TPoseOnTantrum
Giga Poster
VERY big crane sighted moving across the Causeway... spike construction happening soon?
Cedar Point | Top Thrill 2 | Triple Launch Renovation | 2024
- Thread starter Wazzupnerds
- Start date
TPoseOnTantrum
Giga Poster
Leaky leaky is back on the menu today (thank you Zamperla!)
TOP THRILL 2 will have a 420 ft spike!
Full archived page here, no concept artwork; https://web.archive.org/web/20230730151056/https://www.zamperla.com/top-thrill-2/
Unlisted video of the switch track prototype in action;
TOP THRILL 2 will have a 420 ft spike!
Full archived page here, no concept artwork; https://web.archive.org/web/20230730151056/https://www.zamperla.com/top-thrill-2/
Unlisted video of the switch track prototype in action;
Lori Marie Loud
Giga Poster
I love how they had every opportunity to make it 500+ and get the record and instead they just made it 420....Lmao
Oh well at least we have Falcon's Flight
Peter Immelmann
Mega Poster
As the video is blocked, could someone who saw it explain and give an assessment of what it implies? I personally find it very hard to believe they are not taking the height record with that spike. Makes absolutely no sense to me.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
Exactly what it says. Its a switch moving back and forth. Which i assume will be the switch between the station and the launch track.
They have taken the record for tallest.... just the tallest swing launch coaster.
cookie
Giga Poster
ElToroRyan included some of the footage in his video on the leak. You can see the switch track in action at 1:18:
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CanobieFan
Strata Poster
How anticlimactic 
Peter Immelmann
Mega Poster
From a marketing perspective, going for a 420 ft spike just makes as little sense to me as spoiling those news one day before the big announcement. So either this is an odd choice for getting some extra publicity (and they will actually announce to crack the 456 ft tomorrow) or it's... well just very consistently screwed up. 
Anyway, we'll find out tomorrow.
Anyway, we'll find out tomorrow.
Regardless of the final spike height - 400+ ft is (honestly) more than I thought we’d end up with, and would still be an impressive feat.
Also interesting if the 3 train operation comes to pass - that would infer trains essentially load and unload within the station, and dispatch directly from station onto the launch without need for pre-staging.
Indeed, a little anti-climactic but unfortunately all too easy to sniff out on a WordPress website. Any webpage that is live, even if unlinked can essentially be sniffed out through simple web crawling. So I fear this might just be a simple case of Zamperla marketing trying to have a good jump on web prep, underestimating the lengths to which enthusiast go to sleuth.
Oh, and my money is on Top Thrill 2 being a holding name; save CP’s hashtags making zero canonical sense with a simple TT2 title.
Also interesting if the 3 train operation comes to pass - that would infer trains essentially load and unload within the station, and dispatch directly from station onto the launch without need for pre-staging.
Indeed, a little anti-climactic but unfortunately all too easy to sniff out on a WordPress website. Any webpage that is live, even if unlinked can essentially be sniffed out through simple web crawling. So I fear this might just be a simple case of Zamperla marketing trying to have a good jump on web prep, underestimating the lengths to which enthusiast go to sleuth.
Oh, and my money is on Top Thrill 2 being a holding name; save CP’s hashtags making zero canonical sense with a simple TT2 title.
Peter Immelmann
Mega Poster
There is no doubt that the drop down that spike will be epic and I even don't think that an extra 40ft or so will make that much of a difference for the ride experience. I'm just talking about the marketing point of view.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
What's the point in going for the height record anyway?. It's only a matter of months before falcon tops off and you can guarantee as soon as that happens the Saudis will push it like mad. And it will be all over the news everywhere in the world. Regardless if it's open or not.
Whatever hype they would have got for TTD2 will be obliterated before it even opens.
I remember MF being announced only to be trumped just weeks later by Nagashima. MF only held the record for a couple of months.
Perhaps once bitten twice shy.
Whatever hype they would have got for TTD2 will be obliterated before it even opens.
I remember MF being announced only to be trumped just weeks later by Nagashima. MF only held the record for a couple of months.
Perhaps once bitten twice shy.
Indy
Hyper Poster
I'm a firm believer that, with a record like that, you really only need that first year of marketing to create a long term buzz. Qiddiya isn't opening until late 2024 at the earliest, so CP would have had a decent chunk of 2023 and the entire 2024 season to market that they have the tallest in the world. The general public would have continued to think it's the tallest for years to come, and CP would still have been able to brag that they have the tallest in the US/North America/Western Hemisphere/whatever. I worked on Millennium Force in the mid-2000s and had people come up to me on numerous occasions and say something along the lines of, “this is the tallest in the world, right?” even though TTD was literally right behind them (and also not the tallest). You only need a short amount of exposure for a major record of that nature for it to be burned into the brains of the average park goer.
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
I suspect while that was true in 2000 I very much doubt it will be true now. Back in 2000 when MF opened there was no social media, no meme culture, no influencers and very little 24/7 news coverage that needs filler content to get through the day. No one outside the USA beyond goon culture really knew about MF.
And those In the USA who knew about MF didnt know about SD2k
But the world has changed massively and you only need to look at Fury's 325s support break the other day to see how. It was all over tiktok and twitter. Friends of mine who aren't even goons and probably haven't visited a park since they were kids were talking about it in the pub.
If the Saudis have any sense and business acumen, as soon as Falcon is topped off it will be all over the internet in every country on the planet. A tik tok drone video over the cliff with soaring music and it will be everywhere and everyone will know about it. And they won't even need to wait for it to be open. They can do it this year if they get that far, it won't matter it's not open till 2025 people will know.
I think perhaps the main thing though is that CP only "need" to market TTD2 to the USA and why waste millions when "World's biggest swing launch" will do that just fine.
Six Flags Saudi and Falcon in particular are statement projects designed by the Saudi investment fund to convince the world "hey Saudis not that bad" and that's the only reason really Falcon is that big in the first place. I guarantee when the time comes that thing is going to be pushed out to every news network and influencer on a global scale and CP no matter how much they throw at a slightly taller TTD would never be able to compete with that in the public consciousness in modern times.
HandsUpPantsDown
Roller Poster
Trying not to enter conspiracy theory territory too much, but there is the possibility the Saudis have 'come to an agreement' with CP/Zamperla to stop them from breaking the height record. I don't think that's too unimaginable
Qsilverrdc
Roller Poster
How about this area for unload Station?
In all likelihood, they won't actually need to use the old unload turn if the 3-train operation from the leaked website is to be believed. The station canopy can still service two trains for loading/unloading (and the leaked train specs are roughly the same theoretic length of the old trains), with another train running the cycle. So if anything, that might just be catwalk for the final brake run, nothing more.
If anything, it will be nice not having to consume 4 trains on the brake run/unload station, and keep train operations more flowing. But don't worry, I'm sure they won't add storage bins.
ViperGTS500
Roller Poster
So would it be safe to say everyone got lucky that they were able to make the old unload turn more tighter in order to have room for the spike? Like if the new trains couldn't make the new tight turn, would a spike not of happened?
From a marketing perspective, 420 ft is amazing. Ohio is one of the next states likely to get recreational cannabis legalizedFrom a marketing perspective, going for a 420 ft spike just makes as little sense to me as spoiling those news one day before the big announcement. So either this is an odd choice for getting some extra publicity (and they will actually announce to crack the 456 ft tomorrow) or it's... well just very consistently screwed up.
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