TT2 Media Preview

Right, I figured they used capacitors, but I also figured the recharge rate was closer to the time between passes through the launch, so at worst 20 seconds or whatever. And it seems like there's far more than 20 seconds between when one train leaves the third launch and the next gets into launch position. But that's obviously an overly-simplistic way to look at it, I'm sure.

Capacitors. Touch-em and die.

I had the web cam running for a couple hours yesterday on a second monitor while I was doing some work. There was a lot of variability in launch times. Sometimes trains sat on the launch track for a "long" time (north of 20 seconds). Other times, they were launching within a few seconds of the switch track switching. There was also variability on how long it took for trains to leave the station. For some launches, you could see the next train to launch on the screen while the first train was still on the brake run on the web cam. Sometimes the next train appeared a few seconds after the brake run train was out of frame. Other times is was a "long" time (20 seconds or more). Expect the difference in timing getting trains out of the station at least in part related to differences in time getting people into trains.

After the 2 trains sat on the launch track for a long time yesterday (and the ride was shut down while maintenance worked on on it), the intervals were consistently shorter (both in terms of trains leaving the station and how long they sat on the launch track). So it does appear that they can make intervals shorter. Not sure why they do not every time.

Flux capacitor?

The only way this thing could be better is if the first launch was 88mph ;)

My first visit was in '03, so this is very special. I haven't looked at any pictures for months and plan on going in a couple weeks to experience these new Magnum Bathrooms! (A few of you will know, I'm not even kidding)!

Also SUPER excited for TT2, TTD was the highlight of my childhood and changed my life. Never had a proper definition of "Fun" till I was brought to Cedar Point. While Magnum and Maverick would go on to be my favorite rides there's little doubt without TTD my family never would've made the trip. Thrilled to hear TT2 reminds Jeff a little of WT, another personal favorite of mine and cannot wait to look down on PT!

Thanks for all the media day coverage and videos, I'll dig deeper after I go. But for now I want this to be similar to '03 where I know just enough to be excited and have some surprises left!

Last but certainly not least and lets not take this comment too literally folks. A ride with a strong history of things flying off of it should have something on that back spike..... I'm human and you better believe there's going to be an added dash of terror going backwards ;)

Safe Travels and have fun this summer, all of you!

The absence of a stopper on the spike is indeed unnerving. At full speed, around 120mph, the train could likely ascend near the top of a 440ft spike. In the event of such a scenario, it's probable that only the rear car would be affected, as the train likely wouldn't overshoot the top by its entire length. One car would detach and plummet backward into the lagoon, while the front cars would continue unaffected. Cedar Point would then likely close the ride for 2.5 years until the release of Top Thrill 3. Perhaps it's wise to wait for TT3 before taking this one for a spin; after all, they say the third time's a charm.

No I'll ride this version, just in the front based on you're sound logic.

I sincerely don't know what we'd do without ya Plague.

Jeff:

Yeah, but they're not all one piece. It starts with a solid center piece, and two pieces are bolted to that at right angles, one with the back seats and wheel assemblies, the other with the front seats. The floor panels are attached in between. There are certainly fewer and lighter parts than, say, an Intamin train, but it's not really any more one piece than anything else.

I stand corrected, I lose this argument. You are correct. There are plenty of train pieces that can come loose, and that the train can lose as it completes the circuit. Next time I won't be so loosey-goosey with my logic. It's crucial not to lose sight of the details; otherwise, the entire thread may come loose. It's easy for me to get lost in the intricacies of the debate and let my thoughts run loose, but I'll be more vigilant next time.

It's insanely unlikely. The bolts are all marked, too, so you can visually and quickly see if anything is loose. Most of those connection areas are visible without crawling around the train.

Plague on Wheels:

The absence of a stopper on the spike is indeed unnerving. At full speed, around 120mph, the train could likely ascend near the top of a 440ft spike.

How would the train reach 120mph on a reverse launch? Launch system isn't a "dumb" system that simply accelerates the train no matter how fast it is going when it enters the launch portion of the track. If the train fails to crest the top hat (from what everyone has said so far, sounds like rollbacks on the third launch are extremely unlikely), the LSMs will act as a brake to slow the train down. The LSMs are not set up to accelerate the train back up the spike a second time.

Maybe the track narrows ever so slightly up there at the end of the spike thus preventing the train from ever going past that point while providing an unnerving optical illusion.
(which also sounds like damage waiting to happen)

I presume the LSM system is software controlled.

So, I would think it is theoretically possible, albeit unlikely, for a software bug to cause a full power launch during reverse.

Then the question becomes, is the LSM system powerful enough to accelerate a train higher than 420 feet up the rear spike, in combination with the momentum from the rollback after the first launch?

It would be reassuring to know if this not the case.

I always had an irrational fear of Wicked Twister's back seat, even with the stopper at the top of the track, tho I still always chose the last seat for the biggest thrill.

Let's hope the software engineers Zamperla contracted for the ride control system are better than those ar Boeing who wrote the code for the MCAS system on the 737 MAX.

Was checking it out yesterday, it is a bit scary to see it in person without a visible stopper. But I wondered if there may be some piece we cannot see from the ground acting as a stop.

GoBucks89:

Launch system isn't a "dumb" system that simply accelerates the train no matter how fast it is going when it enters the launch portion of the track.

The launch system is not intentionally dumb, but generally speaking, if the hardware exists to allow something to occur, then the it's possible the only thing preventing that event from occurring is software, which is not reliable in terms of safety. I'm not a safety systems expert by any stretch, but I have enough experience with controls systems to know that unexpected and unpredictable behavior is almost always related to code.

So I'd be surprised if there isn't some hardware-specific safety limit in place to prevent a train from RCT-ing itself off the spike. It could be as simple as the LSMs being sufficiently downtrack from the end of the spike such that the LSMs don't have enough juice to get a train to ~120MPH even at their max thrust capacity.

Or maybe there's a small nub or something on the track that we can't see.