The Thrill is (temporarily) gone
Cedar Point’s new coaster is making a pit stop
About a week after it officially opened, Top Thrill 2 is “experiencing an extended closure” according to Cedar Point. Yeesh.
The Ohio park says that Zamperla, the manufacturer that handled the makeover of the former Top Thrill Dragster, is making mechanical modifications to the ride’s trains. In a statement on its Web site, Cedar Point adds that there is no anticipated reopening date for the coaster and that “we share your disappointment that we are not able to operate it.”
I got to give Top Thrill 2 a whirl a few weeks back, and, as I indicated in a review I posted, I thought it was phenomenal. It offers a wildly aggressive, over-the-top ride experience that, in my estimation, improves upon the ride it replaces.
The closure is troubling for a number of reasons. Since its debut in 2003, adrenaline junkies made the trek to Cedar Point so that they could board Top Thrill Dragster, one of the world’s tallest and fastest roller coasters. But, they often found the ride shuttered. The hydraulic launch that catapulted it from 0 to 120 mph and sent it soaring up and over a 420-foot top hat tower was balky, and caused a lot of downtime. By replacing the hydraulic launch with more reliable magnetic LSM launch motors, the hope was that Top Thrill 2 would operate more consistently. That makes the ride’s shutdown so soon after reopening especially dismaying.
Following an unfortunate incident in which a guest waiting in the ride’s queue was injured, Cedar Point closed Top Thrill Dragster altogether in 2021. After a long absence, fans were eager to tackle the coaster’s iconic tower once again.
The problem appears to be not with the launch system, but with the ride’s Lightning trains. Top Thrill 2 represents the first coaster to use Zamperla’s prototype ride vehicles. With their enormous aluminum road wheels, the trains are designed to accommodate the considerable heat that is generated as they cycle through the ride’s three launches and crazy-fast speeds. After a week of real-world application, apparently the new trains require some tweaking. The Italian ride manufacturer has expanded its coaster division, and Top Thrill 2 gave the company an opportunity to shine a massive spotlight on its new capabilities and the direction in which it hopes to move. Surely, the closure has to be a huge disappointment for Zamperla as well.
Perhaps there really is no way to determine the length of time it will take to rectify the undisclosed issue and modify the trains. An “extended closure” could be a few days, I suppose. Or it could be considerably longer. Here is hoping that it will be closer to the former and not the latter and that Zamperla can satisfactorily resolve the issue. Top Thrill 2 is an incredible achievement, and the coaster manufacturer and park should be taking a victory lap instead of making a pit stop. Long-suffering Cedar Point fans will just have to wait (a little?) longer to experience its thrills.
Were you planning to ride Top Thrill 2 this season? Are you disappointed that it is closed?
This is spot on. I enjoyed the ride tremendously. But as you noted, new attractions — particularly ones of huge proportions — sometimes have teething pains (I shun from saying "bugs to work out"). This should be huge for Zamperla if the turnaround is relatively quick and not too late in the season. The gift shop and apparel on guests already indicates a massive hit. The launch seems to be more reliable; now if all the other components cooperate. Fingers crossed.
It's annoying for sure, especially if you already have a trip planned to Cedar Point early this season. CP won't appreciate me saying this, but my #ProTip for giving yourself the best chance to ride a new, record breaking, intense roller coaster is to go later in the season. Steel Vengeance had similar issues and took many months if not years to fix its operational problems.