Top Thrill Dragster
Top Thrill Dragster is a steel accelerator roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the sixteenth roller coaster to be built at the park since Blue Streak in 1964. It opened in 2003 as the tallest roller coaster in the world and the first full-circuit roller coaster to exceed in height. Its height record was later surpassed by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005. Top Thrill Dragster, along with Kingda Ka, are the only strata coasters in existence. It was the second hydraulically launched  roller coaster built by Intamin, following Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm. The tagline for Top Thrill Dragster is "Race for the Sky". History. According to Rob Decker, Vice President of Planning and Design, the park began working on a new project shortly after the debut of Millennium Force in 2000. After the 2001 season ended, a Dodgem ride across from Magnum XL-200's entrance was relocated to Michigan's Adventure to clear the way for the new ride. In April 2002, work began on the concrete foundation. The concrete footings were kept hidden behind a fence when the park  opened for the 2002 season. In August 2002, an informal announcement from Cedar Point confirmed the park was building a new ride for the 2003 season. Track pieces identified as Intamin were previously spotted near Mean Streak. Vertical construction by Martin & Vleminckx began in the fall of 2002, months before the formal announcement. By October, the roller coaster had reached in height, and the highest peak was topped off in December. To construct the roller coaster, the park used five cranes, two of which were tall. At the time, only four such cranes in the United States were tall enough  to handle construction of the 420-foot tower section. An official announcement revealing details on the new ride was made the following month on January 9, 2003. Officials for the park stated the goal was to build "the tallest and fastest roller coaster on earth", reaching in height and accelerating up to in 4 seconds. The large investment tied it with Millennium Force as being the most expensive in park history. The structure was built by Intamin's subcontractor Stakotra, and was completed shortly after the announcement. In March 2003, Cedar Fair registered a trademark for the name "Top Thrill  Dragster". Top Thrill Dragster's media day was held on May 1, 2003, and it officially opened to the public three days later. It became the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world, overtaking the height record from Steel Dragon 2000 at Nagashima Spa Land, built three years earlier, and the speed record from Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland, which opened in late 2001. It lost both records to Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in May 2005. Intamin designed both Kingda Ka and Top Thrill Dragster, and the two share a similar design and layout that differs  primarily by theme and an additional hill featured on Kingda Ka. Shortly after it opened, a faulty valve on the hydraulic system caused a short-term closure. The ride continued to experience a variety of issues dealing with its hydraulic system and launch cable, which frequently led to downtime early on in its tenure. During the 2017 season's opening weekend, Cedar Point temporarily renamed the ride "Top Thrill Cubster", referencing a lost wager with Six Flags Great America over the World Series. In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, timed boarding passes called "Access Passes" were used temporarily to comply  with social distancing guidelines. In August 2021, Top Thrill Dragster experienced a "serious accident" that resulted in an injury to a guest waiting in line for the attraction. The ride was closed for the remainder of 2021 while an investigation took place to determine the cause of the accident. Cedar Point and its officials were cleared of any wrongdoing by the Ohio Department of Agriculture in February 2022; however, they are required to perform a list of repairs, including repairing damaged track sections and replacing "different or improper grade" bolts before ODA will certify the attraction to reopen. Upon the  release of ODA's investigation, Cedar Point announced that the attraction would remain closed for the entirety of the 2022 season. Ride experience. Layout. After leaving the station, the train enters the launch area. To the left of the launch area is a "Christmas tree" light, similar to those employed at the starting line of a drag strip. A brief message is played to the riders before the launch: "Keep arms down, head back, and hold on." Once the train is prepared to launch, a motor revving sound effect is played and its magnetic braking fins are lowered from the  launch track. It then launches, accelerating to a speed of in 3.8 seconds. Shortly after reaching its maximum velocity, the catch car disengages, and the train begins its ascent up a 90-degree incline, twisting 90 degrees clockwise before climbing over the top hat. Upon descending, the track twists 270 degrees before leveling out, allowing the train to be stopped by the magnetic brakes. Station, theme, and trains. The roller coaster is themed to Top Fuel drag racing, a category of motor racing that involves the world's fastest accelerating cars. An actual Top Fuel dragster weighs approximately one ton , while each train on the coaster weighs 15 tons. Originally, the design called for five cars on each train, but when the ride first opened, there were only four. A fifth car was added to each by midseason. Each dragster-themed train was also decorated with a spoiler, a set of tires, and an engine at the rear of each train, but these were removed after the fifth car was added to allow an extra row of seats to take their place. Each train is painted in a different color: Red, blue, purple, orange, maroon or green. Rollbacks. Occasionally, a  train is launched without sufficient speed to reach the top of the tower and rolls back onto the launch track, hence the term "rollback". This typically happens in cool, wet, or breezy weather, or when the wind is working against it. The launch track is equipped with retractable magnetic braking fins which are raised after each launch in order to slow the train down in case it does not reach the top of the tower. On very rare occasions, a combination of the weight distribution of the train, the force of the launch, and the wind can stall a train  on the top of the tower. When this happens, a mechanic takes the elevator to the top and pushes the train down the hill. World records. When Top Thrill Dragster debuted, it set four new records: It became the fastest roller coaster in the world with a maximum speed of . It was the fourth roller coaster to exceed , preceded by Tower of Terror II at Dreamworld, at Six Flags Magic Mountain and Dodonpa at Fuji-Q Highland. Dodonpa held the record previously with a top speed of . Top Thrill Dragster also broke the height record, standing at , which was previously  held by Superman: Escape from Krypton at . Kingda Ka opened two years later at Six Flags Great Adventure and broke both of Top Thrill Dragster's records, boasting a height of and a top speed of . The speed record was again broken in 2010 by Formula Rossa at Ferrari World, which reaches a maximum speed of . , Top Thrill Dragster has the second tallest height, the third fastest speed, and the second-highest drop among steel roller coasters in the world. Incidents. On July 14, 2004, four people were struck by flying debris while riding the coaster. Reports indicated that a  metal cable frayed during launch, shearing off shards of metal that struck the riders. The injuries were mainly arm abrasions, with one passenger experiencing cuts to the face. They were treated at the park's first aid station, and two later sought further medical attention. On August 7, 2016, two people were treated for minor injuries when the launch cable detached from the ride. The ride was closed for the following day while the park and Ohio state officials investigated the incident. In September 2017, a report with photos surfaced that the braking system on the launch side of the  track may have been damaged, causing the ride to close indefinitely. Cedar Point did not acknowledge the incident and stated the closure was for maintenance reasons. On August 15, 2021, a guest waiting in line was struck by a small metal piece that dislodged from a train as it was nearing the end of its run. Described as a "serious accident", the guest was taken to a nearby hospital, with no indication on the severity of the injury. Cedar Point announced that the coaster would be closed for the remainder of the season. The piece was later determined to be  a flag plate – an L-shaped bracket that signals the train's location to sensors positioned along the track. An investigation by the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) determined that half of the bolts securing the plate dislodged. The ODA mandated the closure of Top Thrill Dragster during the investigation and subsequent reinspections. As a result of its investigation, ODA established there was “insufficient evidence to find the action or inactions of Cedar Point violated any of the laws" and closed its investigation in February 2022.