Top Thrill Dragster
2003-2021
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Top Thrill Dragster opened in May 2003 as the first roller coaster in the world over 400 feet. Top Thrill Dragster would give guests an amazing experience they couldn't get elsewhere.
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The 1990's were a huge expansion era for Cedar Point. 1993 saw the addition of Snake River Falls. In 1994 Raptor was the first major project to transform the Main Midway in 30 years. In 1996 riders would stand up to their fear on Mantis. Soak City was expanded in 1997. Riders would be blasted on the world's tallest drop tower in 1998 on Power Tower. In 1999 Camp Snoopy became the park's family friendly area. Millennium Force opened in 2000 as the world's tallest roller coaster. In 2002 Cedar Point added Wicked Twister. With the success of all these attractions, Cedar Point would add something big in 2003!
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When Millennium Force opened up in May 2000, Cedar Point was very pleased with how the ride was running. It was very popular from the start. Cedar Point then asked the ride manufacturer about taking the ride to the next level and going taller and faster.
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At the end of the 2001 season, Cedar Point decided it was time to removed Dodgem 1 from the park. At that time the building was sent to Michigan's Adventure and the Cars were swapped out in Cedar Point's other Dodgem!
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When Cedar Point opened in May 2002, the former Dodgem area had a construction fence with signs posted '' Cedar Point is building for the future.".
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Durning the entire summer construction crews worked on filling in huge sections of the lagoons. The lagoons were dug in 1905 to help control the parks mosquito problem.
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On Sunday, October 27, 2002, Schwabinchen would give its last ride after 32 years of operating at Cedar Point. The ride opened in 1970 on the Million Dollar Midway and was relocated near Kiddy Kingdom in 1985.
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The ride was removed from Cedar Point and sold to Strikers Grove, a small private amusement park in Ohio. The ride was moved to Strikers Grove but it was never put together and never ran again.
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With Chaos and Troika out of the way the construction site would start to get bigger. The construction site would now stretch from near Camp Snoopy to all the way to the lagoon that houses Iron Dragon's helix.
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Later on during the summer the new ride would start to become vertical. Guest would be able to see the ride grow over the fence. Cedar Point would still remain silent on what they were adding. Cedar Point kept the ride a secret because the ride was getting so much buzz. No other ride at that point in time had ever had so much publicity before it was announced.
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The ride wold continue to get higher and higher. It eventually seemed to get taller than Millennium Force.
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It soon became clear that the new ride would be an extremely large roller coaster.
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The new ride was truly a marvel for the park to build.
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On January 9, 2003, Cedar Point announced it was building Top Thrill Dragster, the world's tallest and fastest roller coaster. The ride would be 420 feet tall and reach speeds of 120 MPH! Top Thrill Dragster would be Cedar Point's 4th roller coaster to be the world's tallest!
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Cedar Point wold spend the rest of the winter getting Top Thrill Dragster ready to open for the 2003 season.
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After 3 years of planning, and over a year of construction, Top Thrill Dragster would finally open to the public on May 4, 2003.
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Top Thrill Dragster was located on the Corkscrew Midway. The ride would take the entire left side of the midway.
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Top Thrill Dragster Ride Facts:
Opened: May 4, 2003 Height: 420 feet Drop: 400 feet Speed: 120 MPH Hills: 1 Inversions: 0 Type: Strata Coaster Designer: Werner Stengel Company: Intamin AG of Switzerland Capacity: 1,000/HR Number of Coaster at that time: 16 Cost:25 Million Closed: August 15, 2021 |
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When Top Thrill Dragster opened it was the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world. It was the first roller coaster in the world to be over 400 feet. Top Thrill Dragster would be the tallest and fastest roller coaster on earth until Six Flags Great Adventure opened Kingda Ka opened on May 21, 2005.
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Top Thrill Dragster had a ton of downtime when the ride first opened. In the first couple of years of operation, the ride was down more than it was up because Cedar Point was still learning how to run the ride. The ride still goes down a lot, but not as much as it used to.
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Creating a Thrill
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Top Thrill Dragster featured a hydraulic cable launch system. In 2003, Top Thrill Dragster was one of the first roller coasters in the world to use this system.
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The huge hydraulic system used energy that had been stored to pull the catch cable that pulls the train at speeds of 120 MPH!
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Ride Experience
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Riders wanting to experience Top Thrill Dragster entered the ride by going thru the rides racing themed entrance plaza to get to the line.
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The line for the ride was located on the inside the track and led up to the station. While waiting in line guests could watch the other riders ride the ride. The average wait time was 45 minutes, but could often be 1.5-2 hours.
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Inside the racing-themed station, riders entered one of 6 trains. Each train had its own color.
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Riders then pulled out of the station and waited on the launch track as the cable ran down the launch track and connected to the train.
