Top Thrill Dragster
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| Manufacturer | Intamin | ||||||||||
| Product | Accelerator Coaster | ||||||||||
| Builder | Martin & Vleminckx | ||||||||||
| Designer / calculations | Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH | ||||||||||
| Type | Steel - Launched - Strata | ||||||||||
| Riders per train | 20 | ||||||||||
| Hourly capacity | 1000 | ||||||||||
| Propulsion | Hydraulic launch | ||||||||||
| Height | 420 feet | ||||||||||
| Drop | 400 feet | ||||||||||
| Top speed | 120 mph | ||||||||||
| Length | 2800 feet | ||||||||||
| Inversions | 0 | ||||||||||
| Drop angle | 90° | ||||||||||
| Duration | 0:30 | ||||||||||
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Top Thrill Dragster is a steel launched strata roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, USA.[1] It was designed by Intamin, who subcontracted manufacturing to Stakotra Manufacturing.[2] The ride opened on May 4, 2003 as the first complete circuit roller coaster to exceed 400 feet in height. It is one of only two strata coasters in existence, the other being Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, New Jersey. Top Thrill Dragster was the second hydraulically-launched roller coaster built by Intamin, opening a year after Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm. The train is launched to 120 mph in 4 seconds.
The ride was installed by Martin & Vleminckx.[3]
History
Development of Top Thrill Dragster began in 2000, the same year Millennium Force was built. Concrete footers started to be laid out in 2001. In August 2002, Cedar Point announced that they were building a new roller coaster, and that track was onsite.[4] That year, construction of the tower began. Cedar Point had to use a 480-foot crane, one of the four in the United States. Top Thrill Dragster was officially unveiled in January 2003.[5]
On May 4, 2003, the ride opened to the public,[6] being the fastest and the tallest roller coaster in the world. It suffered from technical issues, reopening on July 16 after a period of downtime.[7] The records for tallest and fastest roller coaster were taken two years later by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure.[8]
On July 14, 2004, at around 8:20 PM, four people were struck by flying debris while riding the coaster. Reports indicated that its metal cable frayed as the train was being launched. Shards of metal sheared off of it and struck the riders as the train launched. The riders were left with abrasions mainly on their arms and one rider had cuts on his face. The injured ones were treated at the park's first aid station, and two of them later sought further medical attention on their own.[9]
During the 2010 season, the hydraulic systems were overhauled.[10] Top Thrill Dragster was repainted by Baynum Painting for 2016.[11][12]
At the start of the 2017 season, the ride was temporarily renamed Top Thrill Cubster.[13]
On February 18, 2022, Cedar Point announced that Top Thrill Dragster would not operate at all during the 2022 season.[14]
Rollbacks
See Rollback.
Occasionally, if the train does not accelerate to the required speed, it will fail to crest the top hat element and fall back onto the launch track again. This is often a sought after occurrence for the riders because it allows them another launch.[15]
Design
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Top Thrill Dragster uses magnetic brakes provided by IntraSys GmbH.
Trains
Top Thrill Dragster has six trains, with five cars each. Riders are arranged two across in two rows, except for the first car which has only one row. Thus each train seats 18 riders. When Top Thrill Dragster opened, the final car of each train only had a single row as there was an engine, spoiler, and tires at the back. These theming elements were later removed and seats installed in their place.
Incident
At around 16:30 on August 15, 2021, an L-shaped bracket fell from a train near the end of the ride and hit a guest standing in the queue line.[17] She was subsequently taken to the hospital, and her condition is not known.[18] Top Thrill Dragster was closed immediately. On August 19, 2021, Cedar Point released a statement stating that Top Thrill Dragster would remain closed for the rest of the season.[19]
References
- ↑ http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/rides/coasters/top_thrill_dragster/index.cfm
- ↑ Top Thrill Dragster - Stakotra
- ↑ Attraction Installation - Martin & Vleminckx
- ↑ Cedar Point To Build Major New Thrill Ride For 2003 Season - Ultimate Rollercoaster
- ↑ Cedar Point unveils 420-foot coaster - Amusement Today (Wayback archive)
- ↑ Cedar Point's "Top Thrill Dragster" Comes Alive - Coaster Globe (Wayback Archive)
- ↑ Top Thrill Dragster Up and Running Again - Ultimate Rollercoaster
- ↑ "Tallest and fastest". https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2005/jun/05/tallest-and-fastest/.
- ↑ "Dragster Closed at Cedar Point After Incident". Ultimate Rollercoaster. https://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/news/archives/2004/stories/071304_01.shtml.
- ↑ The thrill is back— thanks to refurbished hydraulics - Hydraulics & Pneumatics
- ↑ Newport company wins contract to paint 2 iconic roller coasters - WCPO Cincinnati
- ↑ "Cedar Point Repainting Top Thrill Dragster, Raptor". Coaster101. October 7, 2015. https://www.coaster101.com/2015/10/07/cedar-point-repainting-top-thrill-dragster-raptor/. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ↑ "Top Thrill Dragster will be renamed Top Thrill Cubster for opening weekend of 2017". https://www.cleveland19.com/story/33632724/cedar-point-top-thrill-cubster/.
- ↑ Glaser, Susan (2022-02-19). "Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster, involved in August accident, will remain closed in 2022". Cleveland.com. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2022/02/cedar-points-top-thrill-dragster-involved-in-august-accident-will-remain-closed-in-2022.html. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
- ↑ http://www.xtremecoastin.com/videos/misc_videos/ttdstuck_2005.htm
- ↑ Facts - Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point (Wayback Archive)
- ↑ Brase, Victoria. "Broken Bracket on Top Thrill Dragster Blamed for Woman’s Critical Brain Injury". MotorBiscuit. https://www.motorbiscuit.com/broken-bracket-top-thrill-dragster-blamed-womans-critical-brain-injury/.
- ↑ Glaser, Susan (2021-08-18). "What we know (and don’t know) about the Top Thrill Dragster accident at Cedar Point". Cleveland.com. https://www.cleveland.com/news/2021/08/what-we-know-and-dont-know-about-the-top-thrill-dragster-accident-at-cedar-point.html. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
- ↑ Cross, Ian (2021-08-19). "Cedar Point closes Top Thrill Dragster to investigate how metal object fell, injured guest". News 5 Cleveland. https://www.news5cleveland.com/entertainment/cedar-point/cedar-point-closes-top-thrill-dragster-to-investigate-how-metal-object-fell-injured-guest. Retrieved 2021-08-20.
External links
| The category Top Thrill Dragster contains additional media. |
- Top Thrill Dragster on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
| Tallest roller coaster May 2003 - May 2005 | ||
| Preceded by Superman: The Escape |
Tallest roller coaster May 2003 - May 2005 |
Succeeded by Kingda Ka |
| Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster May 2003 - May 2005 | ||
| Preceded by Steel Dragon 2000 |
Tallest complete-circuit roller coaster May 2003 - May 2005 |
Succeeded by Kingda Ka |
| Tallest roller coaster drop May 2003 - May 2005 | ||
| Preceded by Tower of Terror Superman: The Escape |
Tallest roller coaster drop May 2003 - May 2005 |
Succeeded by Kingda Ka |
| Fastest roller coaster May 2003 - May 2005 | ||
| Preceded by Dodonpa |
Fastest roller coaster May 2003 - May 2005 |
Succeeded by Kingda Ka |
