Try to remain optimistic. Remember when Vekoma coasters were a joke? Now they’re making some solid attractions. I think Zamperla can knock this out of the park.
Vekoma made tons of much larger coasters of all sorts for decades. I would much rather have Vekoma doing this than Zamperla. They have built nothing even remotely like this before and most of their "larger" coasters are rough as hell. I hope I am wrong because a 120mph rough coaster would be unbearable.
I had infinite more faith in Vekoma, they trended slowly up to what they are now. They started fixing old coasters, redesigning new ones and then scaling up those newer ones. This is not the same path Zamperla has taken and if this were a Vekoma project I might be slightly skeptical, but I'd have confidence in the product. This train has NEVER been used on any scale of coaster and it's being thrown on Dragster.
Having worked with Zamperla myself this year, this company is determined, passionate, and professional and was honestly great to work along side with. Every ride has down time, Dragster had down time when before, it will again. I hate that people are really trying to pinpoint it on it just being a Zamperla thing. Let's not forget Maverick last year.. I'm excited and optimistic for 2024.
Zamperla has a lot of experience in the amusement industry but has never taken on a project half this size. It may work out or it may not but it is a huge risk.
My thought is, every major coaster company had to have a 'first'. I think it's beneficial to have decades of engineering experience going into that first try.
It could be beneficial for zamperla to just prove their train and launch components before they start on developing track. Especially if they have yet to do a project even half this size, working on a smaller part that builds off a solid foundation might be better than trying to do a gigantic project all at once from scratch. Not to mention some companies might actually be better at retrofits than the original companies that built the ride.
Enthusiasts need to accept the possibility that, regardless of the quality of their newer rides, Cedar Fair may never work with Intamin again for any reason after so many broken promises of ride capacity, safety and reliability, and we should all hope they brought in the best possible alternative for this project
Tbh, the intemin lsm coasters seem to be more reliable and capacity machines, looking at like taron, never down, thing runs at every temp, even in rain, snow, wind, its great, and the thing is a 4 train 30s dispatche time machine
Very well stated, and I agree. I'm excited to see what they can do with Dragster. I think people need to be more open minded. Another option was getting rid of the dragster completely, so I'm happy we are getting more time with it!
I feel like people forget RMC had little to no experience working with coasters before renovating Texas Giant into New Texas Giant, which worked out great for a company’s first big coaster project, especially renovating an existing coaster. Compare that to Zamperla who already has decades of experience with coasters and thrill rides. I also feel like Cedar Fair wouldn’t recruit them if they weren’t confident Zamperla could get it done. Until we see more, I’m mostly confident Zamperla can get the job done
Hiring Zamperla is either cedar fair’s worst or best financial decision. If Zamperla does well, they might work on other interesting projects aside from flats. If Zamperla ruins it, then TTD is gone forever and Zamperla will go back to flats. I also agree that you can’t judge a ride before riding it. When Velocicoaster started testing, everyone complained about it going slow, but now everyone has it in their top 5.
You are absolutely correct. Everyone needs to calm down until reimagined TTD actually opens and they have experienced the ride. I’m thinking that Zamperla’s engineers are probably some of the best in the industry. That Lightening train car looks very well engineered. The fact that they haven’t built a coaster of this magnitude, doesn’t mean anything. Everyone has to start somewhere. Cedar Fair must have seen something that they liked, and it is not Cedar Fair’s first time at a big project. Also, when Intamin designed Millennium Force, had they ever built a coaster of that size? Cedar Fair gave them a chance and look how that turned out.
@@coastercrush3635 Two hypers, but not a giga at that time. I had forgotten about the blast coaster, but still, Cedar Fair gave them a chance with a Giga. Also, maybe CF wanted to go with someone different since Intamin’s creation, TTD was plagued with issues, from what I hear. It doesn’t really matter. The people spending the $$ made their choice and I bet it will be awesome.🙂
People forget that every major coaster company had to take the risk of making their first major coaster. Zamperla just has decades of engineering experience going into their first attempt. How could someone look at this and think "oh this is sure to fail"?
It's not that they're building coasters It's specifically that it's a 400+ ft beast that's potentially gonna have another spike I don't think their experience comes close to handling the 420 ft coaster I blindly trust zamperla with flat rides and 10 ft to 150 ft coasters But anything above that and im gonna be concerned and skeptical Even intamin had to work up to the 400 ft mark Most people think it's a jump to go from working on kiddie coasters and flat rides to the second tallest coaster in the world
I’m sick of people assuming it will suck. Just wait until it opens. If they screw its up, then we have the right to berate them for it. But we literally have zero evidence that it will suck, or that it will be good, so all I’m saying is just wait until May next year
You wanna see the most negative person that post coaster videos everyday listen to that Theme Park Predictions dude. He thinks B&M is in trouble with Cedar Fair now because of Fury and the crack. He acts like rides like Raptor and Mantis/Rougarou aren’t dirt years old for a coaster in coaster years. Haven’t seen one of the beams crack on them yet. Stuff happens but that dude is over the top fetching for comments and views.
@@pitrat03 yeah I'm not sure what you're talking about. if u think he's negative, you dont follow coaster studios or theme park review. or any of the dumb leftist coaster people lmfao
Here's my thing against "thoosies". I was a manager at Cedar Point and our least favorite day over Memorial Day...July the 4th, etc was Coastermania Day. The amount of crap and stuff we had to hear and deal with from the enthusiast community was INSANE. Coastermania Day made me leave "thoosie" groups and become my own independent fan of roller coasters instead of calling myself a "roller coaster enthusiast". The majority of the enthusiasts are very quick to jump to conclusions and find out facts 2nd instead of first. Here's a few reasons why Cedar Fair went with Zamperla. The lightning trains are designed to have less maintenance, easier to work on, and be lighter which means less wear and tear. The other factor that should make folks quit complaining about this not being Intamin is because Zamperla hired Valerio Ferrari...who was a Co-CEO of Intamin. He's a mechanical engineer who's now bringing his Intamin knowledge to the project. So, let's be realistic here...this wasn't Cedar Fair trying to save a buck. Zamperla had to REALLY pitch why they would make this a success for the park. All of the outrage and speculation that has burst onto the internet is EXACTLY why I had to keep a ton of secrets when I was a manager. Because we knew if we told you the truth, you still wouldn't understand our decision making and would still fly off the handle because that's simply what the majority of the community does. I still have plenty of resources at the park and hear the things that are happening. Zamperla is WELL AWARE of people being critical, I can say this much that the company knows this could break them and they are pouring resources into the project to become major players in the coaster building community.
Well I work directly with companies that do 3rd party inspections of these rides. Cedar Point (and Carowinds for that matter) aren't conducting the right inspections in their maintenance department. Want to know why this doesn't happen at Busch parks with all their Intamins and B&Ms? It's because they hire third party companies in addition to their employees. It's why Falcon's Fury has been closed weeks at a time this year, trust me, it wasn't the parks decision. You know why Cedar Fair and Six Flags don't bring the experts out to do these inspections themselves? Or only bring them out after something major happens? It's because of MONEY, lol. So please don't preach to the world the semantics of why they choose Zamperla not being a cost conscious decision. That's just silly and ignoring the obvious. It's been obvious to me if that train had the proper inspection done, or they ensured the year prior when the flag plate also flew off the same way during a test ride, they wouldn't of almost killed a woman. Supports fracturing, chains breaking, structural issues on SV even you don't think are due to costs? You don't think RMC would fix it if Cedar Fair didn't want everything for free? Come on now. They've sworn off how many manufacturers and you think the problem isn't them?
The lighter trains would also really help the accelaration since LSMs have “less power”. we don’t really need high accelaration in a swing launch so it probably means less electricity and upkeep
@@chrisschnizer4395I think zamperla will have a great idea for the ride. I do not know if it will be reliable and work the best for CP. I bet even the higher ups at CP aren't gonna be 100 percent convinced until they see the final product and performance.
I hear ya, as I can't stand "coaster enthusiasts" as well. Prolly why there's more of us, "causal enthusiasts" out there. I think having some trepidation is warranted, especially for.a project this size; however, I believe in optimism and I'm hoping for the absolute best. Because it seems, a lot of them (on the internet) are hoping it will fail, which is mind boggling!
I am glad to see that you’re staying optimistic, as am I! I am really cheering for zamperla and hope they have a huge breakthrough like vekoma did, because who doesn’t want another elite coaster manufacturer in the industry?
I love your well-thought-out points. In addition: 1) Many coaster enthusiasts like to complain as they think they come across as discerning and knowledgeable. 2) None of us, including the most whiny, have any choice in the matter. Better to try to be wide-eyed yet hopeful.
