After the original was shuttered due to a failure that wounded a waiting guest, an Ohio amusement park is bringing back a refurbished replica of what was once the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster.
According to park officials, the ‘Top Thrill 2’ will launch riders 420 feet into the air before plunging backward and forward at 120mph. It will open next year at Cleveland’s Cedar Point.
The attraction, themed to Top Fuel drag racing and classified as a ‘triple-launch’ coaster, will also include a launch track styled like a dragstrip, with straightaway speeds that will astonish even the most seasoned enthusiasts.
Apart from its speed, park officials claim that the ride will be the second tallest ‘strata roller coaster’—one over 400 feet—after only Six Flags’ Kingda Ka, which launched in 2005 and tops out at 456 feet. The Ka also outperforms the Thrill in terms of speed. However, the new attraction is still expected to be the fastest among all triple launch coasters and the third-fastest overall, according to park CEO Carrie Boldman.
Reimagined And Ready To Thrill: Top Thrill 2 Returns To Cedar Point’s Skyline In 2024
Credit: Cedar Point
‘Top Thrill 2 will be the boldest and most innovative roller coaster Cedar Point has ever launched,’ said the Cleveland park’s vice president and general manager of the anticipated attraction, which is set to open in 2024.
‘It’s another one-of-a-kind that could only be created at Cedar Point,’ said Boldman of the ride, whose 420-foot predecessor was frequently named one of the world’s finest steel coasters in leading amusement park journals. In 2021, a tourist was severely hurt by a metal bracket while waiting in line outside the coaster, and the park’s hitherto unblemished image suffered.
The ride was shuttered and later reopened with the revised experience, while the woman, a 46-year-old from Michigan, filed a negligence lawsuit against the park. Her action, filed two weeks ago, alleges she will require medical support for the rest of her life due to the bracket falling from the ride, and estimates the treatment costs to be more than $10 million. Cedar Point made a statement announcing the ride’s replacement days after the suit claimed that amount in damages.
The park stated that a different manufacturer would work on the modified version but would retain much of the original’s architecture, including the 420-foot tower that stood as the tallest in the world for over a decade.
Credit: Cedar Point
Boldman and other park organisers stated the attraction would have two more launches—hence the ‘triple launch’ moniker—and a second 420-foot tower. Along with the announcement, park officials provided a virtual rendition of the yet-to-be-released ride, demonstrating how riders will be thrust into the sky at breakneck speeds up the original 420-foot-tall ‘top hat’ tower before dropping back down, in reverse, after failing to traverse the first 420-foot tower.
Officials estimate that the coaster’s top speed will be 101 mph. The attraction then launches again, with enough force to traverse the tower, before speeding forward to its third launch, up the second tower at the ride’s top speed of 120mph.
According to a park statement outlining the upcoming ride’s track-like trajectory, riders would cross over the tower before decelerating briefly before plummeting into a 270-degree spiral and crossing the finish line.
Credit: Cedar Point
Boldman said that the planned attraction will “put our stamp on the [roller coaster] industry… as we redefine the strata coaster into a mega-thrill that our guests will travel long distances to experience.” According to organisers, the ride’s top speed will only be surpassed by the Kingda mentioned above, Ka, and the 171-foot-tall Formula Rossa at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi.
The statement comes after park management vowed for more than a year that a new experience would replace the original Top Thrill Dragster for the 2024 season after the park lost its headline attraction in 2021 due to an incident in August.
Rachel Hawes, 44, was standing in line to ride the coaster built in 2003 by Swiss-based rollercoaster maker Intamin when she was struck by a random object, which was later identified as a proximity flag plate from the ride. After the apparent mishap, the Swartz Creek resident is seen on CCTV being attended to by park officials before being taken off to a hospital with an apparent head injury.
Credit: Cedar Point
Dawes stated in a July 12 lawsuit filed in the Erie County Common Pleas Courthouse in Ohio that he received multiple significant injuries from the falling bracket, including permanent head trauma that resulted in a traumatic brain injury (TBI).
She claims the incident caused a brain haemorrhage and hematoma, a head fracture, and a cerebral laceration that caused her to lose consciousness for more than 24 hours. Hawes said she piled up a medical bill of over $2 million after being hit by the fallen metal object, with future expenditures projected to exceed $10 million.
The lawsuit argues that “the Cedar Park defendants were negligent in failing to protect individuals, such as Rachel Hawes, from being injured from parts, debris, and/or objects falling from Defendant’s rides” and wants a monetary award.
Credit: SWN
The incident is one of two ride-related injuries at Ohio Park in recent months. A season-pass holder who used to work at the park was diagnosed with a concussion last week after claiming he was hit by a loose iPhone while riding the park’s Maverick roller coaster on July 22—only days after Hawes filed suit. ‘I had blood streaming down my face, and I felt a little woozy,’ said David Carter, a paramedic in his twenties, to the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Carter, who also posted about his injury on social media, claimed that the phone flew out of the pocket of a youngster travelling ahead of him on the coaster. The boy’s mother also lost her phone during the ride when it went into the water below. He has yet to file his case but has photographed the alleged harm he incurred due to the incident. According to officials, Top Thrill 2 is scheduled to open in 2024.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn