Buuuuuut… they like big buts, and they cannot lie
That highlighted part makes it adult clear that is probably best getting a rebrand and some kind of redesign… maybe new propulsion, probably new trains (since that’s where the plate that hit the lady came from), new theme, etc.
I think this sets them up nicely for having the new Boardwalk & mouse coaster next season and Dragster 2 in 2024, then maybe a really major new coaster the next year.
When I saw the announcement, those two phrases immediately stood out to me to indicate the ride isn’t going anywhere.
The question is what will it become? My first thought was, aside from new ride trains and braking system (due to the accident), perhaps it would be “reimagined” into a VR experience. But as I thought about that, it would slow down the ride cycle too much…plus, in light of COVID, I kind of doubt the sharing of a VR headset would be seen as kosher.
So, my next thought is that they might retheme it perhaps to some kind of launch. Maybe a space theme, and the launch and landing are contained inside a tunnel to help shield guests in line from the ride itself as a secondary backup.
I am not a huge TTD fan. I don’t care if it stays or goes. The fact is, after you have ridden it a time or two, it isn’t all that exciting. At least, it isn’t worth the kind of waits it tends to get. I will only ride it if the wait time was under 30 minutes. I found Wicked Twister a far more thrilling experience, may it rest in peace!
Might be unpopular, but I never cared for that ride’s profile, and won’t miss it if they take down the short quick loop. It had the most downtime of any ride I can recall in the past decade.
100%, and I’m not just saying that because WT was my baby (I was 2rd in charge opening season and ATL the second year). Dragster was exciting the first couple of time, but after that I only ever rode it last thing of the day if I’d ridden everything else and there wasn’t much of a line. Since I got to ride it a bunch pre-season the year it opened (including a rollback my very first time) I was never willing to wait for it.
If I had to guess, I’d say you’re right about it getting a space/rocket theme and LSMs (there was already chatter that they were seen dismantling the hydraulics), and I’d like to see some sort of additional ride elements added, which would eliminate or at least reduce the need to even have such a massive brake run there. Since they’ve already started marking the ground near Scrambler and Matterhorn, and since we know Scrambler is going over to the Boardwalk I really hope they’re making space for exactly that. Iron Dragon is in the way, and that’s such a great starter coaster that I don’t think it’s going anywhere, but I think it can be worked around.
Well… you maybe haven’t see Maverick this year. That’s had some big issues. But really, aside from it being a brand-new untried Intamin design, I think it was the hydraulic launch system that caused a lot of those issues. That’s been abandoned for projects since then in favor of LSM launches so I think they’ll replace the launch system with that, though that (currently) takes more space to get up to enough speed for that height. Maybe they’ve improved that ability, or maybe they’ll reduce the height (it’s not a record holder, and the minute they make any changes it loses the record setter status).
