Hopefull Kinzel is eyeing Texas giant makeover for Meanstreak

http://www.rcdb.com/2.htm?p=29292

I was skeptical at first about the Texas Giant being renovated

with steel box track. I am totally AMAZED by the progress and 

am hoping that Kinzel and CF are paying attention to the work

being done on the Texas Giant and will soon announce the same

for Meanstreak.

Imagine that first drop on Meanstreak at 79 degrees or even 

STEEPER WITHOUT TRIMS! That beautiful first turnaround that 

ALWAYS looks better that what it actually is may actually come

out BETTER that Millennium Forces turn around. It is costing SF

10 Million for the job and it looks like a win-win situation.

MUCH less maintenence, A MUCH smoother ride and awesome looking

transitions, a MUCH steeper drop and they were able to even add

10 more feet to the first hill. 

Meanstreak NEEDS this and hopefully this company can be hired ASAP

to do the same thing if not better to Meanstreak and restore the 

honor if not more to a beautiful looking and deserving coaster. 

With Millennium, Dragster, and Maverick each costing over 20 million, 

this would be a WISE investment. A New ride for LESS than half the 

price of past large installments,a smart solution to an unloved 

coaster, all the roughness and complaints will hopefully be gone, 

and an opportunity to even add some record breaking features. 

Not to mention MUCH less upkeep and yearly track replacement that 

barely seems to get done on this coaster anyways. Thoughts anyone?

Just my opinion, but all this does is makes Mean Streak another steel coaster with a wood frame, a bigger Gemini with only one track. It also leaves CP with one true wood coaster. I'm all for improvements to Mean Streak (although I'm one of the few MS lovers in the world) but not at the cost of having only one wood coaster, and a small one at that. I was truly disappointed when they announced it was done for the season after the fire, as I was hoping for a couple more rides. There's always next season though...hopefully :).

Why wouldn't Cedar Point just get a new steel coaster then? In my opinion, there are 3 options: renovate Mean Streak, dismantle and make a new wooden coaster, dismantle and make a new steel coaster.

The steel retracking is twice the price of the original coaster...

If they were going to spend that kind of money for MS, then just tear it down and build me a nice GCI/Intiman woodie with speed airtime and a station fly through!

Thank God... for a second there, I thought this thread was based on an actual quote from Kinzel.

There's no telling what will come of the Texas Giant situation. It could be a total bust, in that the ride might not be any better than it was. So, a certain measure of "wait & see" should probably be used before we start talking about how amazing TG's renovation is. Besides, how do you market a coaster renovation?

Personally, I'd much rather see CP put in a brand-spankin'-new GCI.

Wow, Being a fan of wooden coasters I have always wanted to ride the Texas Giant, I had not heard about the "restoration" till this thread. I personally think its a horrible idea! there are many ways to modernize the wooden track to make it smoother and up keep simpler yet still keep the look and feel of a classic wooden coaster that Mean Streak is.

I remember my very first trip to Cedar Point, it was the first year of the Raptor so 94? I would have been 12. I loved the Mean Streak, It was my favorite by far. So much I made my uncle buy me a MS snow globe that I still have. Wooden coasters should be a little rough, they have a feel to them and a life of there own, no two rides on a wooden coaster are ever the same! I agree that MS has gotten a little rough, but is this due to the track its self or because of lack of maintenance. I would also like to point out than since that first trip Magnum a Steel Coaster has also gotten a lot rougher. I think CP need to give a little TLC to there older and still great rides! I would love to see some retracting done to MS, but I would hate to see a beautiful coaster turned into a hybrid like the Texas Giant, I hope this maintenance that was planned to be done will turn it back into the ride I remember, not into something different!

clevelander - So how does changing the track from wood to steel make it so the structure can handle untrimmed trains? In theory, steel would allow the train to run even faster which would put even more stress on the structure.

The way I see it, they are building a completely new ride which is "kinda" similar to the ride it replaced. Then, they are gonna call it Texas Giant.

I still don't understand the return on investment for doing a restoration like this. Were the people of Texas protesting in the streets? Save our Texas Giant!?!

Well, should this happen, there would be three steel coasters in the park that the general public would mistake as being wooden coasters. I don't see how that fact, paired with gravy buffets, would be good for enthusiasts' blood pressure.

I would also like to point out than since that first trip Magnum a Steel Coaster has also gotten a lot rougher.

I doubt it, but I am confident your perception of the ride has changed. There was no "smooth as glass" Millennium Force or Top Thrill Dragster...or even smooth B & M hypers to compare it to.

Many of us remember Meanstreak's glory days when it opened, but it's to the point that I no longer even give it a "once a year" try anymore. In my head, Meanstreak is already dead. Sort of how Darth Vader felt about Anakin...only I doubt there is any type of redemption coming in the near future. :)

Chase Gilbert said:
Just my opinion, but all this does is makes Mean Streak another steel coaster with a wood frame, a bigger Gemini with only one track. It also leaves CP with one true wood coaster. I'm all for improvements to Mean Streak (although I'm one of the few MS lovers in the world) but not at the cost of having only one wood coaster, and a small one at that. I was truly disappointed when they announced it was done for the season after the fire, as I was hoping for a couple more rides. There's always next season though...hopefully :).

I agree 100% with you Chase. And I'm sure Kinzel and the rest of Cedar Point staff are looking at what they can do to improve Mean Streak. I would be upset if another steel coaster went in that area. I've already submitted my idea in the News blog about Mean Streak, so any one who is interested should read it.

I think it would be better just to tare it down and start over, even with a new steel track the layout is not that great.

I'm not sure how growing weeds around it would help. ;)

If they tore down MS and built a shiny new GCI or GG in its place, what percentage of the general public would even know its a new coaster without actually walking back there?

I bet they'd look that direction from Maverick's entrance, see a woodie, remember it being a rough ride, and walk the other way.

Thats why there are such things as advertisements.

The Texas Giant rehab is one of the most cost irrational rehabs in the history of rides. They're spending $10 million on that ride, which seems insane to me.

Regardless of whatever happens to Mean Streak, one thing's for certain. In the grand scale or coaster rehabs, turning Mantis into a floorless ought to be small potatoes by comparison...

Jeff said:
The Texas Giant rehab is one of the most cost irrational rehabs in the history of rides. They're spending $10 million on that ride, which seems insane to me.

Yea, Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the cost to build the Texas Giant only $5.5M?

That's correct, but that equates to about $9 million in today's dollars.

That argument doesn't hold a whole lot of water. Millennium Force cost $25,000,000 to build. Another 305' coaster was built 10 years later and cost the same amount.

You could say that Millennium Force cost more to build because they had to move Giant Wheel etc... However, price breakdowns from 2000 showed $25,000,000 for Millennium Force and another amount for moving Giant Wheel and other park improvements. I have to find that as I know its somewhere. Either way, that would be saying that it cost anywhere from $1-$5 Million to move Giant Wheel and thats just ludicrous.

So no, it wouldn't cost and additional $3,500,000 to build another Texas Giant.