When the closure was first announced, I was thinking the wheels. But after watching your video, I realize I was way off base and it’s obviously something else.
I´m honestly surprised that TT2 operated without a Showstopper as long as it did. Parts of it are a Prototype any Zamperla never did anything even close to this scale before. And I agree that Zamperla will most likely fix the issue, even if it takes 2 or 3 weeks to get it done.
Zamperla will get it right, but it’s just going to take some time unfortunately. They did a great job when designing this ride to be reliable and efficient. The dispatch intervals on TT2 are super impressive.
@@TylerEaves The key words are reliable and efficient. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for a new ride design, especially a large one, to have a wheel issue. You don’t have to travel too far from TT2 to run into another example of that..
I luckily got to ride it the Friday before it closed. It's absolutely nuts and the positive g's going backwards are stupid, I think I almost greyed out on that section.
I think you mean "looking forward, then backward, and forward again' to riding this once said part is modified". All of that motion must be 'tiring' to the coaster.
Intamin has already developed and tested trains for their launch coasters that actually work. We could have gotten the same ride but actually open if Cedar Fair would drop their stupid grudge against them. Intamin now is very different than early 2000s Intamin.
100%. I sure wish Cedar Point would have let Intamin rework TT2. Look at Kingda Ka, Pantheon, Formula Rossa, and Red Force. These are all proven rides. Intamin is way better now than they were back then.
To give Zamperla so credit, wheels are one the things that require a lot of trial and error. They are hard to test until the coaster is in full operation, and the ride is cycled continuously. Both B&M and Intamin have to fine tool the right tires and formula to grip the track properly, but not melt. I think I305 in particular was known for melting its tires for awhile.
Yeah I 305 did have issues with that and I thought Millennium Force did too. On i-305 at least they used to I don't know if they still do they had water coolers in the station that would spray down the wheels to kind of cool them off.
@@AttractionSpotI definitely saw the water sprayers last summer on I305. Didn’t see them turned on in Spring of this year tho so the wheels were probably not hot enough to need it.
The amount of hatred being hurled at Zamperla's direction because of this closure is kinda overkill. Where was all this vitriol towards RMC and Intamin when SteVe's trains crashed in the station? Or when they had to rip Maverick's heartline roll out (sounds gory out of context lol)? Or when Shoot the Rapids almost drowned a bunch of people? These new rides always have teething issues of some kind when they first open, some more serious than others. To be fair, TT2's almost flawless opening was a bit too good to be true, considering how reliably it had operated before now, and how proactively they managed to diagnose this new issue before something more serious could happen. Ultimately, Zamperla seems to be handling this like champs, and once this issue is out of the way, there's a solid chance this reimagining can still end up being a net positive for the park. Frick you, doubters, I'm fully rooting for the underdog here. FORZA ZAMPERLA!
The difference is those are ALL rides that were original designs NOT previously loved and adored rides that are being unbelievably molested. The whole entire point of TTD from the start was the launch. Without that insane launch. It’s an incredibly boring ride. Sure it’s tall, but that’s literally all it has without the launch.
@@brandoncrimmins6296From every review I have seen of the ride, even by those who seriously doubted Zamperla, they did a great job and are OK with the original launch being gone. Many have even said they prefer TT2 to the original.
@@SnowghostFilms Yes, because Cedar Point TOTALLY wants people to bash it, right? And more importantly. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. For me. It’s a total flop. I’ll just go to the cesspool of America for King Da Ka instead. *Edit* For the record… I don’t give a flying duck fart who built the ride. It could’ve been built by Jasper and Freb from the hills of Tennessee for all I care. I have absolutely nothing against Zamperla. My problem is with Cedar Point’s shameless use of the name instead of just building a new ride.
As someone who goes to Kennywood twice a week and looks at steel curtain, I'm an S&S hater because they've made so many problematic rides and can't even make a hyper correctly. Dododonpa, hypersonic, screaming squirrel, several flat rides, etc
The ride was amazing! I hope they get it right and I have full faith they will. I really hope people get a chance to ride it soon cuz it’s worth the wait
@@haqqrasheed3115the lockers aren’t free for the ride. I don’t know how much they are, but pretty crappy of them to charge people for a locker for a ride you’re probably only going to ride once. They are also insanely strict on loose articles, they will not let you on if you have any on you (they even have metal detectors set up). So you basically have no choice but to either pay for a locker, have someone who’s not riding it hold your stuff, or just not go on at all
@@haqqrasheed3115 if the ride is open all loose articles must be placed in a locker or non rider before you enter the que. There's metal detectors at the entrance to the ride to enforce this policy. Lockers are in the same location as before with the original ride. The lockers are not free.
I've heard there's a problem with the seats. I've also heard there's a problem with the wheels. It's all speculation though. I do think the wheels make the most sense because a lot of new roller coasters go through growing pains with the wheels being eaten up too fast
I mean it’s basically doing 100+ mph for more than double the amount of time ttd was. & then straight into the next dispatch. They need wheels that can handle the summer heat + going that fast all day
I expected this to happen, as a maintenance mechanic myself whenever there is a “new” design in the industry there’s always gonna be an issue that wasn’t expected in the engineering stage. Some things your not gonna tell if it’s flawed Intill it runs a bit. I’m sure they’ll get it fixed eventually.
Exactly, there are just some things you won't ba ble to notice until it is running full capacity with the wear and tear of daily operation. I'm sure they were monitoring and inspecting everything more closely the normal since it is new so this was likely caught before there was any real danger to the riders.
@@baileyneedham169 UGH! I was watching it test all day yeasterday hooping it was open. We got TT2 9x on opening weekend so I wasn't bummed too much for us, but really felt bad for all the peeps coming for it. Spent the day getting some laps on SV, Magnum, and Maverick and doing some of the other rides that we try to hit 1 or 2x each season. Still had a good day but was a bummer that TT2 was down. Will have to get on gemini a few times in the next week or two.
