Top Thrill Dragster: Years from now.

Well heres a question for everybody! Would you wanna break the record with LIMS or LSMS? Or would you like the beat it with Hydralic Launch! This technology is new, give it time! If time dont heal it then CF and SFI will be seeing Intamin in court! Its only the 400+ ft. coasters that are having these problems, you never hear about any other hydralic launch having these problems!

^See S:TE for reference on a high speed LSM coaster. It seems like that's a more complicated ride than TTD ever was. Powering the LSM's at the precise second the car passes over them, then doing that for 7 seconds. That ride makes TTD look simple.

And why would CF and SFI bring Intamin to court, the rides have their issues, but the design and the ride itself is safe and sound, they just breakdown a lot. (the more I read that, the more it doesn't make any sense, though it does in a way :))

Basically, the Windjammer ride at KBF ended in lawsuit because of the numerous flaws in the design of the ride and it wasn't very safe (that's how I read it at least). TTD doesn't really have flaws it just doesn't want to run like CP needs it too.

Once upon a time, there was a well-to-do gentleman who bought a 14k gold Porsche 928. He had always dreamed of owning a one-of-a-kind sports car. He knew that Porsches were finicky, but it was important to him, so he decided to purchase the car. Besides, he reasoned he might be able to sell rides in his special car to offset the cost.

The car was everything he had dreamed of! Late at night he would take it out to a remote part of the Interstate and get it up to 150 mph. What a rush! Then he would drive home and put it away, checking on it occasionally to make sure it was okay. Before long, little things started to go wrong, and the man faithfully took it in to his mechanic, where they replaced the parts and sent him on his way.

People came from miles around, some even planning their vacations around a ride in the 14k Porsche. The man charged a reasonable fee, since the rides were short, and most people just wanted to see it. Over and over, he would take them out for a ride in the car of gold.

One day, without warning, the car broke down in the middle of the highway. Again, the man had it towed to his mechanic. "This requires a special part," said the mechanic, "I'll have to order it from Germany." The man agreed, because it was a special car, and many tourists had come to love it as much as he did. But despite the new part, the car continued to have problems. Soon the people who had come to visit started to grumble about not being able to ride in the car. They had scheduled their families' lives just so they could get a ride. The man apologized, and let them sit in it to have their pictures taken. But eventually, the people stopped coming.

The man took a long hard look at his finances. Without the income of the tourists, he had to pay not only for the car, but the repairs all himself. It was getting expensive after only 3 years, and he knew the problems would never go away. Reluctantly, he put his beloved car on the market and went to look at a spiffy new Acura, which was, after all, stylish and fast enough, and much more reliable.

Dragster has a huge footprint, and is not reliable enough to warrant the expense or the real estate. I give it 10 years, MAX.

Wow, you just made a good point there peacetrain.

Let's see, car, roller coaster. TTD being down doesn't have much of an affect on attendance anymore. It being down now may disappoint, but they might decide to take another trip to CP next year to ride TTD when it reopens next year. Also, TTD had many more issues starting day 1 of it opening and it has gotten better ever since. Unlike your Porsche story.

I forget what article it was, but when CP announced the closure of the ride for the season, they said they are disappointed because the ride is a crowd pleaser.

Gee, Gomez, I'm surprised you didn't attack the more obvious analogy of the Interstate not being CP...

My point was NOT that the ride isn't a crowd pleaser. Far from it, I know many people look forward to a trip to the Point to ride TTD that live much farther away than Michigan. ;)

MY point was that while people enjoy riding it, it becomes less of a draw for the park if it's a crap shoot whether it will be working that day. People with season passes will continue to go whenever they have a spare day and a tank of gas. It's more of a challenge for a family of 4 or more to get their schedules aligned, the money together, and then drive from KY or PA or IN to find it down again. Even if the majority of patrons are from OH and MI, the percentage of those from other states who can choose to go elsewhere could easily account for those lost revenues. Or the regulars who go two or three times a season who only go once now. You yourself posted that you were rethinking your next visit in the "More Downtime" topic, even though you rethought your post. So....point made.

This forum asked for our thoughts on what we thought TTD's future was, and I made my post. But you and TTD120 are still safe in Dragster Town tonight, so relax! :)

Ok fine, I won’t say anything against you peacetrain, it's your opinion. I admit that you make a point about families living farther than Michigan (ones not having a season passes) not being able to get a CP trip into their schedules. All I can say is this: If you don’t trust Dragsters reliability, then don’t make plans for a trip and hope to ride it. Just go and accept the fact that you may or may not get on Dragster. So don’t make it a highlight for the trip (even though it's kind of hard not to).

