Top Thrill Dragster

Top Thrill Dragster is a steel accelerator roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. Manufactured by Intamin, it was the sixteenth roller coaster to be built at the park since Blue Streak in 1964. It opened in 2003 as the tallest roller coaster in the world and the first full-circuit roller coaster to exceed 400 feet in height. Its height record was later surpassed by Kingda Ka at Six Flags Great Adventure in 2005. Top Thrill Dragster, along with Kingda Ka, are the only strata coasters in existence. It was the second hydraulically launched roller coaster built by Intamin, following Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm. The tagline for Top Thrill Dragster is "Race for the Sky".
Planning for Top Thrill Dragster began around the time Millennium Force opened in 2000. Concrete footers were poured during the 2001–2002 offseason and were covered prior to the 2002 operating season to keep them hidden. To construct the roller coaster, the park had to use a 480 feet crane, one of only four in the United States. Vertical construction by Martin & Vleminckx began in the fall of 2002, months before the announcement. By October 2002, the roller coaster had reached 200 feet . The ride was announced on January 9, 2003 and the structure, built by Intamin's subcontractor Stakotra, was finished shortly after. It is tied with Millennium Force for being the two largest investments in Cedar Point history. The announcement revealed the park's goal to build "the tallest and fastest roller coaster on earth", reaching 420 feet and accelerating up to 120 miles per hour in 4 seconds. On March 10, 2003, Cedar Fair Entertainment Company filed a trademark for the name "Top Thrill Dragster".

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