If it's the part you're alluding to, it's not uncommon. Millie and I-305 had the same issues. And when you've got a train pulling 5+ Gs at 120 miles an hour, I can see how that part could potentially have a ton of issues with reliability since they're making their world debut.
I'm a huge Intamin fan and for the longest time I was ratting out Zamperla for "taking away the Intamin" from TTD. However, Zamperla actually made this ride pretty good so good job to them! I'm no longer going to be cold towards Zamperla. I mean, this is a new ride and a prototype. Intamin never gets their prototypes right, and I guess Zamperla doesn't either. But they will fix this issue with the wheels and get the ride up and running!!
Hopefully it’s just the wheels. I was concerned when the trains were revealed to be made of aluminum, which I can only presume is of one of the higher strength grades. My concern is with the fasteners being used on the trains. As an industrial maintenance technician I frequently see failures in aluminum bolt holes where steel bolts were used. Steel fasteners, if excessively torqued, will cause aluminum threads to fail. Corrosion between dissimilar metals is also a concern if the correct steel alloy is not used.
This is the first deployment of the Lightning trains and reality is no amount of simulation is the real world. Zamperla and CP have been monitoring everything closely and likely found excessive wear. It likely could have allowed the trains to keep running but there is no reason to run any risk. Update the trains, test them, and then let it run for years. It happens but Zamperla and CP are operating under an abundance of caution.
Man, glad i got to ride it when i did, and hopefully it’s back up soon. It really is an absolutely unique experience and my brain to this day really still couldnt comprehend what happened. I only got to ride it once so some moments of the ride are blacked out, think that shows how good it is lol
RMC, S&S, and most other not as well established (as so as B&M or Intamin) build prototype track in-house on their property to test trains and stuff for this type of stuff. Zamperla was like "Yeah we'll figure this out as we go". CP even name dropped them to so the people upset would go blame Zamperla's social media instead of CP's💀😭
I was hoping with this re-imagining and reliability improvements they would be able to re-add the giant dragster wheels and wing on the back, so it would look like a top fuel car again from its early days. I’m excited to ride this new iteration someday, as I loved riding the first version.
It's to be expected, honestly, they probably knew the part in question may be the weak link but needed more data like getting run to the public. Probably nipping a future catastrophe now rather than later.
@@brandoncrimmins6296 Engineering and manufacturing practice may have become very efficient, but they aren't that efficient. Especially not June efficient if it is a "new" problem. If it were a new problem, ride would be closed a year or more.
@@The_LaughingHyena We have no idea how long it’s gonna be down. That is the definition of “indefinitely”. But YOU said it was probably something they already knew about. And if that were true. First of all that is grounds for one of the most lucrative lawsuits of all time. But also… They have a heavily upgraded part already designed to fix it. This is definitely an unexpected issue. I congratulate them for getting on it so quick. But also acknowledge both the irony and hilarity of the fact that it was open less than a week and is already closed indefinitely.
I think the new trains look very delicate. In principle there is nothing wrong with it, because less weight means less energy consumption and less strain on the drive and other components. But the trains should of course be able to withstand the loads that occur over the long term. This seems to be the problem. Let's hope that Zamperla can solve the problem without massively increasing the weight of the trains. Otherwise, other components such as the LAM drive would also have to be realigned to the higher weight, which would require additional time and money.
I’m thinking the high positive G loads, especially on the reverse ascent into the vertical spike, were putting more compressive load on the treads than they could handle. The treads became crushed and the loss of tread thickness accounts for a vertical rattle due to resulting play between the running wheels and upstops that would appear as riders’ reports of increasing roughness over time. They’re having to replace the treads with ones made out of a more durable material, but they need to carefully account for the resulting change in rolling resistance between the wheels and the rails and recalibrate the induction motors. That’s a software change, but it still requires testing to get it right and make sure it’s working.
I'm glad I hit it one of the preview days, so I didn't have to deal with this. The one caveat of being local. Did take some pictures though. not much video
Last Monday (5/6) I was able to grab a pair of laps (both in the middle). My first ride was on the blue train and when we hit the top speed the train had a very noticeable vibration (something was a bit off). After close we got on the grey train and it didn't have any vibrations. Great ride, can't wait until it re-opens. I wasn't a big fan of TTD, but I do really love this ride!! Simply put it is fun as hell!!!
Those who remember correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the original Dragster have to shut down not too long after opening and didn't reopen until around July 4th in 2003? Hopefully we aren't witnessing history repeat itself as that would really hurt attendance as people are mainly coming this year to ride it.
I’m going this upcoming weekend, of course knowing TT2 won’t be open, but I’ll come back later in the year with my season pass whenever it opens back up!
I went on sunday hyped as heck to ride this coaster only to be met with the sign that says it's closed. Now I have to wait all the way until August to ride this coaster. Safe to say I was absolutely livid since I basically wasted my one trip to Cedar Point this summer. I hope this doesn't continue to be a issue until August, but i'm not exactly optimistic about dragster due to its reputation and the fact that this is an experimental coaster and the first time Zamperla has done anything of this scale.
The wheel doesn't leave the track, it does ride out of the groove for a second though. This probably isn't an issue as its just during the tighter curve of the transfer track. None of the other curves on the track are that tight. It may be interesting to see if a ware pattern emerges, but we probably wont know even if it does considering how often the wheels are replaced.
Wheels .... In case you are wondering. The wheels are not standing up to the tremendous forces put on the vehicle. They found cracking. Probably going to change the material the wheels are made out of.