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When the light tree flashed green Top Thrill Dragster launched its riders at speeds of 120 MPH in 3.8 seconds! The launch was very intense and riders were pushed back in their seats.
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At the end of the launch pad, the train then used its energy to climb 420 feet at a 90-degree angle into the sky on the world's second tallest roller coaster!
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On the way up the tower, the train did a 90-degree clockwise turn to the right. The turn happened really fast.
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As the train got closer to the top it would lose energy and slow down.
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When the train got to the top it was not going very fast. The train then crested the hill and would head back down at a 90-degree angle.
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Top Thrill Dragster then dropped it's riders 420 feet to the ground at a 90-degree angle. On the way down the ride reached speeds of 120 MPH for the second time.
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On the way down the drop, riders were twisted 270 degrees so that the train can dive back towards the ground!
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Top Thrill Dragster's drop was really cool. At 400 feet it was the longest drop in the park.
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The train then cruised under the finish line and headed into the break run. In total, Top Thrill Dragster was a 17-second ride!
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Riders exited Top Thrill Dragster thru the winner's circle and the photo booth.
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Shattering World Records
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When Top Thrill Dragster opened, it broke many records for Cedar Point.
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Top Thrill Dragster Records:
-World's tallest roller coaster. -World's fastest roller coaster. -World's longest drop on a roller. coaster. -First roller coaster over 400 feet. -Most rides in one park (68) -Most roller coasters in one park (16) |
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Top Thrill Dragster's Impact On The Roller Coaster Capital Of The World!!!
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The riders that had the chance to ride Top Thrill Dragster loved it! In the first few years, the ride would constantly break down.
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Over the years Top Thrill Dragster became more reliable and the ride became a fan favorite!
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Top Thrill Dragster was a huge ride for any amusement park. It gave Cedar Point more records and another ride that was of world class standards. The racing theme helped make the ride feel really cool!
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In the years following the opening of Top Thrill Dragster Cedar Point opened a number of attractions that would help make the parks line-up better including 7 roller coasters: maXair (2005), Skyhawk (2006), Maverick (2007), Planet Snoopy (2008), Shoot The Rapids (2010-2015), WindSeeker (2011), Dinosaur's Alive (2012-2018), GateKeeper (2013), Pipe Scream (2014), Wilderness Run (2014), Rougarou (2015), Valravn (2016), Cedar Point Shores Waterpark (2017), Steel Vengeance (2018), Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island (2019), and Cedar Point's 150th Anniversary Celebration (2021). All of these new attractions have brought something unique to Cedar Point.
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Top Thrill Dragster was a very popular addition to Cedar Point. It gave guests another reason to scream on the parks amazing lineup of rides and attractions.
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Top Thrill Dragster was a very unique one of a kind attraction.
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On August 15, 2021, Top Thrill Dragster experienced an unfortunate ride accident that would cause the ride to close for the rest of the 2021 season.
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In March 2022 Cedar Point announced Top Thrill Dragster would be closed for the entire 2022 season.
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On Tuesday, September 6, 2022, Cedar Point announced that Top Thrill Dragster as we knew it had been retired. The park also stated that they were working on reimagining the ride.
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When the park reopened on Friday, September 9, 2022, all of Top Thrill Dragster was behind a construction fence.
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Cedar Point would use the good weather they had during Halloweekends to take ride sections down.
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On January 9, 2023, Cedar Point announced they were creating a new formula for thrills for 2024.
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Rumors would run wild as to what Cedar Point was doing with Top Thrill Dragster all thru the 2023 season.
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When Cedar Point opened for the 2023 season the ride was still behind a fence and in pieces.
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When Cedar Point opened for the 2023 season it was no tested that the park had built new footers in the Iron Dragon pond. This pond is located directly behind Top Thrill Dragster's station and unloading station.
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On July 11, 2023, Cedar Point tweeted on Twitter that they had started to put the ride back together. It was also reviewed that they had started to paint the supports grey and the track white.
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In late July 2023 Cedar Point would paint the ground and put signs on the fence to help tease the new ride experience to guests.
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On August 1, 2023 Cedar Point announced that Top Thrill Dragster would be upgraded to become Top Thrill 2 for the 2024 season.
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On August 1, 2023, Cedar Point started to build the spike.
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During the fall Cedar Point would continue to build the spike.
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Baynum Painting worked on painting the ride as the construction crew worked on building the other side of the ride. Painting a 420 foot tall roller coaster is no easy task.
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The ride would begin to tower over the park as the ride became higher and higher.
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By the time Cedar Point closed for the the 2023 season, the spike was about 200 feet tall.
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Top Thrill 2 was topped off on Sunday, December 3, 2023.
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On Saturday, December 9, 2023, Cedar Point started testing Top Thrill 2. This is the first time a roller coaster has ever run at Cedar Point in December.
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Photos by: Jake Hamons, COASTER-net, Russ Hauden and Cedar Point.
Last Updated: 12/16/2023