In support of Zamperla, one thing that I didn't hear mentioned is that a top engineer from Intamin Valerio Ferrari is now with the Zamperla company. I also hear he was believed to be a part of the Top Thrill Dragster team. he is head of the Sales team with Zamperla but I am sure he would be given the opportunity for input on the Zamperla project. I predict a spike with a reverse magnetic lift over 500 feet then releasing a relentless drop onto the straight away with no bunny hill cresting the unknown top hat height then dropping to a bunny hill before braking.
If you know the author, and have read their previous attempt at a book, you can kind of know what's coming. Let us not forget, zamperla has ATTEMPTED to build a thrill coaster. Sorry, but until its proven good, I'm going to keep thinking it's gonna suck. Now, I will ride it. It is in my home park after all. I've ridden Rollin Thunder. It's BAD.
There’s a lot more reason why people are upset. I think one is the fact that cedar fair doesn’t seem to want to work with intamin anymore and that alone bothers people because there world class attractions. Hey I’m excited regardless but I do see how risky this project is and why people are worried
You also have to consider that the cost of modern day Intamin attractions might be part of why Cedar Fair chose to work with Zamperla. It seems they're choosing to take a risk with a company they see potential in, while also avoiding dumping excessive capital into a ride which has already cost them so much. If Zamperla fails, it's a much less expensive mistake than it would be if Intamin failed.
Before Pipeline, a lot of thoosies were like "why would anyone want to stand up on a coaster in 2023" "it will be terrible" etc. etc. and look the response that coaster got People are judging way too soon CP going with Zamperla on this, I'm curious since they've announced that their coaster department was being invested heavily
I've been saying that while skepticism is justified, none of us know how this project will turn out. There's good evidence that Zamperla is putting a lot of time and money into improving it's roller coasters. There are a lot of manufacturers, including Intamin, who jumped from building mostly smaller and even "bad" rides to building large scale rides.
Great video. If this ends up a win, Cedar Fair was a genius and Zamperla becomes the next Intamin in the rollercoaster industry. If it fails, Cedar Fair took a calculated risk and there were hiccups and Zamperla will do what it takes to make it right to safe face and prove themselves. Either way I think in the end, the ride will be a win. Its all deciding on how it gets there.
Yes. Cedar Fair is taking risk and so is Zamperla. I’m betting Zamperla will do everything in their power to make sure it is the best it can be. That’s probably part of the reason Cedar Fair went with Zamperla. When you give someone a chance like this, you are assured they will put their heart and soul into it. They aren’t gong to half ass it. I’m extremely excited to ride the end product!! At that time all neigh sayers can rest easy.😊😊
@@sfunk6294 yeah. I'm sure cedar fair saw zamperla as someone with something to prove and willing to follow through even after opening. Especially when you consider how dated a lot of CP flat rides are, if Zamperla does good on dragster I bet we see new flats the following year or two
I think Zamperla has some big stakes to win, sure but the new intamin? I doubt that, I don’t think intamin is gonna get graved just because they’re a little dirty or zamperla gets big on thrills because of 1 project. Just a chance to prove themselves.
@@mrgrass1232 I just think we will see them being talked about a lot more and will have more parks wanting something done by them. Maybe not the next thrill company, but definitely a more talked about and possibly hyped manufacturer
I think a lot of people are just bummed out after years of wanting CF to repair their relationship with Intamin, especially since they refuse to take their share of the blame. It isn’t really about Zamperla not being worthy. I don’t care about Cedar Point so much as what will happen in the future with my home park Kings Dominion. Volcano closed six years ago and still no work on its replacement.
I think it's a good thing that they are working on such a big project, and on such a big scale. This is the chance for them to make a name for themselves and based on their history they seemed poised to make the move. I'm excited to see what is to come
I really like to believe Zamperla has fully revamped and rewrote how they design and manufacture their coasters/coaster trains, and this will turn out good for them. Something I have on the forefront of my mind is that Top Thrill Dragster was built by Intamin with tech that’s 20+ years old, and Zamperla is going to be using the most up-to-date, cutting-edge technology on their newest trains. I would argue that Zamperla’s current-gen lightning train would track better and is more advanced than 20+ year old Intamin coaches.
Not to mention Zamperla might be extremely successful as a retrofit company compared to what the original companies might be able to accomplish in renovating an older ride.
My honest opinion: I don't know how I feel about the spike. The fact why TTD was on my bucket list: The powerful launch without the need to swing around. Straight from standing still to top speed. I really hate swing launches on normal coasters. It is understandable on models like the Sky Rocket II, but my personal main selling point of the coaster is now gone. Also it takes longer for the station to clear so the next train can start loading guests again. Red force in spain shows, that a ride model like this works well with LSM launches. Setting back the station or extending the launch up the hill for a bit while converting it to LSM could have worked. Eltororyan explained it pretty well.
They are adding a switch track after the station, the coaster won’t be going backwards through the station. It’s separate from the launch so that way capacity isn’t affected
In my opinion, I think it will be great. Imagine going 80+ mph backwards. The only other place youll really find that is dc rivals but I’m not going to Aussie. It also lengthens the ride duration which will be real nice.
While I think zamperla has the qualifications for the coaster, my main concern is that it’ll be a huge flop. Thunderbolt at Coney Island as you showcased in the video, is genuinely the worst coaster I’ve ever ridden and nothing can redeem it, the track work is HORRIBLE and the restraints (and this is coming from someone who likes skyrush and it’s lapbars, and i can withstand the pain, it’s my no2 overall and I think it’s one of the most intense coasters ever) are just pure and utter garbage. I personally think this whole situation will go one of 2 ways, either it’s a huge success and a great coaster, and now zamperla is a elite manufacturer, or it’s horribly rough, rattles, has tons of downtime and completely flops. That’s just my thoughts on the whole thing
Here's the way I look at it. All your points factored into it. But I think that they went with Z because they are a very good company but this project will be a make or break for them in terms of major contracts. They care. But if intamin failed it wouldn't really matter. They have other major contracts anyways. So Z just cares more and has more of a reason to Make this ride good
I feel the same way about this in that I think we need to give Zamperla a chance. I absolutely love their discovery swing (Crazanity at Six Flags Magic Mountain) and I recently rode one of their tiny powered coasters near where I live currently at Wild Waves near Seattle. I was surprised at how forceful that helix is for a tiny powered family coaster! I agree their other coaster offerings are less than stellar. But I really think they're using this as an opportunity to prove themselves worthy of larger projects. I really think they're going to do everything in their power to get this one right.
I've never been worried about Zamperla in regards to refabbing the ride. Carowinds has confirmed the crack likely came from a weld in their statement released the other day. It had to have come from a weld basically. A 1" thick steel support doesn't sheer on it's own generally.
@ThemeParkCrazy Just some things to add to your many good arguments: First, this is literally a make or break project for Zamperla's newly re-launched custom coaster division. They are going to exhaust every resource to make sure this project is successful because if it is, it will be a tremendous showcase for the entire world of what they are capable of. Additionally, the concerns about Zamperla's lack of experience with LSM's are unfair because most coaster manufacturers don't actually design the LSM launch. Basically, all Zamperla has to do is design a train and track that can properly sustain the forces the launch exerts on the ride systems. Meanwhile, a third-party contractor will design the actual launch motors and figure out how to effectively get the train up to speed. Despite the speed and height of this coaster, I actually believe that this project is considerably smaller and simpler than most enthusiasts are giving it credit for. Something tells me that Zamperla's reputation for coaster design is going to take off next summer.
Thank you for speaking up in the face of everyone upset about this. I literally saw a comment on another video that was like “you think Intamin and RMC are unreliable? Grow TF up” like WHAT? Cedar Fair is considered by many to have an “over-reliance” on B&M…yet they’ve literally gone to a number of other coaster manufacturers like GCI, Gerstlauer, Mack, S&S, and soon Zamperla (coaster-wise), while also going to Gravity Group for wooden coaster retracking. They even tried RMC for THREE projects in 2018. Seeing the amazing products these companies can produce, like the Xtreme Spinner, infinity coaster, infinity flyer/titan track, double heart coaster, and the axis coaster, I feel like we need more of these types of coasters over an Intamin blitz. As much as I like what Intamin’s been doing, I’m willing to give Zamperla a chance and let them show off what they’ve been working on in improving their craft in coasters. Might not be Cedar Fair that needs to “grow up!”
@@gametime2473he never said something about zamperla coasters? He was talking about zamperla opportunities before the STC came out you could also ask someone “what vekoma SLC would you consider amazing?” Without knowing it’s potential of the new train model. Same with zamperla you don’t know what it’s going to be, we might have a “new-gen zamperla” soon.
