Yep there today and silver train was off the launch track with wheel assemblies missing. Was hoping Ryan was right and they would reopen this week. Maybe they try to get through Memorial Day and coastermania weekend with the old assemblies, but seems a bit doubtful with them totally removed at the moment
It probably has something to do with the shimmy as to why they are wearing faster than expected. With wear patterns now visible in the parts, it'll give a better idea and understanding of what could be causing the issue and find a fix. I work on cars for a living. Tires develop wear patterns when something in the suspension isn't right for the vehicle. Helps with diagnosing an issue related to those patterns. So that is most likely what they are doing with the wheel chassis'.
Regarding the LSMs, a while back I remember doing the math and determining that Red Force's LSMs were sufficiently powerful enough for use on TTD if they used the entire length of the launch track. But the amount of power that would need to be pumped into the entire system would be comparable to the defunct Batman and Robin: The Chiller so it would be an electrical engineer's nightmare.
Station Wait did a video on this and I'm in the minority but I wish they just kept to just one powerful launch regardless. Plus there's LSMs that reach similar accelerations like ISpeed and Junker.
Zamperla knocked this out of the park! A lot of people are jumping too fast to conclusions with them with the ride being down. If it's a wheel issue, then it will be back up soon. Millennium Force back when it opened had wheel issues to, and Magnum had issues when it opened in 1989, so this isn't new for Cedar Point to have issues when a ride opens!
The problem may be that the wheels are a symptom of a larger problem with the bottom of the coasters which would be a longer fix to redesign and refabricate them.
17:29 After watching every Problematic Roller Coasters video, I was thinking watching a Coaster Studios video would get me a break from the block zones 😅
@@michaelwoody24Doesn’t break down like the moose, they’re refurbishing the trains to make it safer. Unlike the park’s most mechanical nightmare coaster, Wild Mouse.
That was my Mother’s Day 😢 Took my 9 year old for his first ever trip to CP. He rode everything and it was a blast. But TT2 was closed. We had no warning before we got there either.
@@cratcliff8820 thank god we didnt end up going, since we were going to for mothers day as well. My brother got sick so we couldn't go, but the plan was to ride the new top thrill 2. Sucks we didnt go but im kinda glad we didnt
Thanks for highlighting the fact that the third launch is very similar to the feeling of the original. The fact that it can hold a candle to it just confirms this is an overall better ride
The spikes on Impulses and Mr Freeze are the best spikes, I think a big part of it that makes those stand out is that they seem to have more vertical straight track and a smaller and tighter pullout that offers stronger positive Gs rather than something like Pantheon where the pullout is much bigger. But the long amount of straight track you see straight down makes it noticeably scarier because it makes you feel a lot higher and you fall vertically for a longer amount of time.
We weren't expecting much when we got on it honestly. But it BLEW US AWAY!! One of the craziest rides we have been on to date! Although the downtime is frustrating, once they get all the bugs worked out it'll end up being in most people's top 10!
9 rides so far. It's a 10/10. Actually was on some of the trains in these videos. It's so good and the airtime and spiral are so intense. The spike lasts so long. I don't know if it isn't my number 1 overall, but I can say for sure that Cedar Point now has my top 2.
Top thrill 2 is a high quality attraction and is definitely better than I expected but the fact that some people have it over Maverick and Vengeance is just insane to me
i hope they have future plans for the queue, compared to the rest of the new area it is absolutely depressing, but i also remember seeing them install the switchbacks and roofs dangerously close to opening day so that couldve had a factor
Rode TT2 the day before closure. 3 1/2 hour wait, in what is honestly the most exhausting and boring queue I’ve ever experienced. Could’ve added some tvs or something lol. Luckily my group entertained ourselves. The ride was still worth the wait. TT2 is an absolute beast of a ride.
@@joshfreund6008 definitely true! Every time I visit the park I get fastlane but my group wasn’t willing to purchase it with me. Hopefully the lines made them change their mind for the future😂
I was sad that I never got to ride Dragster, considering the one hydraulic launch I've ridden was unbelievable (albeit small) but now I see how much Zamperla has knocked this thing outta the park! I'm going to Cedar Point next year and am stoked to be riding this awesome coaster.
I actually got the chance to talk to the creative lead for TT2 a couple months ago, and of course I asked about the F1 theme. He said that they did briefly consider a licensing deal with F1, but decided against it for a couple of reasons. For one, they still see F1 as more of a European sport that wouldn't resonate as much with Americans (despite the success of Netflix's Drive to Survive series, which they directly cited as an inspiration), so they wanted to lean a bit more towards an Indycar-oriented theme that would be more recognizable to more audiences. Also, they said that with IP licensing deals, demands by the IP holder can severely limit the creative freedom that Cedar Fair has in designing the ride. So in other words, they absolutely could've done a deal for the rights to an F1 theme, but decided it was best to do their own thing instead.
VERY good to know about the strict policy on loose items. IMO it’s totally fair given the ride’s speed, height and history. Also the ride queue experience is often overlooked. I wish CP had more budget space to spruce them up. Maverick at least has atmosphere and theming on point. Also can’t imagine waiting 3 hours for a ride unless you’re going to the park multiple days.
Interesting how in the slow-mo shot of the train cresting the top hat at 12:54, the road wheels of the front car stop spinning before hitting the last red section of track. Curious how much force that is putting on the front car's up-stop wheels.
17:00 I could see them adding something to the queue line like posters as you were saying (I have a feeling that they ran out of time to get creative with the queue line)
Doing some rough estimates with kinetic/potential energy (assumes the 74/120 mph measurements are at 20 feet up, 101 mph at 10 feet, the center car cresting the top hat at ~10 mph, and a proportional loss of energy across all 3 launch->max heights), I get the center car reaching ~295 feet on the spike and ~173 feet after the first launch. The loss of energy is not really going to be proportional across all three launches, so the real first/second max heights are going to be a little bit higher.
I think there are upsides to having higher seats with the g force of the spin and clearing the top, but oh my how much more unstable that felt than the original and for me it felt that way throughout the entire ride. I'd take the lower seats just for the smoothness and stability. The final two launches definitely top the original launch and feel more consistent.
