Top Thrill Dragster 2022 Status

I mean, Rougarou was definitely painted the colors of po!ntbuzz on purpose, right?

Whoa, that never even occurred to me. Mind blown.

Lord, can you imagine what would have happened round here if it had been an Intamin coaster (vs. B&M) with a fully cracked support on a relatively new ride.......

Sure I can. I imagine it would be a similar reaction to what has already been said about Intamin. They have a well-documented history of significant reliability issues with their rides. And as a disclaimer, I'm in the camp that hopes CF is back in business with them for PHP/TTD2.0.

Edit: To be clear, I am not portraying the role of Lord. I am just Dvo.

Teaser today has a rocket emoji, so perhaps a space theme isn't out of the question yet.

First time at the park this year in line for Iron Dragon. Jesus those new supports are BIG

Jeff:

Whoa, that never even occurred to me. Mind blown

This has to be sarcasm, right?

Since the locations of the footers became clear, I've been "Team Spike" ... but I had an intriguing thought today. Everyone is focused on a potential swing launch... but what if the Spike ends up being the final element of the new ride?

Hear me out... build a new, longer launch (to accommodate the longer length needed for LSMs vs Hydraulic) but put it where the brake run used to be. The train traverses the top hat in the opposite direction, crosses over an airtime hill (maybe) where the launch used to be, and gets another LSM boost in the lead up to the spike. The train rolls back, potentially getting a boost to climb the top hat backwards...and eventually valleys between the tophat and Spike, before a track switch sends it back to the station.

If PHP stands for "Project High Point" it would make sense for the Spike to be a record breaker... but that doesn't align with the swing launch concept.

Maybe it’s just me but seeing the brake side paint in person this looks grey not white to me.

eChameleon:

Teaser today has a rocket emoji, so perhaps a space theme isn't out of the question yet.

Do you care to share with the class...

I just said the same thing. It’s definitely a grey-tinted white. Is going to look good with the gray supports.

Holy god it’s going to be a dark tower

vwhoward:

Jeff:

Whoa, that never even occurred to me. Mind blown

This has to be sarcasm, right?

I'm completely serious. It felt familiar, yes, but I never made the connection.

Well we have paint about a quarter of the way up the tower now!

I’m definitely team dark tower. It’s gonna look so good.

SpeedDemon:

Holy god it’s going to be a dark tower

New name confirmed "Stephen King The Ride".

Can anyone explain why they’re jumping around so much with the painting? Doesn’t it make sense to paint each column as you go rather than skip a few and then come back to it? 🤷‍♂️

SO happy to see a scheme that isn’t on the basic ROYGBV color wheel. Great to see something a little more interesting.

Jeff, I always assumed it was nod to the relentless talk of turning it into a floorless coaster. Years of back and forth and then it finally happened. I'd ask Tony next time you talk to him. (Just an assumption you have an audience with him from time to time.)

SRE123:
Can anyone explain why they’re jumping around so much with the painting? Doesn’t it make sense to paint each column as you go rather than skip a few and then come back to it?

They're likely getting to the easy to reach areas first before they have to resort to climbing/rappelling and scaffolding. There's definitely a limit to where they can reach with boom lifts and such. For the most part, I don't think there's an exact science or method to the order in which they paint. It could just be what the painters decide to do on the fly. I'm a painter by trade and I usually start at the top of the larger structures I have to paint. But sometimes I have to change things up just based on feel.