Cedar Point announces Top Thrill 2 roller coaster

As a semi-local (40 minutes away) I can say that TT1 never really did a whole lot for me. I honestly never really paid it much attention. Between the extremely short ride time and the 25% chance of a breakdown after waiting in line, I almost always skipped it. The line had to be 15 minutes or less for me to bother. That's not to say it wasn't thrilling, it was incredibly thrilling! It was just sensory overload in too short a time period.

This just seems like a more complete experience to me. Personally, shooting up the backwards spike is way more interesting than the Tophat now. (Of course, been there done that at this point.)

sirloindude:

it’s a real stretch to say that people not liking the attractions we’ve been discussing don’t like anything.

Sure, there's some hyperbole there, but is it any more of a stretch than saying a ride is over-hyped based on what you've read about it?

My main point was jabbing the coaster enthusiast discussion cycle, and how it really has gotten out of hand on YouTube, and somewhat PB, but obviously those people need the hype and speculation to generate clicks and maintain their income, side hustle, illusions of grandeur, etc

I obviously do not fault CF for their marketing.

As for Orion, I just suspect for their 30 million they wanted another Fury, and I think in design & execution Orion could have been so much more with the terrain and some invention, but CF did not push boundaries.

The wild mouse was marketed as exactly as it should have been.

That's what I mean by "On par for CF", and the reaction to TT2 is just that. They could have pushed, and twisted the spike, and added airtime hill, etc, etc...

But they kept the cost low and retheming minimal and name silly. The CF playbook.

Even though the placemaking underway is way ahead of Kinzel, its still SeaWorld on a budget.

Only once a decade or so does the magic come together and we get synergy with boundaries, naming, marketing, and enthusiast. (Magnum, Millennium Force, Steel Vengence)

For the record, I was responding to Sharpel007, not sirloindude. Also, I think there's a difference between being overhyped and overrated. Overhyped is when the excitement and anticipation you feel prior to the experience (and really, before anyone has experienced it) doesn't match the actual experience, whereas overrated is when you disagree with the perceived consensus that the thing is the most awesome thing ever. In both cases, I think you have to experience it yourself before making that declaration. Mystic Timbers' shed was overhyped, but it's not overrated. Everyone agrees the shed is meh, but the ride itself is phenomenal so who cares.

In any event, I thought ragging on the marketing department for hyping a new coaster was silly. If I dropped $30M on a new coaster and the marketing department didn't hype it up, I would fire my marketing department, and I'd probably execute a few of them just to set an example for the other departments.

Mid-post edit: Sharpel007 responded before I could finish, and I see where they're coming from and agree with a lot of the points made. I also agree with sirloindude that TTD's launch was the best part, and it will be missed.

As far as Orion goes, I prefer it to Diamondback, though I also wish it did more, lasted longer, or made better use of the terrain. It feels like a lost opportunity, but I still really enjoy the ride. And I also don't recall it being over hyped, at least on this site. Seemed as though once the layout was revealed, everyone had a similar reaction. Also keep in mind that its debut season was in 2020, so that was already a totally unfair and unexpected strike against it. But I'm sure there are plenty of people for whom it is their favorite ride. It has a 300', near-vertical drop, after all. All this is to say that coaster enthusiasts aren't the specific target for any park's capital improvement plans or marketing. We don't matter. We are scum. We are the Pale Blue Dot of the human species; a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

Sharpel007:

Only once a decade or so does the magic come together and we get synergy with boundaries, naming, marketing, and enthusiast.

I'd say that's actually pretty darn good.

Sharpel007:

They could have pushed, and twisted the spike, and added airtime hill, etc, etc...

I wouldn't assume those choices were made to costs low.

bigboy:

Sure, there's some hyperbole there, but is it any more of a stretch than saying a ride is over-hyped based on what you've read about it?

I think I may not have expressed my point properly, so my apologies. I, personally, can’t say if Orion was a case of overhype or not. All I was trying to do was say that Sharpel007’s comment that Orion was a case of anticipointment (I’m trying to find a better word than overhyped) jives with similar reviews I’ve read of it not being the kind of ride some people hoped it would be. From my own perspective, I do fall into the camp of people who hoped Kings Island would utilize the terrain in the park more in the layout rather than creating what looks like a milder, less-exciting version of Fury 325, and for that reason it doesn’t push me to want to visit Kings Island much more than I already did before it existed, save for the fact that it’s a B&M and I’m not terribly far off from having ridden every one of their US installations.

However, and I think this often gets overlooked, I do think that once you’ve been to enough parks and ridden enough rides, you can build a reasonable expectation of how a ride is going to be before you ever get on it. I will concede that TT2 is probably not going to fall into the same camp as Orion does because TT2 introduces some features that aren’t particularly common, at least on the scale they’re at. Orion, however, is very clearly a by-the-numbers ride because that’s just how B&M builds rides. I can look at those elements and more or less predict how they’re going to feel because they exist all over the other rides. That’s been the case on B&M rides almost since they started building coasters.

I realize that parks don’t build rides for the enthusiast community, but if someone who has been on a few hundred coasters more or less writes off a ride, or at least isn’t impressed by it, before ever getting on it, I’m a little less likely to take issue with their criticism. If it’s something that’s been done many times before, or if it isn’t what they wanted it to be, I can appreciate that.