I got the chance to ride Top Thrill 2 on Media Day, and man I prefer this version to the original Dragster. The LSM launches in my opinion were still punchy, and I got to ride in the very back and the very front. From what I have experienced in the back row, the back car got up to roughly 375ft up the vertical spike, which it was insane to be TALLER than the Power Tower.
It’s an excellent ride, I think part of the shake that we all feel is partially due to the fact that the ride is going over track 3x as much and slower for part of it. As you said it feels the same on the third launch. It also felt the third launch kicks in closer to where the original launch started.
Glad to hear you having a positive opinion of the downtime. Alot of time new rides suffer issues in their first year, especially as a prototype. Heck, I remember with the original Dragster it was barely open its first year with the train issues, and look at it's legacy now! I can't wait to check it out, just feel like I may have to skip the Point this year if it's enthusiast and GP hype makes the park as busy as I suspect. Honestly surprised seeing that shot of the line was ONLY 3 hours-fully expecting this would be the only thing I do the entire day if I went!
7:23 this is why I watch coaster studios, Taylor knew that the single piece of aluminium could be an issue if it cracks, I love going through older coaster studios videos and seeing Taylor predicting the future
I rode it opening weekend (and said hi to Taylor and Sarah). The silver train had a bigger shake then the other two. It is one crazy ride though! As someone who has ridden Kingda Ka also, the spike and the backwards launch are what makes this ride what it is. And boy it whips over the top hat now!
I rode it on preview days and loved it. It’s better than the original in so many ways, but yes the launch was obviously the better part of the original. I agree. They should make the first launch a little more so you can go up higher on the top hat. The no loose articles need changed. Similar to something like steel vengeance. Overall agree it’s great and Zamperla did a fantastic job. HOWEVER, this issue they found is worrisome. And without the transparency of not knowing what’s going on I fear is a more serious issue with the train and something that may require a whole new train design. We haven’t heard much since the closure and I worry it’s because it’s more serious with regards to the structural integrity of how this new train was constructed or designed. We’ll see I guess. Great content as always!
I rode it on May 6th. Its a fantastic ride. It blew me away. You couldnt have described the ride experience any better. Hopefully it opens back up sooner than later. So much better than Dragster.
In my dozen or so trips to The Pointe during the Dragster Era it had downtime most of the days but always came back up and I never didn’t get in 3 or 4 rides minimum. The worst days I had were Halloweekend Saturdays when there were 80 billion people and fast lane was an hour plus wait. I was living a charmed life apparently because it is evident from all of the thoosie rhetoric that this ride’s downtime was not represented by the random days I was there. For this I am grateful.
It's an incredible ride, and I'm glad we got to experience it on opening day. Surprised we didn't see you and Sarah out and about, but it was quite busy!
I never rode TT because of the wait time to ride duration ratio. (When my nieces and sons rode it right before the shutdown, my wife and I rode Corkscrew, Gemini, and the Mine Ride--all before the kids even boarded TT by the time we returned.) When we go back this year, it will be on my list.
I rode it twice during previews. Is TT2 better then the original? I think it's significantly better. The original TTD had essentially 2 elements: the launch, and the trip over the tophat. On TT2, the trip over the tophat is way better. For the rest, you have the first launch and semi-rollback, the backwards launch and spike, and the third launch for TT2 vs the launch for TTD. As much as I liked the TTD launch, the sum of TT2 elements is quite a bit better. Honestly just the backwards launch and the spike might be enough for me, but the rest just puts it over the top. I have it as my #2 at Cedar Point, where TTD was either my 3 or 4, flip-flopping with Millie.
16:25 I think Cedar Point's greatest weakness is its queue lines. For a park that is as popular and busy as Cedar Point I think they really need to do significantly better when it comes to queues. If you are going to spend anywhere from 5 to 10 hours of your day standing in a line the park should make a real effort to make that experience at least somewhat entertaining. TTD had a super boring queue though it was fun to watch the trains ascend and descend the top hat (when they'd actually do anything.) But the covering takes that away. And I get why the covering is there. But you've GOT to put something entertaining in there to replace that. No one expects Disney or Universal queue lines. That's not what Cedar Point is trying to accomplish. But they to do need something to keep people entertained. I've always thought they should find ways to include vistas of the lake throughout the park. I mean, it's right there. And people would enjoy looking out at the water when I line isn't moving. But they barely include any of that. Or they could add posters, fact sheets, jokes, thematic elements, memorabilia....etc. Heck, they could just show clips of old Peanuts cartoons. But give us SOMETHING besides boring switchbacks. I do love Cedar Point but this is their biggest failure.
With CP being my home park I disagree completely saying TT2 is more reliable than TTD. Apart from the ride being closed indefinitely for poor engineering at this moment, the ride breaks 10 times a day and while yes for 20-30 minutes but with Dragster it only broke a few times a day as well and for usually even less time. People always said Dragster was unreliable usually because it took way longer to get it up and running and sometimes could go down a few days at a time.
I went to Cedar point the last three years. Unfortunately all three years top thrill dragster was down because it was right after the accident. I’m going back on June 8th for my bachelor party so I’m praying somehow TT2 opens, but not keeping my hopes up for that. But dang man going on for years I’ve been dying to ride this last ride to scratch off my coaster bucket list!
My biggest confusion with zamperla is why not stick to flat rides? why move from an industry that they have nearly a monoply over in the us to something with tons of compotition. Its confusing to me
@@Spiritwonder420 ya, putting millions of dollers taken from an alredy dominated industry and putting it into an alredy oversaturated busness your not taken serisuly in is very confusing.
It’s better in every conceivable way. That reverse launch and last 120, is so bonkers. And you literally get yeeted from your seat 420 feet up. Then whipped hard through that twist.
I really hope to ride this... Ive gone to CP every year since 95. Every time, TT was down hard all day. Ive gotten to queue 3 times totaling about 8 hours, but I only have ever gotten to ride it once.
Every new roller coaster is prone to downtime as they work the kinks out. Maybe you weren't aware of that? For that reason I would never plan a big, expensive trip that would feel like a failure if I missed out on that one ride. The chances of a new coaster being out of service are way too high.
