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Back about this time last year, as RCDB (www.rcdb.com) was showing construction photos of Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster, I was thinking to myself "Much Ado About Very Little".
In kindof the way that, IMO, Superman the Ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain, has a "been there, done that" effect on me, I didn't think that this concept would really be capable of thrilling, much less be worth the enormous expense that Cedar Point was investing. I mean, really: launch, up hill, down hill, brake. What could be more pedestrian?
I could not have been more wrong. In spite of being over before you can say, "to the moon, Alice, to the moon", the overwhelming thrill of such a launch and return renewed my faith in the "bigger, taller, faster" approach to building rollercoasters. Every second, from launch, to climb, to plummet, to brake, is full of incredible, intense, one-of-a-kind sensation. Even with the long waits (~1.5 hours), 4 rides was just not enough.
Curiously enough, just for a comparison of lovely contrasts, we included the fabulous Indiana Beach on last summer's coaster jaunt. Their amazing, intense, "Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain" (LoCoSuMO) was a close second place to Top Thrill, for a fraction of the cost.
Word has it that S&S (the folks that slurped up Custom Coasters, Inc., the creators of LoCoSuMo) is offering a production model of the same. (and I know a perfect location at a northern California theme park in need of a decent wood coaster. :-)
Eric
In kindof the way that, IMO, Superman the Ride at Six Flags Magic Mountain, has a "been there, done that" effect on me, I didn't think that this concept would really be capable of thrilling, much less be worth the enormous expense that Cedar Point was investing. I mean, really: launch, up hill, down hill, brake. What could be more pedestrian?
I could not have been more wrong. In spite of being over before you can say, "to the moon, Alice, to the moon", the overwhelming thrill of such a launch and return renewed my faith in the "bigger, taller, faster" approach to building rollercoasters. Every second, from launch, to climb, to plummet, to brake, is full of incredible, intense, one-of-a-kind sensation. Even with the long waits (~1.5 hours), 4 rides was just not enough.
Curiously enough, just for a comparison of lovely contrasts, we included the fabulous Indiana Beach on last summer's coaster jaunt. Their amazing, intense, "Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain" (LoCoSuMO) was a close second place to Top Thrill, for a fraction of the cost.
Word has it that S&S (the folks that slurped up Custom Coasters, Inc., the creators of LoCoSuMo) is offering a production model of the same. (and I know a perfect location at a northern California theme park in need of a decent wood coaster. :-)
Eric
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Re: Random Thoughts About Top Thrill Dragster
Wed, December 10, 2003 - 11:55 AMHey Eric -
Thanks for this post, it was a delight to read. It has been said by designers before that the only thing that really keeps coaster makers from making them higher is cost - that, and what the human body can actually take. Rumors of a mag-lev testing track in the southwestern desert, something that could be used for future launching of space shuttles, have perked the idea that maybe we're in for a season of thrills someday that will make Top Thrill Dragster look like a kid's slingshot. I'm all about heart-attack-inducing thrills. : )
Tell us more about this Lost Coaster - is it a woodie? Production model woodies don't turn me on, but CCI has come up with variations on their breath-taking twister theme that have resulted in some of the best rides ever made, whoda thunk?
I have yet to ride Top Thrill Dragster - I'm waiting for them to guarantee its operation on a daily basis. : ) -
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Lost Coaster
Wed, December 10, 2003 - 1:01 PMActually, I misposted. It's GravityWorks, not S&S, that is offering a production model of LoCoSuMo. Similar, post CCI folks; I just had the name wrong.
Lost Coaster is a woodie and astoundlingly unique. Each train consists of two cars. The cars themselves are completely enclosed in thick wire mesh because much of the ride is indoors with tight clearances. The seats face the inside of the car, so the front riders in the car are looking backwards. The cars are heavily padded and relatively roomy.
The really unusual bit is the trailering. These trains can make it easily around hairpin turns with a 5 or 6' inside diameter. www.rcdb.com/installationgallery460.htm is a good picture of a train before the wire mesh covering.
While the ride maybe tops out at 35 MPH, the sudden turns and drops are insane bordering on brutal. This is a notch or two beyond the best Wild Mouse and FAR more unpredicatable.
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