@@gametime2473 This comment would be like judging RMC for the New Texas Giant project. Zamperla has a new group of people working on coasters and is basically rebuilding their coaster division from the ground up. Similar to RMC when they designed their first major coaster, Zamperla has hired a seasoned group of people to help them do new things. Maybe we should give them a chance just like Cedar Fair.
He's talking about Zamperla's cool flat rides. Yes they are big enough for it but their coasters aren't good enough at building coasters. I think Intamin would make much better. It's not Intamin's fault about the accident. Hydraulics are very strong and there was a lot of presser into them. It was a freak accident. I think Intamin should have gotten it back for a remake, after all it's their coaster.
So these Zamperla trains are going to right to the razor's edge of what speed they are capable of doing all day, every day? What could go wrong? I'm not feeling great about Zamperla doing this ride at all but I wish them luck. TTD was an amazing ride, I just hope that Kingda Ka doesn't get modified. I think it is much less likely due to the track being surrounded by trees and stuff rather than people.
I wish enthusiasts will give Zamperla a chance with this project like RMC was given back with Texas Giant. WE DON’T KNOW! And even now with Vekoma’s renaissance proving that company’s can evolve/improve over time, Zamperla should be given the same benefit of the doubt. I’m sure Zamperla will do a fine job with this.
Zamperla very well could be the new Rmc, Intamin, Vekoma, maybe even b&m coming up with new never before seen ways to ride a rollercoaster. Imagine ridding one facing the side of the car, because I could see Zamperla making something funky like that. Not with dragster, but in the future.
I’m still waiting for CF to open their reimagined Montezooma’s Revenge at Knott’s Berry Farm. That coaster is having a similar launch system replacement. I’m concerned because there hasn’t been any work on it in 6 months, and the re-opening has been delayed indefinitely.
I imagine what 2011 enthusiasts thinked with the very first RMC ever at New Texas Giant, maybe this is the very beggining of something really really big for the industry and we consumers
I was going to use RMC and NTG as an example. "Omg how can a Company that only supplies replacement parts be allowed to rebuild a large iconic ride? Leave it to gci, Gravity Group etc etc !! "
@@russkiimuzhchina the fact Dragster looked like it was going to be removed but is now getting a second chance at life means this is almost a free shot in a way.
While this an excellent point and while I make a similar argument, I'll also be the first to point out that Texas Giant was a jack-hammering, pain-inducing, poorly-maintained nightmare when RMC re-imagined it. On the other hand, Dragster provided a highly enjoyable ride experience that was well-liked by the general public. THIS is what makes the Dragster re-imagining highly controversial.
I tend to be a little out of the loop (get it?) with roller coaster construction and reception so I didn’t know that a good amount of people were being critical of this. I struggle to imagine the ride being bad or even worse than the original. I’m very excited to see what happens with this ride.
Like you said every manufacturer has their issues. I’m sure nobody thought B&M would have issues but look at Fury. Zamperla’s lightning trains look amazing. If the reimagined TTD turns out to be a success, the sky’s the limit literally. They may even pass up Intamin and B&M as top dawg. Also why is RMC playing around releasing a T-Rex model.
What if this Dragster remake is a smash hit? What if this redo of dragster is the equivalent of RMC redoing an old wooden coaster. Zamperla is not a trashy company. No one thought RMC could be as good as they were until they rode New Texas Giant. I’m going to be the optimist and see what Zamperla can do.
@@mrgrass1232 If the highly-innovative lightning trains are successful and Zamperla continues to work on this kind of innovation, I believe we could see an enormous boom in Zamperla coaster products.
The only new track will be straight or not turn left or right except in the station and maybe a track switch. LSM tech tends to rely on outside contractors. I think Zamperla can do this, just hopefully the trains track well.
I hope everything works out, I just think there’s going to be a steeeep learning curve on zamperlas part transition from a thunderbolt being their most intense attraction to dealing with the worlds second tallest coaster. But honestly bring it on, show me what you go zamperla
The only thing about Dragster that I am skeptical or hate about if it is true, is the spike. If it does get a spike, I will always see it as the worst addition to a coaster. Unless they retheme it, cause if its still a "Dragster" and has a reverse entrance into a spike, thats just not a dragster nor does it hold to the original cause in the original, you get ALL the speed in a short burst, adding the spike will make the initial launch need to be less powerful, and then reverse which is not how actual dragster work.
I have a feeling that these new Zamperla Lightning trains will run horribly on the track. I'm not really too keen on this makeover, but I hope it's not a failure like Goliath at Six Flags New England. Yes the accident on Top Thrill Dragster was bad but I don't think it needed an entire makeover
I’m putting two opinion here, the lsm launch I believe is going to be decently intense, because look at mavericks second launch. That boy kicks. The second is a worry, I don’t doubt that zamperla will not fail. But the only thing that worries me is the transition from intamin track to zamperla track, because cedar point is keeping the top hat
Having misbelieves in certain company for a project this big, is like going to a cinema to a movie that will surely "suck" just because couple of movie critics gave it a bad review. At the end of the day, Cedar Point went with Zamperla because they are the safest bet and are known for their reliable builds all around the globe. Is it their first tackle in this type of thing? Yes, but they probably ain't going to play the guess game and build the ride how they please. They more likely to consult with other companies on how it should be done. You can't expect Cedar Point to hire the same guys that built the Top Thrill Dragster after what happened... It's nearly 2024, a big company like that is not going in "blinded" and build a brand new ride that would be one of the more thrilling rides out there and not expect from them to do some research beforehand.
I totally agree. Zamperla has done, and keeps doing great things for the industry. The lightning trains look cool and it would be nice for Zamperla because It would allow them to become a top manufacturer if it's successful. I am a big fan of the Thunderbolt models and all their other coasters are good too. About the down time on wild mouse and fears with that, my home park is Luna Park in NYC, which is owned by Zamperla so all the rides and coasters there are Zamperla and rarely anything breaks down. Thunderbolt which is the tallest and fastest coaster by Zamperla has only been down once when I went and I go there so much.
Except Dragster was constantly terrible in that regard. It was Lightning Rod before Lightning Rod was a thing. Hell, I never got the chance to ride it on my visit because it was down so much
@@starryagent9936 i've never ridden the thing either. I just remeber how many time New rides at my local park would be down for hours trying to fix a lapbar or something of that same ilk. Only for it to be fixed and now the computer is Fubar.
Please do a video on the Six Flags ride relocation program and why they chose to relocate one of Magic Mountain’s fan favorites, Dejavu, and then went on to destroy it 😢
I've told lots of people that we need to give Zamperla a chance for this project, it could be really great or it could suck. Just because Zamperla didn't build dragster doesn't mean it could be a better ride when they finish its transformation. This also could make it where we start seeing taller and faster rides again... but this time ones that are reliable and crowd pleasing, but that's just my own opinion.
I think ceder point deserves some credit instead of throwing there hands up and saying this thing has been a maintence headache and it hurt somebody and getting rid of It they are at least trying to make it work
Thank you thank you thank you for the honesty. Finally a channel not talking out of his a**. In my opinion zamperla better stay away from that thing lmao. Its one of intamins babies. 😢😂 leave it alone Vamperla. Lmao. P.s. i think its gonna be space theme said that since day one and im sticking to it. 1. America trying to return to space 2. Space theme stands with time. 3. Top thrill Spacester is a cool play on its original name. Swing or not theme works well. Plus swing is an homage to wiked twister. Which would explain why they closed it. Start with a reverse powered launch up the spike this gives you “space” weightlessness , with intamins new tech, switch track of some sorts involved, followed by a powered LSM launch straight up the tower. just like Superman escape. Im also thinking because of that keychain. What if they reversed it. Leave the station in opposite direction. Meaning your twisting on the way up just like wicked twister. And come straight down instead. That would be sooo cool.
😭But..but...." Zamperla have never built anything on the scale of TTD!!!"- yeah, neither have B&M, Vekoma, S&S, RMC .....No one, has except Intamin.😭 (!)
Obviously it's hard to pass judgement on a ride before it's even fully announced, so I won't. But to be fair to Zamperla, since the first month or so Wild Mouse has been up most of the time. According to Queue-Times, in the past week it's been up for 83% of the time the park is open. That's higher than Maverick (81.7), Steel Vengeance (77.3) and Valravn (60.5, which was surprising to me). It's roughly in line with Gatekeeper and Millennium Force (88.3 and 86.8% respectively). Plus it's actually a pretty good ride, that banked whip around pulls some solid forces. One thing I think may happen on new TTD is we may see the end of real rollbacks. I could see them putting a few braking/motor fins there to make sure that when the ride is supposed to go over the top hat, it does.
The enthusiasts are the only people worried about who is manufacturing it. The enthusiasts make up a very small percentage of park visitors. The enthusiasts need to get a life and just enjoy the rides.