Really sad that I went when it was closed, I gladly would have waited 3 hours to get on it, but I probably won’t be back at Cedar Point for a good few years. But it makes sense, better to disappoint people than to have them get hurt.
If they don't make the wheels smaller like the original Dragster, the coaster will still have issues especially with the train going side to side already. Maybe the train needs to sit closer to the track to help with the wind friction. Didn't the old Dragster have a wheel cool down system?
I absolutely loved my one lonely ride on TT2. I'm ok with the locker thing, I honestly expected it. I feel like it's easier to put it away early, because that getting back into the line with the lockers on Steve is just really a hassle. I just have to think of the olden days when I didn't have a cell phone and I had to entertain myself in the line in any other way besides looking at a screen
Yea… and it’s aluminum. Which isn’t known to be the strongest metal. I obviously don’t know what is going on with the trains but I find it interesting and I wish I knew what failed on these trains.
From what I've heard, it's the wheels that are having issues. Supposedly, cracks were found in the wheel assemblies and the wheels are now going through a redesign
I really hope they change the loose article policy in some way, if that isn't able to be changed then they shouldn't be charging for lockers and should add them at the end of the queue. Second, the Fast Lane Plus needs to change next season. I am hoping that this is a single season thing...
That should really be standard if they're gonna be sticklers about loose articles. X2 at SFMM has lockers at the station and was built over 20 years ago, and they're not even mandatory.
OG TTD for sure best part was that launch. TT2 the best part is the drop after clearing the top hat. I was in row 8. Right after the top hat I was thrown from my seat and my butt didn't touch the seat again til after the spiral. It felt like I was going to fall out of the train. It was amazing feeling, scary but super intense.
I was very fortunate to ride it opening day as well as passholder preview. Its a massive improvement over the OG And if this is a massive success, i bet Kingda Ka is next,
Not only was it Zamperlas first ever Strata Coaster, it even was only their 6th coaster over 100 ft and their highest coaster till the opening of TT2 was a Chinese Zamperla Thunderbolt with a height of a staggering.... 117 ft (36 m)
I have never been to the US but thought about it for a while. I can't take vacation longer than 1 week at my job so If I take that vacation and if I fly over, then only one park will be possible. It does seem like Cedar Point is the correct choice. If you could only visit one park, which one would it be?
I rode first row, on my first ride, but it was amazing. Going up the tophat and twisting up and then going over the top, that spiral is also insane. I didn’t feel a shake at all tbh. I never experienced ttd but I’m glad I didn’t cause 120 mph is scary
I live in Ohio and my hometown is 30 minutes away and I am coming home this weekend and planned on going to cp but unfortunately it’s closed for an extended period of time so idk when I’m going to get on it. I understand the issues it’s having but it’s very frustrating for people who planned to go ride it soon after it opened
Still not thrilled about the name (even *"Top Thrill Formula"* - TTF - would have been better), but awesome video breaking down the modifications and pros & cons of front vs. back seats. It's tempting to speculate what could have happened if Intamin handled the overhaul. But Cedar Point doesn't really need another coaster with a punchy launch and insane ejector air. TT2 is more GP-friendly than SteVe and Mav, and that's critical considering how expensive Dragster's been over 18 years. And hopefully the money CP saves with this overhaul goes toward a large family thrill coaster like Big Bear Mountain. Would be awesome if they can combine the Corkscrew and former dorm sites for this. And now that Cedar Fair's consolidated their Intamin assets, hopefully they'll be willing to work with RMC again to install a Wild Moose or three. If the Montezooma overhaul at Knott's had been canceled, I'd think a Zamperla Double Heart would be an ideal replacement. But hopefully Carowinds will get one to replace their Boomerang at some point, and it'll be wild if Zamperla's building Canada's Wonderland's new coaster. Excited to see how CF continues to work with Zamperla and Vekoma going forward!
Im no engineer bht if i had to guess, the aluminum is not helping. Seems like all new ride trains are shuffling these days. Are they made out of lighter materials? Subway cars are made out of steel. Yes, they are heavier because of that. If you want a faster acceleration on an lsm you probably want a lighter, aluminum, train. However, if you switch subway cars to aluminum, as DC did one time, accidental collisions can lead to the vehicles crushing like a soda can which is more likely to be lethal. Curious if there are any parallels here in the amusement industry, if steel is going to be replaced by aluminum or if it will stand the test of time
I can’t get over how good all the footage looks in recent videos. Did you guys change cameras or lenses? Love the slow motion and the ultra long lenses used to get up close. Edit: 1 thing I thought while watching, you sure you can’t weld aluminum if it might crack? Definitely better to have the chassis cut out of a solid block of aluminum, but I’m very curious how maintenance will look for these new trains we’ve seen in past years from several manufacturers.
So glad you are enjoying the videos! We upgraded cameras back in August, so anything we've shot since then should look pretty awesome. As for welding aluminum, I was told by people who do this for a living you can't do it. But it is also not my speciality so maybe there's a solution that the teams at Zamperla have come up with that solves the problem.
Aah ok. Definitely also not my specialty. I thought welding aluminum as a metal itself wasn’t impossible. But wether that is also the case for full aluminum train chassis, might be a whole different thing. Yes you can definitely see the increase in quality. I watch TH-cam on my TV and I love seeing all the details, the nice depth of field and the contrast. And your shots are really creative too. Makes me realize how photogenic rollercoasters actually are!
I feel like the high praise for a coaster that doesn't even work anymore after just a week is a little premature. At this point this might as well be the downfall of Zamperla's aspirations as a 'big' manufacturer given the current reliability. And a coaster that is down all the time is certainly not a 9 of 10, it's letting 9 out of 10 people down .
@@JamesBurdon-gu5yu Currently there is no way to definitely say that. We're still talking about a huge system with many parts. Fixing one part doesn't mean there isn't a problem with another part that appears after maybe this time a month of uptime. So at this point we could still be looking at a coaster that may or may not be open at any time like the old one. When the old one started we had hoped, too that all those problems could be fixed at some point and we all know how that ended up.
