R.I.P. Top Thrill Dragster
RIP. I wish that they could at least give last rides. CP does say on their website that they are creating a "new and reimagined" ride experience. I can understand why they are retiring it (I was actually in a train with my lapbar pulled down before they shut it down for maintenence), but the news still hits hard. I hope Cedar Point will find a worthy replacement.
I knew it had a pretty bad record of maintenance issues, but that's sort of common among all Intamins, and since TTD is such a staple coaster of the park I was hoping it would pull through after being shut down. I never got the chance to ride it, so I'm sad to see it go- but I also hope Cedar Fair will build something as notable and memorable as TTD there.
Oh that's sad to hear.
I live in Australia, so i've never been to a lot of these parks (Though i have been to Disneyland Cali, Universal Studios Cali and Knott's, way back in 1997. Yeah, Xcelerator wasn't even born then, lol) but from my perspective, i feel TTD lost some of it's visual appeal when they removed the cosmetic top fuel dragster bits from the rear car. It totally looked the part dressed up like that. For the sake of the fans, i hope they keep it, and update or overhaul it. Would prob cost a hell of a lot more to build something new in it's place.
It's kinda hard to speculate when there's potential arguments against whatever possible kind of change I (or others) can think of (especially if it's a facetious speculation).
I could see an LSM launch conversion happening, but if that's the main change they make, then why the "being retired" press release (since the GP probably won't care about which launch system)? Unless maybe the LSM launch is also combined with a complete retheme, rename, and repaint.
Maybe it's a good thing that it's hard to speculate since no matter what I'll ultimately be surprised.
Maybe they could have a ground up modern overhaul with some sort of twist. Maybe the top hat will be a massive outward faced tear drop shaped top hat? Maybe they could add a couple elements at the end that interact with the tower? They could also go down the polar coaster route for breaking the 500ft barrier. Would be the last 100ft barrier for a long time and would make sure Cedar Point stays the park that breaks those first. Would be hella marketable too.
I doubt this is completely realistic but someone made a Wicked Twister-inspired swing launch and increased the height to 555 ft.
Soko posted on September 10th, 2022
I doubt this is completely realistic but someone made a Wicked Twister-inspired swing launch and increased the height to 555 ft.
Okay- I doubt it too, but holy shit, that looks so cool I would LOVE to see that
Cedar Fair just announced the official retirement of the world's first strata coaster. I've heard some theories that it'll be rethemed, but I honestly kind of liked how it was themed originally. It's creative and fairly appropriate that, what was once the world's fastest rollercoaster, was themed to the world's fastest car.
I've heard some other theories that Cedar Point's going to try and break the strata title and reach for a 500 foot tall coaster. That sounds unrealistic as of right now, but breaking down records is very much a Cedar Point thing.
What're the community's thoughts? It was just recently announced, but I'm interested to hear some ideas!