“Sometimes the car can’t get all the way to the top, so it rolls back and they have to restart it.” I can’t recall the man divulging this fair bit of information when I was lining up for my first ride on Top Thrill Dragster in the middle of the years. But it was forever etched into my subconscious, making me talk for myself every ride Top Thrill It took me 19 years it worked. Unfortunately, this subplot only hints at the problems that will continue to affect the voyage and led to today’s announcement that Cedar Point’s stratospheric vessel will be decommissioned.
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The Top Thrill Dragster opened in May 2003 and was, at the time, the tallest roller coaster in the world. Over 420 feet tall, the glider is classified as a “stratigraphic coaster,” a label Cedar Point gives to gliders taller than 400 feet. The ride is designed around the “thrill” of drag racing in a top fuel dragster (long ones). The details around the track simulate the feeling of being staged at the tow strip, from the sound of a dragster idling to your left Christmas tree with twin yellow lights… all of it turns green. You’ll then be instantly launched at 120 mph, up the 420m-high hill, with less than a second at the top realizing how high you are, before you turn back to the face of the sun. railway land. The whole thing happened in less than 30 seconds. If anything, it takes longer to get in and out of the roller coaster than it does to ride.
Cedar Point will usually close the coaster for the day if it doesn’t make it past safety or if it’s a particularly windy day – the height of the coaster will make it susceptible to swaying from the wind blowing from Lake Erie. It means many days and visits with Dragster have been closed to the public. All of this is in the name of safety.
But in August 2021, a 44-year-old Michigan woman was waiting in line for a ride when “a piece of an L-shaped piece hit her on the head roughly the size of an adult male’s hand”. like reported by Detroit Free Press. She will be hospitalized immediately for intensive care, with a traumatic brain injury. Her family has shared very few updates about her condition, which is understandable.
Investigations were carried out by the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) to find out what caused the piece of cloth to fly out of the vehicle. ODA concluded that Cedar Point was not at fault in the incident. According to the report of Register of Sandusky:
Investigators eventually determined that the tethers connecting the flag to the vehicle had failed due to an “immediate overload rupture”, causing the debris to dislodge. Cedar Point showed evidence of routine inspections and repairs on the ride, and park staff told investigators there was no damage to the flag when it was inspected the night before. accident occurred, the report stated.
Investigators determined that there was not “sufficient evidence” that Cedar Point violated any state law, and closed their case.
“Cedar Point has fully cooperated with ODA throughout the investigation of the incident and we will closely review the contents of the ODA report,” park spokesman Tony Clark told the Sandusky Register.
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Eco-friendly, comfort-friendly
Their multi-occasion styles take you from the office, to dinner, to neighborhood errands, with a sugarcane-based foam bottom and slick recycled leather upper.
Top Thrill Dragster remained closed going into the 2022 season. This month, the amusement park begins to reduce hours and days leading into Halloweekends and the end of the season, and it just feels right that they would announce the coaster’s permanent retirement now.
The Dragster was one of at least 15 – 17 coasters operating on the peninsula at any given year during its operation. Although the retirement is likely a good call by Cedar Point, the Dragster missing from the “Roller Coast” skyline will indeed be an adjustment to any of the park’s frequent thrill seekers. Let us hope they make a gravestone for Top Thrill to join the other dead coasters of the park, for future Halloweekends.