@@KorbinianMuc They are already running tests with the axed blacked car. You are correct we can't, but we can with high certainty acertain it will be running next season. There is less parts in this system than the last one... No catch cable or movable fins. What it came down to was the cars being unable to handle things but there is concrete observations about what went wrong with the trains. I do however understand your perspective, and it's not wrong per say on the ride but to claim Zamperlas aspiration are over is nonesense.
@@KorbinianMuc I think you are also missing that Intamins original coasters where all down for longer, much longer and they where also running far less throughout the day than Zamperlas ride, so i think you are being unreasonable prosecutory.
@@JamesBurdon-gu5yu I did not say Zamperla's aspirations are over, just that it's a very possible option for them to be if they don't manage to get this ride running reliably. Because yes on paper it should be better in terms of reliability than the old one but then this already applied to the version that is SBNO right now. So I still think this is a make or break situation for Zamperla's big rides. If this one ends up breaking down as often as the first version I can't see any other park betting on them for another makeover. Because as of now even with the model that should be simpler on paper they weren't able to prove that they are able to build and maintain a bigger ride than their usual portfolio. We could still face a situation where something else wears down way too quickly and we see another extended closure after a few months.
@@KorbinianMuc It's important to remember, that Zamperlas coaster division does not exist due to it's success with coasters, but rather it's stronghold and absolute domination in flat rides which gives them the financial ability to have a try at coasters, they didn't get here due to money from coasters (I don't even like Zamperla flat rides in all honesty but they have been successful). Therefore I doubt they are in trouble in way shape or form. I respect you disagree I just think your perspective is missing some context on Zamperla, but I agree with many things you have said such as premature praise I am sorry for my childish original comment, but just like parks didn't give up on Inatamin when they failed I dont see why they would instantly give up on zamperla.
Crazy seeing this being there the last two days visiting from Florida. I honestly couldn't stop staring at that spike the first day I was there. Knew it wouldnt be open when i got there, such a bummer, havent seen trains without wheels before 😂😂 weird to see all the trains on the transfer track with no way of moving because they had no wheels on them 😂😂
I still think about the woman who suffered such a traumatic injury in 2021. I wonder how she feels about them reopening the ride. Not that it’s any of my business nor does it really matter. Hope she’s recovered 😢
I'm sure she's pretty happy with her undisclosed ammount of money she got in the settlement. She made a recovery, but supposedly not to 100%. She said she can't do the job she was doing before the accident in an article about the lawsuit. So she's at least able to work, just not whatever it was she was doing before.
In my uneducated opinion, I think this is a make or break type situation for Zamperla. This could kill the company or guarantee its success. With the scale of this project, I don't think Zamperla could recover from TT2 being a failure
I love how Taylor and Ryan both focus on the wheels when talking about the problem without actually saying wheels
It's actually likely the wheel chassis. Not the "wheels" themselves. Which makes more sense.
I was there yesterday and can comfirm that the wheel assemblies were missing from all of the trains.
Yep there today and silver train was off the launch track with wheel assemblies missing.
Was hoping Ryan was right and they would reopen this week. Maybe they try to get through Memorial Day and coastermania weekend with the old assemblies, but seems a bit doubtful with them totally removed at the moment
@jimmccay I was hoping the other Ryan (the ride mechanic) was wrong...not looking too promising at this point...
It probably has something to do with the shimmy as to why they are wearing faster than expected. With wear patterns now visible in the parts, it'll give a better idea and understanding of what could be causing the issue and find a fix. I work on cars for a living. Tires develop wear patterns when something in the suspension isn't right for the vehicle. Helps with diagnosing an issue related to those patterns. So that is most likely what they are doing with the wheel chassis'.
hahahahaa loving the shout out to Ryan! 😂
@@NickIggler1969 damn i wish
👏👏
He nailed that pause.
Absolutely! I laughed out loud. I thought he was going to do the entire 'block zone' spiel, which would also have been hilarious! :D
17:26 That ElToroRyan bit got a good laugh out of me! Haha. Awesome video as always!
LOL yeah that was funny (since ElToroRyan has explained block-zones like a million times now)
11:33 *That Seagull got dared by its friends to do that*
Almost pulverized bird.
Looking for Fabio.
😂
💀💀
It’s already having problems - it’s a perfect successor! 💀
don't worry, it will re-open in three years from now under the name TT3
@@Patibens If not, this will be the rarest credit ever haha
@@andyg4929 ring-racer would like a word, haha
Taylor I want to thank you for including metric measurements in these videos!
Regarding the LSMs, a while back I remember doing the math and determining that Red Force's LSMs were sufficiently powerful enough for use on TTD if they used the entire length of the launch track. But the amount of power that would need to be pumped into the entire system would be comparable to the defunct Batman and Robin: The Chiller so it would be an electrical engineer's nightmare.
interesting! I could see how that could be a bit overkill...
Station Wait did a video on this and I'm in the minority but I wish they just kept to just one powerful launch regardless. Plus there's LSMs that reach similar accelerations like ISpeed and Junker.
Yeah. The station would probably be part of the launch track too.
@@randomdefender1532junker uses a rolling launch and a really light train compared to the lightnings
@@antonytsai6611 more reason to have stuck with lighter trains than the lightning
Zamperla knocked this out of the park! A lot of people are jumping too fast to conclusions with them with the ride being down. If it's a wheel issue, then it will be back up soon. Millennium Force back when it opened had wheel issues to, and Magnum had issues when it opened in 1989, so this isn't new for Cedar Point to have issues when a ride opens!
Yeah I mean track record of the company and prototypes is not on their side so it isn't outrageous to get scared when it's already down for a while
The problem may be that the wheels are a symptom of a larger problem with the bottom of the coasters which would be a longer fix to redesign and refabricate them.
@@chasebingamanIt still was up longer than the original ride in 2003! 🤷♂️ The pessimism lately from the coaster community has been ridiculous!
This aged horribly
It truly is out of the park now 🤣
BABY IM READY TO CLOSE
Fr
This was Zamperla's leap of faith into being competitive in the coaster market. Glad to see them get a win with this ambitious project.
