Cedar Point theme park is set to unveil the world's tallest and FASTEST triple-launch roller coaster: 420-foot-tall Top Thrill 2 can reach speeds of up to 120mph
Its release comes two years after the original was closed when a failure injured a waiting guest, who was struck in the head by a bracket that flew off the coaster
Themed to drag racing, the ride - which has three segments and is classed as a 'triple-launch' coaster - will also feature a launch track designed like a dragstrip
Set to open in Cleveland next year, The Top Thrill 2 will rocket revelers 420 feet into the air, before falling backwards and forward again at speeds of 120mph
An Ohio theme park is bringing back a revamped version of what was once the world’s tallest and fastest roller coaster - after the original was closed when a failure injured a waiting guest.
Set to open at Cleveland's Cedar Point next year, The Top Thrill 2 will rocket revelers 420 feet into the air, park presiders said in a statement, before falling backwards and then forward once again at speeds of 120mph.
Themed to Top Fuel drag racing, the ride - which has three segments and is classed as a 'triple-launch' coaster - will also feature a launch track designed like a dragstrip, where straightaway speeds are poised to surprise the most seasoned of enthusiasts.
Apart from its speed, the ride is set to break records for its stature, park officials said, touting how it will be the second tallest 'strata roller coaster' - one over 400 feet - behind only Six Flags' Kingda Ka, which opened in 2005 and tops out at 456 feet.
The Ka also beats the Thrill in terms of speed by a mere 8mph - though the new ride is still set to be the fastest among all triple launch coasters, and the third-fastest overall, park boss Carrie Boldman announced.
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Set to open at Cleveland's Cedar Point next year, The Top Thrill 2 will rocket revelers 420 feet into the air, park presiders said in a statement, before falling backwards and then forward once again at speeds of 120mph.
Themed to Top Fuel drag racing, the ride - which has three segments and is classed as a 'triple-launch' coaster - will also feature a launch track designed like a dragstrip, where straightaway speeds are poised to surprise the most seasoned of speed demons
'Top Thrill 2 will be the boldest and most advanced roller coaster Cedar Point has ever introduced,' the vice president and general manager of the Cleveland park said of the anticipated attraction, which has a soft opening for sometime in 2024.
'It’s another one-of-a-kind that could only be built at Cedar Point,' said Boldman of the ride, whose also 420-foot predecessor consistently ranked as one of the world's top steel coasters in prominent amusement park publications.
In 2021, a guest was severely injured by a metal bracket while standing in line outside the coaster and the park's previously unmarred reputation took a hit.
The ride was closed and later revamped with the new experience, while the woman, a 46-year-old from Michigan, sued the park for negligence.
Her suit, filed two weeks ago, claims she will need medical assistance for the rest of her life after the bracket fell from the ride - and quantifies the costs of treatment she now faces in the excess of $10 million.
Days after that suit demanded that sum in damage, Cedar Point issued its statement announcing the ride's replacement.
The modified version, the park made clear, will be worked on by a different manufacturer, but will utilize much of the architecture from the original - including the 420-foot tower that for more than a decade stood as the tallest in the world.
Boldman and other park organizers revealed the ride will add two more launches - hence the 'triple launch' categorization - as well as a second tower that also measures in at 420 feet.
Along with the announcement, park officials provided a virtual rendition of the yet-to-released ride - showing how riders will be thrusts the sky at lighting speeds up the original 420-foot-tall 'top hat' tower, before dropping back down, in reverse, after failing to traverse the first 420-foot tower.
Apart from its speed, the ride is set to break records for its stature, park officials said, touting how it will be the second tallest 'strata roller coaster' - one over 400 feet - and will offer open seating so that riders can fully appreciate the experience
It comes as a replacement to original Top Thrill Dragster, which opened in 2003 as the tallest and fastest coaster in the world.
