Top Thrill Dragster Discussion

Andrew H · #1 02-19-2002, 10:03 PM

Marc, Ooops bad math on my part.

***Chip*** · #2 01-10-2003, 01:55 PM

Discuss Top Thrill Dragster! All old discussion before the announcement can be found here. Cedar Point's official TTD page can be found here or you can go here if you don't want the Flash intro.

The stats have all been announced for this record-shattering ride and they are as follows:

Name: Top Thrill Dragster
Track Length: 2,800 feet
Lift Height: 420 feet
Angle of Lift Hill: 90 degrees
Vertical Drop: 400 feet
Angle of Descent: 90 degrees
Angle of Twist on Descent: 270 degrees
Launch Speed: Approximately 120 mph in four seconds
Drop Speed: Approximately 120 mph
Capacity Approximately 1,500 riders per hour
Six (count 'em, SIX!) 16-passenger trains, five cars on each train; three four-passenger and two two-passenger cars
Cost: $25 million (Hey, that's the same as MF!)

There we go. There are lots of other facts at Cedar Point's official site for it.

Now, onto my wonderful post. I think you'll all enjoy this.

And now that the announcement has made everything official, let's go over what everyone said about Top Thrill Dragster. Some of these nearly go back to day one of this wonderful thread.

Quote:

GaMman said:
...The height for #16 comes out to around 415-430 (ft.).
I guess no one believes me when i say it is a 4d...I also know people from the park that knows it. We'll all see when the announcement comes.

You were pretty right about the height, but the 4D? Nope.

Quote:

Shaun Rajewski said:
Want to know stats.... here are some...
Name: N/A (All I Can Say Is 3 Letter Accronym)
Hieght: 424 feet
Speed: 116 mph (approx)
Length: i don't know
Capacity: All I Can Say Is Think Gemini.
Features: Launch-Top Hat-Brakes (a nother feature that i cannot say)
...but, if your thinking 4D, you're really 'on track'.
...the 'twist' was something to do with the track of the coaster, or even the layout, just wait. It has nothing to do with the layout.
The name isn't Dragster, believe me, it isn't Dragster.

Nope, nope, and nope. Sorry, bro. At least some were right (name, L-TH-B)

Quote:

SFgadvfreak said:
i say CP is getting nothing.

This one's great!

Quote:

Carsten16 said:
i just talk to my friend that lives in the cedar point dorms and he said the coaster is going to be 424ft

Ooooh, so close! Darn dorm folks!

Quote:

Tommy said:
I am still certain that this thing won't be just LTB. CP just wouldn't do this to us.

You are so right! They just wouldn't...wait.

Quote:

pyro said:
I really don't think it will be over 400ft though.

Too bad.

Quote:

CedarPoint_Mark said:
And maybe, maybe, it might be new for 2004!

If those darn Lake Erie winds knock it over!

Quote:

SKULLY said:
I still say that this is under 400 feet.

Nope.

Quote:

FutureRCdesigner said:
...my calculations say it is 410 ft.

So close!

Quote:

satanhanx said:
...there is no way that this tower is over 420 feet tall...

You're right! It's exactly 420!

Quote:

pudge701 said:
...it is impossible for the tower to reach 400ft. I'm sticking with my original post of about 375.
...i think its about 375
...375 feet tall. Not quite 400... (you get the idea)

Sorry, bro.

Quote:

Raptor said:
I still won't believe that the tower is 420 feet until I hear it though.

Believe it now?

Quote:

SFgadvfreak said:
I predice (sic) 350...

I "predice" one letter can turn a word into something totally confusing.

Quote:

Coastr Crazy 72 said:
I think it just might be in the high 300's but i dont thnik anymore it will be in the 400s

Here's another one under 400!

Quote:

HisDougness said:
This figure is 116 mph.

Almost!

Quote:

Alien@SixFlags said:
im not sure if thats 400+...

I'm sure it is.

Quote:

Marc said (in an IM):
...134 mph.

Great calculation!
<hr>
Let's see who was correct!

