Cedar Point announces Top Thrill 2 roller coaster
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From the press release:
Cedar Point, The Roller Coaster Capital of the World®, will once again redefine roller coaster innovation in 2024 with the debut of Top Thrill 2, the world’s tallest and fastest triple-launch strata roller coaster. The strata coaster, known as any roller coaster eclipsing a height of 400 feet, was first pioneered by Cedar Point in 2003. The park will build on that legacy with not one, but two, 420-foot-tall track towers, putting riders in the driver’s seat for one of the greatest races of all time.
A New Formula for Thrills
Riders will immerse themselves as they join the CP Racing Team and climb into one of three, sleek high-performance racing vehicles. Each of Top Thrill 2’s trains will feature open-air seating, providing heart-pounding views on the world’s first and only dual-tower vertical speedway.
On the start, using an all-new linear synchronous motor (LSM) launch system, riders will peel out down the straightaway reaching speeds of 74 mph, racing toward the sky on Top Thrill 2’s original 420-foot-tall “top hat” tower. After experiencing weightlessness during the “rollback” – the coveted fan-favorite moment when the train’s momentum isn’t great enough to make it up and over the tower – the train shifts into reverse and into its second launch, reaching speeds of 101 mph.
Riders will then see Cedar Point unlike ever before as they speed into a backward climb at a 90-degree angle on a new, 420-foot-tall track tower. After a second moment of weightlessness, the train shifts into drive and races forward into its third launch, clocking in at the ride’s top speed of 120 mph.
Crossing over the top hat tower, the train decelerates momentarily before diving into a 270-degree spiral and crossing the finish line.
“Top Thrill 2 will be the boldest and most advanced roller coaster Cedar Point has ever introduced. It’s another one-of-a-kind that could only be built at Cedar Point,” said Carrie Boldman, vice president and general manager of Cedar Point. “Our stamp on the industry is in roller coaster innovation, and today, that’s solidified as we redefine the strata coaster into a mega-thrill that our guests will come from far and wide to experience.”
Delivering High-Tech Racing Performance
Partnering with Cedar Point and utilizing the ride’s original and iconic top hat tower, Zamperla Rides and its Roller Coaster Business Unit engineered and designed a completely new experience. Top Thrill 2 is one of the first roller coasters in the world to utilize Zamperla’s “Lightning” trains, capable of high-speed aerodynamics, performance and rider comfort. The ride’s new high-tech LSM launch system delivers smooth and quiet acceleration while giving riders the chance to feel the rush of motorsport racing.
“My sincere congratulations to Cedar Point on the announcement of this incredible project. Today, with pride and excitement, we embark on this collaborative journey together,” added Antonio Zamperla, president and CEO of Zamperla. “It is an honor for Zamperla to add our signature on The Roller Coaster Capital of the World®. I cannot wait until next year when we see this record-breaking scream machine come to life.”
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SteveWoA:
but again is nothing really 'new' experience wise,
I'm curious where you experienced a 100 mph backwards launch only to end up suspended 375 (ish) feet in the air.
Promoter of fog.
Superman: Escape From Krypton has entered the chat.
13 Boomerang, 9 SLC, and 8 B-TR clones
I'm curious where you experienced a 100 mph backwards launch only to end up suspended 375 (ish) feet in the air.
This right here is what I am most excited about, the back car airtime, especially with the restraints.
The closest thing is still Superman: Escape, though TT2 has 50ft more height to travel.
Some of these comments remind me of my daughter. "I don't like fish." Have you ever tried fish? "No".
Well, that makes perfect sense.
eightdotthree:
Looking straight down into a lethargic 120mph launch.
Not agreeing/disagreeing with the lethargic launch comment, but I am curious as to what the 2nd forward launch will feel like. It will not be a 0 -->120 launch as the train will have quite a bit of speed already from coming down the reverse spike. Will it be 60 -->120? 80 -->120? Where are the physics folks at?
The point being made is that in many cases, some of the experiences referenced here have been tried, and that’s why there’s a bit of criticism. “Lethargic launch” may be a bit harsh, but simple math would say that anything going less than 0-120 in the same amount of distance as the former 0-120 isn’t going to be as thrilling. There will be more time at high speeds given that the launch track will be navigated three times, and that might actually create a more exciting ride, but there won’t be the rush of the original ride’s acceleration.
13 Boomerang, 9 SLC, and 8 B-TR clones
but there won’t be the rush of the original ride’s acceleration.
Or the chance the cable breaks and cuts the front of the car, or limbs, or rains on guest.
I expect the last launch to feel like it can’t possibly go any faster but it will. Pantheon, Taron, and Velocicoaster feel that way.
sirloindude:
“Lethargic launch” may be a bit harsh, but simple math would say that anything going less than 0-120 in the same amount of distance as the former 0-120 isn’t going to be as thrilling.
I’ll lay off the happy line, but I think that someone that steps off of a ride that goes a 120 and says, “that could have been more thrilling,” isn’t very good at having fun. Maybe something is wrong with me because my fun meter only has a better-than-my-best-day-at-work setting.
sirloindude:
The point being made is that in many cases, some of the experiences referenced here have been tried, and that’s why there’s a bit of criticism.
I get the point, I just don't quite understand it. It sounds like the point being made is, "well, I rode Maverick that launches forwards at 70ish miles per hour, Superman which launches up backwards really fast, and I rode TTD, so if I close my eyes and put that together I have already ridden TT2. Nothing new to experience".
The rush of going from 0 - 120 was incredibly thrilling. I never quite seemed to habituate to it, either. A rush every time.
I'm not sure how many of you have had the pleasure of getting stuck in Maverick's tunnel and being launched (is it 72 mph?) from a stand still. The ride attendant keeping us company while we were stuck on our last getaway there promised us it would be an intense sensation, and he was 100% spot on. Much bigger rush than the usual launch in the tunnel.
I think the open design of the trains is also going to add to the experience. Doesn't Superman have OTSR's? Exactly what made TTD a superior experience to Kingda Ka.
Then again, some will probably argue that "well, I sat in a lightning train once, plus I rode TTD, so I already know what it feels like. In my imagination".
Promoter of fog.
bigboy:
…but I think that someone that steps off of a ride that goes a 120 and says, “that could have been more thrilling,” isn’t very good at having fun.
”That could have been more thrilling,” doesn’t equate to, “that wasn’t fun.” I think TT2 is going to be loads of fun. I think it would be almost impossible for it to be anything other than lots of fun. I’m just going to miss that 0-120 mph launch and even the spectacle it was from an off-ride perspective, because that was my favorite part of the original ride. Having ridden the original dozens of times, the whole slow roll out of the station into the staging position, waiting sometimes for nearly a minute if you were the second train out of the station…that was just incredible. The anticipation of it all was part of what made that eventual launch so incredible. Turn it into a swing launch and it will be an entirely new animal with its own fun characteristics, but it, by design, is losing some characteristics that folks like SteveWoA and I really enjoyed.
OhioStater:
I get the point, I just don't quite understand it. It sounds like the point being made is, "well, I rode Maverick that launches forwards at 70ish miles per hour, Superman which launches up backwards really fast, and I rode TTD, so if I close my eyes and put that together I have already ridden TT2. Nothing new to experience".
The point being made is that based on enough past experience, I can, to a reasonable degree, have an idea of what this ride will be like. Doesn’t mean that I can literally imagine it exactly, but rather that I can at least have a solid idea of the sensations of it all. This ride is a bit unusual in that at least as far as the top hat is concerned, I’ve literally already done it. The launches and the spike are just scaled up versions of impulses and Mr. Freeze coasters. I do believe that scale makes a considerable difference (part of why I love Millennium Force is that it’s so big and fast that the sheer scale of it matters more than any maneuvers it may or may not do), so I can’t say for certain exactly what TT2 will be like. I can only say that I have a good idea. The ability to make those predictions becomes even more true when you’re talking about a ride like Orion which, from everything I’ve seen, is pretty much a by-the-numbers design.
OhioStater:
I'm not sure how many of you have had the pleasure of getting stuck in Maverick's tunnel and being launched (is it 72 mph?) from a stand still. The ride attendant keeping us company while we were stuck on our last getaway there promised us it would be an intense sensation, and he was 100% spot on. Much bigger rush than the usual launch in the tunnel.
This ties a bit into my response to bigboy, and explains a bit why despite being quite impressed by TT2, and I am, there’s a component of the old that the new one won’t have. If I’d never ridden the original or Kingda Ka, I might have a different take, but essentially, I can’t un-know what the original launch was like, and therefore a modified version that takes three launches to get up to that speed isn’t going to be the same. A reverse spike entered in reverse at 100+ will bring its own thrills, sure, but even having ridden the quicker-accelerating Hypersonic XLC back in the day, there was nothing like TTD’s launch. Well, Kingda Ka’s is, but given the rougher ride, different restraints, and lack of anticipatory elements (light tree, engine sounds, grandstands, etc.), I preferred TTD’s.
Also, this loops back around to my previous point about predicting a ride. Since I can’t un-know what I’ve already experienced, I’m not going to be able to view a ride in a vacuum. I’m not going in with the pre-disposition that I won’t like a ride that’s new to me if it’s similar to something I’ve ridden, but if it borrows heavily from other designs, my mind is naturally going to remember those as I experience the new one.
13 Boomerang, 9 SLC, and 8 B-TR clones
I still don't understand it. Is it impossible just to enjoy each experience for what it is? Why is there a need to compare it something else and determine one is less thrilling? That seems to take a lot of the fun out of, you know, the fun.
If ever anyone wants proof of my ability to enjoy a ride for what it is, I actually think RRR is a really good ride.
13 Boomerang, 9 SLC, and 8 B-TR clones
I liked the musical aspect of RRR quite a bit, even the time I took too long selecting and wound up with a random hip-hop song. I could do without the half-dozen MCBRs though.
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