Mean Streak's drop trims currently open...

I rode Mean Streak this past Saturday night, and to my surprise, there was absolutely no braking down the first hill. This thing ripped through everything up until that straight part where it came to a near-standstill and the rest of the ride was boring as usual.

Maybe this is for the rest of the season or even longer.. so you peeps might want to check it out.

On a side note, Halloweekends was way cooler than i expected it to be and its great to see Dragster up and running almost all of the time now.

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Ryan McCanimal
Webmaster of Thrillgallery.com
"eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Hmm.....sounds interesting. It might have just been luck that you were on a trimless ride, but I hope not. Did you just ride once Sat. night?

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AKA Cobraroller on Cbuzz

it isnt luck, because they have atleast been off since last sunday, when i went, with rogue keilbasa, it was a trimless day, and let me tell you it was amazing!!!
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TTD=17.5(frontseat=6)double digits baby!!!
rollbacks seen=30
rollbacks that i have been on=1

Man. I never got to ride Mean Streak trimless. I bet the second and third hills are a lot better without those darn trims.

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2003 Raptor ride count: 246
Raptor Rules the Sky.
Environmental Services knows who I am!

I only rode once, but made sure to watch after getting off that it was indeed true. That train just yanked right off of the lift chain and roared through the first half of the ride. It was really nuts.

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Ryan McCanimal
Webmaster of Thrillgallery.com
"eye for an eye makes the whole world blind"

Just got back from the park today and I noticed the same thing. It kind of caught me off guard but it was great to finally ride it that way again. Last time I can remember a trimless first hill was when I was like 12 or something.

Edit: typo

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CP2K3: Visits: 34 Drag races won: 17
*** This post was edited by Scott Cameron 9/21/2003 10:48:27 PM ***

I rode Mean Streak twice Saturday night. The first time was absolutely amazing. The second time, though, seemed like it was a bit slower than the first. I didn't feel the trims the second time, however, it was still a bit faster than usual. When sitting on the brake run outside the station, I noticed that the turn that goes over the lift hill had a bunch of steel cables supporting it. Now, I'm not quick with noticing things, but are those new? Maybe they added some extra support to the structure, but like I said, I may very well have never noticed them.

I think that those were always there.

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CP2K3: Visits: 34 Drag races won: 17

I personally like a trim ride, I'm not complaining its rough, but is a lot rougher without trims.

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2003 Stats: Top Thrill Dragster: 12
Magnum XL-200: 55
32 trips to the Point

Woo, no trims. I hope this isn't just a one weekend thing, and that it continues on for the rest this season and into the next.

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AKA Cobraroller on Cbuzz

Were the trains at full capacity? I was thinking if they were not, the possibilty of a roll-back would be higher with the trims on.

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Beer and golf Thursday thru Monday, Cedar Point & beer, Tuesday and Wednesday.

The trims have been off for a couple weeks now, and it's likely that they'll stay that way for the rest of the year. I like the ride a lot better without the trims as it actually provides some speed and excitement.....now if only the mid-course brakes could ease up a bit too...

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HW 2K3: 1

It's intriguing that after we had the whole thread about the condition of Mean Streak---the annoying hill trims, the slowness, etc---suddenly the hill trims on Mean Streak are off. Is it purely a coincidence, or is it possible that someone saw our criticism and altered the ride?

I'm happy to hear the hill trims are gone, at least temporarily or as a test, but I really want to see the mid-course brakes off. I think many will agree that the worst part of Mean Streak is the second half, as it desperately needs more speed.

Look at the general positive response from such a tiny measure. If MS was carefully re-done, the ride could be back on favorite lists.

Also, the steel cable support mention triggered the thought: could weak, maintenance-heavy areas on MS be reinforced with steel supports?

I don't know if steel cables could be a preventative maintenance issue with the bottom of the first hill ( I am assuming the reason for the trims is to prevent the ride from tearing itself apart at the bottom of the first hill), but if the track could be redesigned so that it has a steel frame like the Villen @ SFWoA that might solve the problem.

I am just speculating, and don't no the real physics of rides...

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Beer and golf Thursday thru Monday, Cedar Point & beer, Tuesday and Wednesday.

First of all, a little conversation here about Mean Streak is not going to make a big difference. Cedar Point knows what "we" think of that ride, and it is reflected in the turnstile counts. Hmmm...Maybe Cedar Point saw what happened at Dorney and decided to do something before Mean Streak met its little brother's fate... :)

Second, there are a lot of areas on Mean Streak which feature steel reinforcement, notably all of the ledgers in several critical areas of the ride.

Maybe they should find one of those converted EXIT signs (Mine Ride used to have one, that went somewhere...) like they have on Gemini and mount it next to the Mean Streak queue entrance, then light it up to let people know when Mean Streak is going to be worth riding... :)

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Or could the trims be off because no one is riding Mean Streak. Empty trains with hard trims slow the train down to the point where it doesn't regain it's speed. Why risk a rollback?

(Is this the opposite of the point I made in the TTD forum regarding front loading?? :) )

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Scott W. Short
mailto:scott@midwestcoastercentral.com
http://www.midwestcoastercentral.com

Yes... the real possibility is that it's cold, and half-empty trains are just resulting in slower ride times anyway. Remember, the ride is programmed to trim based on the previous train's overall speed to the mid-course. That's why if you get on a train that follows an empty one you'll likely get no trim at all.

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Jeff - Webmaster - GTTP - My Blog
Blogs, photo albums - CampusFish
What time does the water show start?

On Saturday Mean Streak did not have trims on. I rode around 3 P.M. and the ride had a 30 to 45 minute line and the temperature outside was relatively warm. All three trains were operating at full capacity, thus the trims being off has nothing to do with empty trains or cold temperatures at the present time. I guess we should just think of it as an end of the year present from C.P.

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C.P. Visits in 2003: 14
Dragster Rides: 9 (2 Front Row)

Coaster Freak's right. In the afternoon, Mean Streak had a longer line than I, personally, saw all year. Even when I rode it at night, the trains were still full, and it was clearly running MUCH faster than whenever I have ridden it in years. There was no question that those trains were going to make it over those hills.

I rode it on Sunday and it had speed like I remember from when it was new. A much improved ride, and the extra speed didn't make in any rougher IMHO.

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I'd rather be in my boat with a drink on the rocks,
than in the drink with a boat on the rocks.