I went on Friday just by sheer coincidence and got to ride it. Huge shock that it shut down the next day but so glad I got to try it out. It was incredible and definitely better than Top Thrill 1 was. It ran more efficiently as well, as others are saying. But I will say we noticed 2 things that stuck out as odd (and keep in mind my friends and I are nowhere near experts): (1) there looked to be a surprisingly large gap between the track sections at the interchange point i.e. where the track shifts from the station mode into the main straight track mode; it was large enough to the naked eye that I was surprised the wheels could handle going over it at the speed we were going. And (2) the train was very shaky especially at high speeds, in both directions. We felt like we were rattling back and forth (laterally) a lot more than expected and definitely more than the old version of the ride. It wasn't uncomfortable or painful like some jerky rides can be, it was just surprising and a little distracting, and some people would probably get pretty freaked out by it especially right at the bottom of the top hat going up (that's probably where I noticed it most). I wouldn't be surprised if that was the main symptom they're looking to address especially since they want the new ride to leave a good impression (and I assume a lack of smoothness would only get worse with time). Hope that helps!
Just makes me realize how lucky I was to ride it twice on the 10th for my first ever visit to Cedar Point. I hope they get it running soon. Can't imagine how I would've felt if I travelled from LA just to be met with this
In retrospect I’m glad that our trip this year that was supposed to be in Mid-July was delayed until next July. We moved it a year to see what this merger does, but now this on top of that.
This really shouldn’t be surprising. This is pretty uncharted territory so bumps in the road should be expected. That said, they probably made the wheel material too soft. With the slingshot and the speed, they are most likely not only wearing out too quickly, but wearing out unevenly.
Uncharted territory? Zamperla added a spike to a 20-year-old ride. Switch tracks and LSMs have been around for decades. Nothing uncharted about any of this.
The first version earned the name Top Thrill Dumpster for a reason - it was down for maintenance more than it was operational. Whether the new ride is different in that regards only time will tell. Even though they are billing this as 'typical new-ride issues', they have been testing this since December, which I assume included repetitive cycle testing over the course of multiple days. So that they are just now figuring out something is wrong with the trains is a little bit perplexing. You would have thought five months of testing would show indications that something was not kosher.
I’m supposed to be going June 3rd and 4th but may have to rearranged plans to go either end of June or middle of July if TT2 isn’t running. I’ll be making a 13 hour drive so there’s no way I’m going unless Top Thrill is operating.
@@fishels3895 Yes. I’ve already booked a hotel room, have a car rental set up, bought my cedar point tickets and fast lane plus passes online. I can move the dates if need be. My dates to be at Cedar Point are June 3rd and 4th but I’ll go at a later date if TT2 is still down. I hope Cedar Point can at least come out and say something within the next week or so about when they think this ride will be back open. People have made plans to go this summer for this ride and people need to at least know a timeframe on when this might be up and running again. What about you? You still planning on going?
The beginning of June is probably pretty doubtful but we're all hoping for the best!!! on another note all the airplane tickets I purchase are changeable until the day of travel, I would look into that
Cedar Point carries the most blame! They had time to make sure that this coaster was at tip top shape. Why didn’t they utilize the time? Who knows? Safety is of the utmost importance. It always has to be. Peace.
Here is the million dollar question, literally. How many riders will they lose compared to when it was operating normal? Obviously they don't have any riders every time it was shut down.
It will be back soon and it was amazing!!! My first ride was in the silver train back row left side and this is the way this ride must be ridden! I didn't notice any rattling or shaking and going over the tophat had so much ejector airtime. We dove right into the heartline which was so much more intense and I ended up slamming into the dude sitting next to me. Black train front row right side was another amazing ride, but since I wear contacts and didn't have any glasses with a strap, the wind really dried my eyes out! And that's not a complaint but a compliment to the ferocity of this ride! We all just need to be patient again and trust that this ride will be back with a Super Vengeance!
first of all, rides are usually a pain in the ass for a few months after they open and I was kind of surprised at how well everything went from the media event through opening weekend. I feel like Zamperla is going to do everything in their power to make this ride successful.
unfortunately could only go to this park on the 22-25 for memorial weekend so this is a big blow since I live in the Seattle area. guess ill have to look at 2026 for a revisit.
I use to love going to Cedar point and my favorite ride was the Dragster. But know that it’s gone because of an injury to a person standing in line to ride it, I am terrified to ride any amusement park rides now. They are too dangerous!
I wonder if this fix will do anything to improve the rattle - I didn't notice it much, but it was headache inducing for both my wife and my mom. Might be a good opportunity to address that as well at the same time, but maybe that's more likely to happen over the winter - I'm guessing their only concern right now is just getting it back open as soon as they can. I just hope they don't end up nerfing the ride...
I hope they fix the restraint check in the software so they do not need to be opened between the unload and load stations. It was not a bad ride, silver train was the best in my rides. I prefer the original, but this is a fun update. If you ride in the very front seat the third launch feels almost like the original, and the very back makes the spike a lot of fun.
Not surprised it’s (probably) the wheels, lots of fast coasters have teething problems with wheels. Testing can only find so many issues. Cycling the ride many times a day will find new issues that intermittent testing just can’t. My guess is that the compound of Polyurethane is wearing out quicker than expected due to the speed of the ride. And yeah, formulating a new compound that will do better might take a while, and it is entirely possible that they make a new compound, run the ride continuously for a few days, and find that it STILL doesn’t hold up. It’s a process, and it will take time, but I’m sure it will be open again this season.
Im so so so glad i rode it passholder preview on April 30th. I miss it and i hope it opens soon. Its so fun. And i felt so safe on it. Only rode blue train which i heard is the smoothest train
I saw it yesterday and thought the wheels might be an issue. I love how zamperla tried something new with wheels. I think intamin had an idea that would happen. Kudos to Zamperla for trying something new. My hope is that this will become a design positive for them later down the line. The best inventions and innovations have problems.
