Mean Streak Ridership

Shawn Meyer said:
I couldn't find the Mean Streak 2012 thread so I decided to bring this back. I just wanted to let everyone know that I was with Mean Streak Henry and I am happy to report that he broke his 2011 record today with 2,156 rides and still going for the 2012 season. I can say I was there when he did it! :)

2156 rides on MS in one year, does this guy have a back made of silly putty?

Well, I'm not sure about last year. They don't publish the numbers on the website like they used too. But, before they stopped, I compiled it all together. I have everything they listed until 2008.

Mean Streak's numbers were

2006 - 814,750 (down from 2005)
2007 - 821,893
2008 - 849,746

The increase starting in 2007 would most likely be attributed to the installation of Maverick. However, the more people I talk to this year say they feel MS is running much better than prior years. Do I think it will become a fan favorite? No. But, if they keep the maintenance up, the public will most likely continue to ride it and the numbers will probably go up a bit more.

What was failed to be addressed by the person starting the thread is that ridership goes down on most rides over time. One of the big reasons is because of new rides. The capacity of the park has increased quite a bit over the years. It's very difficult to ride everything on a single trip. To that end, the average person is going to ride the new shiny coaster first and work from there.

Corkscrew Follies said:
2156 rides on MS in one year, does this guy have a back made of silly putty?

Maybe he eats a lot of chicken nuggets and McD's french fries?

So no one thinks that Mean Streak's bad reputation has anything to do with its low ridership?

I know that if I was visiting CP for the first time, Mean Streak would look highly appealing to me. It's massive, it's gorgeous, and it dominates the skyline in the back of the park.

Ridership isn't one sided, of course, it counts both the people who rode it for the first time and the people who ride it multiple times. It'd be interesting to get a count of only the people who, after riding it once, rode it again. But, alas, that's impossible.

I'd be interested in seeing the ridership of an older woodie at a different park (With a good reputation) to see how those numbers compare to MS.

Thanks Jason; I figured things would level off or increase at some point. Looks like they already have.

I wonder how much of a pop Wicked Twister's, WindSeeker's, etc. ridership will get next year with GateKeeper.

Or the ferris wheel, troika and maxair for that matter.

It'll be interesting to see if they focus on improvement and modernization of the front of the park in years ahead. In recent off-seasons, a lot of the cap ex has gone to Frontier Town/Trail attractions: Maverick, Skyhawk, Shoot the Rapids, Starlight Experience... I'd love to see some work done around the Blue Streak cul-de-sac.

Amen to that. Not since the lighting package in the games area has the front of the park had some beautification done. The bathrooms in the front could really use a makeover, and Blue Streak's neighborhood, I agree.

I think we'll get our wish. A renewed entrance and an entire new sweep of the brush for that former Space Needle/DT area will add a lot, and be a catalyst for more improvements.

You mean other than the lighting they have done all down the main midway and on the Giant Wheel this year.

I'm talking front, front...like Hurricane Hannah's...etc...and exactly where Gatekeeper is going. I think Gatekeeper and the entrance will do the trick. To be honest, the Giant Wheel lighting package completely slipped my mind. :)

Now that I think about it, I also forgot about Ocean Motion.

^ Ocean Motion won't have to move again for Gatekeeper will it?

Well, probably just back and forth...

According to the videos, it should be staying right where it is.

Ensign post; +2

Or actually side to side.

Just depends on how your looking at it.

GigaG said:
I've never heard of Mr. Scott as a newcomer to this forum, what was he known for before his death? I looked him up, he was the unofficial "Mayor of Lighthouse Point" and liked Star Trek. Why was he famous on this forum? Was he notable before is death or just after?

He was a regular poster on here for years and passed away a few years ago. I really enjoyed reading his posts. He is missed.

As a memorial, we took a collection and bought a seat in the Maverick ride auction. We were going to originally send the seat out empty symbolic of MrScott who insisted Maverick would somehow involve water. His brother ended up riding with his ashes I believe.

RIP Mr Scott

I rode MS two weeks ago and it was noticeably smoother than it has been in past years, also the trim brakes at the top of the hill did not actuate on our ride.

Overall, it was a good ride and I wanted to go back again, first time I've wanted to do that!

I wasn't looking forward to riding Mean Streak this year but one of my kids was begging me to take him on it because it's wooden and huge. The last time I was on it about 5 years ago I said never again but you do strange things when your kids beg you through the whole winter. I ended up on it twice yesterday. It's still awfully rough but better than before for sure and my kids loved it. They must have been applying the extra brakes everyone mentions only one of the times we rode because the two rides were very different. The second time in the evening when the train was on the steeply banked parts of the top tracks it felt so slow that the train could just fall right over off the track and topple over. It was really creepy. I'm hoping they will put more work into it. Back when it was new it was great and I loved it, I was always dissappointed that it aged so poorly. Anyway it's off my blacklist now, I'm planning to ride it again next year without anyone begging.

I've found it to be smoothest in the very front seat. It also helps with the roughness to lean forward, keeping your back pulled away from the back of the seat.

You should try that out sometime and see how it helps.

I would never even think of riding a wooden coaster with my back and head all pressed up against the seat, I don't think that's how they're meant to be ridden.