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Top Thrill 2 Media Day!
Kerney-cation was invited to Cedar Point’s Media Day announcement for Top Thrill 2 on August 1st, 2023! We arrived to the park at about 6 AM and entered through the magnum gate near the back of the park.
After we entered, we saw the new signs for Top Thrill 2 on the construction walls!
During the media event we got the chance to interview Tony Clark from Cedar Point and Adam Sandy from Zamperla!
Adam was very excited to talk about the new technology going into Top Thrill 2, including the Zamperla lightning train and Linear asynchronous Motors (LSMs). The previous attraction, Top Thrill Dragster used a Hydraulic launch instead of LSMs. The Hydraulic launch would launch riders to 120 MPH in one pass, while the LSMs will launch the trains 74 MPHs forwards, 101 MPH backwards, and finally 120 MPH forwards a second time to get over the top hat.
Tony was excited to talk about the new name for the attraction, but they are still working on some of the specifics around the attraction, such as fast lane usage, early entry participation, and an exact opening date. They are currently targeting 2024 for the attraction to open, and did not say if it will be ready on opening day.
After the interviews, we were allowed to go behind the wall to take a look at the construction site!
Cedar Point has merchandise available now at the Speed Zone shop and a couple of designs online. I really like the grey shirt and hoodie the most!
Once the interviews concluded, we got a chance to sign the first support for the new vertical spike! Kerney-cation was able to sign it and we walked over to the Iron Dragon to watch them set the first three supports!
ICYMI: The Current Timeline from Top Thrill Dragster to Top Thrill 2
In case you missed it, Top Thrill Dragster, the first Strata coaster to boast a height of over 400 feet, had a part fall off one of the trains during operation in August 2021 and struck a guest in line. Since that time, Top Thrill Dragster has been closed. The ride did not open in the 2022 or 2023 season. Near the end of the 2022 season on September 6th, Cedar Point announced that the Top Thrill dragster would be closed and retired as we knew it, and that they were hard at work on a re-theme.
Once the re theme was announced, cedar point released a holiday video with hints about the new attraction including #CP24PHP : https://youtu.be/-H-r7XuJfpY .
After stirring up some interest, Cedar Point released another teaser video on YouTube in Early January 2023 .
Fast forward to August 1st 2023, Cedar Point announced that the Top Thrill dragster was being reimagined by Zamperla to Top Thrill 2 .
Top Thrill 2 Details
Top Thrill 2 is the first triple launch strata coaster. Instead of one big launch to 120 mph over the 420 foot top hat, riders will be launched forward at 74 MPH using a new technology, LSMs. The train will not make it over the first hill but will first roll back to be launched again up to 101 mph up the new 420 foot spike being constructed near Iron Dragon. Riders will then be launched a third time to 120 MPH to make it over the top hat.
This new swing launch will be the first of its kind on a strata coaster. We are excited for this new attraction to open in 2024!
