Cedar Point says Top Thrill Dragster is done, sort of

I was promised 500 feet.

That will be another 6 flat rides.

If you look around my house, you can see all the stuff I bought at Target. It must be because I have a bulk deal with Target.

I wish I could get a bulk deal with Lego.

None of you must work in corporate sales then...

And lol being a ride manufacturer you know have thousands of retail stores selling million-dollar rides to thousands of customers daily, it's exactly the same thing.

When you have 5 companies (CF, SF, SW, PE, Merlin) with 85% of the regional amusement park business, and you think chain-wide deals are not reached to keep cap ex down, you are delusional.

Lol some are butt hurt it is Zamperla, and have never built a 200ft coaster.

When it's clearly cost, train and launch and its promises, and a slight bit of what else can you do for me.

All of the major amusement park chains have a Zam's Club membership.

Universal had a one-ride deal with Maurer and that was still too much.

Finish will still be the finish.

or...

"Maali jää silti maaliin."

That's "the finish will still be the finish" in Finnish.

Pfft. That's just the start fourth launch that goes into the forward part of the back spike.

You're not looking at this holistically. They're waiting to take down the "Finish" sign to troll the GP.

And now it seems that not only has the reimagining just begun, but also the legal fight. Mrs. Hawes, her husband, and her father are suing not only Cedar Point, but also Cedar Fair, Intamin, and individual employees for various things, including willful destruction of evidence.

https://www.13abc.com/2023/...RCZYm7t12s

There’s definitely huge liability in the Dragster accident. The thing to be determined in court is who all is liable.

Cool to see that all of the engineers posting in the TTD thread on Point Buzz moonlight as attorneys.

I was assuming that at this point this was already settled out of court. Meaning, I figured Cedar Fair would have been doing anything and everything to pay for this woman's lifelong medical expenses and do more or less whatever necessary for her and her family financially.

Apparently that's not the case.

What Cedar Fair may or may not be doing, I don't know. I am guessing filing the suit now is an effort to stop work on the ride, either in fact to preserve evidence or to pressure Cedar Fair into coming to the table.

I am not a lawyer, I don't know how these things work, but suing (unnamed) individual employees just seems vindictive. Sure, you wanna sue the CEO, fine, he's covered by D&O insurance. Suing, like, the head of maintenance or the people who inspected the ride? What does that do other than destroy people who obviously had no malicious desire. But, again, maybe the threat of inflicting misery on the company's employees will bring the company to the table.

OTOH, res ipsa loquitur seems right.

OhioStater:

I figured Cedar Fair would have been doing anything and everything to pay for this woman's lifelong medical expenses and do more or less whatever necessary for her and her family financially.

How much do you think Cedar Fair/Point should agree to pay? $25 million? $50 million? $100 million? More? That parties can't agree on $$ doesn't necessarily mean they disagree on liability.

hambone:

Suing, like, the head of maintenance or the people who inspected the ride? What does that do other than destroy people who obviously had no malicious desire. But, again, maybe the threat of inflicting misery on the company's employees will bring the company to the table.

Well as an added bonus, there is always the possibility of the lawyer of the injured party working for a percentage of the payout, so you know, the more he can grab the more he can make. What are the chances the injured party has enough money laying around to pay for an attorney for years to get this case settled.

I've only known one person who ever filed a lawsuit like this and I believe the general rule is that you sue everyone. You sue the UPS guy that delivered the bolt that held the part on if you can find an angle. More than likely, the individuals are going to be covered by their employer and no one is going to experience any personal financial ruin. There's nothing particularly vindictive or spurious about that activity. It's the way the game is played.

Exactly. You sue everyone. And for everything. Anyone who could be liable (name them as John Doe if identity now known). And for any reason. You can always dismiss parties or claims as the case progresses. Can create issues if you have to add claims or parties.

Exactly, you and Big Boy have it correct. These individuals aren’t really at risk from a personal perspective. And it’s the lawyers driving the behavior (obviously). Will be a long process (again benefitting the attorney) until it’s settled for undisclosed terms. Excited to start seeing some real details be revealed on the ride

dmxfury:

These individuals aren’t really at risk from a personal perspective.

I suspect that’s easier to say if you’re not (potentially) named in the lawsuit. They’re likely going to want to hire their own attorneys which may easily run into thousands of dollars. They’re going to be deposed which is going to lead to sleepless nights at best. All for, in the context of the claims, a trivial amount of money; anything more would simply cause the individuals to declare bankruptcy. If that’s the way it works, it’s a ****** system.