UPDATE July 31 – It certainly took a while for the dust to settle on the news that Zamperla was the chosen manufacturer for the highly anticipated Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point. Just when we had begun to accept that it was Zamperla rather than the more expected Intamin, Zamperla as the manufacturer was brought into question after Director of Communications, Tony Clark posted a somewhat ambiguous quote on a fan page, Point Us.
Well, in the latest video update from Lake Erie Lifestyles it has now been confirmed from an official page on the Zamperla website that they are indeed working with Cedar Point on the Top Thrill Dragster reimagining. The page read, “Zamperla partners with Cedar Point on the world’s tallest and fastest triple launch roller coaster.” It appears that this page was then quickly taken down which shows that Cedar Point isn’t quite ready for us to have confirmation on this just yet.
Not only do we have confirmation that it is definitely Zamperla who is working on this hugely anticipated project but we also have new confirmed details regarding the layout for the reimagined Top Thrill Dragster which was posted on a page of Zamperla’s official website:
“Top Thrill 2 is the world’s first reimagined strata coaster and the fastest and tallest LSM triple launch coaster.
Thanks to the all-new linear synchronous motor (LSM) launch system, riders will experience three unique launches:
- A forward launch at a speed of 119kmh(74mph), which leads into a new crowd favorite – the rollback
- A second backward launch reaching a speed of 163 km/h(101mph), climbing at a 90 degree angle on the new, 128 meter (420 foot) tall vertical spike.
- A third launch that clocks in at the ride’s top speed of 193km/h (120mph) and speeds over the 128 meter (420ft) top hat before diving into a 270 degree spiral leading to the finish line.”
So, we finally get confirmation that there will indeed be a vertical spike which looks to mirror the 420ft of the existing top hat. Many fans are likely to be disappointed that this rear spike will not break the 456ft height record currently held by Kingda Ka or break the 149mph speed record of Formula Rossa but we are in store for a triple launch coaster which certainly appears to take Top Thrill Dragster to the next level including the roll back and spiral leading to the finish line.
In a follow up video posted to YouTube by Lake Erie Lifestyles, we get to see a video which had been uploaded to Zamperla’s website showing the Track and Column Manufacturing for the reimagined Top Thrill Dragster.
We now await final confirmation from Cedar Point tomorrow (August 1) and we will bring you our reaction to this as soon as this is announced.
July 27 – In the latest construction update from Lake Erie Lifestyles we get to see the arrival of large supports which are assumed to be for the rear spike for the Top Thrill Dragster reimagining. Deliveries have been made for the past three days to the Breakers Express Storage lot.
Not only have supports been arriving but also new track which looks to be tyre drives which looks to be for the brake run. We expect further deliveries to be made over the coming days and will update you when any supports or track are moved to site to be installed. With the amount and size of the supports that are being delivered it looks more and more likely that we could see the rumored rear spike beating the height record. 475ft has been floated as well as others and with the teaser “Smoke The Competition” announced by Cedar Point anything other than a height record will surely come as a disappointment.
It is certainly very exciting times for Top Thrill Dragster fans and with less than a week to go before the official announcement we will continue to update you on any new progress here on Theme Park Tourist.
July 24 – The hype for the Top Thrill Dragster reimagining has gone through the roof over the last few weeks and this has been fuelled in the last few days by the addition of a number of teasers along the midway fence at Cedar Point. The one which has drawn the most attention is, “smoke the competition” which clearly implies that Top Thrill Dragster will become the tallest or fastest or both when it reopens.
With so many speculations continuing to fly, luckily we haven’t actually got that much longer to wait until Cedar Point makes the official announcement on August 1, regarding the plans for the Top Thrill Dragster reimagining. According to the new video posted to YouTube by Theme Park Predictions we could see the name including “Formula” with “Formula Racer” being given as a potential contender.
The thing everyone has been most interested in knowing is, will it take the current record of 456ft from Kingda Ka as being the tallest? Will it take the current speed record of 149mph from Formula Rossa as being the fastest? Over the last nine months there has been speculation that the rumored rear spike will be 500ft+. More recently this 500ft mark had been questioned as being unrealistic but now with the “smoke the competition” teaser, hope is well and truly restored of a spike being higher than 456ft.
The video gives ideas regarding the potential location of the queue lines and layout. Whilst a more modest prediction of a 375ft spike and top speed of 123mph is firstly offered, the possibility that Top Thrill Dragster will become the tallest at 475ft and fastest at 150mph definitely gets our hearts pumping? Although taking the height and speed records would add significant stress to the 20+ year old track and supports it would certainly make for a fantastic Top Thrill Dragster 2.0.
Finally, details regarding Zamperla as the manufacturer have been brought into question after Director of Communications, Tony Clark posted a somewhat ambiguous quote on a fan page, Point Us. We will update you with the official announcement and our reaction to it on August 1! We are hoping to finally get confirmation on the layout, height, speed and name for Top Thrill Dragster and really hope that we aren’t disappointed.
