RideThroughTime
Roller Poster
They started testing it in December. I don't think the problem was not cycling it enough.
Cedar Point | Top Thrill 2 | Triple Launch Renovation | 2024
- Thread starter Wazzupnerds
- Start date
CoasterRider73
Roller Poster
Appreciate your response
I hear you. Then we will just need to wait to understand what the true issue is rather than assuming what happened. If it is wheels then this should be a lesson learned for Intamin for Falcon's Flight. Did the (cracked wheels) cause the vibration to scrape the fin's or something else? To many unknowns and as a scientist I hate to jump to conclusions of what actually happened.
Seen testing
Are we talking about Top Thrill Dragster or Top Thrill 2?
We also have more counts of confirmation that wheel assemblies are back on the train and train stock has been rolling. Good progress for 3 weeks in.
davidm
Strata Poster
Sticky_T_Wicky
Roller Poster
I was not a fan of choosing Zamperla for the TTD/TT2 makeover but am I the only one that thinks Cedar Point's continued name dropping of Zamperla in its Tweets is immature and unprofessional? I think saying simply "We are continuing to work on..." would be enough. I get that the closing isn't Cedar Point's/Fair's fault (they already made the mistake in 2022 
) but it still is a bad look to name drop.
Thorpe Park on the other hand hasn't mentioned Mack in its official Tweets as far as I know.
) but it still is a bad look to name drop. Thorpe Park on the other hand hasn't mentioned Mack in its official Tweets as far as I know.
It's almost so I wonder if Intamin gave Cedar Point a call and asked them to make it absolutely explicit that they have nothing to do with this.I was not a fan of choosing Zamperla for the TTD/TT2 makeover but am I the only one that thinks Cedar Point's continued name dropping of Zamperla in its Tweets is immature and unprofessional? I think saying simply "We are continuing to work on..." would be enough. I get that the closing isn't Cedar Fair's fault (they already made the mistake in 2022
Thorpe Park on the other hand hasn't mentioned Mack in its official Tweets as far as I know.
But yeah, the name dropping of Zamperla strikes me as almost as odd as the choice to go with them for the refurbishment in the first place. There has to be some non-enthusiast Cedar Point followers who read this post, Google to see who those Zamperla guys are, find out they've never built any coaster noticeably smoother than a rockslide, and join the enthusiasts in wondering why the heck Cedar Point chose to go with these chumps instead of literally any other coaster manufacturer on the Western market.
ViperGTS500
Roller Poster
Word is CF never even reached out to Intamin.
They were probably the only "chumps" that wanted to mess with an Intamin mess.
Personally never been to CP but my faith in the chain is going downhill. Cedar fair seems like if a manufacturer messes up once it’s curtains for them. Intamin has made alot of mistakes but look at the rides that they built for CP. 3 of the 4 best rides are Intamin. And then RMC made an amazing coaster but then they had that station accident and it seems CP avoids them now. Carowinds should have absolutely received an RMC by now but it’s as If CF has washed their hands of them.
I guess Zamperla will be next on The blacklist
CaliAngel
Roller Poster
Besides Intamin themselves?
Who were no doubt the best option when it came to this revamp.
I feel like this "cutting ties" with a manufacturer is a bit ridiculous, especially considering Intamin has practically perfected over the past 20+ years exactly what Zamperla installed on TT2. Not to mention manufactured trains for said ride that lasted those 20+ years.
Dan Nguyen
Mega Poster
If a manufacturer delivers a shoddy product, I wouldn't be surprised to see a park try to distance themselves from said manufacturer. BGW had major problems with Pompeii, so they didn't purchase anything from Intamin for almost 20 years.
RMC in a similar boat. Their rides are phenomenal, but they're also riddled with maintenance issues. If the park can't get one of their flagship coasters to operate properly, why would they try to invest in the same company again?
It sucks for us because we won't see those insane rides go to those parks. It sucks for the park too because now they have to take a chance on a different manufacturer. That being said though, sometimes a park has to bite off a bit more than they can chew in order for us to get some truly magical rides. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.
RMC in a similar boat. Their rides are phenomenal, but they're also riddled with maintenance issues. If the park can't get one of their flagship coasters to operate properly, why would they try to invest in the same company again?
It sucks for us because we won't see those insane rides go to those parks. It sucks for the park too because now they have to take a chance on a different manufacturer. That being said though, sometimes a park has to bite off a bit more than they can chew in order for us to get some truly magical rides. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.
CoasterRider73
Roller Poster
Actually both. TTD was the first of it's kind, and the same with TT2 but with a rookie manufacture in this space. Glad to see it testing and hopefully they fixed the issue.Are we talking about Top Thrill Dragster or Top Thrill 2?
We also have more counts of confirmation that wheel assemblies are back on the train and train stock has been rolling. Good progress for 3 weeks in.
Unfortunately that was testing from May 31. It’s been really quiet since then
Another "still working on it" update from Cedar Point for June 4th:
There continues to be photos and reports of general working on trains in the infield. #PrayersForTT2
On how Cedar Fair "Cuts Ties" with Manufacturers: While the enthusiast community has painted a "cutting ties" narrative on how Cedar Fair shows pattern of going hot and cold with manufacturers, in truth we've never been given any sterling proof of this. I feel sometimes folks think this is an actual "policy", when in earnest we have, for years, been seeking patterns in randomness.
On INTAMIN WAS OBVIOUSLY THE BEST CHOICE: ... were they? To exactly if and how Intamin bid on TT2, we will never receive the details. Maybe they were higher price than Zamperla, maybe they were bidding an entirely different approach (e.g. retrofitting and updating the hydraulic launch) - we'll honestly never know.