Just realized I got one of the last rides on it before it closed if it was closed all day on Saturday. I was on one of the last trains on Friday night 5/10. I remember seeing that the silver train was taken off the track at that point and they were only running two trains unlike earlier in the day. They closed the queue about 25 minutes before the park closing time apparently. People were waiting to get in line right before the park closed so that they could get a night ride but they didn't let them in. Probably just because the line was like an hour long still and they only had two trains running.
I am predicting smaller wheel diameter possibly to 18 inches to help avoid rattle. I heard some say that was noticeable also the large wheel diameter may had have stress from an observationbstand point
TT2 ‘broke down’ twice while i was there opening weekend, all it did was after its initial launch the LSM’s stopped making contact with the train or something because the trains would go straight about halfway to the first hill, then they’d have to reverse it backwards and launch it again. Happened twice and each time it happened it took like 20 mins to get back on track. It was Interesting i don’t know what it could’ve been.
😢😮 I really hope they fix it soon. I just hammered the date for my trip to CP probably June 3rd and or 4th. (Mon and tuesday) This ride was the whole point of going again (we went back in October 13th weekend during a virtual monsoon. Got good rides on sunday).
Anybody else notice cedar point learned their lesson last time and is already speaking zamperlas name loud and clear? 🤣🤣 Hell yeah homie scream that shit from the rooftops. Keep 'em on top of it
We're working on the rattle everyone is talking about. Lots of forces put on the wheels going over the tophat. We understand the disappointment, I've suggested myself to put the initial launch at 101 to kind of make up for the 4 weeks of downtime.
"I'm not going to say exactly what part it is"
**Very clear b-roll of the train's wheels**
Well played Ryan. Well played.
I came here to say something along these lines lol
I only just noticed that, very clever
Saw the same thing lol. I assumed it would be the wheels anyways.
Just have someone shoot over to "Discount Tire" and be done with it. Probably get a deal by buying in bulk!
I was going to make the exact same comment! We can always count on this dude to come through in the clutch
The extended downtime should “give them the time they needed” to correct the locker setup.
Doubtful, they'll probably do that during winter
@@incredirocks_ I could see either or
@@incredirocks_ They gotta make these maintenance costs back lol
The locker situation is not even an issue with everything else on this thing.
They can figure out a way to put in the small free lockers like SteVe has. They just want to make more money. 🙃
I love how you talk about “the part” and show video after video clip regarding the wheel but don’t state the actual part. Well done.
Real F1 cars use 3 sets of tires each race. Frequent wheel changes will just add to the theming.
😂
Underrated comment
😂😂😂
+1
When the closure was first announced, I was thinking the wheels. But after watching your video, I realize I was way off base and it’s obviously something else.
lol I think it was the paint color
I´m honestly surprised that TT2 operated without a Showstopper as long as it did. Parts of it are a Prototype any Zamperla never did anything even close to this scale before. And I agree that Zamperla will most likely fix the issue, even if it takes 2 or 3 weeks to get it done.
What is a Showstopper?
@@GMDasLied It's just a turn of phrase, meaning an issue that shuts the ride down.
Zamperla will get it right, but it’s just going to take some time unfortunately. They did a great job when designing this ride to be reliable and efficient. The dispatch intervals on TT2 are super impressive.
They obviously didn't do a great job since it's shut down for modifications a week after opening.
@@TylerEaves The key words are reliable and efficient. It’s not an uncommon occurrence for a new ride design, especially a large one, to have a wheel issue. You don’t have to travel too far from TT2 to run into another example of that..
@@TylerEaves Well, Voltron had, and probably still have few problems. I think that Is not a rare thing
If a great job = terrible unreliable launch, then sure.
@@GiacomoMasciadri but Voltron is not closed. It is running stable
I luckily got to ride it the Friday before it closed. It's absolutely nuts and the positive g's going backwards are stupid, I think I almost greyed out on that section.
Clever editing sir 🤓 looking forward to riding this once said part is modified
Unsaid part 😂
@@js384575took the words out of my mouth 😆
I think you mean "looking forward, then backward, and forward again' to riding this once said part is modified". All of that motion must be 'tiring' to the coaster.
Intamin has already developed and tested trains for their launch coasters that actually work. We could have gotten the same ride but actually open if Cedar Fair would drop their stupid grudge against them. Intamin now is very different than early 2000s Intamin.
100%. I sure wish Cedar Point would have let Intamin rework TT2. Look at Kingda Ka, Pantheon, Formula Rossa, and Red Force. These are all proven rides. Intamin is way better now than they were back then.
To give Zamperla so credit, wheels are one the things that require a lot of trial and error.
They are hard to test until the coaster is in full operation, and the ride is cycled continuously.
Both B&M and Intamin have to fine tool the right tires and formula to grip the track properly, but not melt. I think I305 in particular was known for melting its tires for awhile.
Yeah I 305 did have issues with that and I thought Millennium Force did too. On i-305 at least they used to I don't know if they still do they had water coolers in the station that would spray down the wheels to kind of cool them off.
@@AttractionSpotI definitely saw the water sprayers last summer on I305. Didn’t see them turned on in Spring of this year tho so the wheels were probably not hot enough to need it.
@@AttractionSpot Milly did have to have new wheels put on as they were being worn much faster than originally anticipated.
@@Miss_Phoenix_56 there was more wear then anticipated I heard. That's why it go rougher.
Any shot it’ll be open for mid June. Man oh man I can’t believe the year I book a trip this happens
Broke down after only a week. It's like having the old TTD back!
The amount of hatred being hurled at Zamperla's direction because of this closure is kinda overkill.
Where was all this vitriol towards RMC and Intamin when SteVe's trains crashed in the station? Or when they had to rip Maverick's heartline roll out (sounds gory out of context lol)? Or when Shoot the Rapids almost drowned a bunch of people?
