At the beginning of the summer, America’s Roller Coast was the center of attention in the entertainment industry, premiering a new roller coaster that reimagined a previous record-breaking attraction.
Dubbed “Top Thrill 2,” the new roller coaster at Cedar Point that gives a twist to the previous coaster “Top Thrill Dragster” will not reopen in 2024 after operating for just eight days before ran into mechanical problems that required it to be shut down.
The park said the coaster’s manufacturer, Zamperla, is still working on “mechanical modification” of the ride’s vehicles.
Zamperla was tapped earlier this decade to revamp what was Top Thrill Dragster, a record-breaking roller coaster manufactured by Intamin that set records upon opening in 2003 as the fastest and tallest roller coaster, with a height and speed of 420 feet and 120 miles per hour, respectively.
Intamin is a major roller coaster manufacturer, also known for being behind the popular Cedar Point roller coasters Millennium Force and Maverick.
Long considered one of the park’s more unreliable rides, the ride as it was called was permanently closed after an incident on August 15, 2021, when a guest waiting in line was struck in the head by a piece of metal that broke off from a train near the end of its run, according to The Sandusky Register.
The ride ceased operations for the remainder of the 2021 season, with plans for Top Thrill 2 officially unveiled in August 2023.
Despite the closure of Top Thrill 2, Cedar Point’s impressive roller coaster collection still drives significant crowds, with the park gathers over four million visitors 2023, more than any US theme park outside of Florida and California.