Intamin AG - Blue Streak

I'm a huge fan of Cedar Point, so when I say I love the Blue Streak it should come as no surprise.

Recently I've been wondering what the Blue Streak would be like if they rebuilt it (same design) but with Intamin AG's Prefabricated track. I've heard many great things about "El Toro" and how you seem to feel more because of the track design.

I have not ridden El Toro yet, so if you have please tell me what you think of it. Thanks.

http://rcdb.com/ig3183.htm

Now, I know El Toro is 102 feet taller than Blue Streak and Cedar Point would never do this. And sure, the allure of the Blue Streak is that it's an older, rickety, rough coaster. Just wondering how you think it would feel-as far as airtime???

I'd rather see Mean Streak retracked with prefab. Then they can put the speed back to it's design speed and it might be fun again. But, like you said, this will most likely never happen.

El Toro is simply the best coaster out there if you like height, speed, laterals and a completely out of control feeling while being buttery smooth. :) I couldn't find one fault with the coaster.

Kinzel apparently has no love for the prefab wood though because he said we'd not see one at Cedar Point.

If you want to fix Blue Streak, just go back to the old restraint systems. Get rid of the individual lap bars and seat belts and the seat dividers. Go back to the one bar that went across the entire seat that had a lot of play in it. The ride was designed to make riders fly out of their seats. But with the current restraints, that doesn't happen so the ride is severely hampered. Similar rides at Kennywood with old time restraints are typically ranked high in the wood coaster rankings. Blue Streak could be too if you had the old restraints. Won't happen though so that ride will always be a huge disappointment to me knowing what it was like in the past.

If anything, Meanie needs new prefab track, and blue streak still gives plenty of airtime and a wild punch that's packed into it. I think we are all to spoiled when it comes to airtime:)

We'd be spoiled if we had Nitro and El Toro. :)

^^^There is nothing wrong with Blue Streak, so why try to fix it?

I echo that. This year and the past several Blue Streak has been running really good.

Either of you ride Blue Streak with the old restraints? Clearly, the coaster runs fine. With its age, the coaster is clearly broken in. So there is no issue with how it runs. But to me, there simply is no comparing the experience of riding the Blue Streak with the current restraints to riding it with the old restraints. Its a totally different ride.

And I can understand why they went to the new restraints. I can remember being able to pretty much stand up on the ride when I was in high school. And I suspect if I really wanted to, I could have gotten out from under the restraint bar. However, the new rides with the new restraints are built to make the rides interesting even without the flying out of your seat feeling. The Blue Streak was built in large part relying on that feeling. Without it, the ride simply isn't very good. Which is sad to me because Blue Streak was the first real coaster I ever rode as a kid. And it remained by favorite coaster long after other higher and faster rides were built.

I love Blue Streak. I think nothing should be changed. If you don't like it, don't ride it. You make the line longer for people that enjoy it.

How long have you been riding Blue Streak? Did you ride it before the individual lap bars and seatbelts were installed? Have you ridden any of the wood coasters at Kennywood which still have their original restraint systems?

Since when does Blue Streak need to be "fixed?" It has been kicking ass and taking names for several years now, since the Canadians worked on it.

Everyone I know who has been on one of the milled track Intamin wood coasters says it feels like steel. In which case, what's the point?

^ Yeah, you can still stand up on the Jack Rabbit's double-dip hill with the old fashion restraints. I think there would be rioting in the streets if they ever changed those! But seriously, thats what makes those rides as thrilling most of the new ones being built today.

Thats my point. What made the Blue Streak a great coaster was the restraint system that had you flying out of your seat the entire ride. Newer rides like MF are great rides even though you never budge out of your seat. And to me when you put the more modern restraints on the Blue Streak that restrict movement out of the seats, you take away much of what made the ride great.

I was amazed at the leather strap used on the Jack Rabbit at Kennywood. I am sure people would revolt if they tried to change those restraints though I suspect many have suggested it. But much of that park is as I suspect it was 20-30 years ago. Which has its plusses and minusses.

El Toro is very awesome. I have ridden it about 30 times now. However, I wouldn't change anything about Blue Streak. It is a classic wooden coaster that does perfectly fine with the track it has now. It would just feel like a small steel with Pre-fab track.

Now, I've only ridden BS something like three or four times, all last year, but I don't think it to be a good candidate for anything near as drastic as this. Do something to MS, just leave BS alone (for now).

Before one of my rides, a train (I think just before mine) was stopped on the lift as someone tried to take out a camera (so I was led to believe). When I rode it then, after a delay, the ride was very fun and I felt like I was truly being thrown out of my seat. I don't know of the restraint wasn't as tight as they're supposed to make it or what, but I remember that I had a great ride. A general consensus of the people on my train enjoyed it as well.

Blue Streak is as good as it gets for that ride. The restraints won't be changed because the park needs to protect riders from themselves. The headrests though are a little excessive and removing those would make a dramatic difference in the ride.

Of course that probably won't be happening.

~Rob Willi

Few things annoy me more than enthusiasts complaining about the standard PTC lap bar. News flash! You still rise up out of your seat. The only truly significant difference is that you can't move laterally because of the seat divider.

I would have to agree that Blue Streak does not need changed. In fact, it's "old style" is what makes it what it is...a classic!

Adding Intamin track to Blue Streak would be like listening to Sheryl Crow sing Sweet Child of Mine. It's unecessary, and ruins a classic.

^ - you know, you didn't need to qualify that statement with Sweet Child of Mine. You could have just put a period after sing and all would have been well.

Blue Streak has been flying the last year or two. I remember hearing of the work that was done on it, and I decided to give it a shot again (it had been rough the last times before that when I had ridden). I really like it now, and definitely enjoy riding it almost as much as some other rides in the park.

I've probably ridden Blue Streak 15 times in my life and the airtime is always huge. The feeling I get from the drop still amazes me. It's the only really good coaster you can get on 4 times in a half an hour. Don't change the Blue Streak. If you want more airtime, don't push the bar down so far!