Quote:

Andrew H said:
Again, I will say the tower is over 400 feet and the announcement will come in Jan.

Wow, hit the nail right on the head!

Quote:

raser said:
...but it is over 400'...

Damn straight!

Quote:

CPFan said:
...the ride is over 400 feet tall, and it is taller than S:TE.

By 5 feet!

Quote:

coasterlove said:
I know this ride will be over 400ft tall.

You were so right.

Quote:

MagnumManiac said:
It's 400+ feet.

Exactly.

Quote:

darklight_tr said:
In fact, it looks to be around 420ft...

Wow. Good job.

Quote:

Banshee said:
It is over 415'.

Only by 5 feet, though.

Quote:

GaMman said:
...The height for #16 comes out to around 415-430 (ft.).

Pretty good guess!

Quote:

Ste said:
I'd say its about 410ft

Almost! Just ten more feet!

Quote:

Marc said:
I estimate that the new coaster at CP will be approximately 120 to 130 MPH.

Good job.

Now for the names!
Here are some names we all guessed Top Thrill Dragster would have:

Dragster. This was a really popular one for a long time and was seen on shipping boxes where track first started appearing.
Top Speed. Simply stating a fact.
Top Thrill. Almost there!
Top Thrill Dragster. Hey, this one's right! Named by the same guys who named Wicked Twister.
Xcelerator. Hey, it's at another Cedar Fair park.
RPM. Nope.

Cedar Point dubbed it a new name, "strata-coaster". We all thought this rocket coaster would be called a terracoaster. Shows what we know.

Okay, that's enough. You get the idea. So, some people were right, others were wrong and lied about knowing the stats. We heard crazy mathematical equations figuring things out, people argued over perspective and a lot of other nonsense. I hope we learned something from all this. That having been said, I am going to take a break, read the press release again, and pray that I get that job at Cedar Point!

Marc · #3 01-10-2003, 02:08 PM

Wow, That was a long post...

We made a new thread and closed the other to clean up. Now that we know all the stats, we don't really need to look at the speculation, so talking about the construction will be easier.

You can still go through the other thread here.

Drewbie · #4 01-10-2003, 02:28 PM

All I can say about this ride is WOW!

First off, SIX TRAINS?!?! How exactly they're going to pull that off without having significant waits either to launch or unload will be interesting to see. Of course the ride's probably only 40 second long at most.

Second, how about those trains? They look amazing. The POV screen showed flames shooting out the back. I imagine that only for effect in the sketch, but that would be very cool for theming. This is an easy theme to do and they are doing it right.

Lastly, 120 mph launch and drop. What's gonna happen if you take a dragonfly to the face at that speed? Just wondering.

M_Force_2002 · #5 01-10-2003, 02:28 PM

Well, 120 mph in 4 seconds......

A very very very fast production car (top of the line Porche, ex) goes 0 - 60 in a little more than 4 seconds.......

DOUBLE THAT !!!!!

Wow, this should be quite a rush !!!!!!

I gues i am in Pursuit of 500' now, lol

***Chip*** · #6 01-10-2003, 02:44 PM

Yeah, someone's going to have to change his sig, M_Force!

I love the look of these trains! I thought Xcelerator had cool trains, but these ones are really amazing. I like how the front and back cars only allow two person seating so they have room for the excellent theming. These are the coolest trains I've ever seen, and some of the most elaborately themed. It's amazing what can be done to trains!

Zombo · #7 01-10-2003, 02:44 PM

Oramonster deserves some kind of award for the remarkably accurate guess that started off the other thread. Nearly 2000 replies later, Ora proved to be as close as anyone. Wonder if somebody had some inside information there?

More THUMBS UP:

- Major props to Cedar Point for all of the great TTD goodies on their website. They have me completely fired up to ride this thing!

- Are those the coolest looking trains ever or what? Innovative, unique, and remarkably open for a ride this fast. You have to wonder if the nose cone and spoiler are functional necessities, and not just for looks. In other words, is this ride so fast that it NEEDS trains with a radically aerodynamic design?