It’s just gonna be much much less forceful compared to hydraulics, but hey 20 years more worth of people will get to enjoy it.🤷♂️ nobody thinks it’s gonna be as good or better then the hydraulic launch. If they weren’t capable CP wouldn’t even consider them.
I’ll guess they chose Zamperla as a cost cutting measure. I’d expect Vekoma, B&M, RMC, or Intamen to build the new Dragster. It seems like a strange hire to me. I know Zamperla from carnival rides, but I’m unfamiliar with Zamperla’s Coaster line up, unless it’s a kiddie coaster.
The difference of price could have been huge. I would have thought Intamin would jump at the challenge, but maybe not or the price was up there with a whole new ride. If CF even asked, of course.
I don't know why the thoosies have been hellbent on Intamin and only Intamin reimagining TTD. Given Intamin's legitimate issues with their rides specifically at CP. Just as risky IMO just in other ways. Also weird people are like "what about wild mouse ops?!" without mentioning Intamin ops and maintenance at all. Uhhhh. Wild Mouse will be fine y'all lol. How's Maverick doing though?? A dozen trips to CP and shut down half the day each time. Uh, yeah. Probably factored into the decision to choose Zamperla.
Zamperla even has engineers from Intamin that are now working for them, so i think we need to give Zamperla an chance. People are upset indeed that it's not Intamin but Zamperla has an incredible track record with the skill & knowledge they have so yes i think this project could work well for Cedar Point.
It seems weird that Cedar Fair wants to overhaul their coaster whose ride type was still very much in its prototypical phase when it was being built by using trains and LSM launches that are also very much in their prototype phase. I also hope that Zamperla pads the seats and lap bars on those trains cause the lack of padding on their thunderbolt models make those super uncomfortable
Finally an American coaster enthusiast who doesn't pronounce "Volare" like you would do in English, but way more like it is supposed to be pronounced in Italian. Basically like an American who wants to pronounce it more correctly! ;-) When it comes to Zamperla, I can kind of understand the mixed feelings. Sure, they have a huge ride catalog and have sold tons of different rides. But while Intamin have basically inched their way up to building something that big, Zamperla would have to leap up there. I am not saying it is impossible, but it is a huge leap that they have to make there. And let's be honest, most of their coasters aren't exactly known for their smoothness. And if you scale this up to the height and speed of TTD, that is a painful thought. However, like other manufacturers (looking at you, Vekoma) they can improve, and the spinning mouse at Cedar Point actually is really nice to ride, so they may be able to create a smooth experience on Dragster 2.0 as well. Since I have just been to Cedar Point for the first time in my more than 20 year enthusiast career, it will likely be a while until I return, so I won't be riding this one for a long time (and never rode the original, only the slightly bigger sister in NJ). But Before I say whether it's good or bad, I will also wait until it is open and reviews start pouring in.
They might’ve tried to with that double heart thing that’s just a goofy ahh funny version of a sky rocket two, but saw that this was their chance to make a big impression on parks with dragster and risked it.
The Dragon at Canobie Lake Park was my FIRST EVER coaster. It sparked my love of coasters and I was going on the Yankee Cannonball and the Corkscrew as soon as I was tall enough.
Hello!!! Is anyone listening??? Jeff Besos didn't have experience selling books!!! But here we are!!! @Zamperla has access to tech that will change the game... while everyone was reveling over other companies, Zamperla was in the lab creating and growing.
Do you think another reason that Zamperla could be involved is that Cedar Fair got a bulk discount? They bought a big lot of rides from Zamperla over the past year and probably got some kind of discount for buying so many at once.
MAD PROPS for actually pronouncing it (zam-PAIR-la) correctly. It really annoys me when content creators don't do 5 minutes of research to find out how to pronounce the subject of their video correctly. Sometimes you can't, but the second half of this name (perla) is extremely common in Italian and THP either knows a little Italian or made the effort. I appreciate that. Let's take note when a name (zamperla is the perfect example) is not from English.
If the gentleman who made a video a few days ago who is an experienced park maintenance staffer at one of the parks in the parks in the US, what he says on record about his experience working with all the major players from a ride maintenance standpoint, including Zamperla, which he honestly states he disliked the experience of working with Zamperla on maintenance level support for a ride his park operates. It’s very detailed and not bias, even calls out the intamin experience of working with them on maintenance level ride projects. This is a part of the discussion that is often missed from coaster enthusiast channels and community. He later posted a shirt on some of the track that Zamperla has delivered for dragster specifically and a mistake he’s observed with the track for it. However the proof is going to be in the final construction days, and the ride testing phase for a his project and early weeks of operation to the GP and what the experience is there. So far, I’ve not seen anything to be overtly excited or even optimistic beyond a wait and see and what information comes about during the construction and testing phases of this project. I take the maintenance staffers experience as a valued source of information in the meanwhile. The rest of it will all be speculative beyond the feedback from the experienced ride maintenance staffers who’ve worked with the key players on maintenance level work for rides including Zamperla support for those types of projects first.
I totally agree with you on the subject. The trains look really good and they will manage the LSM launch, since they get help from specialized companies for this. I see Zamperla Coasters' problems with the design and manufacture of the track. Many of their roller coasters are uncomfortable to ride. But that shouldn't be a problem with Top Thrill Dragster, since the spike is more or less a straight line. With this simple type of track, Zamperla's weaknesses don't matter. Whether Zamperla can build really good roller coasters will only be seen in future projects when they really build a complete and fast coaster with a complex layout.
Enthusiast are so stupid. Cedar point wouldn’t risk a MASSIVE investment on an unknown company unless they were confident it was going to turn out well. I would also like to remind everybody that enthusiast for freaking out when a small company from Idaho got opportunity to re-profile the Texas Giant
Looking forward to riding the new version, went to the park 3 times and never got to ride it as it was always down so the Zammy version can’t be any worse really.
Try to remain optimistic. Remember when Vekoma coasters were a joke? Now they’re making some solid attractions. I think Zamperla can knock this out of the park.
either that, or keep your expectations low and be surprised
Vekoma made tons of much larger coasters of all sorts for decades. I would much rather have Vekoma doing this than Zamperla. They have built nothing even remotely like this before and most of their "larger" coasters are rough as hell. I hope I am wrong because a 120mph rough coaster would be unbearable.
New vekoma has not even built a hyper
I had infinite more faith in Vekoma, they trended slowly up to what they are now. They started fixing old coasters, redesigning new ones and then scaling up those newer ones. This is not the same path Zamperla has taken and if this were a Vekoma project I might be slightly skeptical, but I'd have confidence in the product. This train has NEVER been used on any scale of coaster and it's being thrown on Dragster.
Well back in the day vekomas we’re seen as good shit since the quality was much lower. Then it was considered bad again, and now good
Having worked with Zamperla myself this year, this company is determined, passionate, and professional and was honestly great to work along side with. Every ride has down time, Dragster had down time when before, it will again. I hate that people are really trying to pinpoint it on it just being a Zamperla thing. Let's not forget Maverick last year..
I'm excited and optimistic for 2024.
Zamperla has a lot of experience in the amusement industry but has never taken on a project half this size. It may work out or it may not but it is a huge risk.
My thought is, every major coaster company had to have a 'first'. I think it's beneficial to have decades of engineering experience going into that first try.
It could be beneficial for zamperla to just prove their train and launch components before they start on developing track. Especially if they have yet to do a project even half this size, working on a smaller part that builds off a solid foundation might be better than trying to do a gigantic project all at once from scratch.
Not to mention some companies might actually be better at retrofits than the original companies that built the ride.
🎲 🎲
@@Phuzzia risk as big as this? Could literally make or break you
Good thing half the ride is already designed and built from the old TTD.
Enthusiasts need to accept the possibility that, regardless of the quality of their newer rides, Cedar Fair may never work with Intamin again for any reason after so many broken promises of ride capacity, safety and reliability, and we should all hope they brought in the best possible alternative for this project
I adore that Intamin is always building crazy stuff that is cutting edge. But YES, they aren't the most reliable, or safest. Period.
Tbh, the intemin lsm coasters seem to be more reliable and capacity machines, looking at like taron, never down, thing runs at every temp, even in rain, snow, wind, its great, and the thing is a 4 train 30s dispatche time machine
Intamin mainly seems unreliable when they're pushing the envelope.
Zamperla can't even keep their wild mouse open in the same park
@@mithramusic5909 they now have old intamin people, and they are phushing there tech in wild mouse department, thats why it has Problems 😂
Very well stated, and I agree. I'm excited to see what they can do with Dragster. I think people need to be more open minded. Another option was getting rid of the dragster completely, so I'm happy we are getting more time with it!