It was an L for Zamperla
😬😬
This didn’t age well.
Bot
@@Cadensfunworld glad you identified yourself as a bot, so we can ignore you.
@@shivtim what do you mean
@CadensBotWorld
@@JamesBurdon-gu5yu💀
17:29 After watching every Problematic Roller Coasters video, I was thinking watching a Coaster Studios video would get me a break from the block zones 😅
"Can't you read the sign?! It's CLOSED!". Great review as usual!
The moose out front should’ve told you.
@@bohottieyea the moose out front should a told ya!
@@michaelwoody24Doesn’t break down like the moose, they’re refurbishing the trains to make it safer. Unlike the park’s most mechanical nightmare coaster, Wild Mouse.
As someone who will probably not ride TT2 for a number of years, I still feel bad for those who have gone to the park recently to see TT2 closed
That was my Mother’s Day 😢 Took my 9 year old for his first ever trip to CP. He rode everything and it was a blast. But TT2 was closed. We had no warning before we got there either.
I feel more sorry for those who wanted to ride the OG TTD but never got to ☹
@@randomdefender1532I actually went last year so I never rode the original
Just went this past weekend :(
@@cratcliff8820 thank god we didnt end up going, since we were going to for mothers day as well. My brother got sick so we couldn't go, but the plan was to ride the new top thrill 2. Sucks we didnt go but im kinda glad we didnt
Thanks for highlighting the fact that the third launch is very similar to the feeling of the original. The fact that it can hold a candle to it just confirms this is an overall better ride
The spikes on Impulses and Mr Freeze are the best spikes, I think a big part of it that makes those stand out is that they seem to have more vertical straight track and a smaller and tighter pullout that offers stronger positive Gs rather than something like Pantheon where the pullout is much bigger. But the long amount of straight track you see straight down makes it noticeably scarier because it makes you feel a lot higher and you fall vertically for a longer amount of time.
We weren't expecting much when we got on it honestly. But it BLEW US AWAY!! One of the craziest rides we have been on to date! Although the downtime is frustrating, once they get all the bugs worked out it'll end up being in most people's top 10!
That's probably what people said about the original.
They never did get the bugs sorted out.
@@me-myself-i787that’s certainly not true or I would not have gotten over 100 rides on it 😂
9 rides so far. It's a 10/10. Actually was on some of the trains in these videos. It's so good and the airtime and spiral are so intense. The spike lasts so long. I don't know if it isn't my number 1 overall, but I can say for sure that Cedar Point now has my top 2.
I don't think I've ever been to Cedar Point where Dragster didn't breakdown at least once each day I was there.
Went in 2017 and 2020 and didn't ride, not worth the trouble imo
I hope whats wrong with it doesnt involve them needing to slow it down over the tophat. The ejector air over that is the best part of the ride.
The stall and ejector air and general sense of speed look so perfect. Love that theres one straight spike and a spiral for variety
Sooooo happy they didn't do a spiral spike. Never was a fan of the spiral drop, takes away from the view
Top thrill 2 is a high quality attraction and is definitely better than I expected but the fact that some people have it over Maverick and Vengeance is just insane to me
i hope they have future plans for the queue, compared to the rest of the new area it is absolutely depressing, but i also remember seeing them install the switchbacks and roofs dangerously close to opening day so that couldve had a factor
Rode TT2 the day before closure. 3 1/2 hour wait, in what is honestly the most exhausting and boring queue I’ve ever experienced. Could’ve added some tvs or something lol. Luckily my group entertained ourselves. The ride was still worth the wait. TT2 is an absolute beast of a ride.
Crazy rode it the same day, several times...never waited more than 20 minutes..
@@joshfreund6008 Did you have fastlane?
Yes, of course ..just reinforces how worth it it was to save 3 hours/ride
@@joshfreund6008 definitely true! Every time I visit the park I get fastlane but my group wasn’t willing to purchase it with me. Hopefully the lines made them change their mind for the future😂
I think this is zamperlas last time for cedar point after this
WHY DOES IT HAVE TO BE DOWN RIGHT BEFORE I GO😭😭
I was sad that I never got to ride Dragster, considering the one hydraulic launch I've ridden was unbelievable (albeit small) but now I see how much Zamperla has knocked this thing outta the park! I'm going to Cedar Point next year and am stoked to be riding this awesome coaster.
The launch was strong.....but the ride time too short.
.. love this much more and next year I'm headed to try the new tt2
I actually got the chance to talk to the creative lead for TT2 a couple months ago, and of course I asked about the F1 theme. He said that they did briefly consider a licensing deal with F1, but decided against it for a couple of reasons. For one, they still see F1 as more of a European sport that wouldn't resonate as much with Americans (despite the success of Netflix's Drive to Survive series, which they directly cited as an inspiration), so they wanted to lean a bit more towards an Indycar-oriented theme that would be more recognizable to more audiences. Also, they said that with IP licensing deals, demands by the IP holder can severely limit the creative freedom that Cedar Fair has in designing the ride.
So in other words, they absolutely could've done a deal for the rights to an F1 theme, but decided it was best to do their own thing instead.
makes sense!
VERY good to know about the strict policy on loose items. IMO it’s totally fair given the ride’s speed, height and history.
Also the ride queue experience is often overlooked. I wish CP had more budget space to spruce them up. Maverick at least has atmosphere and theming on point. Also can’t imagine waiting 3 hours for a ride unless you’re going to the park multiple days.
Update, it did not pay off
Coaster Studios, Subscribed because your videos always make me smile!
Got my first and only ride on May 1st. That reverse launch is insane.
Interesting how in the slow-mo shot of the train cresting the top hat at 12:54, the road wheels of the front car stop spinning before hitting the last red section of track. Curious how much force that is putting on the front car's up-stop wheels.
