Like many people on a cold and rainy morning, Top Thrill 2 needed a little extra time to fully wake up on opening day at Cedar Point.
The Sandusky, Ohio, amusement park has been hyping the return of Top Thrill 2, promising the once-troubled roller coaster would be ready to go on opening day, May 3. Top Thrill 2 debuted in 2024 but closed after only eight days for adjustments.
According to a video posted May 7 on Reddit, the coaster may have needed a few more adjustments on opening day. Here’s what happened.
Reddit video shows extra rollback on first run of Top Thrill 2
The video posted to the Cedar Point subreddit (r/cedarpoint) claims to show the first public runs of Top Thrill 2 on opening day. In it, the first train of the day (according to the person posting the video) experienced two rollbacks as the roller coaster doesn’t quite have the oomph to push the train full of riders over the tophat hill on its first two launches.
The forward-and-backward movement of Top Thrill 2 is by design, though the rollback is only supposed to happen once. According to the coaster’s description on CedarPoint.com, Top Thrill 2 launches its vehicles three times on one run. The first is forward, which runs out of momentum on the 420-foot hill and rolls back toward the start. Then, the train is launched backward, up a vertical track. When that runs out of momentum, the train rolls forward toward the start, where a third launch finally sends it over the hill at 120 mph.
According to the post, Cedar Point did a few more empty test runs before letting thrill-seekers back on the coaster, which ran “fairly well” the rest of the day.
Opening day was wet and cold and Cedar Point
Opening day at Cedar Point was greeted by a steady rain and temperatures in the 40s on the shores of Lake Erie, the Beacon Journal previously reported. But thousands of fans still turned out, many waiting for their first ride on Top Thrill 2.
And it was a wait. The rain delayed the opening of most major rides at the amusement park by hours.
Top Thrill 2 closed eight days after its debut during the 2024 season
Then Cedar Point’s newest roller coaster, Top Thrill 2 made its debut in April 2024, when the park invited coaster enthusiasts to take a test ride.
A reimagining of the Top Thrill Dragster, which debuted in 2003, Top Thrill 2 uses much of the old coaster’s layout, including its signature 420-foot tower.
The update added a new launch system, sleeker coaster cars and a second tower. Antonio Zamperla, whose namesake Italian company reimagined the coaster, said the new coaster was two years in the making.
However, Top Thrill 2 closed on May 12, eight days after Cedar Point opened for the 2024 season so Zamperla could work on modifications to the ride’s vehicles. The theme park hoped to reopen the coaster that summer, and watchers observed Top Thrill 2 being tested several times. However, Cedar Point announced in August that the ride would remain closed for the season.
Top Thrill Dragster accident seriously injures rider
Cedar Point closed the original Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster after a mishap seriously injured a rider in August 2021.
The original design was problematic for the park ever since it opened in 2003, the Beacon Journal previously reported. The ride had frequent breakdowns with its unique original launch system that sent riders over a 420-foot tower.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Top Thrill 2 rollback trouble? What happened to the Cedar Point roller coaster opening day
Reporting by Chad Murphy, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