I feel like people forget RMC had little to no experience working with coasters before renovating Texas Giant into New Texas Giant, which worked out great for a company’s first big coaster project, especially renovating an existing coaster. Compare that to Zamperla who already has decades of experience with coasters and thrill rides. I also feel like Cedar Fair wouldn’t recruit them if they weren’t confident Zamperla could get it done. Until we see more, I’m mostly confident Zamperla can get the job done
Well RMC did bring in Alan Schilke.
Hiring Zamperla is either cedar fair’s worst or best financial decision. If Zamperla does well, they might work on other interesting projects aside from flats. If Zamperla ruins it, then TTD is gone forever and Zamperla will go back to flats. I also agree that you can’t judge a ride before riding it. When Velocicoaster started testing, everyone complained about it going slow, but now everyone has it in their top 5.
They're probably gonna ruin it. Top Thrill Dragster is done for.
@@zeal9442 for fucks sake give Zamperla a chance.
@@zeal9442 2 years ago it was done for. I suppose you'd rather see it get torn down though?
@@moomoo991 Yup. Better than letting Zamperla ruin it.
@@AnotherSwissRUclipsUser I don't give anyone chances.
You are absolutely correct. Everyone needs to calm down until reimagined TTD actually opens and they have experienced the ride. I’m thinking that Zamperla’s engineers are probably some of the best in the industry. That Lightening train car looks very well engineered. The fact that they haven’t built a coaster of this magnitude, doesn’t mean anything. Everyone has to start somewhere. Cedar Fair must have seen something that they liked, and it is not Cedar Fair’s first time at a big project. Also, when Intamin designed Millennium Force, had they ever built a coaster of that size? Cedar Fair gave them a chance and look how that turned out.
Intamin installed two hypers in 99 and had built volcano the blast coaster as well as the first 100mph coaster to name a few
@@coastercrush3635 Two hypers, but not a giga at that time. I had forgotten about the blast coaster, but still, Cedar Fair gave them a chance with a Giga. Also, maybe CF wanted to go with someone different since Intamin’s creation, TTD was plagued with issues, from what I hear. It doesn’t really matter. The people spending the $$ made their choice and I bet it will be awesome.🙂
Well I will say this:
Six Flags trusted RMC (who at the time didn't have build any ride whatsoever) with Remaking the Texas Giant.
People forget that every major coaster company had to take the risk of making their first major coaster. Zamperla just has decades of engineering experience going into their first attempt.
How could someone look at this and think "oh this is sure to fail"?
I’m sure people were skeptical of new Texas giant or those new age Vekomas. Turns out they’re awesome.
It's not that they're building coasters
It's specifically that it's a 400+ ft beast that's potentially gonna have another spike
I don't think their experience comes close to handling the 420 ft coaster
I blindly trust zamperla with flat rides and 10 ft to 150 ft coasters
But anything above that and im gonna be concerned and skeptical
Even intamin had to work up to the 400 ft mark
Most people think it's a jump to go from working on kiddie coasters and flat rides to the second tallest coaster in the world
I’m sick of people assuming it will suck. Just wait until it opens. If they screw its up, then we have the right to berate them for it. But we literally have zero evidence that it will suck, or that it will be good, so all I’m saying is just wait until May next year
You wanna see the most negative person that post coaster videos everyday listen to that Theme Park Predictions dude. He thinks B&M is in trouble with Cedar Fair now because of Fury and the crack. He acts like rides like Raptor and Mantis/Rougarou aren’t dirt years old for a coaster in coaster years. Haven’t seen one of the beams crack on them yet. Stuff happens but that dude is over the top fetching for comments and views.
@@pitrat03 yeah I'm not sure what you're talking about. if u think he's negative, you dont follow coaster studios or theme park review. or any of the dumb leftist coaster people lmfao
Here's my thing against "thoosies". I was a manager at Cedar Point and our least favorite day over Memorial Day...July the 4th, etc was Coastermania Day. The amount of crap and stuff we had to hear and deal with from the enthusiast community was INSANE. Coastermania Day made me leave "thoosie" groups and become my own independent fan of roller coasters instead of calling myself a "roller coaster enthusiast". The majority of the enthusiasts are very quick to jump to conclusions and find out facts 2nd instead of first. Here's a few reasons why Cedar Fair went with Zamperla. The lightning trains are designed to have less maintenance, easier to work on, and be lighter which means less wear and tear. The other factor that should make folks quit complaining about this not being Intamin is because Zamperla hired Valerio Ferrari...who was a Co-CEO of Intamin. He's a mechanical engineer who's now bringing his Intamin knowledge to the project.
So, let's be realistic here...this wasn't Cedar Fair trying to save a buck. Zamperla had to REALLY pitch why they would make this a success for the park. All of the outrage and speculation that has burst onto the internet is EXACTLY why I had to keep a ton of secrets when I was a manager. Because we knew if we told you the truth, you still wouldn't understand our decision making and would still fly off the handle because that's simply what the majority of the community does.
I still have plenty of resources at the park and hear the things that are happening. Zamperla is WELL AWARE of people being critical, I can say this much that the company knows this could break them and they are pouring resources into the project to become major players in the coaster building community.
Very well said. Did any of the enthusiasts still complaining about how “it’s gonna suck” even PAY ATTENTION to what he said in this video?
Well I work directly with companies that do 3rd party inspections of these rides. Cedar Point (and Carowinds for that matter) aren't conducting the right inspections in their maintenance department. Want to know why this doesn't happen at Busch parks with all their Intamins and B&Ms? It's because they hire third party companies in addition to their employees. It's why Falcon's Fury has been closed weeks at a time this year, trust me, it wasn't the parks decision.
You know why Cedar Fair and Six Flags don't bring the experts out to do these inspections themselves? Or only bring them out after something major happens? It's because of MONEY, lol. So please don't preach to the world the semantics of why they choose Zamperla not being a cost conscious decision. That's just silly and ignoring the obvious. It's been obvious to me if that train had the proper inspection done, or they ensured the year prior when the flag plate also flew off the same way during a test ride, they wouldn't of almost killed a woman.
Supports fracturing, chains breaking, structural issues on SV even you don't think are due to costs? You don't think RMC would fix it if Cedar Fair didn't want everything for free? Come on now. They've sworn off how many manufacturers and you think the problem isn't them?
The lighter trains would also really help the accelaration since LSMs have “less power”. we don’t really need high accelaration in a swing launch so it probably means less electricity and upkeep
@@chrisschnizer4395I think zamperla will have a great idea for the ride. I do not know if it will be reliable and work the best for CP. I bet even the higher ups at CP aren't gonna be 100 percent convinced until they see the final product and performance.
I hear ya, as I can't stand "coaster enthusiasts" as well. Prolly why there's more of us, "causal enthusiasts" out there. I think having some trepidation is warranted, especially for.a project this size; however, I believe in optimism and I'm hoping for the absolute best. Because it seems, a lot of them (on the internet) are hoping it will fail, which is mind boggling!
I am glad to see that you’re staying optimistic, as am I! I am really cheering for zamperla and hope they have a huge breakthrough like vekoma did, because who doesn’t want another elite coaster manufacturer in the industry?
I love your well-thought-out points.
In addition:
1) Many coaster enthusiasts like to complain as they think they come across as discerning and knowledgeable.
2) None of us, including the most whiny, have any choice in the matter.
Better to try to be wide-eyed yet hopeful.
In support of Zamperla, one thing that I didn't hear mentioned is that a top engineer from Intamin Valerio Ferrari is now with the Zamperla company. I also hear he was believed to be a part of the Top Thrill Dragster team. he is head of the Sales team with Zamperla but I am sure he would be given the opportunity for input on the Zamperla project. I predict a spike with a reverse magnetic lift over 500 feet then releasing a relentless drop onto the straight away with no bunny hill cresting the unknown top hat height then dropping to a bunny hill before braking.
Yeah i agree. We cant really judge a ride until it actually opens to the public. Its like judging a book by its cover.
If you know the author, and have read their previous attempt at a book, you can kind of know what's coming. Let us not forget, zamperla has ATTEMPTED to build a thrill coaster. Sorry, but until its proven good, I'm going to keep thinking it's gonna suck. Now, I will ride it. It is in my home park after all. I've ridden Rollin Thunder. It's BAD.
I've been to cedar point 11 times this year; Wild Mouse has broken down every single time before 2 PM, and I'm supposed to trust them with dragster? 😂
There’s a lot more reason why people are upset. I think one is the fact that cedar fair doesn’t seem to want to work with intamin anymore and that alone bothers people because there world class attractions. Hey I’m excited regardless but I do see how risky this project is and why people are worried
You also have to consider that the cost of modern day Intamin attractions might be part of why Cedar Fair chose to work with Zamperla.
