CEDAR POINT: What's up with Dragster?

Editor's note: Justin Dietz is a Register correspondent representing CPFoodBlog.com and @CPFoodBlog on Twitter. SANDUSKY — Cedar Point has a lot to offer still for 2022 and going into 2023. HalloWeekends returns for its 25th anniversary starting Sept. 15, this year operating on Thursdays through the Oct. 30 weekend. Stay tuned for some upcoming highlights from this year's event. Once the season comes to a close, of course all sights will be on the new season and the debut of an all-new Boardwalk area. The entire area will be updated and include a new Grand Pavilion and Cedar Point's 18th roller coaster, a Wild Mouse. However, despite all the great news for what is to come in 2023, guests still have one consistent question: What will become of Top Thrill Dragster? The ride has remained closed for the 2022 season following its closure in Aug. 2021. Throughout this season, guests have made all sorts of speculative posts about the future of the iconic Intamin strata coaster. Just prior to the start of the 2022 season, photos surfaced of the Top Thrill Dragster cars being trucked away. While there were rumors of them being shipped to California for a similar attraction at sister park Knott's Berry Farm, there have also been other unconfirmed comments that the trains are still secretly hiding on Cedar Point property. At the end of July, survey markings started to show up all around the midway surrounding Dragster. While the roller coaster sat dark for the majority of the season, as soon as the park turned the lights back on Aug. 1, guests saw it as a tell-tale sign of the attraction coming back. Going into announcement day for the 2023 improvements, the most anticipated news guests were hoping to hear was the status of Dragster. Instead, Cedar Point opted to not mention it and focus on the Boardwalk. As we go into September and get closer to the end of the season, guests are clamoring for the fate of the attraction. Will it come back? What type of modifications will it have? Or is it getting removed completely? One staple of the attraction that has remained in place was the decorative dragster race car outside the exit queue. After guests went over 400 feet high at 120 mph, guests could get a photo with the real dragster prop to remember the day. It has remained onsite throughout the 2022 season. That is until today. Last night a guest noticed the prop was getting worked on by maintenance staff. This morning when guests entered the park, the prop car was gone. What remained was pavement staining and dropped leaves. So the question everyone is asking now, what does it mean? Since the area would not accommodate any queue changes, and it abuts up against Iron Dragon support columns, the removal of the prop signifies a potential major development in the roller coaster's future. Has the park finally made a decision on the attraction's fate? The key to the missing dragster is whether it shows up in the defunct ride graveyard in the coming weeks.