New things coming for 2012...

^ I think he was talking about the park spending money to build something. Not the public spending money to ride it.

Jason, by "again" I mean that it seems like every offseason Mean Streak is being dramatically retracked. They closed the ride early this year to do so. I'm sure Blue Streak needs work every offseason as well, but no where near the degree of Mean Streak. I would be very curious to see what they spend in maintaining Mean Streak every year...does the cost justify the ultimate results?

I'm not sure how much they spend. But, I would think how much they spent last off season and this off season are above their average.

Bill Abele said:
Hopefully we'll see more of the newest engine on the CP & LE RR possibly named R.L Munger in honor of former CEO Robert Munger.

Bill, please, you're making me ill.

They need to take the break in the descend of the hill on Mean Streak out. In my eyes, it really messed up the tracking of the coaster.

There isn't a "break" there, but there is a trim "brake". Sorry pet peeve but there is a big difference in the meaning of the two words.

What exactly is the point of the trim being there? IMO, the ride seemed to be less painfull when the trim isn't turned on compared to when it is the ed on.

To have less wear and tear on the ride.

Well they're creating more wear and tear on the guests.. :)

^^^agree^^

The brake is there because Cedar Point wouldn't allow John Pierce to raise the bottom of the first drop by 30' like he did on the Rattler. It serves to reduce the train's speed through the entire ride.

I like to think that the park knows what they are doing with that ride. But when the solution to any problem with a wood coaster always seems to be, "Slow it down!!" when anybody riding it can see that when it is too slow it doesn't manage curves properly, I have to wonder. My suspicion is that they are trying to balance performance against structural issues, and right now performance is losing.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

A problem in perspective not limited to the Point. See: Ghostrider.

And Son of Beast..........just ouch.

Who retracks mean streak? Does CP's maintenance crew do it, or do they hire an outside company?

I believe the name of the company is Poorjob Retracking, Inc. :)

na, not Mean Streak, Dragster that breaks down every 15 mins.

They are suppose to fix that ride!! :)

lol The Beast you fly off the track :) good times

melanie1974, Before Jeff or any of the mods tell you, please post only once instead of 3 consecutive posts. Just think before you submit your post, that's all. Not to sound mean but this isn't Facebook, it's a public forum. So PUH-LEASE refrain from chat shorthand and use proper grammar/spelling as well! ;) The only chat shorthand that probably will be acceptable is abbreviating the names of the rides. (EX: Wicked Twister = WT)

The thing with Dragster (and all other Intamins especially) is that everytime the computer senses an issue, the operator gets a trouble light. For example, all of those retractable brakes on the launch track that drop before the launch...If 1 brake gets stuck in the up position, the main operator is going to automatically get a trouble light and that is when they have to either reset the ride with maintenance approval, or call maintenance to come fix the issue. With Dragster being the prototype and having so many safety features, you are always going to have down time at that ride if atleast 1 tiny safety feature fails. Believe it or not, there have been days this season where it didn't go down for mechanical reasons one time.

As for Mean Streak, I only rode it once this season and the first drop/first turn around were really good. After that it was terrible. Granted, I rode it at the beginning of the summer and I don't know how well the new track held up throughout the season. I can't wait until they are completely done with the ride altogether. It really is a nice ride with a good layout. I also hope they do something with the foundation of Mean Streak so they can turn those stupid trim brakes off! But that's a different story under a different topic so we aren't going to get into that.

^Is Top Thrill Dragster a prototype? I always assumed that Xcelerator at Knott's Berry Farm was the prototype to Top Thrill Dragster. I agree with your comment about Intamin though. There are too many computer precautions regarding safety on the ride. For the exception of Wicked Twister, all of the other Intamin roller coasters in the park are down at least once during my 2-day visits. B&M and Arrow use much less computer power then Intamin; both companies overall have much better capacity and uptime.

For 2012, I think that the former Paddle-wheel area of the park will receive some brick pavers. Hopefully, the Gemini Midway will receive some upgrade. The blacktop looks pretty bad for how nice of a park that Cedar Point is.

Also, isn't there some new Ohio law saying that all structures will have to be handicap accessible? If this is true, some rides such as Iron Dragon, Corkscrew, and Disaster Transport will have to have ramps or elevators.