But I do caution folks for having accidental revisionist history, saying Intamin has "perfected" technology over the last 20 years, while also skipping over an (honest) laundry list of maintenance, downtime, and other reliability issues - not only at CP but many other parks. At the very least; it's not out of this world to see CP's perspective of not going with a manufacturer they have had fault failure on, *adds up Millennium Force, Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick, Shoot the Rapids*, five attractions over a 20 year span, 60% of which attractions have already been retired/modified well ahead of their time (Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster, Shoot the Rapids).
There continues to be photos and reports of general working on trains in the infield. #PrayersForTT2
A few thoughts:
On how Cedar Fair "Cuts Ties" with Manufacturers: While the enthusiast community has painted a "cutting ties" narrative on how Cedar Fair shows pattern of going hot and cold with manufacturers, in truth we've never been given any sterling proof of this. I feel sometimes folks think this is an actual "policy", when in earnest we have, for years, been seeking patterns in randomness.
On INTAMIN WAS OBVIOUSLY THE BEST CHOICE: ... were they? To exactly if and how Intamin bid on TT2, we will never receive the details. Maybe they were higher price than Zamperla, maybe they were bidding an entirely different approach (e.g. retrofitting and updating the hydraulic launch) - we'll honestly never know.
But I do caution folks for having accidental revisionist history, saying Intamin has "perfected" technology over the last 20 years, while also skipping over an (honest) laundry list of maintenance, downtime, and other reliability issues - not only at CP but many other parks. At the very least; it's not out of this world to see CP's perspective of not going with a manufacturer they have had fault failure on, *adds up Millennium Force, Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster, Maverick, Shoot the Rapids*, five attractions over a 20 year span, 60% of which attractions have already been retired/modified well ahead of their time (Wicked Twister, Top Thrill Dragster, Shoot the Rapids).
GeminiOP03
Roller Poster
INTAMIN was contracted to design and manufacture "The World's Tallest and Fastest" roller coaster back in the early 2000's. They did just that using the technology available, and in the space provided; what exactly did they do wrong? I see TTD as a major accomplishment and an industry-wide push in innovation.
Having the guts to renovate a 20 year old coaster those stats doesn't make you a "chump." Besides whatever wheel or bearing issue Zamperla has delivered 1000%. The customer knew the risk involved and still chose to build it (both versions).
Cedar Point decided to not to cover the queue. Cedar Point wanted a hydraulic launch in a more compact space. All INTAMIN did was design and manufacture that dang thing. Gimme a break with blaming INTAMIN for everything.
I think the "mess" moment @ViperGTS500 is pointing to isn't that TTD was successfully built, but rather the general maintenance and operational upkeep of the coaster. Over the last two decades we've seen a fair share of cable snap, prolonged downtime (often due to sensor array, other ride system fault), and other operational challenges (e.g. late morning openings to minimize daily operation times, "frontloading" the trains while hydraulic system warms up, etc.). There was also the opening season comedy of train redesigns, which unfortunately led to losing the original, extremely bad ass theming for a more simplified spoiler.
TL;DR Top Thrill Dragster will always be the OG 400 ft. coaster and a clear pinnacle of coasterdom. Keeping this gal running through the years though has had it's challenges.
Changa
Mega Poster
The same goes for Zamperla, frankly. The amount that they've had to do to fulfil this project is insane. They had the task of refurbishing, repurposing, and extending one of the tallest/fastest rides ever made, with seemingly little to no assistance from the original manufacturer. All of this as their first project under this new company venture. The amount of new tech they have developed for this project is gargantuan. So much of it was a first attempt. Yet it opened, and seemingly performed reliably with reviews claiming the experience to top the original?
This fiasco with the wheels is a serious issue and an understandably huge headache for the park. But to discount Zamperla as chumps brought on to do things on the cheap does an infuriating disservice to the work that team has done. The only manufacturer that I could have seen performing better with this job is intamin, thanks to their prior experience with the original ride and the type of ride it came to be. Even then, the unique challenges of this being a strata coaster retrofit would always throw curve balls that aren't quite accounted for.
Sticky_T_Wicky
Roller Poster
To your first bolded point, I would be shocked if Cedar Fair did not send a RFP to Intamin. Cedar Fair is a publicly traded company with a duty to maximize returns to its shareholders and given what Intamin has done over the past decade, one cannot deny the quality of work it has delivered. If Cedar Fair did not consider Intamin due to its deliveries to Cedar Fair Parks 2010 and prior, then Cedar Fair has serious leadership issues but I do not think that is the case. Reasons why I would guess CF went with Zamperla in lieu of Intamin ranked from most likely to least likely (and it is possible it is a combination of these):
1. Timing - Cedar Fair likely made the TT2/Zamperla decision in early 2022. Intamin has not been short of work during the TT2 construction and into the foreseeable future. Its possible if not likely that Intamin would not have been able to deliver TT2 in 2024 due to projects it had already committed to.
2. Cost - I don't think Zamperla is a budget manufacturer but new Intamin is expensive. And given Intamin's backlog, it may have placed a premium on a 2024 delivery.
3. Concept/Design - I still think Intamin would have submitted a swing launch but its possible that they would've went for a Red Force type design which would not have been a record breaker. I do not think in any reality that re-doing a hydraulic launch would have been on the table.
4. Cedar Fair's history with Intamin - Been discussed ad nauseum. I really do not think this was a material factor.
what do you mean by that?