Cedar Point Announces Top Thrill 2 Roller Coaster

SANDUSKY, Ohio – Cedar Point’s newest ride, Top Thrill 2, will open for the 2024 season.

It’s an expanded and improved version of the original Top Thrill Dragster, which opened in 2003 and closed in 2021. The park is touting it as the world’s tallest and fastest triple-launch strata roller coaster.

A strata coaster is any roller coaster that has a hill height greater than 400 feet. Top Thrill 2 will build on that legacy by adding a second 420-foot-high hill, according to a press release from the park. It will be the world’s only dual-tower vertical speedway.

Riders will climb into one of three, sleek trains that resemble high-performance racing vehicles. Each train will feature open-air seating, providing a view of the park and lake.

On the start, using an all-new linear synchronous motor launch system, riders will race down the straightaway reaching speeds of 74 mph, racing toward the sky on Top Thrill 2’s original 420-foot-tall “top hat” tower. After experiencing weightlessness during the “rollback” – when the train’s momentum isn’t great enough to make it up and over the tower – the train shifts into reverse and goes back down the hill.

Its second launch, which also does not reach the top but instead rolls backward to the starting point, reaches speeds of 101 mph. Riders will then speed into a backward climb at a 90-degree angle on a new, 420-foot-tall track tower.

After a second moment of weightlessness, the train shifts into drive and races forward into its third launch, clocking in at the ride’s top speed of 120 mph.

Crossing over the top hat tower, the train decelerates momentarily before diving into a 270-degree spiral and crossing the finish line.

The new ride has a run time of nearly two minutes, according to the press release.

“Top Thrill 2 will be the boldest and most advanced roller coaster Cedar Point has ever introduced,” said Carrie Boldman, vice president and general manager of the park. “Our stamp on the industry is in roller coaster innovation, and today, that’s solidified as we redefine the strata coaster into a mega-thrill that our guests will come from far and wide to experience.”

Partnering with Cedar Point and using the ride’s original and iconic top hat tower, Zamperla Rides and its Roller Coaster Business Unit engineered and designed Top Thrill 2. The ride is one of the first roller coasters in the world to use Zamperla’s Lightning trains, capable of high-speed aerodynamics, performance and rider comfort.

Pictured at top: An artist’s depiction of the Top Thrill 2 coaster, which improves upon the original Top Thrill Dragster.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.