These new rides always have teething issues of some kind when they first open, some more serious than others. To be fair, TT2's almost flawless opening was a bit too good to be true, considering how reliably it had operated before now, and how proactively they managed to diagnose this new issue before something more serious could happen.
Ultimately, Zamperla seems to be handling this like champs, and once this issue is out of the way, there's a solid chance this reimagining can still end up being a net positive for the park.
Frick you, doubters, I'm fully rooting for the underdog here. FORZA ZAMPERLA!
The difference is those are ALL rides that were original designs NOT previously loved and adored rides that are being unbelievably molested. The whole entire point of TTD from the start was the launch. Without that insane launch. It’s an incredibly boring ride. Sure it’s tall, but that’s literally all it has without the launch.
I remember tons of people clowning on Intamin for Maverick at the time. Cedar Fair also hasn't bought an Intamin in a decade. That speaks volumes.
@@brandoncrimmins6296From every review I have seen of the ride, even by those who seriously doubted Zamperla, they did a great job and are OK with the original launch being gone. Many have even said they prefer TT2 to the original.
@@SnowghostFilms Yes, because Cedar Point TOTALLY wants people to bash it, right? And more importantly. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions. For me. It’s a total flop. I’ll just go to the cesspool of America for King Da Ka instead.
*Edit* For the record… I don’t give a flying duck fart who built the ride. It could’ve been built by Jasper and Freb from the hills of Tennessee for all I care. I have absolutely nothing against Zamperla. My problem is with Cedar Point’s shameless use of the name instead of just building a new ride.
As someone who goes to Kennywood twice a week and looks at steel curtain, I'm an S&S hater because they've made so many problematic rides and can't even make a hyper correctly. Dododonpa, hypersonic, screaming squirrel, several flat rides, etc
Rip the associate exclusive ride event on the 29th
Ahhh sorry to hear. Hopefully it’s rescheduled!
Maybe ERT for coastermania too. Glad I rode it on media day, passholder preview, and a whole bunch of times opening weekend.
? I’m going to the park on the 29th, I had no idea this was happening
@@owenfouts2494damn bro that sucks. I doubt it’ll be open by then but hopefully I’m wrong.
@@Nsamity yeah I had no idea the exclusive event was happening too!
They’re bringing in Dollywood engineers to change the launches into lift hills.
😂😂😂😂
The ride was amazing! I hope they get it right and I have full faith they will. I really hope people get a chance to ride it soon cuz it’s worth the wait
I love the subtlety of not saying the information that you have heard to not spread rumors. Very nice touch.
This would also be a good opportunity to implement a better locker situation for TT2 than what's there currently
I'll be going in a few weeks what's up with the locker system?
@@haqqrasheed3115the lockers aren’t free for the ride. I don’t know how much they are, but pretty crappy of them to charge people for a locker for a ride you’re probably only going to ride once. They are also insanely strict on loose articles, they will not let you on if you have any on you (they even have metal detectors set up). So you basically have no choice but to either pay for a locker, have someone who’s not riding it hold your stuff, or just not go on at all
@@haqqrasheed3115 if the ride is open all loose articles must be placed in a locker or non rider before you enter the que. There's metal detectors at the entrance to the ride to enforce this policy. Lockers are in the same location as before with the original ride. The lockers are not free.
@@haqqrasheed3115 There are no free lockers, only paid ones, and a strict loose article policy enforced with metal detectors.
I've heard there's a problem with the seats. I've also heard there's a problem with the wheels. It's all speculation though. I do think the wheels make the most sense because a lot of new roller coasters go through growing pains with the wheels being eaten up too fast
yeah remember when ttd would melt the wheels to the track at some point
“Im not gonna say what part”
The video: “wheel, wheel, wheel, wheel, holy crap… it’s a wheel”
I mean it’s basically doing 100+ mph for more than double the amount of time ttd was. & then straight into the next dispatch. They need wheels that can handle the summer heat + going that fast all day
They did the right thing! They’re on top of it. It’s such an amazing coaster. Cracked my top 3
I've never been to CP while dragster was fully operational, but from what I saw on opening weekend, the cycle time for TT2 was pretty damn exceptional
Intamin is superior when it comes to Big boy rides
I expected this to happen, as a maintenance mechanic myself whenever there is a “new” design in the industry there’s always gonna be an issue that wasn’t expected in the engineering stage. Some things your not gonna tell if it’s flawed Intill it runs a bit. I’m sure they’ll get it fixed eventually.
Yeah it was bound to happen, this job was much more ambitious than anything they've done in the past
Exactly, there are just some things you won't ba ble to notice until it is running full capacity with the wear and tear of daily operation. I'm sure they were monitoring and inspecting everything more closely the normal since it is new so this was likely caught before there was any real danger to the riders.
But is Gemini open for the season yet
Just the red side
Opened today
@@baileyneedham169 UGH! I was watching it test all day yeasterday hooping it was open. We got TT2 9x on opening weekend so I wasn't bummed too much for us, but really felt bad for all the peeps coming for it. Spent the day getting some laps on SV, Magnum, and Maverick and doing some of the other rides that we try to hit 1 or 2x each season. Still had a good day but was a bummer that TT2 was down. Will have to get on gemini a few times in the next week or two.
Both sides open today
12 rides in, 9 on media day, including freezing cold temps, and this ride is a beast!
Greedy bastard!
If it's the part you're alluding to, it's not uncommon. Millie and I-305 had the same issues. And when you've got a train pulling 5+ Gs at 120 miles an hour, I can see how that part could potentially have a ton of issues with reliability since they're making their world debut.
I'm a huge Intamin fan and for the longest time I was ratting out Zamperla for "taking away the Intamin" from TTD. However, Zamperla actually made this ride pretty good so good job to them! I'm no longer going to be cold towards Zamperla.