Sorry for going so far down the Orion rabbit hole in a TT2 thread. ;)

(I haven't ridden Orion yet)

I see the badmouthing of Orion coming from a totally opposite direction that what's being said here. From the moment it was announced, there was nothing but hate towards Orion. Most of it coming from the 287 foot height of the structure. Enthusiasts were so quick to latch on to the "Not a hyper" B.S. Never mind that the first drop is 300 feet, same as Mil Force. There was hate thrown at the length, the speculation that it was meant for another park but put at KI as a placeholder instead, that it's not Fury325, and for some reason, the brake run. (???)

I think some people were just so on board the hate train that they refused to like it no matter how it turned out.

I very much look forward to riding Orion (and Mystic Timbers, it's been that long) and I am thinking about maybe looking into possibly considering visiting this weekend.

Orion is a fun ride. TT2 is probably going to be a fun ride. If either ride doesn't meet your expectations the parks can't really be blamed for that.

I really like Orion. Do I wish there were 2, maybe 3 more elements/airtime hills at the end? Sure, but that’s just because the part that does exist is fun enough to leave me wanting it to keep going.

it’s smooth, fast, has some good moments of B&M airtime, and the first drop in the back seat is really good, IMO.

It’s not the best ride in the park, but not everything can be Mystic Timbers 😂

sirloindude:

However, and I think this often gets overlooked, I do think that once you’ve been to enough parks and ridden enough rides, you can build a reasonable expectation of how a ride is going to be before you ever get on it

Spot on here. I'm sick of the "don't judge until you ride it" comments because like you said, after hundreds of coasters it's quite easily to know what to expect by said manufacturer. Sure, a specific element or moment you may have not expected to feel the way it did, or the ride feels rougher/smoother than usual, but overall, the other 95% of the ride is just as expected.

Getting off Pantheon or Toutatis felt exactly as I had expected... Same with Candymonium... Or Troy and Fenix... Or every single RMC feeling identical to one another.

It's rare I ever get off something and think "Wow, totally didn't expect that!" outside of ride types I have never been on before... Say like Ride to Happiness or X2. Both of those were complete surprises because I never had those experiences before from those manufacturers. Velocicoaster gets notable mention as a new-gen Intamin that had a few suprises that do stand out and exceeded my already high expectation. But it was not drastically different than what was expected.

You can certainly judge a book by its cover (err... coaster by it's layout/manufacturer/POV/whatever...). It may be a little better or worse than expected for some reason, but you are likely in the ballpark.

I have yet been down to Kings Island since Orion was built, as I'm not exactly drawn to Orion. Don't get me wrong, I love B&M hypers/gigas... But there is nothing special about said layout that makes me want to trek down to Cincinatti to go experience it. It will be just another variant of Mako, Candymonium, Leviathan, Fury, etc... If it did something unique or played with the terrain a bit more, I would be more interested in it.

As far as TTD 2 goes... I've done plenty of backwards, reverse spikes... They are fun of course, but again is nothing really 'new' experience wise, so that does not draw me in or excite my little enthusiast mind... Nor do the lethargic launches... I'm for the longer ride time and extra features, but overall IMO it's a downgrade from what it was, or at least, what I personally enjoyed most about the ride (that powerful launch).

That being said, I DO look forward to it, but I am quite certain I will get off and be like "that's fun and I'm glad the ride is still here in some form, but I really miss that launch..."

SteveWoA:

Nor do the lethargic launches

Lethargic launches? Ok then.

Good for Dorney. They’ve needed a new ride for a long time. And not just a “new to them” ride, but something custom.
I read a FB comment this morning where an enthusiast was criticizing CF (and B&M, I suppose) for repeat installations of rides like this, saying the same elements appear over and over with little innovation. I suppose that’s true to a degree, but not to the good people of Allentown/Philadelphia. I don’t believe they have a similar ride nearby and I predict this addition will definitely put butts in the seats, regardless of how well-traveled enthusiasts think about it. It really is the kind of boost Dorney needs.

Dorney gets an actual new ride and posts about it go in Cedar Point ride thread. :)

Build similar rides at sister parks and enthusiasts go crazy. Try taking Pirates of the Caribbean out of any of the Disney parks with an explanation that they can still ride one in California...or Florida, etc...and enthusiasts will go crazy. Morale of the story: Enthusiasts are a little crazy.

GoBucks89:

Dorney gets an actual new ride and posts about it go in Cedar Point ride thread. :)

Dorney gets other park's rides, they might as well get other park's threads.

The only disapointment I got from Orion was that everyone was expecting another ride like Fury, but it turned out to ba half of Fury. And I'm pretty sure the drop is 299 feet, but the park fibs about it so they can call it a giga, by definition. That's my conspiracy theory though.

When Orion first opened, I was comparing it to Diamondback, and felt it just wasn't as fun as even that ride. But a few years later, and dozens-of-rides on Orion, it has grown on me. I like it for what it is. It's not another Fury, it's not another Diamondback. It's it's own thing.

I wasn't a huge fan of TT2. I think I have been on it a total of four or five times. Keep in mind that I worked at the park for a season when it was open. Looking at this new incarnation of the ride, I think I will like it a little more. You get more of a ride. The thrill isn't as concentrated. I get TTD, but TT2 is going to be more fun.

Kings Island could have added a few more airtime hills and/or a helix to Orion. They could have added a twisted spike and a few airtime hills and/or a helix to TT2. But they didn't. I under stand the comparisons.

LostKause:

I wasn't a huge fan of TT2. I think I have been on it a total of four or five times.

I promise you the experience will be way better once the ride's actually open.

Right. TTD.

eightdotthree:

Lethargic launches? Ok then.

How is it not?

0-120mph in <4 seconds to 0-74mph in likely a longer duration of time. That a huge difference in acceleration.