Attraction Top Thrill 2

[Fiender]

Sincerely, I'm sorry that you had to go through that. Cedar Point has let you and a lot of other guests down with this.

According to the Cedar Point defenders on social media, however, having a new ride go down indefinitely a week after is opening is totally normal and expected and no one is allowed to get mad.

New rides having issues in their opening years is fairly common. It's admittedly more when it's a ride that was testing as early as last year, refurbished from an older ride, and by an still-unproven manufacturer, but (imo) we're still in the grace period for "new ride shenanigans are afoot".

Now, if this downtime lasts a while and/or it keeps happening... yeah I'm pulling out my anti-Zamperla pitchfork again.

 

[bwick29]

I feel worse for the family behind us in Maverick's line who had flown in from Australia.

I just have so many questions surrounding this whole debacle...

 

[BGWfan]

“Weld free trains”

Well when they start to crack….

Welds crack too *stares in the general direction of Fury 325*

 

[Tacky3663]

So what I’m taking away from this is, Don’t go to Cedar Point before June lmfaooo

 

[Thriller]

The best part is that my wife and I made the trip half way across the country to visit yesterday and today, and didn't get to ride it.

At one point in time yesterday, TT2, Gatekeeper, Magnum, Gemini, and Valravn were all down at once. Millie was a late opener. Lift hill evac on Magnum.

This morning, just after the TT2 announcement, there were only 3 coasters running in the whole park, none of which are on anyone's top-5-in-the-park list.

CP, from an operations perspective, was a complete dumpster fire this weekend... but the BBQ was better than KD's, Breakers room was clean, and the staff were friendly.

Look at it this way. At least the park was open. After multiple long distance trips to Cedar Fair parks just to experience an entirely closed park because of some rain (actually low attendance), I would consider your trip a good trip. My expectations of Cedar Fair are that low now.

It is a shame that you traveled so far and did not get to experience what you wanted.

 

[Bring Back Questor 87]

Sea World Parks right now :

 

[CoasterAuditor]

Sea World Parks right now :

I’d probably more say that’s what’s going on at Intamin than the United Airlines parks.

 

[bwick29]

Live look at Intamin HQ:

If CP wanted to continue TT's reliability issues, why switch manufacturers?

 

[CoasterAuditor]

I really hope, this does not sour Six Flags on Zamperla flat rides going forward. That would be my biggest concern. An engineering defect causing an extended closure on Day 2 after opening? NOT a good look at all for Zamperla.

 

[BGWfan]

There is a weld on the wheel bogies....the rumor mill lately has been settling on stress fractures in over 2/3 of the wheel bogies. This could be a likely source of the issue. (Crack detected on one, field NDT on weld performed and more issues found).



For reference, the standard Lightning trains appear to all be machined and bolted without welds. If the weld is the issue, Thundervolt might not be affected.

 

[Jonesta6]

There is a weld on the wheel bogies....the rumor mill lately has been settling on stress fractures in over 2/3 of the wheel bogies. This could be a likely source of the issue. (Crack detected on one, field NDT on weld performed and more issues found).

View attachment 32494

For reference, the standard Lightning trains appear to all be machined and bolted without welds. If the weld is the issue, Thundervolt might not be affected by this issue.
View attachment 32495

So why was there a weld on TT2's bogeys if they're also lightning trains?

 

[BGWfan]

So why was there a weld on TT2's bogeys if they're also lightning trains?

The TT2 bogies are a completely different design due to the wheel size and constraints for keeping the train envelope closer to the track. Not sure why they elected to use a weld there, but scaling up the existing standard design wouldn't work because it would raise the train above the track too much and cause heartline / clearance issues.

 

[Thrills & Chills WQAQ]

Removed from fast lane plus

 

[bill s]

Those bogies sure look thin.

So what I’m taking away from this is, Don’t go to Cedar Point before June lmfaooo

I would have already made that June 2025. Except I waited until August 2019 to ride SV and still got shorted, so you never know. Maverick was closed my first part day, TTD went down during early entry, SV down at least 1.5 days. Considered waiting to get Fast Lane+ until all 3 unreliable POS's were running. Maybe CP can even avoid opening up another major attraction next year.