I mean, this is a new ride and a prototype. Intamin never gets their prototypes right, and I guess Zamperla doesn't either. But they will fix this issue with the wheels and get the ride up and running!!
Hopefully it’s just the wheels. I was concerned when the trains were revealed to be made of aluminum, which I can only presume is of one of the higher strength grades. My concern is with the fasteners being used on the trains. As an industrial maintenance technician I frequently see failures in aluminum bolt holes where steel bolts were used. Steel fasteners, if excessively torqued, will cause aluminum threads to fail. Corrosion between dissimilar metals is also a concern if the correct steel alloy is not used.
Bro, you might never see this, but I love your videos
Best and most respectful analysis of this current issue. Nice job Ryan.
Got my ride in first weekend. Happy I was so eager to get there fast.
$1 says somethings are wearing in an unexpected pattern indicating a higher than expected load.
It most definitely doesn't have to do with the fact that the left side of the train has insane laterals down the drop compared to the right side...
@@christopherfinch-mccollum1753 I noticed that too. Haven't rode it but I have seen it in the POV's. Especially compared to Kingda Ka which I have
@@jaystarr6571what do you guys mean? How can that be fixed?
This is the first deployment of the Lightning trains and reality is no amount of simulation is the real world. Zamperla and CP have been monitoring everything closely and likely found excessive wear. It likely could have allowed the trains to keep running but there is no reason to run any risk. Update the trains, test them, and then let it run for years. It happens but Zamperla and CP are operating under an abundance of caution.
Top Thrill 2...Cedar Points second worst business decision ever made
Lmao
Got it opening weekend for this exact reason
I love how el Toro Ryan is straight to the point and I feel has enough insider info that I trust his reports good shit Ryan
Man, glad i got to ride it when i did, and hopefully it’s back up soon. It really is an absolutely unique experience and my brain to this day really still couldnt comprehend what happened. I only got to ride it once so some moments of the ride are blacked out, think that shows how good it is lol
Yeah, first couple times I ride was a blur. 3rd time was a lot more clear, still intense
In theory is never the same as in practice. Prototypes will be Prototypes
Almost skipped the preview event. Glad I made the time to ride. Now I don’t feel so bad about the downtime. But get well soon toppy.
This is an awsome ride! Got rides on preview days.
Ithonk it will reopen in June.
RMC, S&S, and most other not as well established (as so as B&M or Intamin) build prototype track in-house on their property to test trains and stuff for this type of stuff. Zamperla was like "Yeah we'll figure this out as we go". CP even name dropped them to so the people upset would go blame Zamperla's social media instead of CP's💀😭
I was hoping with this re-imagining and reliability improvements they would be able to re-add the giant dragster wheels and wing on the back, so it would look like a top fuel car again from its early days. I’m excited to ride this new iteration someday, as I loved riding the first version.
it's themed to F1 now basically. Dragster isn't even in the name any more.
I'm not going to say which part requires reengineering.
*wheel and truck montage*
😄
Well I guess you could say it’s a Half-New. Half-New is just something I said because it’s pretty much the original track with extensions.
The only original track is the top hat. Everything else was replaced.
It's to be expected, honestly, they probably knew the part in question may be the weak link but needed more data like getting run to the public. Probably nipping a future catastrophe now rather than later.
If that were at all true… They would already have a solution…
@@brandoncrimmins6296 Engineering and manufacturing practice may have become very efficient, but they aren't that efficient. Especially not June efficient if it is a "new" problem. If it were a new problem, ride would be closed a year or more.
@@The_LaughingHyena We have no idea how long it’s gonna be down. That is the definition of “indefinitely”. But YOU said it was probably something they already knew about. And if that were true. First of all that is grounds for one of the most lucrative lawsuits of all time. But also… They have a heavily upgraded part already designed to fix it. This is definitely an unexpected issue. I congratulate them for getting on it so quick. But also acknowledge both the irony and hilarity of the fact that it was open less than a week and is already closed indefinitely.
I think the new trains look very delicate. In principle there is nothing wrong with it, because less weight means less energy consumption and less strain on the drive and other components. But the trains should of course be able to withstand the loads that occur over the long term. This seems to be the problem. Let's hope that Zamperla can solve the problem without massively increasing the weight of the trains. Otherwise, other components such as the LAM drive would also have to be realigned to the higher weight, which would require additional time and money.
I’m thinking the high positive G loads, especially on the reverse ascent into the vertical spike, were putting more compressive load on the treads than they could handle. The treads became crushed and the loss of tread thickness accounts for a vertical rattle due to resulting play between the running wheels and upstops that would appear as riders’ reports of increasing roughness over time. They’re having to replace the treads with ones made out of a more durable material, but they need to carefully account for the resulting change in rolling resistance between the wheels and the rails and recalibrate the induction motors. That’s a software change, but it still requires testing to get it right and make sure it’s working.
This is far from the first coaster to experience opening year closures for this exact “undisclosed” reason. Lol. It’ll be back up soon enough.
I'm glad I hit it one of the preview days, so I didn't have to deal with this. The one caveat of being local. Did take some pictures though. not much video
I'm guessing it will be back up by CoasterMania, 6/7. My trip isn't until 7/31, so hopefully, it will be fixed by then!
Last Monday (5/6) I was able to grab a pair of laps (both in the middle). My first ride was on the blue train and when we hit the top speed the train had a very noticeable vibration (something was a bit off). After close we got on the grey train and it didn't have any vibrations.
Great ride, can't wait until it re-opens. I wasn't a big fan of TTD, but I do really love this ride!! Simply put it is fun as hell!!!
You know its a good day when ETR uploads
Those who remember correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the original Dragster have to shut down not too long after opening and didn't reopen until around July 4th in 2003? Hopefully we aren't witnessing history repeat itself as that would really hurt attendance as people are mainly coming this year to ride it.
