Top Thrill Dragster - The Roller Coaster And Flat Ride Wiki

Development of Top Thrill Dragster began in 2000, the same year Millennium Force opened. Concrete footers started to be laid out in 2001. In August 2002, Cedar Point announced that they were building a new roller coaster, and that track was onsite.[4] That year, construction of the tower began. Cedar Point had to use a 480-foot crane, one of the four in the United States.[citation needed] Two rides, Chaos and Troika, were relocated within the park to make room for the new coaster.[5] Top Thrill Dragster was officially unveiled in January 2003.[6]

On May 4, 2003, the ride opened to the public,[7] being the fastest and the tallest roller coaster in the world. It suffered from technical issues, reopening on July 16 after a period of downtime.[8] The records for tallest and fastest roller coaster were taken two years later by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure.[9]

During the 2010 season, the hydraulic systems were overhauled.[10] Top Thrill Dragster was repainted by Baynum Solutions for 2016.[11][12]

At the start of the 2017 season, the ride was temporarily renamed Top Thrill Cubster after the park lost a bet with Six Flags Great America.[13]

On February 18, 2022, Cedar Point announced that Top Thrill Dragster would not operate at all during the 2022 season.[14] On September 5, 2022, the park released a statement which said Top Thrill Dragster "as you know it is being retired" and that an announcement would be made later about a new and "reimagined" ride experience.[15] Some sections of the track in and around the station were removed and the ride has been repainted gray, with white supports.[16][17] On January 9, 2023, Cedar Point released a video to their YouTube channel showcasing the ride's top hat element. This video confirmed the ride's reopening date as 2024.[18] On July 18, 2023, Cedar Point made a social media post teasing an announcement on August 1.[19]

Details of the refurbished ride were shared by Zamperla on their website a day before the official announcement, and removed shortly after.[20] On August 1, Cedar Point announced that the ride would reopen as Top Thrill 2 in 2024.[21] Zamperla also confirmed its role in redesigning the ride and constructing new trains.[22] One of the trains was unveiled at the 2023 IAAPA Expo in Orlando, Florida, USA.[23] Construction of the new vertical spike was completed in December 2023.[24]

Top Thrill 2 opened to the media and invited guests on April 25, 2024. It opened to the public on May 4, 2024.[25][26][27] On May 12, 2024, the park published a note on social media stating Top Thrill 2 had been closed indefinitely to allow Zamperla to make modifications to the trains.[28] The ride reopened on May 3, 2025.[29][30]