Cedar Point Amusement Park is on a Lake Erie peninsula island located in Sandusky, Ohio. It is the second oldest operating amusement park in the United States, and is the home to a couple must-ride roller coasters, such as Millennium Force and Top Thrill Dragster.
It was our first time at Cedar Point and we were there to ride Top Thrill Dragster! We rushed to the ride right away, and to our surprise only waited 30 minutes to board. Top Thrill Dragster is in the top three for fastest roller coasters in the world, going a maximum speed of 120 mph. It was the first strata coaster ever built and climbs to a height of 420 feet. Today, besides Top Thrill Dragster, only two other strata coasters exist in the world.
When the ride began we were slowly moved out of the station and stopped at the ‘starting line’. Mimicking a drag race, we heard audio of motors rumbling and watched as a light goes from red, to yellow, to green. We were then launched forward, accelerating 120 mph in 3.8 seconds. Shortly after reaching maximum speed, the train ascends up a 90 degree incline. At the top of the 420 foot tower, the ride slowed as we crested the arch at the top. Occasionally, a train is launched with not enough speed to clear the crest, and will cause the ride to roll back down the hill in reverse. To experience a rollback on Top Thrill Dragster should be on any thrill seekers bucket list, but unfortunately this is a rare occurrence which we did not get a chance to experience. After the arch, we fell straight down through a twist before leveling out and arriving back at the station. We were speechless.
From start to end, Top Thrill Dragster managed to thrill, terrify and take our breath away (literally), all within the 17 short seconds the ride lasted.
