I'm sure the implication helped sell more passes. Now that the end season/christmas sales are over they can be more open.

Master D:

Was CP trying to be pretty cheap with STR?

That's the wrong question. It doesn't matter what the park was willing to pay. If a manufacturer delivers a ride, it's expected to not kill, drown or hurt people. If they can't deliver that for the cost, they don't make the ride.

Not to mention, it was doomed before it even opened to the public when it almost drowned employees.

Also, the boats took on water and barely moved through the flume, so the ride was a bore when it wasn't trying to kill its passengers.

And the longest drop wasn’t the last drop, which is like, Flume101…

The fact that you can navigate through the waterfalls faster on foot than the boats ever moved now that it’s a walkway to Forbidden Frontier is something special.

Once, I rode with a group of friends and the boat felt like it was going to stall, so much that we actually reached out and pushed off from the side to keep moving.

Didn't mean to turn the Dragster thread into a Shoot the Rapids thread but one of my points was that Intamin must have greatly improved their log flume making ability because they made one in Germany in 2014 that many consider the best in the world.

It’s not a big deal. This thread is just people repeating the same four or five things over and over, and will continue to be until about August when the official announcement is made 😂