But here's a question: Don't you think that once Dragster runs at a much better reliability rate, it won’t disappoint people? So if it gets better, then would you still think it should still be torn down? If you do then I see that as unfair.
It's like getting mad at a puppy for peeing everywhere, and deciding to sell it when it gets older. Buy that time the dog is no longer a puppy and isn’t going where ever it pleases, since it's more obedient. BUT you still give it away because of its past misbehaviors.
That’s unfair for the puppy... not to mention that it would make me cry! :(
My point is give Dragster a chance, let it get better.

It's been 3 seasons. How much longer is it going to take to carry out your 'if'? What if it never gets any better?

In my opinion, its as good as it's going to get. It was just a part that needed to be replaced. It was better that this happened during Halloweekends than having it happen during normal operating hours, wouldn't you agree?......(probibly not)

Yes it has been 3 seasons, and as painfull as it may be for you(as well as others) to say it has impoved, it has improved!! Don't even think about saying that it ran as bad as 03, or even 04, because it hasn't.

I saw a HUGE improvment in Dragster this year....I'm just sad that nobody (minus Gomez) can seem to see or admit it. *** Edited 10/21/2005 3:37:21 AM UTC by TTD 120mph***

^Exactly what I was going to say.

I am seriously in doubt on whether they can make this thing run consistently or not. I'll eat crow if they do, but to me, it seems like there is just too many things that can go wrong.

TTD120, no puppies will be hurt in my posts! (I actually knew some guys that got mad at a new puppy for pooping in the house, so they stopped feeding it. And no, it was rescued. Stupid guys!) :(

My personal opinion agrees with another post--that the hydraulic launch didn't have problems until it went 420 ft. I think a new record would have warranted a new launch mechanism. "Hello,Intamin? Anyone there?" I think everyone noticed it ran much better this year, YAY! But I seriously think that next year will be the year to watch.

And here's the "if." IF it has any problems next year, serious or not, CP will have to evaluate them against the probability that they will continue to recur, and at what cost. I think that's when they will decide. But it will also cost money to *gasp* tear it down, so that's another consideration.

Fear not.

You're right - next year will be a critical year for TTD. Its no longer in its infancy, and any "kinks" should be fully worked out by then.

However, if more problems arise with the launch system, new or recurring, serious evaluation will likely be in order. Tearing it down would seem a little extreme, considering the investment made and the iconic nature of the ride, one would have to think that other options would be explored.

For instance, why not investigate other launch systems? Sure, the cost of retrofitting TTD with a whole new setup would be considerable, but (and this is a BIG but) what if an alternative system could be implemented with a much higher reliability for a cost between $5-10 million? I know thats not chump change, but how valuable would it be to CP's image to have a TTD with a downtime that is almost nonexistent?

Tear it down and put up a roller coaster! Oh, wait...

TTD 120mph said:
In my opinion, its as good as it's going to get. It was just a part that needed to be replaced. It was better that this happened during Halloweekends than having it happen during normal operating hours, wouldn't you agree?......(probibly not)

Yes it has been 3 seasons, and as painfull as it may be for you(as well as others) to say it has impoved, it has improved!! Don't even think about saying that it ran as bad as 03, or even 04, because it hasn't.

I saw a HUGE improvment in Dragster this year....I'm just sad that nobody (minus Gomez) can seem to see or admit it.

I don't feel like typing the same thing so I just quoted you. I couldn't agree more.

I don't think the spotlight has left TTD just yet. Coming from the people I talk to at school, every person who goes to CP is always asked the same question by another friend. "Did you ride the Dragster?" I can't tell you how many times I've heard this. Riding the ride is a big deal (sadly the downtime probably has something to do with that). I've heard less and less complaining about the ride's breakdowns this year compared to the previous ones also.

Other than this breakdown we're seeing right now, I'm happy with the way TTD was operating. *** Edited 10/21/2005 7:24:41 PM UTC by Gomez***

TTD120, I don't dispute that it ran better this year than it has. But after 3 years, I expect MUCH more from a 25 million dollar investment.

And if you think this is "as good as it's going to get" then you must agree that its time to take it down. It was down for most of September, they get that problem fixed and then something else major breaks, c'mon, the things a lemon.

Not only should CP be getting a refund, they should be getting monetary damages from Intamin.

What kinda warranty do ya think Intamin gave 'em? ...30 or 60 days?

;)

10 year 100,000 launch nose-to-spoiler. Unless CP opted for the less expensive 5 year 50,000 launch, power-train warranty.

LOL!

I say, turn it into the world's largest (and most expensive) rock-climbing wall. That way CP can still break a couple of records... ;)

.
*** Edited 10/21/2005 8:13:22 PM UTC by djDaemon***

Gomez said:

I don't think the spotlight has left TTD just yet. Coming from the people I talk to at school, every person who goes to CP is always asked the same question by another friend. "Did you ride the Dragster?" I can't tell you how many times I've heard this.

Probably about as many times as I've heard "It was closed when I was there."
*** Edited 10/21/2005 8:22:18 PM UTC by Vince982***