Top Thrill Dragster Accident Closes Attraction

An accident occurred earlier this week at Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster. Reports claim a cable broke during the ride, sending shards of metal flying into four riders.

From Joe Lane

Posted July 14, 2004 at 2:09 PM Posted July 14, 2004 at 2:09 PM

An accident occurred Monday at Cedar Point's Top Thrill Dragster . Reports claim a cable broke during the ride, sending shards of metal flying into four riders.

At 420-feet-tall and reaching a top speed of 120 mph, Top Thrill Dragster had the recognition of being the tallest, fastest coaster in the world. It is uncertain when the ride will reopen.

TPI Accident Report

From Mike CP

Posted July 14, 2004 at 2:46 PM Posted July 14, 2004 at 2:46 PM

This is really turning into a big deal with all the news media in the Northern Ohio region, which I am glad to see. Cedar Point needs to be crtizied more.

On the news it interview two of the four riders, and there injuries were very very minor and the kids were exaggerating a ton about everything.

Cedar Point put up the signs that say "Dragster will not open today" at the front of all their gates, which makes me think why they kept the same signs from last year. I expect it to open within the next week, as the cable should be replaced by then and they should know what caused the metal to go flying.

From John K

Posted July 14, 2004 at 3:34 PM Posted July 14, 2004 at 3:34 PM

well, well , well..it was gonna happen sooner or later, I guess Dragster will be CP's first ever coaster to get shut down

From Derek Potter

Posted July 15, 2004 at 11:23 AM Posted July 15, 2004 at 11:23 AM

Dragster is closed until further notice. I have heard many reports of the riders milking their 15 minutes excessively, but then again, that probably did hurt a little.

My question is this...Is the ride cursed??? They still can't seem to get it running consistently, and now an accident happens. This ride is an unbelievable experience, and I hope that they can get this worked out.

From Mike K

Posted July 15, 2004 at 1:32 PM Posted July 15, 2004 at 1:32 PM

Looks like the ride should open up pretty soon. The signs at all the gates to the park today read "Top Thrill Dragster Is Currently Closed. It may open later today."

They probably just replaced the cable, again.

From Derek Potter

Posted July 16, 2004 at 10:45 AM Posted July 16, 2004 at 10:45 AM

I think that the media has jumped on this incident a little too much in the area. There were some issues with Gemini a couple weeks before the Dragster thing happened. We didn't see three news stations there for that one. I think that maybe they were there because of Dragsters reputation and status as the record holder.

The accident here really isn't the issue at hand. I'll be the first to admit that it could have been more serious, but then again, all accidents could have been more serious. The issue in the news right now is that the kids felt that the park didn't properly treat them after the accident. From what I have read, it seems like they aren't happy with the freebies, and that they didn't even know that they were hurt until the ride shut down completly. I also think that the media has given them the oppurtunity to grandstand about this whole thing.

I guess that the fact of the matter is that accidents happen, and sometimes people get hurt....sometimes it's much more serious. The argument that "something could have happened" doesn't have much weight, because something could happen anywhere. If somebody threw a rock and hit you in the leg, would you sue them because it could have hit you in the face???





From David Palmer

Posted July 16, 2004 at 11:04 AM Posted July 16, 2004 at 11:04 AM

Based on the webcams on www.cedarpoint.com It appears that TTD may be open again or they are testing it. I checked the webcams around 1:00 PM EST. I saw people around the loading que, I saw the trains moving, and I even saw one going up the hill.

From John K

Posted July 17, 2004 at 10:30 PM Posted July 17, 2004 at 10:30 PM

yeah..when you wen on the site, didn't you read the FINE PRINT, its an archive, not only that, it's not a live cam..it just takes a picture and uses that picture the whole day. So how can you say that you saw them doing test runs on the ride???

From Joe Lane

Posted July 18, 2004 at 10:51 AM Posted July 18, 2004 at 10:51 AM

I think David may have been talking about this portion of the site: http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/inside_park/rides/thrill/ttd/photo/webcam.cfm . It is a web cam on one of the hotels which transmits CURRENT photos of the attraction, but it's not a streaming feed.

From Cat Strub

Posted July 18, 2004 at 11:07 AM Posted July 18, 2004 at 11:07 AM

Rode the Dragster twice the weekend before the accident (July 9 and 10). I loved every minute of it!! I was sorry to hear about the 4 peolpe getting hurt but with a coaster like this it is bound to happen. You can't help but look at it and think that Cedar Point is pushing the limits! It's a bit risky and you know it is a bit ahead of it's time by how much it shuts down. Anything this cutting edge is sure to have some glitches. I'm glad to have ridden it a least twice if it does shut down. I wish them luck in getting it up and running!

From Derek Potter

Posted July 19, 2004 at 8:17 AM Posted July 19, 2004 at 8:17 AM

Dragster has reopened

From alex printz

Posted July 22, 2004 at 7:08 PM Posted July 22, 2004 at 7:08 PM

I hope it is working.... going next week.

Also, a link to a REAL live park cam (streaming video)

http://www.cleveland.com/cedarpointcam/index.ssf/video.ssf

i found this being dumbstruck and bored. I hope this is a better help to any1.

Can any1 find out where the cam is placed? i think it is by the snoopy shop (due to the big head on the right)

but if that's dragster, and millenium force is off to the left, the then what the heck are the big white things to the left of dragster? (im talking bout cam @ night)

Are they spotlights? just wondering. thats all.

From alex printz

Posted July 22, 2004 at 7:13 PM Posted July 22, 2004 at 7:13 PM

^also the link above (srry not a link)^

the page takes a while to load and you ned REAL 7, but it has a link to download.

From Derek Potter

Posted July 23, 2004 at 7:26 AM Posted July 23, 2004 at 7:26 AM

Here's a little tale I found on the net this morning. Apparently the Dragster train hit a bird the other day. If anybody has seen the clip of Randy Johnson's 100 mph fastball hitting a passing bird at just the right moment, than you know what kind of impact it had. It would have been an experience to have been in that train.

From Chuck Campbell

Posted July 23, 2004 at 7:43 AM Posted July 23, 2004 at 7:43 AM

Hmm--was Fabio riding it at the time?

From Jeff Arons

Posted July 23, 2004 at 8:52 AM Posted July 23, 2004 at 8:52 AM

Yea, I saw that clip of the bird exploding. Actually, I saw it live. It was pretty freaky.

About Fabio...LOL.

From shelly bailey

Posted July 26, 2004 at 10:36 AM Posted July 26, 2004 at 10:36 AM

It looks to me like the camera is near the snoopy store, facing (north?) into the park. You can see the power tower to the left.

I was at Cedar Point yesterday and the Dragster was not running the couple times I passed by it, although they were giving out the Freeway passes to it.

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