It seems they're choosing to take a risk with a company they see potential in, while also avoiding dumping excessive capital into a ride which has already cost them so much. If Zamperla fails, it's a much less expensive mistake than it would be if Intamin failed.
Before Pipeline, a lot of thoosies were like "why would anyone want to stand up on a coaster in 2023" "it will be terrible" etc. etc. and look the response that coaster got
People are judging way too soon CP going with Zamperla on this, I'm curious since they've announced that their coaster department was being invested heavily
I've been saying that while skepticism is justified, none of us know how this project will turn out. There's good evidence that Zamperla is putting a lot of time and money into improving it's roller coasters. There are a lot of manufacturers, including Intamin, who jumped from building mostly smaller and even "bad" rides to building large scale rides.
What Zamperla coaster is in your top 50 coasters?
@@gametime2473 What B&M before the construction of Kumba is in your top 50 coasters?
Anybody can talk a big game. The zamperla trains have never even been on a track.
I have a feeling it's gonna be like Goliath at Six Flags New England, the trains running horribly on the track
that is a fantastic point coaster
I’m 80-90% sure that the lightning train was literally built for Top Thrill Dragster.
Great video. If this ends up a win, Cedar Fair was a genius and Zamperla becomes the next Intamin in the rollercoaster industry. If it fails, Cedar Fair took a calculated risk and there were hiccups and Zamperla will do what it takes to make it right to safe face and prove themselves. Either way I think in the end, the ride will be a win. Its all deciding on how it gets there.
Yes. Cedar Fair is taking risk and so is Zamperla. I’m betting Zamperla will do everything in their power to make sure it is the best it can be. That’s probably part of the reason Cedar Fair went with Zamperla. When you give someone a chance like this, you are assured they will put their heart and soul into it. They aren’t gong to half ass it. I’m extremely excited to ride the end product!! At that time all neigh sayers can rest easy.😊😊
@@sfunk6294 yeah. I'm sure cedar fair saw zamperla as someone with something to prove and willing to follow through even after opening. Especially when you consider how dated a lot of CP flat rides are, if Zamperla does good on dragster I bet we see new flats the following year or two
I think Zamperla has some big stakes to win, sure but the new intamin? I doubt that, I don’t think intamin is gonna get graved just because they’re a little dirty or zamperla gets big on thrills because of 1 project. Just a chance to prove themselves.
@@mrgrass1232 I just think we will see them being talked about a lot more and will have more parks wanting something done by them. Maybe not the next thrill company, but definitely a more talked about and possibly hyped manufacturer
@@FoamSquatch yea if this works out zamperla can finally advance to the thrill market. From then we will have to see their new models and decisions
I think a lot of people are just bummed out after years of wanting CF to repair their relationship with Intamin, especially since they refuse to take their share of the blame. It isn’t really about Zamperla not being worthy. I don’t care about Cedar Point so much as what will happen in the future with my home park Kings Dominion. Volcano closed six years ago and still no work on its replacement.
I think it's a good thing that they are working on such a big project, and on such a big scale. This is the chance for them to make a name for themselves and based on their history they seemed poised to make the move. I'm excited to see what is to come
I really like to believe Zamperla has fully revamped and rewrote how they design and manufacture their coasters/coaster trains, and this will turn out good for them. Something I have on the forefront of my mind is that Top Thrill Dragster was built by Intamin with tech that’s 20+ years old, and Zamperla is going to be using the most up-to-date, cutting-edge technology on their newest trains. I would argue that Zamperla’s current-gen lightning train would track better and is more advanced than 20+ year old Intamin coaches.
Not to mention Zamperla might be extremely successful as a retrofit company compared to what the original companies might be able to accomplish in renovating an older ride.
My honest opinion: I don't know how I feel about the spike. The fact why TTD was on my bucket list: The powerful launch without the need to swing around. Straight from standing still to top speed. I really hate swing launches on normal coasters. It is understandable on models like the Sky Rocket II, but my personal main selling point of the coaster is now gone. Also it takes longer for the station to clear so the next train can start loading guests again.
Red force in spain shows, that a ride model like this works well with LSM launches. Setting back the station or extending the launch up the hill for a bit while converting it to LSM could have worked. Eltororyan explained it pretty well.
They are adding a switch track after the station, the coaster won’t be going backwards through the station. It’s separate from the launch so that way capacity isn’t affected
In my opinion, I think it will be great. Imagine going 80+ mph backwards. The only other place youll really find that is dc rivals but I’m not going to Aussie. It also lengthens the ride duration which will be real nice.
While I think zamperla has the qualifications for the coaster, my main concern is that it’ll be a huge flop. Thunderbolt at Coney Island as you showcased in the video, is genuinely the worst coaster I’ve ever ridden and nothing can redeem it, the track work is HORRIBLE and the restraints (and this is coming from someone who likes skyrush and it’s lapbars, and i can withstand the pain, it’s my no2 overall and I think it’s one of the most intense coasters ever) are just pure and utter garbage. I personally think this whole situation will go one of 2 ways, either it’s a huge success and a great coaster, and now zamperla is a elite manufacturer, or it’s horribly rough, rattles, has tons of downtime and completely flops. That’s just my thoughts on the whole thing
I think the latter. A very similar thing happened on Goliath at Six Flags New England
It's gonna suck.
@@zeal9442 probably not
Goliath isn’t the best example: it was reportedly a hit at its original park, but lost its luster after two moves.
I will never understand how people dismiss attractions or shows or movies despite having not seen them yet
Here's the way I look at it. All your points factored into it. But I think that they went with Z because they are a very good company but this project will be a make or break for them in terms of major contracts. They care. But if intamin failed it wouldn't really matter. They have other major contracts anyways. So Z just cares more and has more of a reason to Make this ride good
I feel the same way about this in that I think we need to give Zamperla a chance. I absolutely love their discovery swing (Crazanity at Six Flags Magic Mountain) and I recently rode one of their tiny powered coasters near where I live currently at Wild Waves near Seattle. I was surprised at how forceful that helix is for a tiny powered family coaster! I agree their other coaster offerings are less than stellar. But I really think they're using this as an opportunity to prove themselves worthy of larger projects. I really think they're going to do everything in their power to get this one right.
I've never been worried about Zamperla in regards to refabbing the ride. Carowinds has confirmed the crack likely came from a weld in their statement released the other day. It had to have come from a weld basically. A 1" thick steel support doesn't sheer on it's own generally.
@ThemeParkCrazy Just some things to add to your many good arguments: First, this is literally a make or break project for Zamperla's newly re-launched custom coaster division. They are going to exhaust every resource to make sure this project is successful because if it is, it will be a tremendous showcase for the entire world of what they are capable of. Additionally, the concerns about Zamperla's lack of experience with LSM's are unfair because most coaster manufacturers don't actually design the LSM launch. Basically, all Zamperla has to do is design a train and track that can properly sustain the forces the launch exerts on the ride systems. Meanwhile, a third-party contractor will design the actual launch motors and figure out how to effectively get the train up to speed. Despite the speed and height of this coaster, I actually believe that this project is considerably smaller and simpler than most enthusiasts are giving it credit for. Something tells me that Zamperla's reputation for coaster design is going to take off next summer.
Thank you for speaking up in the face of everyone upset about this. I literally saw a comment on another video that was like “you think Intamin and RMC are unreliable? Grow TF up” like WHAT? Cedar Fair is considered by many to have an “over-reliance” on B&M…yet they’ve literally gone to a number of other coaster manufacturers like GCI, Gerstlauer, Mack, S&S, and soon Zamperla (coaster-wise), while also going to Gravity Group for wooden coaster retracking. They even tried RMC for THREE projects in 2018. Seeing the amazing products these companies can produce, like the Xtreme Spinner, infinity coaster, infinity flyer/titan track, double heart coaster, and the axis coaster, I feel like we need more of these types of coasters over an Intamin blitz. As much as I like what Intamin’s been doing, I’m willing to give Zamperla a chance and let them show off what they’ve been working on in improving their craft in coasters. Might not be Cedar Fair that needs to “grow up!”
Cool, what is the Zamperla coaster that you consider amazing?
@@gametime2473he never said something about zamperla coasters? He was talking about zamperla opportunities before the STC came out you could also ask someone “what vekoma SLC would you consider amazing?” Without knowing it’s potential of the new train model. Same with zamperla you don’t know what it’s going to be, we might have a “new-gen zamperla” soon.
@@gametime2473 This comment would be like judging RMC for the New Texas Giant project. Zamperla has a new group of people working on coasters and is basically rebuilding their coaster division from the ground up. Similar to RMC when they designed their first major coaster, Zamperla has hired a seasoned group of people to help them do new things. Maybe we should give them a chance just like Cedar Fair.