Look at it this way. At least the park was open. After multiple long distance trips to Cedar Fair parks just to experience an entirely closed park because of some rain (actually low attendance), I would consider your trip a good trip. My expectations of Cedar Fair are that low now.

It is a shame that you traveled so far and did not get to experience what you wanted.

Are you actually claiming you went to Cedar Point and there was low attendance without a darn good reason? Actual weather or a apocalyptic forecast.

 

[Jonesta6]

Not sure why they elected to use a weld there

That's what I was getting at - when much of their pitch is that they offer weldless solutions for their lightning trains, I'm really curious why this high-stress component was welded.

 

[themeparktribune]

New rides having issues in their opening years is fairly common. It's admittedly more when it's a ride that was testing as early as last year, refurbished from an older ride, and by an still-unproven manufacturer, but (imo) we're still in the grace period for "new ride shenanigans are afoot".

Now, if this downtime lasts a while and/or it keeps happening... yeah I'm pulling out my anti-Zamperla pitchfork again.

I've said this earlier in this thread and I'll say it again. It is not "fairly common," expected, typical, etc., for a new ride to need an extended closure only a week after its public debut. Maybe not unprecedented, but definitely not common.

These sort of posts seem to be conflating frequent downtime with a much longer closure where the ride doesn't open at all for weeks. It's not at all the same thing when the ride needs modifications that require new testing to even open again.

 

[0gstall]

I wish CF would listen to their consumers more at the end of the day — not even just enthusiasts, but their target audiences (i.e Families, young adults, weekend roadtrip warriors, thrill seekers). I’ll give them credit though. We’ve started to see more of this recently with the surveys they are releasing at a few of the parks, but man… even those missed the mark in terms of how those four options were prioritized and shared. I’m not sure what their budget is for R&D, but they’ve got to focus more on their “who” and “why” when making business decisions. Seems like CP has good intentions to get this thing back up and running, but at the same time it’s the small details that make it worse. Why are the lockers not positioned better for the guest experience? Why create branding on the concept of racing when… well it doesn’t race or take off quickly? (still think a theme to space would’ve been better imo). Dragster was SBNO for how long? It gives the impression that they lacked a focus on the entirety of Top Thrill 2’s experience — even if they spent every hour planning. I would’ve rather them have opened this thing a whole year later than to trip this much on the details. I’m hoping KI can execute better when it comes time to fill Vortex’s plot of land with their new edition. We will have to see what comes from CW next year after they seem to have listened to a subsegment of their target audience and are on the move with something that seems similar to their survey in ways.

As someone who works in strategy and innovation, I’m hoping CF as a whole company can turn things around for these parks and really execute on theming, boosting employee morale, and overall operations. Innovation exists in 10 types… it doesn’t always have to be the hottest new Intamin, but new ways to offer products or services.

 

[guy305]

Take this with a grain of salt, but I’ve seen some tweets/Instagram stories from people reporting they saw it testing today…

 

[Thriller]

Those bogies sure look thin.


I would have already made that June 2025. Except I waited until August 2019 to ride SV and still got shorted, so you never know. Maverick was closed my first part day, TTD went down during early entry, SV down at least 1.5 days. Considered waiting to get Fast Lane+ until all 3 unreliable POS's were running. Maybe CP can even avoid opening up another major attraction next year.

Are you actually claiming you went to Cedar Point and there was low attendance without a darn good reason? Actual weather or an apocalyptic forecast.

Not CP. Other Cedar Fair parks namely Carowinds and KD. BGW too. After traveling 400-500 miles to visit. My expectations are so low now that a major ride being closed would be acceptable as long as the park stays open.

 

[Zachary]

This thread is about TT2, not weather closures. You already have a full thread dedicated to your pet project.

"Weather" Closures

How do you know the park was closed for low attendance? Because I have been to parks before when it rained, and they operated the rides. This was not a severe storm. It was just rainy. The kind of weather the parks are absolutely capable of operating in. This is how these Corporate Theme Parks...

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