Mean Streak Back in the Day

I used to think that Mean Streak was rough until I rode Hercules at Dorney.
I really could not wait for that ride to end.
Mean Streak is a good coaster, but since it isn't like a screaming runaway train anymore, the excitement is gone.
I understand the economics of it, but I prefer the trims on the first hill to be off.

KevinJ to the best of my knowledge the trims automatically keep the trains a certain distance apart from eachother. If you have a lighter train ahead you might get a trimless ride. I might have the example wrong or even reversed but I hope you know what I mean. I have had trimless rides and they were very nice! :)

I don't like MS either. It is beautiful visually, but a lousy ride. I honestly think the Blue Streak gives a much better ride, lame new (1995) trains and all.

When MS first opened, I liked it. It didn't have good air or laterals then, but it felt out of control and was fun, albeit still rough.

The trims killed the ride, and I think it became rougher as it broke in. I don't mind roughness to an extent on a woodie, but you have to get something out of the experience, like laterals, air, or that feeling of being out of control.

Mean Streak feels dead when you ride it. You can feel it drag in places. It is roughness for the sake of roughness alone. The fun factor isn't there for me. It is absolutely the least fun modern woodie I have ridden. I still ride it only because I like the view, and the line is usually short.

Smaller and better designed woodies like Boulder Dash, Gwazi, Ghostrider, etc are much better rides. Heck, even the tiny Dania Beach Hurricane is a lot more fun.

I doubt CP will tear it down anytime soon. I presume they'll want to get more than 15 years out of their investment, even though it is a sunk cost.

I highly doubt that they'll retrack it with tubular steel, but I must admit the thought has crossed my mind. Though I would typically not be in favor of making a woodie no longer a woodie, I can see how, in the case of MS, tubular steel might dramatically improve the ride quality. The speed would return, airtime would probably increase quite a bit, and you could have good laterals without getting the squat beat out of you.

If it could be retracked with steel for notably less cost than tearing it down and putting a new coaster in its place, I think it would be a good idea.

I don't believe there is any other option that could fix MS and turn it into a good ride. Due to the layout and design of MS, I would think that a complete retrack with wood would be a mediocre ride when new, and a lousy one again in a few years after it breaks in.

An honest, brutal evaluation.

MrScott

This reoccurring topic again...

It's no secret MS's better days are in the past. An absolute beauty to look at, an absolute waste to ride. That's my opinion, and the reason I don't care to ride it any longer.

I hate to see the fate of any coaster, but MS is just as good as dead to me....

The thing that always amuses me is how it's stated as the trim was added because "the ride was ripping it's self apart." I'm sure that is very true, but this is 2006 for Pete sake... We have coasters OVER 450 feet tall and WELL OVER 100 m.p.h. ...and all that can be done to help MS is a trim break...

AMAZING

Sorry to big this back, but with the new cedarpoint.com Version 2.0 and the easier to get to "ride ons," I took a trip on Mean Streak before the trims and it seemed like it was really moving. Even the brakes in the middle of the ride didn't seem to slow the train like it does today.

I rode it before the trims were installed, but I must have had my eyes closed tightly because I can't remember much about it, lol.

I love it when this topic comes around, it gives me a chance to do what i do best (b**** and moan).

Luke Sherri said, "I'm sure that is very true, but this is 2006 for Pete sake..."

Ain't that the truth. I think back to the pre-trim and remember a fast, fun, out of control ride that kicked your butt just enough. And like any ride there are different levels of butt-kicking for different levels of taste depending on your POV on the ride.

Heck, think of the Magnum. Now there's a ride that leaves people scratching their head if their first ride is on 1-3 and they don't know that they'll spend over a minute on the business end of the lap bar. Every time i ride my favorite seat (1-2 for those who care) i hear average Joes behind me complaining while coasting back to the station. Often talking about pain and speaking other bad thoughts about the BEST coaster built. What a difference position on the train makes. By the way i love 1-3, but you have to know what you're signing up for, unless you're a masochist.

Back to Mean Streak, i like first seat back car for the past few years. And for me it's a big thing that i ride it regular again; because for a few years it was just brutal... in any seat... even when you compare to S.o.B.... it was that bad (IMO).

And to ramble back to the original point, it was a great ride and i think it got noticably less comfortable with the installation of the first hill trim. It's a sin when that thing is on high and the mid course breaks really dig in. Worse than rough it just becomes boring.