The ride - which sported a 420 foot tower that will again be utilized in its successor - was closed in 2021 after a bracket fell from the tower and injured a waiting guest
The woman, a 46-year-old from Michigan, has since sued, filing a claim for negligence two weeks ago. A stunt dummy is seen testing the ride in 2003 shortly before it opened
Footage filmed on August 15, 2021, showed the aftermath of the accident - and how park officials and witnesses rushed to help then 44-year-old Rachel Hawes after she was struck in the head
After the incident, the park's previously unmarred reputation took a hit, and the ride was was closed and later revamped with the new experience
Dawes, meanwhile, claims she will need medical assistance for the rest of her life, and quantifies the costs of treatment she now faces for an allegedly permanent head injury in the excess of $10 million
Pictured is the metal bracket said to have stuck Hawes during the 2021 incident
At this point, officials said, the coasters top speed will reach 101mph.
Then, the ride begins its second launch - this time with enough force to traverse the tower, before racing forward to its third launch, up the second tower at the ride's max speed of 120mph.
A statement from the park describing the future ride's track-like trajectory added that riders will then cross over the tower, before deaccelerating momentarily - before diving into a 270-degree spiral and crossing the finish line.
Boldman further touted how planned attraction is set to put 'our stamp on the [roller coaster] industry... as we redefine the strata coaster into a mega-thrill that our guests will come from far and wide to experience.'
The fastest coaster of its kind, the rides top speed will only be bested by the aforementioned Kingda Ka and the 171-foot-tall Formula Rossa, found at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi, organizers added.
The ride's top speed will only be bested by the Kingda Ka and the 171-foot-tall Formula Rossa, found at Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi - both of which are considered single-launch coasters
The announcement comes as park officials for more than a year had promised a new experience to take the original Top Thrill Dragster's place for the 2024 season, after the park lost its premiere attraction in 2021 after an incident in August of that year.
At the time, Rachel Hawes, then 44, was waiting in line to ride the coaster - erected in 2003 by Swiss-based rollercoaster manufacturer Intamin - and was suddenly hit by a random object, which was later identified as a proximity flag plate from the ride.
The Swartz Creek resident is seen in footage after the apparent accident being tended to by park staff, before being carted off to a hospital with an apparent head injury.
In a suit filed in Erie County Common Pleas Courthouse in Ohio on July 12, Dawes claimed to have suffered several severe injuries from the falling bracket, including permanent head trauma that resulted in Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).
She says she suffered a brain hemorrhage and hematoma as a result of the incident, as well as a head fracture associated with a cerebral laceration that resulted in the loss of consciousness for more than 24 hours.
After being hit by the fallen metal object, Hawes said she racked up a medical bill of over $2 million, with future costs expected to reach in excess of $10 million.
The suit claims that “The Cedar Park defendants were negligent with failing to protect individuals, such as Rachel Hawes, from being injured from parts, debris, and/or objects falling from Defendant’s rides,' and seeks the sum in damages.
he incident is just one of two ride-related injuries sustained at the Ohio Park in recent months. Last week, a season-pass holder was diagnosed with a concussion after he said he was hit in the head by a loose iPhone while riding the park's Maverick coaster (seen here) on July 22
"I had blood dripping down my face, and I felt a bit dizzy," David Carter, a paramedic in his 20s, told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.
He has yet to file a lawsuit himself, but took photos of the alleged damage he sustained as a result of the incident, as well as the phone itself
Carter, who also wrote about his injury on social media, said the phone flew out of a the pocket of a boy riding ahead of him on the coaster, and that the boy's mother also lost her phone during the ride when fell into water below during the ride.
The incident is just one of two ride-related injuries sustained at the Ohio Park in recent months.
Last week, a season-pass holder who previously worked at the park was diagnosed with a concussion after he said he was hit in the head by a loose iPhone while riding the park's Maverick roller coaster on July 22 - days after Hawes filed suit.
'I had blood dripping down my face, and I felt a bit dizzy,' David Carter, a paramedic in his 20s, told the Detroit Free Press, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Carter, who also wrote about his injury on social media, said the phone flew out of a the pocket of a boy riding ahead of him on the coaster, and that the boy's mother also lost her phone during the ride when fell into water below during the ride.
He has yet to file a lawsuit himself, but took photos of the alleged damage he sustained as a result of the incident.
The Top Thrill 2 is still set to open sometime in 2024, officials said.
Source: Daily Mail
