TTD Closed Again??

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Walt said:

If there's something truly newsworthy, you'll hear about it first in the PointBuzz news section. If it's not there, then it's not newsworthy.

It's a beautiful day outside here in Ohio. I'm stuck in here working. Everyone else should be enjoying it, just like tens of thousands of people are doing at Cedar Point - with or without Top Thrill Dragster.

*** Edited 7/3/2004 6:14:58 PM UTC by Walt***

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Thats the truth, TTD is down so much anyway it certainly isnt news. So, if you guys dont deem something good enough for your site then its automatically not newsworthy?? Interesting. I guess CP maintenance and public relations has a red hotline phone to your houses to report everything they deem newsworthy also!! LOL

Its quite obvious TTD is having some serious problems again with the amount of downtime recently. Its not just breaking down for partial days. Its down for days on end. Not a good sign, and for me, that is information I want to know. If I'am making the 4 hour drive from Michigan I want to know if TTD is operating reliably. I guess it has to be newsworthy for people who live within a 1 hour radius of CP that can go numerous times whenever they like for it to be important. No one else matters! LOL. Hilarious

I also love it when people tell us how we should feel or what we should be doing.

I agree with you. People who live minutes away from the park keep talking about, "Oh well disater transport is open lets go enjoy that while TTD, their big attraction, isn't working. Its a giant machine, it has to be down sometimes." People go to cedar point to ride the big rides! If people just wanted a good time on small rides they'd go to their carnival or town fair. When people want thrills and the big stuff they go to CP. Its a sad day when CP is not able to deliver those thrills on a consistent basis to the many coaster enthusiasts out there. Face it guys, not everyone can appreciate CP as much as you guys. Some people don't wana ride the small stuff, they want to ride the record breakers. That is why the fact that TTD is constantly down is a problem. I can gurantee you that there would be far less complaints if somethin as small as disaster transport or jr. gemini was down this much.

You guys don't get it. You want Cedar Point to post some schedule on when the ride will be up or when it will be down so that when you make your trip, you'll know for sure. No one knows! They're working on whatever issue has come up in the last couple of weeks. They must not think it's going to be a huge problem, because they haven't done the status update like they did last year. Maybe they'll put up a status report tomorrow. That would be a good example of something that would end up in our news section.

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Its quite obvious TTD is having some serious problems again with the amount of downtime recently.

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After running very well earlier in the season, it has been having some trouble. Anyone who's here knows that, including you and anyone else who reads through these threads. Nothing I can do can change that. What else do you want us to say? Do you want a big flashing red box on our home page that says "Top Thrill Dragster is down! Don't drive four hours to ride it!" At this point, no one knows if it'll be up today, tomorrow, or whenever. I'm not out there personally working on the ride and I've got no info on the inner workings of the Cedar Point Ride Maintenance Department.

If we didn't allow people to talk about it, then all of these threads would be closed. You guys dictate where the discussion goes. Obviously, from the size of this thread, people want to talk about it. That's cool with me, just don't tell me when the web cam changes, asking "what's going on now?!?" and don't start new threads that say the same thing as the old ones.

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When people want thrills and the big stuff they go to CP. Its a sad day when CP is not able to deliver those thrills on a consistent basis to the many coaster enthusiasts out there.

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And Dragster is the only big thrill Cedar Point has? Some would argue 2 other CP coasters are a better ride anyway! I understand that people want to ride the biggest and the best. Sometimes crap happens. Some people sit and mope, others make the best of it. No amount of news updates or bickering on a Cedar Point fan site is going to change that. But if that's what you want, then you'll find plenty of that here. I'm not telling anyone how to feel.

Did anyone here have fun before 2003? What if Cedar Point decided to tear down Dragster? Would you not go back because there's nothing else worth riding? If it's down, why not enjoy the rest of the park and make the best of it?

*** Edited 7/4/2004 12:05:25 PM UTC by Walt***

Yeah I see a major point. Cedar Point is just too good to pass up. But I would LOVE to see TTD open b/c its just another insane thrill to ride. I live 7 hrs away and there is always some dissapointment no matter what, if TTD is closed. It's just a natural thing to stare at the monster height and watch it run empty trains and such.

I also like TTD open b/c it spreads out the people more and such so I can enjoy the "older" rides. I just hope there was some "repairing" time that CP set to not open it at all. I know it would KILL profits and scare many away, but it could backfire and allow many people to come due to the satisfaction of TTD open.