Well reasoned and thoughtfully stated!
He's talking about Zamperla's cool flat rides. Yes they are big enough for it but their coasters aren't good enough at building coasters. I think Intamin would make much better. It's not Intamin's fault about the accident. Hydraulics are very strong and there was a lot of presser into them. It was a freak accident. I think Intamin should have gotten it back for a remake, after all it's their coaster.
One of the top engineers from Intamin is working on this, so it will still feel like an Intamin.
@@RealWildWalter oh ok, good.
So these Zamperla trains are going to right to the razor's edge of what speed they are capable of doing all day, every day? What could go wrong? I'm not feeling great about Zamperla doing this ride at all but I wish them luck. TTD was an amazing ride, I just hope that Kingda Ka doesn't get modified. I think it is much less likely due to the track being surrounded by trees and stuff rather than people.
Kingda Ka has always been way more reliable than TTD anyway.
It’s not like a horde of zombies will take over the world if it goes close to its recommended speed. Probably just stress on the track
I wish enthusiasts will give Zamperla a chance with this project like RMC was given back with Texas Giant. WE DON’T KNOW! And even now with Vekoma’s renaissance proving that company’s can evolve/improve over time, Zamperla should be given the same benefit of the doubt.
I’m sure Zamperla will do a fine job with this.
Zamperla very well could be the new Rmc, Intamin, Vekoma, maybe even b&m coming up with new never before seen ways to ride a rollercoaster. Imagine ridding one facing the side of the car, because I could see Zamperla making something funky like that. Not with dragster, but in the future.
I’m still waiting for CF to open their reimagined Montezooma’s Revenge at Knott’s Berry Farm. That coaster is having a similar launch system replacement. I’m concerned because there hasn’t been any work on it in 6 months, and the re-opening has been delayed indefinitely.
Only time will tell how this all plays out
You are 💯 correct, give Zamperla a chance.
I imagine what 2011 enthusiasts thinked with the very first RMC ever at New Texas Giant, maybe this is the very beggining of something really really big for the industry and we consumers
I was going to use RMC and NTG as an example. "Omg how can a Company that only supplies replacement parts be allowed to rebuild a large iconic ride? Leave it to gci, Gravity Group etc etc !! "
@@moomoo991 Yeah, maybe it was that way back to 2011, and it's repeating now with steel coaster in 2023
@@russkiimuzhchina the fact Dragster looked like it was going to be removed but is now getting a second chance at life means this is almost a free shot in a way.
@@moomoo991 A
While this an excellent point and while I make a similar argument, I'll also be the first to point out that Texas Giant was a jack-hammering, pain-inducing, poorly-maintained nightmare when RMC re-imagined it. On the other hand, Dragster provided a highly enjoyable ride experience that was well-liked by the general public. THIS is what makes the Dragster re-imagining highly controversial.
I tend to be a little out of the loop (get it?) with roller coaster construction and reception so I didn’t know that a good amount of people were being critical of this. I struggle to imagine the ride being bad or even worse than the original. I’m very excited to see what happens with this ride.
People always talk about downtime but lets be real, was dragster really known for having great maintenance?
100% agree! If we don’t fully know the layout yet why juggle it
I can't wait honestly, I just want to see what Zamperla brings to the table with this ride.
Like you said every manufacturer has their issues. I’m sure nobody thought B&M would have issues but look at Fury. Zamperla’s lightning trains look amazing. If the reimagined TTD turns out to be a success, the sky’s the limit literally. They may even pass up Intamin and B&M as top dawg. Also why is RMC playing around releasing a T-Rex model.
What if this Dragster remake is a smash hit? What if this redo of dragster is the equivalent of RMC redoing an old wooden coaster. Zamperla is not a trashy company. No one thought RMC could be as good as they were until they rode New Texas Giant. I’m going to be the optimist and see what Zamperla can do.
I don’t think zamperla will see a growth as big as vekoma/rmc but being an optimist is always good
@@mrgrass1232 If the highly-innovative lightning trains are successful and Zamperla continues to work on this kind of innovation, I believe we could see an enormous boom in Zamperla coaster products.
@@breemik08 maybe something similar to the eurofighter but not rmc level
The only new track will be straight or not turn left or right except in the station and maybe a track switch. LSM tech tends to rely on outside contractors. I think Zamperla can do this, just hopefully the trains track well.
I hope everything works out, I just think there’s going to be a steeeep learning curve on zamperlas part transition from a thunderbolt being their most intense attraction to dealing with the worlds second tallest coaster. But honestly bring it on, show me what you go zamperla
The only thing about Dragster that I am skeptical or hate about if it is true, is the spike.
If it does get a spike, I will always see it as the worst addition to a coaster.
Unless they retheme it, cause if its still a "Dragster" and has a reverse entrance into a spike, thats just not a dragster nor does it hold to the original cause in the original, you get ALL the speed in a short burst, adding the spike will make the initial launch need to be less powerful, and then reverse which is not how actual dragster work.
I have a feeling that these new Zamperla Lightning trains will run horribly on the track. I'm not really too keen on this makeover, but I hope it's not a failure like Goliath at Six Flags New England. Yes the accident on Top Thrill Dragster was bad but I don't think it needed an entire makeover
The makeover isn't because of the accident. The accident gave CP a chance to fix their unreliable machine.
I’m putting two opinion here, the lsm launch I believe is going to be decently intense, because look at mavericks second launch. That boy kicks. The second is a worry, I don’t doubt that zamperla will not fail. But the only thing that worries me is the transition from intamin track to zamperla track, because cedar point is keeping the top hat
Having misbelieves in certain company for a project this big, is like going to a cinema to a movie that will surely "suck" just because couple of movie critics gave it a bad review. At the end of the day, Cedar Point went with Zamperla because they are the safest bet and are known for their reliable builds all around the globe. Is it their first tackle in this type of thing? Yes, but they probably ain't going to play the guess game and build the ride how they please. They more likely to consult with other companies on how it should be done. You can't expect Cedar Point to hire the same guys that built the Top Thrill Dragster after what happened... It's nearly 2024, a big company like that is not going in "blinded" and build a brand new ride that would be one of the more thrilling rides out there and not expect from them to do some research beforehand.
I totally agree. Zamperla has done, and keeps doing great things for the industry. The lightning trains look cool and it would be nice for Zamperla because It would allow them to become a top manufacturer if it's successful. I am a big fan of the Thunderbolt models and all their other coasters are good too. About the down time on wild mouse and fears with that, my home park is Luna Park in NYC, which is owned by Zamperla so all the rides and coasters there are Zamperla and rarely anything breaks down. Thunderbolt which is the tallest and fastest coaster by Zamperla has only been down once when I went and I go there so much.
It almost feels like the lightning train was made for dragster
Great video!! Glad to hear some optimism!
Dick kinzels biography is one of the most excellent nonfiction books I’ve read
Thanks for making my days better 🙂
Zamperla can’t even keep the new wild mouse open from a day to day basis 😂, I love that y’all are holding out faith right now
All coasters have terrible down time at launch None of them are perfect out the door. If you ever worked in the industry you would know this.
Except Dragster was constantly terrible in that regard. It was Lightning Rod before Lightning Rod was a thing. Hell, I never got the chance to ride it on my visit because it was down so much
@@starryagent9936hell Xcelerator at Knott’s has been down for over 2 years. Same ride system as dragster. Intamins are a maintenance nightmare.
@@starryagent9936 i've never ridden the thing either. I just remeber how many time New rides at my local park would be down for hours trying to fix a lapbar or something of that same ilk. Only for it to be fixed and now the computer is Fubar.
Please do a video on the Six Flags ride relocation program and why they chose to relocate one of Magic Mountain’s fan favorites, Dejavu, and then went on to destroy it 😢
I've told lots of people that we need to give Zamperla a chance for this project, it could be really great or it could suck. Just because Zamperla didn't build dragster doesn't mean it could be a better ride when they finish its transformation. This also could make it where we start seeing taller and faster rides again... but this time ones that are reliable and crowd pleasing, but that's just my own opinion.
I think ceder point deserves some credit instead of throwing there hands up and saying this thing has been a maintence headache and it hurt somebody and getting rid of It they are at least trying to make it work
Thank you thank you thank you for the honesty. Finally a channel not talking out of his a**. In my opinion zamperla better stay away from that thing lmao. Its one of intamins babies. 😢😂 leave it alone Vamperla. Lmao.
P.s. i think its gonna be space theme said that since day one and im sticking to it. 1. America trying to return to space 2. Space theme stands with time. 3. Top thrill Spacester is a cool play on its original name. Swing or not theme works well. Plus swing is an homage to wiked twister. Which would explain why they closed it.