That might be the issue with the trains because they might’ve made no modifications due to force estimates from the old dragster
17:00 I could see them adding something to the queue line like posters as you were saying (I have a feeling that they ran out of time to get creative with the queue line)
Doing some rough estimates with kinetic/potential energy (assumes the 74/120 mph measurements are at 20 feet up, 101 mph at 10 feet, the center car cresting the top hat at ~10 mph, and a proportional loss of energy across all 3 launch->max heights), I get the center car reaching ~295 feet on the spike and ~173 feet after the first launch. The loss of energy is not really going to be proportional across all three launches, so the real first/second max heights are going to be a little bit higher.
A homerun??? NOT!!!
It's been closed for weeks now.
I think there are upsides to having higher seats with the g force of the spin and clearing the top, but oh my how much more unstable that felt than the original and for me it felt that way throughout the entire ride. I'd take the lower seats just for the smoothness and stability. The final two launches definitely top the original launch and feel more consistent.
The higher seats are the reason it’s currently closed lol
I got the chance to ride Top Thrill 2 on Media Day, and man I prefer this version to the original Dragster. The LSM launches in my opinion were still punchy, and I got to ride in the very back and the very front. From what I have experienced in the back row, the back car got up to roughly 375ft up the vertical spike, which it was insane to be TALLER than the Power Tower.
It’s an excellent ride, I think part of the shake that we all feel is partially due to the fact that the ride is going over track 3x as much and slower for part of it.
As you said it feels the same on the third launch.
It also felt the third launch kicks in closer to where the original launch started.
Glad to hear you having a positive opinion of the downtime. Alot of time new rides suffer issues in their first year, especially as a prototype. Heck, I remember with the original Dragster it was barely open its first year with the train issues, and look at it's legacy now!
I can't wait to check it out, just feel like I may have to skip the Point this year if it's enthusiast and GP hype makes the park as busy as I suspect. Honestly surprised seeing that shot of the line was ONLY 3 hours-fully expecting this would be the only thing I do the entire day if I went!
This past weekend kingda ka was actually behaving itself very well. It was never down for more than an hour straight while we were there.
7:23 this is why I watch coaster studios, Taylor knew that the single piece of aluminium could be an issue if it cracks, I love going through older coaster studios videos and seeing Taylor predicting the future
I rode it opening weekend (and said hi to Taylor and Sarah). The silver train had a bigger shake then the other two. It is one crazy ride though! As someone who has ridden Kingda Ka also, the spike and the backwards launch are what makes this ride what it is. And boy it whips over the top hat now!
I rode it on preview days and loved it. It’s better than the original in so many ways, but yes the launch was obviously the better part of the original. I agree. They should make the first launch a little more so you can go up higher on the top hat. The no loose articles need changed. Similar to something like steel vengeance. Overall agree it’s great and Zamperla did a fantastic job. HOWEVER, this issue they found is worrisome. And without the transparency of not knowing what’s going on I fear is a more serious issue with the train and something that may require a whole new train design. We haven’t heard much since the closure and I worry it’s because it’s more serious with regards to the structural integrity of how this new train was constructed or designed. We’ll see I guess. Great content as always!
for those of you who are unfamiliar a block zone is
11:53 - look at that track swaying... 😬
I rode it on May 6th. Its a fantastic ride. It blew me away. You couldnt have described the ride experience any better. Hopefully it opens back up sooner than later. So much better than Dragster.
In my dozen or so trips to The Pointe during the Dragster Era it had downtime most of the days but always came back up and I never didn’t get in 3 or 4 rides minimum. The worst days I had were Halloweekend Saturdays when there were 80 billion people and fast lane was an hour plus wait. I was living a charmed life apparently because it is evident from all of the thoosie rhetoric that this ride’s downtime was not represented by the random days I was there. For this I am grateful.
2:15
Did that boy just slap the girls gyatt?????
It's an incredible ride, and I'm glad we got to experience it on opening day. Surprised we didn't see you and Sarah out and about, but it was quite busy!
Finally the perfect review and summary I've been waiting for on Top Thrill 2
While cedar point was ready to go Zamperla was not ready to go
Mr Freeze was awesome when it went backwards
It never will be as good or as intense as the original but it is better than tearing it down completely.
I never rode TT because of the wait time to ride duration ratio. (When my nieces and sons rode it right before the shutdown, my wife and I rode Corkscrew, Gemini, and the Mine Ride--all before the kids even boarded TT by the time we returned.) When we go back this year, it will be on my list.
I rode it twice during previews. Is TT2 better then the original? I think it's significantly better. The original TTD had essentially 2 elements: the launch, and the trip over the tophat. On TT2, the trip over the tophat is way better. For the rest, you have the first launch and semi-rollback, the backwards launch and spike, and the third launch for TT2 vs the launch for TTD. As much as I liked the TTD launch, the sum of TT2 elements is quite a bit better. Honestly just the backwards launch and the spike might be enough for me, but the rest just puts it over the top. I have it as my #2 at Cedar Point, where TTD was either my 3 or 4, flip-flopping with Millie.
16:25 I think Cedar Point's greatest weakness is its queue lines. For a park that is as popular and busy as Cedar Point I think they really need to do significantly better when it comes to queues. If you are going to spend anywhere from 5 to 10 hours of your day standing in a line the park should make a real effort to make that experience at least somewhat entertaining. TTD had a super boring queue though it was fun to watch the trains ascend and descend the top hat (when they'd actually do anything.) But the covering takes that away. And I get why the covering is there. But you've GOT to put something entertaining in there to replace that.
No one expects Disney or Universal queue lines. That's not what Cedar Point is trying to accomplish. But they to do need something to keep people entertained. I've always thought they should find ways to include vistas of the lake throughout the park. I mean, it's right there. And people would enjoy looking out at the water when I line isn't moving. But they barely include any of that. Or they could add posters, fact sheets, jokes, thematic elements, memorabilia....etc. Heck, they could just show clips of old Peanuts cartoons. But give us SOMETHING besides boring switchbacks.
I do love Cedar Point but this is their biggest failure.
With CP being my home park I disagree completely saying TT2 is more reliable than TTD. Apart from the ride being closed indefinitely for poor engineering at this moment, the ride breaks 10 times a day and while yes for 20-30 minutes but with Dragster it only broke a few times a day as well and for usually even less time. People always said Dragster was unreliable usually because it took way longer to get it up and running and sometimes could go down a few days at a time.