Here's MY deal. I must say that I share allot of the animosity being expressed with the unreliability of the marquee attraction of CP. I get one shot a year (sometimes two) to enjoy one of the greatest vacation spots on earth. My caravan of travelers will plan months in advance to drop a great deal of money to spend an extended stay. Last year we were disappointed in the fact that we could not enjoy the marquee attraction due to mechanical problems. Poop happens! I would be remiss in saying that the recent events haven’t made me more than a bit apprehensive.

My opinion: 1. Build new rides to make park more attractive to more people to gain more customers to make more money. I’m a card carrying capitalist.2. Charge more to enter park as more attractions are added. Makes sense to me.

Now here’s where it gets a little dicey. There is a family owned amusement park in my town that has some rides and a water park. I have not always agreed with their way of doing business (a hand held infant is full charge to enter the water park!?) but they did do something that impressed me this season. The new coaster that was to be ready for this season was delayed due to (fill in the blank). All paid admissions prior to the coaster being finished received a free pass to come back and ride the coaster when it was running at no charge. A great public relations move.

My biggest problem with the whole TTD running/not running issue is due to my All American Capitalistic Instincts. More dollars were spent last family vacation to walk past the silent yellow monolith. I must admit that its architectural splendor did amaze us as we walked past on day one. But as days went on, our admiration turned to malevolence as the silent giant seemed “in the way” as we moved throughout the park.

My point in this is to display my unsettled feeling of lack of worth in how there was no “compensation” (a great capitalist word) for the absence of the new “prime” attraction. I’m not sure how much park admission increased ’02 to ’03, but I feel there should have been a gesture made for those of us who have never even seen the damn thing run. A free order of chili cheese fries from the Happy Friar would have made all the difference in the world in my opinion.

Cedar Point may continue to be the summer destination of choice for my family, as it has brought joy and happiness to us since the early ‘70’s. I haven’t had an experience that has made me question the justification of expense since last year. I am confident that “my” amusement park will come through this year. I am hopeful. I am optimistic. I have my fingers crossed.

The crappy thing about TTD is that it never seems to be the same issue, if they fix one thing another problem comes up. For instance, the cable frayed supposedly and it went down for awhile. Now that they got the cable back on the brakes arent retracting right. It took them until past 5pm both days I was there to get the ride running well. 1-800-LEMONLAW.

Their national advertising campaign is really pushing the ride with tons of footage of the ride running, people talking about it etc. Who isnt going to be dissapointed if it is down when they visit?

Walt, I realize that there are other "big" attractions at CP, but TTD is the biggest. To think that TTD didn't increase park attendance and interest is ridiculous. People come to the park to ride TTD and are disapointed when they can't. There are other things to do there but the fact that you have to look at a 420 foot structure that you can't ride is a little bit of a let down. All day you have to sit there and look at it while trying to enjoy othere things. This may be easy for people who live minutes away and have season passes. But for people who have to travel long distances, and can't come often it is a huge disapointment. So unlike you want to believe it is a big deal.

People here realize that they can't change anything by complaining. It is just a good way to vent frustration with the park.

OK, my soapbox time. STEPPING UP ON THE SOAPBOX.

First to the people who live within the immediate vicinity of CP: If you want to know if TTD is open or even possibly running, check the webcams. There are at least five different ones around the net. If you can't tell, then call Cedar Point. You won't get any farther than the webcams, but at least you'd have the satisfaction of trying. I agree that we don't need an update every minute about the status of "the ride."

To those of you who can only make it to CP once or twice a year: I'm terribly sorry if you haven't been able to ride this and want to. It is a truly awesome ride that every enthusiast should experience. But I don't know what you want CP to do should you not ride it. Shtuff happens and we have to deal with it. I've never been on a vacation where at least one thing didn't go wrong. I understand that you would like to ride the tallest and fastest coaster in the world, but if it isn't working, there's nothing we as the GP can do. Rest assured CP is doing everything they can to get this puppy up and running.

Just so everyone knows, I am from MI, about four hours away from the point. I make about 5-6 trips each year; so I fall right between these two groups. I consider myself lucky to get on TTD as much as I have. Even so, the last time I went, Dragster was down much of the day, but I hardly realized because there is so much more to do at CP. Then when it fired up and we got on, it was just an added perk. Given the absolute "h-e-double hockey sticks" it went through last year, it has been vastly improved this year. Give it time, and it will be up to CP standards as far as maitnence goes.

