Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster is having growing pains

[BarryHom]

Here's some more bad news.

http://www.virtualmidway.com/news/0627031.asp

 

[helenabear]

I heard that on the local news a few days ago... rather sad I don't recall even the Magnum XL having THAT much trouble getting fixed. It broke down a lot but it wasn't down that long that I recall. I hope they can fix it soon!

 

[Tinkbell]

I'm going to be there Monday and Tuesday so I know I won't be riding this year. That's ok. There's still plenty to do. It's the people that have planned entire trips around this ride that I feel bad for.

 

[Evil Princess]

Originally posted by helenabear
I heard that on the local news a few days ago... rather sad I don't recall even the Magnum XL having THAT much trouble getting fixed. It broke down a lot but it wasn't down that long that I recall. I hope they can fix it soon!

Magnum, aside from its height, is pretty much a standard hyper coaster (above 200 feet), although it was the first. Top Thrill Dragster uses a hydrolic system to launch the coaster at high speeds (120 mph) up the track. It is not just a standard lift hill, the system is much more involved.

Now that I sound like a talking brochure, I really hope this ride works this season. I was planning on making a pilgramage to Cedar Point this summer for TTD, and the fact that I finally drive this year made life easier. As a coaster enthusiast, I'm officially bummer. I guess I'll stick to Superman Ultimate Flight at home this season.

 

[WDWHound]

We took a side trip to Cedar Point last week from New Jersey (its about an 8 hour drive). There was no sign of life from Top Thrill Dragster the entire time we were there, except for4 a couple of minutes in the afternoon when the began play the taped annoucement that is apparantly heard just before launch. Even this was enough to draw a small crowd.

While I had been really hoping to ride TTD, we still had a great time at Cedar Point. There is no other Coaster on earth that even compares to Millineum Force (and I have ridden a lot of coasters). We rode MF 5 times during our stay and every ride was better than the last. MF alone was worth the price of admission.

Magnum was a great coaster as well, though one of our rides on it was marred by some fool who decided to endanger himself and everyone else on the dire as well (I'll be posting a seperate thread on that in a few minutes).

I had never been to Cedar point before, but I will definitly be back. Its a clean park with great coasters which will only get better when TTD is finally up and running.

 

[helenabear]

Originally posted by Evil Princess
Magnum, aside from its height, is pretty much a standard hyper coaster (above 200 feet), although it was the first. Top Thrill Dragster uses a hydrolic system to launch the coaster at high speeds (120 mph) up the track. It is not just a standard lift hill, the system is much more involved.

Oh I am completely aware of that... but as someone who lives in Ohio and remembers the trouble that coaster had (it was ALWAYS breaking down) I was just making a small comparison within. It took me three different trips (a year apart each time) to finally get on that ride and I know I wasn't the only one (many of my friends went more often than I did). I just hope that they can get TTD going soon. And I too feel bad for those who planned the trip around that coaster.

 

[Evil Princess]

Originally posted by helenabear
Oh I am completely aware of that... but as someone who lives in Ohio and remembers the trouble that coaster had (it was ALWAYS breaking down) I was just making a small comparison within. It took me three different trips (a year apart each time) to finally get on that ride and I know I wasn't the only one (many of my friends went more often than I did). I just hope that they can get TTD going soon. And I too feel bad for those who planned the trip around that coaster.

New coaster are often plagued by frequent breakdowns. My new baby (Superman Ultimate Flight at Great Adventure) has been having an awful lot. Quite fusterating, but normal.

 

[Cindy B]

Barry, that sure makes it feel great that we actually rode it, right?


That is a total and complete shame that this happened. It will be even worse if it is closed.

But I am definetely impressed by the honesty and integrity of the CP management. They don't want to string the public along with "I'ts going to be open!"


I understand thier position, and am encouraged by the way CP management wants to please guests/customers.

 

[BarryHom]

Originally posted by Cindy B
Barry, that sure makes it feel great that we actually rode it, right?

Well, I was one of the first ones.

Anyway, the Spider-Man ride at IOA used to suffer a lot of breakdowns during the 1-2 years it first opened. It's running a lot better now.

 

[Cindy B]

Thats true, you were one of the first... we went on about two and a half weeks after you did.


I realized after I posted that it does sound like we rode it together... oops on my part!