Fair enough, but new coasters always have issues. See what you think by the end of this season.
I went to Cedar point the last three years. Unfortunately all three years top thrill dragster was down because it was right after the accident. I’m going back on June 8th for my bachelor party so I’m praying somehow TT2 opens, but not keeping my hopes up for that. But dang man going on for years I’ve been dying to ride this last ride to scratch off my coaster bucket list!
My biggest confusion with zamperla is why not stick to flat rides? why move from an industry that they have nearly a monoply over in the us to something with tons of compotition. Its confusing to me
Ye it's really confusing expanding to new markets and getting more revenue
@@Spiritwonder420 ya, putting millions of dollers taken from an alredy dominated industry and putting it into an alredy oversaturated busness your not taken serisuly in is very confusing.
@@GoesByJ comments like yours prove the education system needs an overhaul.
Sorry folks, rides closed. The sign out front should’ve told ya.
It’s better in every conceivable way. That reverse launch and last 120, is so bonkers. And you literally get yeeted from your seat 420 feet up. Then whipped hard through that twist.
I really hope to ride this... Ive gone to CP every year since 95. Every time, TT was down hard all day. Ive gotten to queue 3 times totaling about 8 hours, but I only have ever gotten to ride it once.
Planned my 2nd ever CP trip this year for this ride.
Good to know the ride I came for, that I don't get to ride, is a good one...
Every new roller coaster is prone to downtime as they work the kinks out. Maybe you weren't aware of that? For that reason I would never plan a big, expensive trip that would feel like a failure if I missed out on that one ride. The chances of a new coaster being out of service are way too high.
Thank god this channel gave this ride the credit it finally deserved. I knew it would never be as bad as people tried to claim
Really sad that I went when it was closed, I gladly would have waited 3 hours to get on it, but I probably won’t be back at Cedar Point for a good few years. But it makes sense, better to disappoint people than to have them get hurt.
If they don't make the wheels smaller like the original Dragster, the coaster will still have issues especially with the train going side to side already. Maybe the train needs to sit closer to the track to help with the wind friction. Didn't the old Dragster have a wheel cool down system?
Do they still use "Ready to Go" in the queue line/station?
They do a remix in the plaza
I absolutely loved my one lonely ride on TT2.
I'm ok with the locker thing, I honestly expected it. I feel like it's easier to put it away early, because that getting back into the line with the lockers on Steve is just really a hassle. I just have to think of the olden days when I didn't have a cell phone and I had to entertain myself in the line in any other way besides looking at a screen
Does it rank in your top 25. If it does where does it place
Our preview day was May 2! We stayed for opening day on the 4th as well…wish we could’ve run into you guys!
Yea… and it’s aluminum. Which isn’t known to be the strongest metal. I obviously don’t know what is going on with the trains but I find it interesting and I wish I knew what failed on these trains.
From what I've heard, it's the wheels that are having issues. Supposedly, cracks were found in the wheel assemblies and the wheels are now going through a redesign
I really hope they change the loose article policy in some way, if that isn't able to be changed then they shouldn't be charging for lockers and should add them at the end of the queue. Second, the Fast Lane Plus needs to change next season. I am hoping that this is a single season thing...
That should really be standard if they're gonna be sticklers about loose articles. X2 at SFMM has lockers at the station and was built over 20 years ago, and they're not even mandatory.
The homerun turned into a strikeout
I literally said on the day that they announced TT2 that Zamperla would do an awesome job on it, despite people dissing on it.
Im so glad it turned out as good as we expected. Looking forward to going there and riding it for myself.
I wish they would’ve kept the fake engine sound from TTD when it takes off 😢.
OG TTD for sure best part was that launch. TT2 the best part is the drop after clearing the top hat. I was in row 8. Right after the top hat I was thrown from my seat and my butt didn't touch the seat again til after the spiral. It felt like I was going to fall out of the train. It was amazing feeling, scary but super intense.
I was very fortunate to ride it opening day as well as passholder preview. Its a massive improvement over the OG
And if this is a massive success, i bet Kingda Ka is next,
11:32 Fabio had a flashback right there. Not what I want to see crossing the track when going 120 MPH.
Not only was it Zamperlas first ever Strata Coaster, it even was only their 6th coaster over 100 ft and their highest coaster till the opening of TT2 was a Chinese Zamperla Thunderbolt with a height of a staggering.... 117 ft (36 m)
I have never been to the US but thought about it for a while.
I can't take vacation longer than 1 week at my job so If I take that vacation and if I fly over, then only one park will be possible.
It does seem like Cedar Point is the correct choice.
If you could only visit one park, which one would it be?
Cedar Point, but make sure this and Siren’s Curse will be open.
I rode first row, on my first ride, but it was amazing. Going up the tophat and twisting up and then going over the top, that spiral is also insane. I didn’t feel a shake at all tbh. I never experienced ttd but I’m glad I didn’t cause 120 mph is scary
Top Thrill Dragster: closes
Millennium Force: “Yes, I finally rule the park”
Top Thrill 2: “Think again”
Millennium Force: "Ha, i knew you couldnt hang, i reign once again"
Absolutely mental! Can’t wait to ride it
I live in Ohio and my hometown is 30 minutes away and I am coming home this weekend and planned on going to cp but unfortunately it’s closed for an extended period of time so idk when I’m going to get on it. I understand the issues it’s having but it’s very frustrating for people who planned to go ride it soon after it opened
Hyperia opens in 3 days, so excited
Still not thrilled about the name (even *"Top Thrill Formula"* - TTF - would have been better), but awesome video breaking down the modifications and pros & cons of front vs. back seats. It's tempting to speculate what could have happened if Intamin handled the overhaul. But Cedar Point doesn't really need another coaster with a punchy launch and insane ejector air. TT2 is more GP-friendly than SteVe and Mav, and that's critical considering how expensive Dragster's been over 18 years. And hopefully the money CP saves with this overhaul goes toward a large family thrill coaster like Big Bear Mountain. Would be awesome if they can combine the Corkscrew and former dorm sites for this.