And i don't care what anyone says the track line is fine. Yes i would reprofile the last circuit around the footprint (why not take advantage of potential energy earned?); but overall the original ride DID have some air and decent laterals. And it was fast and it was fun. And there really isn't a good excuse for letting that ride preform in that manner. By now it seems clear to me that Cedar Point isn't willing to do what it has to to fix the issue. Why doesn't other big woddies "tear themselves apart" and require trimmming? Ok maybe Mean Streaks engineering is faulty, but there has to be a way to overcome that. Think of it like they say on those insulation adds; you'll pay for it one way or another. Fix the structural issues now or pay for unusually high maintence fees forever, or until you raze it.
*** Edited 3/22/2006 4:56:07 AM UTC by gener***

I was fortunate it enough to ride the coaster the day it opened to the public and I must admit, man was it a wild ride.

It just isnt the same now. I remember that if you got a headache on Mean Streak, that was because it lived up to its name. Now if you get a headache on MS, its because your body isnt made of steel.

Even without the trim break today, it still seems like it drags quite a bit versus when it came out.

My $.02 though.

Yes, gener brings up some good points. Why don't other woodies act as Mean Streak does, is it really faulty engineering? I wonder what the comparsion is for what cp spends to maintain the MS compared to what other parks spend on maintaining their woodies.

Wouldn't a complete overhaul of the track and or trains make a huge difference? I rode it opening day last year and then again in july, and the first ride was sooo much better.....I think its the trains personally.....not so much the track....but what do I know.....

From my understanding, there are underlying structural issues to consider, making a simple track overhaul insufficient.

Okay, I used to really enjoy MS, but now I think it is just pretty to look at. That doesn't mean that I'm ready to give up on it or would like to see it torn down. I know that CP has what it takes to get this thing to run great again.

See if this makes sense. I rode this coaster the first year it opened and it was smooth and had a few strong laterals. Next year, the coaster had aged to a nice rumble to go with the laterals. Rode a few years later and was shocked at the roughness. On the second ride of that day, we rode in the car with maintenance doing a mid-day check. Their comment was about the up and down movement the coaster was getting and called it "jackhammering."

If this is the case, wouldn't you need to shim the track (the boards, not the metal rails) between the bents? Is this what they do now or is retracking merely replacing the metal rails? I also wonder if a wood coaster of this size just cannot be supported properly with the natural give of wood. Maybe you will always get jackhammering. What about replacing the graphite with grease? What's your take?

My father and I waited HOURS, somewhere around 3 hours the year Mean Streak opened to ride it... We both got off the ride, not impressed in the least, and the joke began... If you want to experience Mean Streak, I'll just get a ball bat and beat you with it... this joke has carried on for years, and we now have a miniature baseball bat that says "Cedar Point" on it, and we TAKE IT WITH US every year when we go to the point to beat the unsuspecting friend who says "Let's ride Mean Streak"... uhm.. no.

Shimming probably won't do much of any good. The problem is the boards warp slightly and also the vertical distances of the ledgers vary in time. The first causes a higher frequency viberation while the later causes a more intense low frequency viberation. The problem is that Mean Streak isn't a very well designed ride. Fixing its problems would be basically building a whole new ride.

Probably the worst maintenance done to a wood coaster was Wolverine Wildcat at Michigan's Adventure in 2002. The good part was the section that they replaced all of the ledgers. It was smoothest part of the ride. They got the idea in a couple places to replace every other ledger. That was incredibly painful.

Steel coasters wear in the same way but usually takes longer. Usually areas with high g force results in the rails bending in a catenary shape. Another example of this is high tension power lines. They drape down under their own weight. The steel in time bends in a simular shape though it's not noticable unless you get a very close look.

In 2004 they actually cut sections of rail out of Magnum's track and welded on new pieces. I think that it helped smoothen the ride out. It's quite a job to perform overnight.

Am I the only one who loves the Mean Streak? lol....that was a stupid question! I dunno theres something about it that just makes me love it. I see it as a great coaster.

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Cory Marshall

Me too Cory, me too.

This ride isn't that rough. All you have to do is lean forward!

Mean Streak's ride is a little bit different every time I go on it. It's not a favorite ride, but I usually take a spin on it whenever I'm that far back in the park. On the other hand, it's not something I ride twice in a row.

This ride isn't that rough. All you have to do is lean forward!

And bring Advil. ;)

I don't do either and ride in the last row. No pain at all.