Oh man fingers crossed it will open sooner than later as I am going there in early June.
hate to be the bearer of bad news but from the sound of it, tt2 might be down until late july at the earliest and the rest of the season at the latest
I’m going this upcoming weekend, of course knowing TT2 won’t be open, but I’ll come back later in the year with my season pass whenever it opens back up!
I’m going on June 4 and 5 an I live 8 hours hour from cp. Lets pray that it will be open soon
I went on sunday hyped as heck to ride this coaster only to be met with the sign that says it's closed. Now I have to wait all the way until August to ride this coaster. Safe to say I was absolutely livid since I basically wasted my one trip to Cedar Point this summer. I hope this doesn't continue to be a issue until August, but i'm not exactly optimistic about dragster due to its reputation and the fact that this is an experimental coaster and the first time Zamperla has done anything of this scale.
Cry about it. The last opportunity I had to go to Universal was the one year they didn't have either DD or Hagrid's.
Is that an optical illuison at 1:59? Looks the lead wheel cant stay on the track during the turn?
No more weed for you
Yeah it has a rattle. I'd say that's why
The wheel doesn't leave the track, it does ride out of the groove for a second though. This probably isn't an issue as its just during the tighter curve of the transfer track. None of the other curves on the track are that tight. It may be interesting to see if a ware pattern emerges, but we probably wont know even if it does considering how often the wheels are replaced.
Zamperla has to re-re-imagine it *_AGAIN!_*
Wheels .... In case you are wondering. The wheels are not standing up to the tremendous forces put on the vehicle. They found cracking. Probably going to change the material the wheels are made out of.
Gosh dang. My trip is planned for May 28th. I'm coming all the way from FL!
I'm going in on May 29th.
You an d me both but June 3 or june4
You and me both but june3, or June 4th
Same but June 16
I went on Friday just by sheer coincidence and got to ride it. Huge shock that it shut down the next day but so glad I got to try it out. It was incredible and definitely better than Top Thrill 1 was. It ran more efficiently as well, as others are saying. But I will say we noticed 2 things that stuck out as odd (and keep in mind my friends and I are nowhere near experts): (1) there looked to be a surprisingly large gap between the track sections at the interchange point i.e. where the track shifts from the station mode into the main straight track mode; it was large enough to the naked eye that I was surprised the wheels could handle going over it at the speed we were going. And (2) the train was very shaky especially at high speeds, in both directions. We felt like we were rattling back and forth (laterally) a lot more than expected and definitely more than the old version of the ride. It wasn't uncomfortable or painful like some jerky rides can be, it was just surprising and a little distracting, and some people would probably get pretty freaked out by it especially right at the bottom of the top hat going up (that's probably where I noticed it most). I wouldn't be surprised if that was the main symptom they're looking to address especially since they want the new ride to leave a good impression (and I assume a lack of smoothness would only get worse with time). Hope that helps!
Definitely an opinion on it being better that TTD lol.
Just makes me realize how lucky I was to ride it twice on the 10th for my first ever visit to Cedar Point. I hope they get it running soon. Can't imagine how I would've felt if I travelled from LA just to be met with this
In retrospect I’m glad that our trip this year that was supposed to be in Mid-July was delayed until next July. We moved it a year to see what this merger does, but now this on top of that.
This really shouldn’t be surprising. This is pretty uncharted territory so bumps in the road should be expected.
That said, they probably made the wheel material too soft. With the slingshot and the speed, they are most likely not only wearing out too quickly, but wearing out unevenly.
Uncharted territory? Zamperla added a spike to a 20-year-old ride. Switch tracks and LSMs have been around for decades. Nothing uncharted about any of this.
@@joesmith6972 Exactly! People defending Zamperla are absolutely ridiculous!!!
I'm going next week. Bumbed I probably won't be able to ride it, but hopefully some other people will reschedule so the park is empty.
Same here, going on Thursday for the first time since 2012. Flights already booked so now I'm just praying for low crowds at least
The first version earned the name Top Thrill Dumpster for a reason - it was down for maintenance more than it was operational. Whether the new ride is different in that regards only time will tell. Even though they are billing this as 'typical new-ride issues', they have been testing this since December, which I assume included repetitive cycle testing over the course of multiple days. So that they are just now figuring out something is wrong with the trains is a little bit perplexing. You would have thought five months of testing would show indications that something was not kosher.
I said this on another page that I was worried about those trains and wheels. A few weeks later it seems like I was right.
I swear to god if that damn thing is closed when I'm there on June 4th I'm going to be livid
I’m supposed to be going June 3rd and 4th but may have to rearranged plans to go either end of June or middle of July if TT2 isn’t running. I’ll be making a 13 hour drive so there’s no way I’m going unless Top Thrill is operating.
@@Coasterfan71ur lucky to be driving if I have to reschedule the airline tickets are insane right now
@@Coasterfan71have you already booked a room?
@@fishels3895 Yes. I’ve already booked a hotel room, have a car rental set up, bought my cedar point tickets and fast lane plus passes online. I can move the dates if need be. My dates to be at Cedar Point are June 3rd and 4th but I’ll go at a later date if TT2 is still down. I hope Cedar Point can at least come out and say something within the next week or so about when they think this ride will be back open. People have made plans to go this summer for this ride and people need to at least know a timeframe on when this might be up and running again. What about you? You still planning on going?
The beginning of June is probably pretty doubtful but we're all hoping for the best!!! on another note all the airplane tickets I purchase are changeable until the day of travel, I would look into that
Cedar Point carries the most blame! They had time to make sure that this coaster was at tip top shape. Why didn’t they utilize the time? Who knows? Safety is of the utmost importance. It always has to be. Peace.
Here is the million dollar question, literally. How many riders will they lose compared to when it was operating normal? Obviously they don't have any riders every time it was shut down.