And now that Cedar Fair's consolidated their Intamin assets, hopefully they'll be willing to work with RMC again to install a Wild Moose or three. If the Montezooma overhaul at Knott's had been canceled, I'd think a Zamperla Double Heart would be an ideal replacement. But hopefully Carowinds will get one to replace their Boomerang at some point, and it'll be wild if Zamperla's building Canada's Wonderland's new coaster. Excited to see how CF continues to work with Zamperla and Vekoma going forward!
Im no engineer bht if i had to guess, the aluminum is not helping. Seems like all new ride trains are shuffling these days. Are they made out of lighter materials?
Subway cars are made out of steel. Yes, they are heavier because of that. If you want a faster acceleration on an lsm you probably want a lighter, aluminum, train. However, if you switch subway cars to aluminum, as DC did one time, accidental collisions can lead to the vehicles crushing like a soda can which is more likely to be lethal. Curious if there are any parallels here in the amusement industry, if steel is going to be replaced by aluminum or if it will stand the test of time
The trains are definitely lighter than the previous. Interesting comparison!
great review, will we see you guys at thorpe park for Hyperia this year?
Hey I’m of going to CP this year on June 5th Tuesday. Does anyone have a guess to if it will be super busy bc if so I may wait
2:02 Cedar Point did ask Intamin to submit a bid for TT2 but Zamperla was able to undercut them by a curiously small margin.
I can’t get over how good all the footage looks in recent videos. Did you guys change cameras or lenses? Love the slow motion and the ultra long lenses used to get up close.
Edit: 1 thing I thought while watching, you sure you can’t weld aluminum if it might crack? Definitely better to have the chassis cut out of a solid block of aluminum, but I’m very curious how maintenance will look for these new trains we’ve seen in past years from several manufacturers.
So glad you are enjoying the videos! We upgraded cameras back in August, so anything we've shot since then should look pretty awesome.
As for welding aluminum, I was told by people who do this for a living you can't do it. But it is also not my speciality so maybe there's a solution that the teams at Zamperla have come up with that solves the problem.
Aah ok. Definitely also not my specialty. I thought welding aluminum as a metal itself wasn’t impossible. But wether that is also the case for full aluminum train chassis, might be a whole different thing.
Yes you can definitely see the increase in quality. I watch TH-cam on my TV and I love seeing all the details, the nice depth of field and the contrast. And your shots are really creative too. Makes me realize how photogenic rollercoasters actually are!
I feel like the high praise for a coaster that doesn't even work anymore after just a week is a little premature. At this point this might as well be the downfall of Zamperla's aspirations as a 'big' manufacturer given the current reliability. And a coaster that is down all the time is certainly not a 9 of 10, it's letting 9 out of 10 people down .
@@JamesBurdon-gu5yu Currently there is no way to definitely say that. We're still talking about a huge system with many parts. Fixing one part doesn't mean there isn't a problem with another part that appears after maybe this time a month of uptime. So at this point we could still be looking at a coaster that may or may not be open at any time like the old one. When the old one started we had hoped, too that all those problems could be fixed at some point and we all know how that ended up.
@@KorbinianMuc They are already running tests with the axed blacked car. You are correct we can't, but we can with high certainty acertain it will be running next season. There is less parts in this system than the last one... No catch cable or movable fins. What it came down to was the cars being unable to handle things but there is concrete observations about what went wrong with the trains. I do however understand your perspective, and it's not wrong per say on the ride but to claim Zamperlas aspiration are over is nonesense.
@@KorbinianMuc I think you are also missing that Intamins original coasters where all down for longer, much longer and they where also running far less throughout the day than Zamperlas ride, so i think you are being unreasonable prosecutory.
@@JamesBurdon-gu5yu I did not say Zamperla's aspirations are over, just that it's a very possible option for them to be if they don't manage to get this ride running reliably. Because yes on paper it should be better in terms of reliability than the old one but then this already applied to the version that is SBNO right now. So I still think this is a make or break situation for Zamperla's big rides. If this one ends up breaking down as often as the first version I can't see any other park betting on them for another makeover. Because as of now even with the model that should be simpler on paper they weren't able to prove that they are able to build and maintain a bigger ride than their usual portfolio. We could still face a situation where something else wears down way too quickly and we see another extended closure after a few months.
@@KorbinianMuc It's important to remember, that Zamperlas coaster division does not exist due to it's success with coasters, but rather it's stronghold and absolute domination in flat rides which gives them the financial ability to have a try at coasters, they didn't get here due to money from coasters (I don't even like Zamperla flat rides in all honesty but they have been successful). Therefore I doubt they are in trouble in way shape or form. I respect you disagree I just think your perspective is missing some context on Zamperla, but I agree with many things you have said such as premature praise I am sorry for my childish original comment, but just like parks didn't give up on Inatamin when they failed I dont see why they would instantly give up on zamperla.
Crazy seeing this being there the last two days visiting from Florida. I honestly couldn't stop staring at that spike the first day I was there. Knew it wouldnt be open when i got there, such a bummer, havent seen trains without wheels before 😂😂 weird to see all the trains on the transfer track with no way of moving because they had no wheels on them 😂😂
I still think about the woman who suffered such a traumatic injury in 2021. I wonder how she feels about them reopening the ride. Not that it’s any of my business nor does it really matter. Hope she’s recovered 😢
It was an accident.
@@nancyfarkas3592 I didn’t say it wasn’t, Nancy 😭
I'm sure she's pretty happy with her undisclosed ammount of money she got in the settlement. She made a recovery, but supposedly not to 100%. She said she can't do the job she was doing before the accident in an article about the lawsuit. So she's at least able to work, just not whatever it was she was doing before.
Awesome Review Taylor
In my uneducated opinion, I think this is a make or break type situation for Zamperla. This could kill the company or guarantee its success. With the scale of this project, I don't think Zamperla could recover from TT2 being a failure
AWSOME RIDE CP is a 5 minute drive for me so I’ve ridden this many times and it’s amazing
And agreed on CP not feeling the same without it! They were sorely missing it
Also, love the snippets of Zamperlas prototypes at the end. Hope we see those soon