Brain-Damaging Coaster Receives Massive Repair List, Forced to Remain Closed - Inside the Magic

No one ever expects to go to a theme park and end up at a hospital, but at times, this can unfortunately happen. When an injury is caused in a theme park, right away authorities must look to see what caused the injury, and who is at fault. We have seen both Disney and Universal deal with lawsuits within both of their respective theme parks around the world, for injuries occurring on anything from attractions to water slides.

But, of course, the scope of theme park injuries expands far beyond those two companies, as we have recently discussed when looking into the injury caused by Top Thrill Dragster, a coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. For those who have not yet been made aware of this incident, below is our original coverage of what happened to 

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On August 15, there was an accident at Cedar Point (owned by Cedar Fair) that involved the 420-foot (128-meter) tall Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster, according to ABC News. The coaster, which opened in 2003, launches riders on a straightaway at 120 mph (193 kph) before it climbs a hill and then comes back down. Lasting only 20 seconds, the ride is highly thrilling for Guests, but things went wrong for one rider who was allegedly struck by a metal object while riding. The Guest was moved from one hospital to another, but the severity of the injury was not announced by ABC, however, other reports noted the woman was left with brain damage. 

Then, according to the report, the injury was blamed on “instantaneous overload fracture” of a bolt holding in a plate on the ride. Cedar Point has since confirmed that the ride will not be reopening this year. Now, The Courier has obtained the list of issues that have been found on Top Thrill Dragster. All of the below issues must be fixed before the ride is able to reopen.

• Multiple loose bolts in fixed brake fins and brake framework.
• Suspected damage to brake assembly.
• Multiple bolts found to be of different or improper grade.
• Several mechanical issues with the train cars, including a missing bolt on one, a missing bracket on another, and a loose bracket on a third

Park spokesman Tony Clark noted:

“Each day, our maintenance team inspects the components of our rides multiple times. These daily inspections result in adjustments, including regular bolt tightening and replacement. The ride will remain closed while we evaluate its future, and we will share more information at the appropriate time.”

Cedar Point has a ton of attractions Guests love to ride like Blue Streak, Corkscrew, Gate Keeper, Gemini, Iron Dragon, Maverick, Millennium Force, and more. That being said, Cedar Fair has seen coaster incidents in the past. On June 26, 2019, two trains at Cedar Point bumped on the Valravn roller coaster. As recently as 2015, a man was killed by Cedar Point’s Rapture roller coaster. In July of 2004, metal debris was expelled forcefully from the launch cable of Cedar Point’s Top Thrill Dragster ride as the coaster was deployed. Four passers-by were struck by the high-speed metallic scrap, though all survived. Two were treated on-site and the others brought to a nearby hospital, to name a few tragic events. 

Have you ever been to Cedar Point? Have you ridden Top Thrill Dragster? 

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