June 28 – There has been a frenzy of speculation over the last couple of weeks regarding the highly anticipated reimagining of Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point.
A rumor floated by Theme Park Predictions last week was that the most likely ride layout for Top Thrill Dragster will include a 500ft rear spike to break the record and will include a forwards launch (105mph) where the train will not quite make it over the apex then will fall back, followed by a backwards launch (132mph) up the 500ft rear spike, followed by another forwards launch (120mph) where the car will go over the crest of the top hat. This concept can be seen in the video below by Escape Designs.
Although this layout would surely thrill any theme park fan, we questioned its feasibility as it still remains unclear whether a 500ft rear spike could be supported using the current footers and whether the current top hat would be able to cope with the stress this would put on it. We would certainly be expecting further footers to appear if this plan were to be a possibility.
Well, now with the news that Zamperla rather than Intamin has been put in charge of the reimagining of Top Thrill Dragster, the rumor of a 500ft rear spike appears even less likely to become reality. However, there does appear to be a lot of new track in the staging area which if the rumors are true and it is all for the rear spike then we could still be looking at seeing an impressive rear spike emerging over the coming months at Cedar Point.
Another recent rumor regarding the layout was that Cedar Point may be looking to add another top hat meaning that there would be two in total. Now, this indeed seems slightly far fetched and based on the position of the new footers seems unlikely. Check out the video below which was posted by Theme Park Predictions regarding the rumor of two top hats.
This rumor of two top hats is thoughts to have come from a keychain which was handed out at a Q&A with Director of Communications, Tony Clarke which appears to resemble two top hats. It could however, just be a cool design to represent Cedar Point (CP).
To cover all bases, here is a link to yet another rumor which had been floated for you to check out if you haven’t already done so, Rumor – Top Thrill Dragster To Get A NEW Top Hat Hitting 500ft!
On a separate note and as seen in the video above, the keychain brought speculation of a new color scheme for Top Thrill Dragster which was initially thought to be red for the track and dark gray for the supports. We now know that the track will be white but are unsure if red will feature at all.
This week we have seen footage of the supports being prepped, primed and painted. Initially we thought the dark gray could just be the primer but perhaps dark gray will actually be the new color to replace the iconic yellow on the new reimagined Top Thrill Dragster. We will keep you updated on this.
We also see that the original track on the top hat is being pressure washed which although further led us to believe that it would be Intamin rather than Zamperla has now been disproved as we have confirmation from the newly delivered track on site that it will indeed be Zamperla who is taking on the task of reimagining the mighty Top Thrill Dragster.
We still don’t have any official confirmation from Cedar Point as to what their exact plans for the layout of Top Thrill Dragster are but it is certainly fun to continue to speculate the host of possibilities. We will be sure to bring you the official updates as soon as they are announced.
Will Top Thrill Dragster reopen at the start of the 2024 season? Well, there are already rumors floating that the project is behind schedule. We are expecting it to be ready but like with any large project we have to expect that we could see an opening in the summer rather than the originally slated Spring debut.
Do you think there will be a 500ft rear spike? Do you think there could be two top hats? Do you like the newly rumored red and dark gray color scheme? Let us know your thoughts by voting in our poll or by leaving us a comment. For further updates and rumors from the last few months continue reading…
April 24 – In a recent video update from Theme Park Predictions we get to see how Top Thrill Dragster currently looks and get to hear further predictions regarding the height of the rumored spike.
To start with, although it appears that Iron Dragon has been put back together we don’t have confirmation that it will open with the park on opening day May 6. We can also see in the video that the whole lagoon appears to have been drained. There is a lot of gravel in the area which is predicted to be for large cranes to get to and from locations for the construction of the footer.
As you can see, the stones and rocks have now been removed from the original large triangular rumored footer and concrete has been poured into it. There is still speculation regarding the second rumored footer.
There has clearly been digging going on at the station of Top Thrill Dragster but the roof and iconic structure appears to be staying. This digging work could be for the launch track or retrofitting the area for the station.
The question is asked, will the swing launch include a bunny hill? Current predictions say yes. This would be a great way to replace the iconic hydraulic launch of the original Top Thrill Dragster. No confirmation has been given on this as of yet.
There is also talk about what type of restraint Top Thrill Dragster should have. Will there be overhead shoulder restraints, lap bar or Intamin T-Bar? Which would you like to see. Vote in our poll below to have your say.
The burning question, however, still remains, how tall will the spike be? Although there has been huge speculation that the spike could reach the dizzying heights of 500ft it now appears with further research that this will indeed be unlikely.
