WOW

Let me just say this, I don't know why I ever didnt ride the front seat on dragster. It's the best experience I've ever had. I was honestly a little nervous riding the front for the first time ever. The wind is such a different experience and the way you zoom over the crest of the hill and then slowly come over the edge is amazing. Oh and I loved seeing the launch cable in front of me, I thought that was pretty cool.

I love front row of Dragster. It's my favorite seat on there. But sometimes that line is too long, which increases your chances of having to wait for mechanical downtime as well. The back is pretty cool when coming down because you get thrown over the top hat. I can't wait until Halloweekend Sundays. Dragster's line is nearly non existent.

Consider me paranoid but ever since the cable snapped, I no longer sit in the front seat. As bad as it sounds, I like having a shield infront of me.

My girlfriend is the same way... She hates riding any Intamin launched coaster now after all the issues Intamin constantly has with cables lol... Xcelerator had quite the crazy outcome when that cable let go.

It baffles me though that it ever happens... I have sat through a few cable inspection training sessions at work for 500,000 ton crane cables and there are always signs prior to a failure. Cables are nothing more than many more smaller wires... They start to fray, break or neck prior to a failure. I think it really just comes down to poor inspection on the parks behalf. They just don't snap with no warning signs. Issues will develop prior and should be caught that morning. Dragster has been through how many cables now? Millennium Force (2 or 3?)... I believe Storm Runner has had a failure as well along with Xcelerator we all know about.

All it takes is a cable failure to send a cable in the wrong direction, removing limbs along the way.

But yes, I also think Dragster in the front is one of the best ride experiences next to X2.

There are just some rides that you NEED to experience the front row on. Dragster is one of them for sure... I also really love the front row experience on the Maverick. The perspective of the first drop is great!

Invertalon said:
I have sat through a few cable inspection training sessions at work for 500,000 ton crane cables and there are always signs prior to a failure.

...

I think it really just comes down to poor inspection on the parks behalf.

You do realize the use case for a launch cable on TTD is vastly different as compared to a crane, right? Comparing the two is not reasonable, especially if you're using that as the basis for questioning the parks' maintenance practices.

Crane...picks up heavy stuff, under constant strain, usually doesn't exceed walking speed or typical country road speeds

TTD cable...under constant tension with same loads, accelerating to 120+ and stopping suddenly...

yeah they're alike :)

I rode in the front only 1 time, and didn't get the excitement from it that you did..

Everyone complains about bugs at night, but during the daytime, the water they spray on the cable hurts just as much.

So I'll stick with the middle of the train, so as to not get pelted with little pieces of whatever, while traveling at 120MPH, thank you. :)