Start with a reverse powered launch up the spike this gives you “space” weightlessness , with intamins new tech, switch track of some sorts involved, followed by a powered LSM launch straight up the tower. just like Superman escape.
Im also thinking because of that keychain. What if they reversed it. Leave the station in opposite direction. Meaning your twisting on the way up just like wicked twister. And come straight down instead. That would be sooo cool.
😭But..but...." Zamperla have never built anything on the scale of TTD!!!"- yeah, neither have B&M, Vekoma, S&S, RMC .....No one, has except Intamin.😭 (!)
Obviously it's hard to pass judgement on a ride before it's even fully announced, so I won't. But to be fair to Zamperla, since the first month or so Wild Mouse has been up most of the time. According to Queue-Times, in the past week it's been up for 83% of the time the park is open. That's higher than Maverick (81.7), Steel Vengeance (77.3) and Valravn (60.5, which was surprising to me). It's roughly in line with Gatekeeper and Millennium Force (88.3 and 86.8% respectively). Plus it's actually a pretty good ride, that banked whip around pulls some solid forces.
One thing I think may happen on new TTD is we may see the end of real rollbacks. I could see them putting a few braking/motor fins there to make sure that when the ride is supposed to go over the top hat, it does.
The enthusiasts are the only people worried about who is manufacturing it. The enthusiasts make up a very small percentage of park visitors. The enthusiasts need to get a life and just enjoy the rides.
It’s just gonna be much much less forceful compared to hydraulics, but hey 20 years more worth of people will get to enjoy it.🤷♂️ nobody thinks it’s gonna be as good or better then the hydraulic launch. If they weren’t capable CP wouldn’t even consider them.
Thanks for enlightening us!
I’ll guess they chose Zamperla as a cost cutting measure. I’d expect Vekoma, B&M, RMC, or Intamen to build the new Dragster. It seems like a strange hire to me.
I know Zamperla from carnival rides, but I’m unfamiliar with Zamperla’s Coaster line up, unless it’s a kiddie coaster.
I think it would have been weirder to pick RMC for this and I doubt RMC would even try to bid for this
The difference of price could have been huge. I would have thought Intamin would jump at the challenge, but maybe not or the price was up there with a whole new ride. If CF even asked, of course.
I don't know why the thoosies have been hellbent on Intamin and only Intamin reimagining TTD. Given Intamin's legitimate issues with their rides specifically at CP. Just as risky IMO just in other ways.
Also weird people are like "what about wild mouse ops?!" without mentioning Intamin ops and maintenance at all. Uhhhh. Wild Mouse will be fine y'all lol. How's Maverick doing though?? A dozen trips to CP and shut down half the day each time. Uh, yeah. Probably factored into the decision to choose Zamperla.
Thank you for posting
Yes LSM Launches aren't as good as Hydraulic Launches... but Maverick's tunnel launch is pretty special and hits hard enough
I agree
Plot twist: the new trains for Top Thrill Dragster will actually be the wild mouse trains
Zamperla even has engineers from Intamin that are now working for them, so i think we need to give Zamperla an chance. People are upset indeed that it's not Intamin but Zamperla has an incredible track record with the skill & knowledge they have so yes i think this project could work well for Cedar Point.
I think Cedar Fair probably just had enough of Intimen. 🤷🏻
It seems weird that Cedar Fair wants to overhaul their coaster whose ride type was still very much in its prototypical phase when it was being built by using trains and LSM launches that are also very much in their prototype phase.
I also hope that Zamperla pads the seats and lap bars on those trains cause the lack of padding on their thunderbolt models make those super uncomfortable
BEST VIDEO ON THIS SUBJECT YET GREAT JOB MY FRIEND
Finally an American coaster enthusiast who doesn't pronounce "Volare" like you would do in English, but way more like it is supposed to be pronounced in Italian. Basically like an American who wants to pronounce it more correctly! ;-)
When it comes to Zamperla, I can kind of understand the mixed feelings. Sure, they have a huge ride catalog and have sold tons of different rides. But while Intamin have basically inched their way up to building something that big, Zamperla would have to leap up there. I am not saying it is impossible, but it is a huge leap that they have to make there. And let's be honest, most of their coasters aren't exactly known for their smoothness. And if you scale this up to the height and speed of TTD, that is a painful thought. However, like other manufacturers (looking at you, Vekoma) they can improve, and the spinning mouse at Cedar Point actually is really nice to ride, so they may be able to create a smooth experience on Dragster 2.0 as well.
Since I have just been to Cedar Point for the first time in my more than 20 year enthusiast career, it will likely be a while until I return, so I won't be riding this one for a long time (and never rode the original, only the slightly bigger sister in NJ). But Before I say whether it's good or bad, I will also wait until it is open and reviews start pouring in.
They might’ve tried to with that double heart thing that’s just a goofy ahh funny version of a sky rocket two, but saw that this was their chance to make a big impression on parks with dragster and risked it.
The Dragon at Canobie Lake Park was my FIRST EVER coaster. It sparked my love of coasters and I was going on the Yankee Cannonball and the Corkscrew as soon as I was tall enough.
Thank you for posting videos and for being honest 😃
Hello!!! Is anyone listening??? Jeff Besos didn't have experience selling books!!! But here we are!!! @Zamperla has access to tech that will change the game... while everyone was reveling over other companies, Zamperla was in the lab creating and growing.
Do you think another reason that Zamperla could be involved is that Cedar Fair got a bulk discount? They bought a big lot of rides from Zamperla over the past year and probably got some kind of discount for buying so many at once.
I bet even the people saying it will suck are gonna wanna ride it when it opens!
MAD PROPS for actually pronouncing it (zam-PAIR-la) correctly. It really annoys me when content creators don't do 5 minutes of research to find out how to pronounce the subject of their video correctly. Sometimes you can't, but the second half of this name (perla) is extremely common in Italian and THP either knows a little Italian or made the effort. I appreciate that. Let's take note when a name (zamperla is the perfect example) is not from English.
"Zamperla hasn't worked with rides like this!"
Neither did Intamin at one point...until they did.
Intamin haw worked on launch coasters for decades & still has major issues..Zamperla can't be much worse than Intamin.
@@grobble8954 Your funny 🤣🤣🤣🤣!!!!
I can’t wait
If the gentleman who made a video a few days ago who is an experienced park maintenance staffer at one of the parks in the parks in the US, what he says on record about his experience working with all the major players from a ride maintenance standpoint, including Zamperla, which he honestly states he disliked the experience of working with Zamperla on maintenance level support for a ride his park operates. It’s very detailed and not bias, even calls out the intamin experience of working with them on maintenance level ride projects. This is a part of the discussion that is often missed from coaster enthusiast channels and community. He later posted a shirt on some of the track that Zamperla has delivered for dragster specifically and a mistake he’s observed with the track for it. However the proof is going to be in the final construction days, and the ride testing phase for a his project and early weeks of operation to the GP and what the experience is there. So far, I’ve not seen anything to be overtly excited or even optimistic beyond a wait and see and what information comes about during the construction and testing phases of this project.
I take the maintenance staffers experience as a valued source of information in the meanwhile. The rest of it will all be speculative beyond the feedback from the experienced ride maintenance staffers who’ve worked with the key players on maintenance level work for rides including Zamperla support for those types of projects first.
I totally agree with you on the subject. The trains look really good and they will manage the LSM launch, since they get help from specialized companies for this. I see Zamperla Coasters' problems with the design and manufacture of the track. Many of their roller coasters are uncomfortable to ride. But that shouldn't be a problem with Top Thrill Dragster, since the spike is more or less a straight line. With this simple type of track, Zamperla's weaknesses don't matter. Whether Zamperla can build really good roller coasters will only be seen in future projects when they really build a complete and fast coaster with a complex layout.
zamperla
Good point! Changed my opinion!
Wonderfully worded!
I've never been to Cedar Point but I'm hoping 2024 will be the year
Enthusiast are so stupid. Cedar point wouldn’t risk a MASSIVE investment on an unknown company unless they were confident it was going to turn out well. I would also like to remind everybody that enthusiast for freaking out when a small company from Idaho got opportunity to re-profile the Texas Giant
Love this style of video. And great opinions shared.
Imagine Zamperla makes Dragster a family coaster💀💀💀
Great Adventure - enough said
I wonder if S&S could’ve done this
I'm sure they could have, but their extreme air launches still haven't proven very reliable.
Looking forward to riding the new version, went to the park 3 times and never got to ride it as it was always down so the Zammy version can’t be any worse really.
I think your logic is sound. I also love that concept track design, that would be fun but the race car theme wouldn't make sense.
Zamperla doing it sounds like a redemption.