As we are not expecting the supports to be replaced on the top hat, having a spike 400-500ft could put an enormous amount of strain on the top hat making this a lot less likely than perhaps was originally thought. Also the cost of putting in a spike reaching 500ft would be huge and it seems unlikely that Cedar Fair will want to invest this amount of money.
In the video it is now predicted that a spike of 325-350ft seems a lot more likely. Again, this is all speculation as we still don’t have any confirmation from Cedar Point as of yet. We will continue to update you on construction updates and predictions for Top Thrill Dragster on our news and Facebook page.
April 12 – In the construction update posted by Theme Park Predictions in mid-April, we got to see further photo footage of the rumored triangular shaped footer which now appears to have been filled with gravel and wood. There is speculation that this is either to prevent further water filling the hole before they are ready to pump in the concrete or to create a base layer and the concrete will be poured over the top.
The video also shows footage of a potential second footer located behind the coaster’s restaurant. If this is the case and a third footer is constructed, Theme Park Predictions speculate that the vertical spike could indeed reach the 500ft mark.
Now, just to reiterate again, this is all speculation and nothing has been confirmed by Cedar Point regarding this rumored vertical spike as of yet and we do not know for sure whether the triangular shape is indeed a footer or the second rumored location is a footer. We will continue to share with you the latest predictions for the exciting reimagining of Top Thrill Dragster and look forward to bringing you confirmation on the exact details fans will get to experience when Top Thrill Dragster reopens in 2024.
Ever since it was announced that Top Thrill Dragster at Cedar Point will be reimagined there have been rumors floated as to what we are likely going to see regarding this extensive project. What we do know is that the hydraulic launch will be replaced by a LSM launch and that Top Thrill Dragster will be closed for the entire of the 2023 and is slated to reopen in 2024.
Back in February, according to the video embedded below which was posted on YouTube by ElToroRyan we got to hear a rumor of a potential layout extension.
In the video we got to see a construction update showing that all of the concrete platforms of the load and unload stations have been removed as well as the control booth. The roof structure on the station was still in place and the large hole in the ground where the rides original storage tracks were previously located was described as likely to be used as part of the new drainage system to direct rainwater into the lagoon and away from the midway to reduce the risk of flooding.
Now more importantly, the video speculated based on reliable sources that we could see a possible layout extension which would stretch further towards the front of the park where the current photo booth stands and is said to involve some sort of massive vertical spike which could be as tall or taller than the current top hat! This new vertical launch would be accompanied by a swing launch rather than a single launch which involves the coaster going forwards and backwards through the same section of launch track in order to build up speed to eventually make it over the top.
According to an update at the beginning of March by Screamscape, during a Winter event at Cedar Point it was noticed that sections of the Iron Dragon’s track located just behind the Dragster station has been removed. Tony Clarke from Cedar Point said that this track removal doesn’t have anything to do with Top Thrill Dragster but it has been assumed that if indeed Top Thrill Dragster was to receive a rumored layout extension then Iron Dragon’s track may have to be temporarily removed in order to install some new track so this has got Cedar Point fans somewhat excited.
Now, at the end of March thanks to an aerial photograph posted on Twitter by ElToroRyan we can clearly see a large triangular area which looks to be the beginnings of a concrete base which would be used to support this rumored rear-spike. This triangular shape also aligns with the station and former Dragster launch track giving us more hope that this rear-spike is to become a reality.
Some nice sheet pile action! Looks to be the start of work to create a large concrete footing! pic.twitter.com/J341Bc8hq3
— ElToroRyan (@ElToroRyan) March 27, 2023
Theme Park Predictions has also posted a video update on YouTube estimating the potential height of this rear-spike based on predicted measurements of this speculated concrete footer.
This triangular footer is estimated to be 90ft long with the sides being 42ft in length. The rear spike is predicted to be 400ft+ and is speculated that Cedar Point will be looking to take the record from Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure which sits at 456ft. The triangular footer appears to be the preferred shape for footers used by Intamin such as in the case of Pantheon at Busch Gardens Williamsburg which could be another clue as to Intamin’s involvement in this reimagining.
There is still uncertainty around whether it will be a vertical or twisted spike. The photo booth which was originally speculated to be removed could be converted to the entrance of the attraction and the queue line could possibly be located under the Iron Dragon eliminating it from the central section Top Thrill Dragster.
Rumors of potential layout extensions to Top Thrill Dragster as well as the location of the entrance, exit and queue line are at this stage still just speculation with nothing having been confirmed by Cedar Point regarding this.
We will update you with further details as and when they are announced. What we do know for sure is that the reimagined Top Thrill Dragster reopening at Cedar Point in 2024 certainly looks to be a thrilling one for all roller coaster enthusiasts.
Do you think Top Thrill Dragster should have a vertical or twisted rear-spike? Do you think it should have a swing launch? We will keep you updated on further details regarding the reimagining of Top Thrill Dragster. Let us know your thoughts by leaving us a comment below or on our Facebook page.