- Say what you will, but I like the simple ride layout. It makes this ride stand out as a unique experience. A bunch of overbanked curves would have been nice, but then wouldn't the ride have been more like a taller, briefer Millenium Force?

And a small THUMBS DOWN:

- The name doesn't do much for me. It comes across as a somewhat awkward attempt at being clever by some marketing suits. It sounds like the name of a toy for kids (who probably aren't tall enough to go on the ride). "TOP THRILL DRAGSTER!!! IT'S TOTALLY RAD!! (batteries not included)"

Oh well. It's a kick*** ride by any name.

**BryanWood** · #8 01-10-2003, 02:52 PM

Chip, you have no life.

robvia · #9 01-10-2003, 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Drewbie
All I can say about this ride is WOW!
First off, SIX TRAINS?!?! How exactly they're going to pull that off without having significant waits either to launch or unload will be interesting to see. Of course the ride's probably only 40 second long at most.

Rumor has it, they're going to load 2 trains at a time, and launch one after the other, giving the workers 80 seconds to load both. Watch the video on the CP web site. The last run has a stop watch, ride is about 15 seconds to the brakes.

And Strata-Coaster? That just means way up high. What happens when they build something 500 feet?
It's a TERA coaster. Go here if you wanna see the correct terms.
http://www.hitech-solutions.com/Tera.htm
They must not like the fact that Tera also means Monster.

With friction and air resistance, I don't see how the train can go 120 on the way down. 115 Maybe. The brake side doesn't go lower than the launch side. So that claim is suspect.

The question I have, is why did Cedar Point keep the details quiet until now?
Was it for the hype, or protecting the height record?

Rail Jockey · #10 01-10-2003, 03:16 PM

Well....don't get me wrong, I am by no means complaining, but I'm kinda dissapointed that Cedar Point didn't bother to throw a few turns into the layout. Yeah, this ride will be awesome just with what it is, but it would have been cool if they had extended it just a bit longer.

Daishi · #11 01-10-2003, 03:22 PM

Props to Cedarpoint for a very thorough announcement package. This looks awesome - superbly themed trains and very good throughput due to the monster 6 trains. it'll be interesting to see how many trains they'll run on quiet days - i'd imagine the schedule is very tight.

***Graham*** · #12 01-10-2003, 03:31 PM

WoW!!!! 120 mph!!!!!!!! i am a lot happier and more excited about it now that all the stats have been announced. I never relay thought the 120 mph & 420 ft guesses were correct but i guess i was proven wrong

. It would be cool it if relay had the flames like in the pic.

Quote:

The question I have, is why did Cedar Point keep the details quiet until now?

It was for hype. CP even said so. Plus even if they did announce it sooner there would be no way that a perk could build a coaster taller that TTD this year.

***Chip*** · #13 01-10-2003, 03:44 PM

Sure there could be a way. Another park would have just ordered a bigger one around the same time CP did, and neither park knew about the other one. Simple as that. Announcements have nothing to do with what other parks get for that season, there just isn't enough time to plan, unless they're getting something tiny like a kiddy coaster or kiddy flat ride.

**Phil** · #14 01-10-2003, 04:21 PM

This ride has the coolest trains ever. I think the name fits well because dragsters are reffered to as Top Fuel Dragsters so CP changed the name to better fit a rollercoaster.

**Marcus** · #15 01-10-2003, 04:21 PM

Well by the general shape of TTDragster, you can tell this coaster was made to be shoved up SFMM stehole. The true king reclaims its rightful throne and shatters all doubt on what the best coaster park is. The thing i cant wait to about TTD is the sound. While Xcellorator makes a sherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......perrrrrrrrrrrrr rrrrrrrrrrrrr, I think TTD will make a sherrrrrrrr...................................... .... .... .. and silence with be all left as the Scream! (pun intended) will be silenced. May this be a coaster to end all coasters....

HEY READ MY SIGNATURE