Screaming success: Roller coaster enthusiasts take Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2 for test ride
The wait is finally over.
Cedar Point's reimagined Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster made its public debut Thursday morning for the media and some invited coaster enthusiasts before the park season begins May 4.
And the results were a screaming success as the coaster flew at break-neck speed once again over the signature 420-foot tower that has been fixture in the park's skyline since it first opened in 2003.
The park has spent several months rebuilding and testing the new Top Thrill 2 coaster that uses much of the old coaster's layout but with some twists including a new launch system, sleek coaster cars and second tower that also rises to the clouds.
William Chew, who is a member of the American Coaster Enthusiasts Club, drove up to the park from Mentor to ride the coaster.
He even brought along his thrill-seeking kids Billy, 8, and Phoebe, 10, so they too could have bragging rights to be among the first to ever ride the coaster.
By 10 a.m. they had already taken seven trips on the coaster.
"It is really great," William said. "This is a very exciting coaster."
Unlike the old coaster that simply launched riders over the existing 420-foot tower, this revamped version utilizes the second tower as riders get to experience rollback that sometimes happened with the original Top Thrill Dragster when things didn't exactly go right with the original launch system.
The ride has been idled since a mishap seriously injured a rider back in August 2021.
Anticipation over the opening of the Top Thrill 2 has been building for months as crews worked to put the pieces together to create the huge second tower situated in the middle of the park.
Antonio Zamperla, whose namesake Italian company reimagined the coaster, said Thursday's preview was two years in the making.
From the start, Zamperla said they knew they wanted to keep the heart of the coaster in place and that's the thrill of soaring some 400 feet over the top of the tower.
"The greatest challenge was reimaging an icon," he said. "All we could do is make it better."
And that meant installing a new magnetic launch system to replace the old problematic hydraulic one along with a new track, thrilling elements and doubling the ride capacity to around 2,000 an hour.
But at the heart of the work, he said, as with all their rides is to get riders from "point A to point B" safely.
"Safety is always No. 1," he said.
After months of testing of the coaster, Cedar Point has put in place some pretty strict rules just to get in line to ride it.
It was determined that the ride is so intense that there will be no loose articles allowed on the coaster and riders will have to pass through metal detectors just to get in line.
Park officials say the layout of the coaster makes it impossible for riders to store and retrieve things like cell phones and keys from the loading platform or in temporary lockers inside of the ride's queue. All personal items will have to be stored in rental lockers that require an additional fee just outside of the attraction's entrance.
Elizabeth Ringas, president of the American Coaster Enthusiasts club, traveled from Virginia for the preview.
This is a big year for new ride openings − big and small − but no debut Ringas said was more anticipated than the Top Thrill 2.
"This is one of the most memory-making coasters ever," she said. "It's 420 feet tall. This is a ride you will not experience anywhere else in the world."
5 rules you need to know about the new Top Thrill 2 roller coaster
All riders must be at least 52 inches tall.
No loose articles including cellphones, keys, lighters and even lipstick are permitted on the ride. All riders will pass through metal detectors at the ride's entrance. You are not permitted to wear waist packs or use zippered pockets to store loose articles. You will be allowed to wear glasses on the coaster but they must be secured with a strap that tightly secures to your head.
All cellphones, purses and loose articles must be left with a non-rider or inside lockers that will be situated at the ride's entrance. There will be a rental charge for the lockers.
Loose-fitting shoes or any shoe without a strap or back including flip-flops or sandals are not permitted on the ride. Riders are not permitted to ride barefoot.
The Top Thrill 2 uses a safety restraint that must touch the top of the thighs of each rider. A test rider seat is located at the ride entrance to ensure proper fit of the safety restraint.
Top Thrill 2 by the numbers
The Top Thrill 2 is the world's fastest triple-launch strata coaster.
It features two 420-foot-tall towers and launches riders three times at 74 miles per hour, 101 mph and finally 120 mph.
The total track length is 3,422 feet and it takes some two minutes from start to finish.
Passengers board the coaster cars on the platform and, once secured, the loading track slides over to the main track for the three launches.
There are three racing-themed coaster trains — metallic blue, one metallic silver and a third one metallic black.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cedar Point's Top Thrill 2 roller coaster has successful test drive