STEPPING DOWN OF THE SOAPBOX

When TTD is down, it is a big deal (no question), what I think Walt was trying to convey is that many here make it MUCH bigger than it really is. The ride goes down and CP consistently goes all out to get it up asap - there is nothing else anyone can do. Its a machine (they break), its new and almost a prototype (so it breaks even more as the bugs get worked out). A thunderstorm, wind, or rain can cause the same down time.

I would be thankful TTD was made by Intamin and not Morgan (is SD 2000 open yet).

Tom

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Tom said:

I would be thankful TTD was made by Intamin and not Morgan (is SD 2000 open yet).

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That has alot more to do with Japanese culture than the company that made the ride. Also, that is a totally different situation with the accident and all.

i just hope that TTD is open by the end of July when i go cause i live in Florida and have been begging my parents to take me there. Finnaly after my 9 year absence to the park, I get to go back and I have to worry is the darn thing will be open. But on the plus side, they do have millennium force. But still, TTD is the biggest in the world and i want to ride.

It should be open by then, it seems as if all major bugs have been worked out. Yet there's always some downtime, nothing serious. I'm looking forward to my first ride on Dragster this Saturday!

"I'm not riding Top Thrill Dragster.. it isn't safe."

So THIS is what its like to be a peep? =P

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"I'm not riding Top Thrill Dragster.. it isn't safe."

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That has my vote for the dumbest quote on this thread!

LMAO Fill in the blank....

I believe he was referring to something a "peep" would say in rollercoaster tycoon about TTD.

Interesting perspectives from many people. I live 1.5 hours from the park, and spend my life spreading the gospel of Cedar Point to anyone who will listen (and those who wont!!)

Based on the reasonable assumption that the ride would run well this year (heck, the park management shouted their mouth off about it - check the news), I invited my brother to visit us from South Africa. In good ole SA we have about 4 coasters - the biggest is a Vekoma SLC, so the lure to ride TTD was enough to get him to drop $ 4 000.00 to bring his wife and visit us.

I'm not denying that we had a great time seeing them. But to visit the park 4 times over a period of 3 weeks, and not see the ride run for more than a few hours on any of those days, made us a *little* peeved to say the least. Did we have a great time at CP? Absolutely. Did we feel upset about TTD? Absolutely. Would I do it all again? Absolutely.

But at the end of the day, the really annoying thing is that the park put out an expectation that the ride would be running, and then couldn't deliver.

Azminthe, that is really funny! I haven't been this year, but got the chance to ride it once last year. Although TTD is a pretty awesome ride, if it wasn't there, I would be standing in line for something else. I really feel sorry for Cedar Point. MF and WT have had some problems, but nothing like TTD. I'm sure every time TTD breaks down, the higher-ups at CP are probably cringing. CP has such a great track record with uptime reliability. TTD just happens to be an exception to the rule. I have a feeling that CP will bring it up to their uptime standards. It could be worse. We could have X. What a nightmare!

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CurrentlyDownDueTo FillInTheBlank said:

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"I'm not riding Top Thrill Dragster.. it isn't safe."

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That has my vote for the dumbest quote on this thread!

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This is Azminthe... apparently im having problems remember my other login, so I had to make a new one.

But ok, its from Roller Coaster Tycoon, the vide game, it was just a joke..

I have been on TTD 7 times, 4 in the front, of course im gonna keep riding it.. =P

Whats wrong with X, honestly they have the coaster running fine. But for some reason they can only run one train at a time, prolly cuz of the complicated design of each one. But the coaster doesn't breakdown nearly as often as dragster. The experience on that coaster is unmatched, even by TTD. The basically vertical divebomb is crazy. The coaster is just so great. I went there over Christmas break and waited 2 hours for it but had such a great time that I didn't mind the wait at all. During that two hours the coaster never broke down, but the wait was increased because they only ran one car. But having ridden both rides I would have to say that X is overall a more fun ride, but the short while that you are on TTD is a real rush.

So no more cheap shots at X, its an amazing ride an compares favorably to TTD.

I have to say perculata, that was pretty bizarre. So, why did you decide to share that eulogy of X in a Top Thrill Dragster forum on a Cedar Point fansite?