It will be back soon and it was amazing!!! My first ride was in the silver train back row left side and this is the way this ride must be ridden! I didn't notice any rattling or shaking and going over the tophat had so much ejector airtime. We dove right into the heartline which was so much more intense and I ended up slamming into the dude sitting next to me. Black train front row right side was another amazing ride, but since I wear contacts and didn't have any glasses with a strap, the wind really dried my eyes out! And that's not a complaint but a compliment to the ferocity of this ride! We all just need to be patient again and trust that this ride will be back with a Super Vengeance!
TT2 just wants its own Problematic Coasters video
Oh, yeah. The employees at Zamperla are burning the midnight oil to get this issue fixed.
first of all, rides are usually a pain in the ass for a few months after they open and I was kind of surprised at how well everything went from the media event through opening weekend. I feel like Zamperla is going to do everything in their power to make this ride successful.
Aww... you're so cute with your wishful thinking
I never got Top Thrill Dragster and now I'm scared that I'm going to miss Top Thrill 2 this year 😭
Same bro. Booked for June 16. How bout you
@@fishels3895 the first weekend in july
unfortunately could only go to this park on the 22-25 for memorial weekend so this is a big blow since I live in the Seattle area. guess ill have to look at 2026 for a revisit.
Have a trip booked for late next week. I’m doubtful it will be open, I’m getting a season pass so if it concerns me I can always go back
hoping that its up by july 22 since im going to CP for the first time that day.
The giant bogey wheels were my favorite part of the trains, hopefully it returns just as stylish as V.1
Damn it, I'm going to CP for the first time next week. TT2 was one of the big reasons I was pushing to go before schools let out for the summer.
Pretty sad it made it less than 10 days running allday...oh well..hope they get it right soon
I use to love going to Cedar point and my favorite ride was the Dragster. But know that it’s gone because of an injury to a person standing in line to ride it, I am terrified to ride any amusement park rides now. They are too dangerous!
I like all the close-ups of the huge wheels, including on the thumbnail
I wonder if this fix will do anything to improve the rattle - I didn't notice it much, but it was headache inducing for both my wife and my mom. Might be a good opportunity to address that as well at the same time, but maybe that's more likely to happen over the winter - I'm guessing their only concern right now is just getting it back open as soon as they can. I just hope they don't end up nerfing the ride...
I find it funny that they just recently opened it up and its already back down
I hope they fix the restraint check in the software so they do not need to be opened between the unload and load stations.
It was not a bad ride, silver train was the best in my rides. I prefer the original, but this is a fun update. If you ride in the very front seat the third launch feels almost like the original, and the very back makes the spike a lot of fun.
Not surprised it’s (probably) the wheels, lots of fast coasters have teething problems with wheels. Testing can only find so many issues. Cycling the ride many times a day will find new issues that intermittent testing just can’t. My guess is that the compound of Polyurethane is wearing out quicker than expected due to the speed of the ride. And yeah, formulating a new compound that will do better might take a while, and it is entirely possible that they make a new compound, run the ride continuously for a few days, and find that it STILL doesn’t hold up. It’s a process, and it will take time, but I’m sure it will be open again this season.
Safety First, Tony knows what he's doing!
Tony? The PR flack?
@mutoneon Tens of millions at steak, CF does not want another lawsuit. BTW I felt totally safe on TT2, a GREAT RIDE!
@@ginog5037 Tens of millions at steak? Holy cow! Hope they beef up the ride so it doesn't become a nothing burger.
Tony The Tiger? 🐯
@prologue_00 😆 lol...stake
Yep, BBQ tonight 😋
Im so so so glad i rode it passholder preview on April 30th. I miss it and i hope it opens soon. Its so fun. And i felt so safe on it. Only rode blue train which i heard is the smoothest train
I saw it yesterday and thought the wheels might be an issue. I love how zamperla tried something new with wheels. I think intamin had an idea that would happen. Kudos to Zamperla for trying something new. My hope is that this will become a design positive for them later down the line. The best inventions and innovations have problems.
Just realized I got one of the last rides on it before it closed if it was closed all day on Saturday. I was on one of the last trains on Friday night 5/10. I remember seeing that the silver train was taken off the track at that point and they were only running two trains unlike earlier in the day. They closed the queue about 25 minutes before the park closing time apparently. People were waiting to get in line right before the park closed so that they could get a night ride but they didn't let them in. Probably just because the line was like an hour long still and they only had two trains running.
Dang. Too bad we'll never know what component was causing the problem... If it was the block brakes we couldve had a fun detailed explanation.
I am predicting smaller wheel diameter possibly to 18 inches to help avoid rattle. I heard some say that was noticeable also the large wheel diameter may had have stress from an observationbstand point
TT2 ‘broke down’ twice while i was there opening weekend, all it did was after its initial launch the LSM’s stopped making contact with the train or something because the trains would go straight about halfway to the first hill, then they’d have to reverse it backwards and launch it again. Happened twice and each time it happened it took like 20 mins to get back on track. It was Interesting i don’t know what it could’ve been.
I was signed up for the Media Day, but something popped up that I couldn’t go. I now fully regret not going
😢😮 I really hope they fix it soon. I just hammered the date for my trip to CP probably June 3rd and or 4th. (Mon and tuesday)
This ride was the whole point of going again (we went back in October 13th weekend during a virtual monsoon. Got good rides on sunday).
Anybody else notice cedar point learned their lesson last time and is already speaking zamperlas name loud and clear? 🤣🤣 Hell yeah homie scream that shit from the rooftops. Keep 'em on top of it
We're working on the rattle everyone is talking about. Lots of forces put on the wheels going over the tophat.
We understand the disappointment, I've suggested myself to put the initial launch at 101 to kind of make up for the 4 weeks of downtime.
Bullshit