Top Thrill Dragster


Top Thrill Dragster is a steel accelerator roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the sixteenth roller coaster to be built at the park since Blue Streak in 1964. It opened in 2003 as the tallest roller coaster in the world and the first full-circuit roller coaster to exceed in height. Its height record was later surpassed by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005. Top Thrill Dragster, along with Kingda Ka, are the only strata coasters in existence. It was the second hydraulically launched roller coaster built by Intamin, following Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm. The tagline for Top Thrill Dragster is "Race for the Sky".

History

Planning for Top Thrill Dragster began around the time Millennium Force opened in 2000. Concrete footers were poured during the 2001–2002 offseason and were covered prior to the 2002 operating season to keep them hidden. To construct the roller coaster, the park had to use a crane, one of only four in the United States. Vertical construction by Martin & Vleminckx began in the fall of 2002, months before the announcement. By October 2002, the roller coaster had reached. The ride was announced on January 9, 2003 and the structure, built by Intamin's subcontractor Stakotra, was finished shortly after. It is tied with Millennium Force for being the two largest investments in Cedar Point history. The announcement revealed the park's goal to build "the tallest and fastest roller coaster on earth", reaching and accelerating up to in 4 seconds. On March 10, 2003, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company filed a trademark for the name "Top Thrill Dragster".
Top Thrill Dragster's media day was held on May 1, 2003, and it officially opened to the public several days later on May 4. It became the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, overtaking the height record from Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land, built three years earlier, and the speed record from Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland, which opened in late 2001. It lost both records to Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in May 2005. Intamin designed both Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster, and the two share a similar design and layout that differs primarily by theme and an additional hill featured on Kingda Ka.
Shortly after it opened, a faulty valve on the hydraulic system made it nonoperational during the 2003 annual enthusiasts' event, CoasterMania. The ride experienced frequent downtime during the first couple of seasons. Several problems such as continued issues with the hydraulic system and launch cable caused the ride to repeatedly close. For opening weekend 2017, Cedar Point temporarily renamed the ride "Top Thrill Cubster" after losing a World Series wager to Six Flags Great America.
In the 2020 season, following the COVID-19 pandemic, timed boarding passes are in effect named "Access Passes" to comply with social distancing guidelines.

Ride experience

Layout

After leaving the station, the train enters the launch area. To the left of the launch area is a "Christmas tree" light, similar to those employed at the starting line of a drag strip. A brief message is played to the riders to: "keep arms down, head back, and hold on." Once the train is prepared to launch, a motor revving sound effect is played and its magnetic braking fins are lowered from the launch track. It then launches, accelerating to a speed of in 3.8 seconds. Shortly after reaching its maximum velocity, the catch car disengages, and the train begins its ascent up a 90-degree incline, twisting 90 degrees clockwise before climbing over the top hat. Upon descending, the track twists 270 degrees before leveling out, allowing the train to be stopped by the magnetic brakes.

Station, theme, and trains

The roller coaster is themed to Top Fuel drag racing, a category of motor racing that involves the world's fastest accelerating cars. An actual Top Fuel dragster weighs approximately one ton, while each train on the coaster weighs 15 tons. Originally, the design called for five cars on each train, but when the ride first opened, there were only four. A fifth car was added to each by midseason. Each dragster-themed train was also decorated with a spoiler, a set of tires, and an engine at the rear of each train, but these were removed after the fifth car was added to allow an extra row of seats to take their place.

Rollbacks

Occasionally, a train is launched without sufficient speed to reach the top of the tower and rolls back onto the launch track, hence the term "rollback". This typically happens in cool, wet, or breezy weather, or when the wind is working against it. The launch track is equipped with retractable magnetic braking fins which are raised after each launch in order to slow the train down in case it does not reach the top of the tower.
On very rare occasions, a combination of the weight distribution of the train, the force of the launch, and the wind can stall a train on the top of the tower. When this happens, a mechanic takes the elevator to the top and pushes the train down the hill.

World records

When Top Thrill Dragster debuted, it set four new records:
It became the fastest roller coaster in the world with a maximum speed of. It was the fourth roller coaster to exceed, preceded by Tower of Terror II at Dreamworld, at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland. Dodonpa held the record previously with a top speed of. Top Thrill Dragster also broke the height record, standing at, which was previously held by Superman: Escape from Krypton at. Kingda Ka opened two years later at Six Flags Great Adventure and broke both of Top Thrill Dragster's records, boasting a height of and a top speed of. The speed record was again broken in 2010 by Formula Rossa at Ferrari World, which reaches a maximum speed of.
, Top Thrill Dragster has the second tallest height, the third fastest speed, and the second-highest drop among steel roller coasters in the world.

Incidents

On July 14, 2004, four people were struck by flying debris while riding the coaster. Reports indicated that a metal cable frayed during launch, shearing off shards of metal that struck the riders. The injuries were mainly arm abrasions, with one passenger experiencing cuts to the face. They were treated at the park's first aid station, and two later sought further medical attention.
On August 7, 2016, two people were treated for minor injuries when the launch cable detached from the ride. The ride was closed for the following day while the park and Ohio state officials investigated the incident.
In September 2017, a report with photos surfaced that the braking system on the launch side of the track may have been damaged, causing the ride to close indefinitely. Cedar Point did not acknowledge the incident and stated the closure was for maintenance reasons.
In August 2019, the ride was closed for almost 3 weeks due to problems with the launch motor. It opened back to the public on Saturday, August 24.

Awards

Records