I think I know a partial answer to why most of us hate Mean Streak. When the facts came out about Mean Streak, it sounded great(to me anyways). But when we did ride it we were dissapointed because it wasn't spectacular. Sure MS isn't a great ride but I like enough to ride it once or twice a visit.
It has been on all these worst coaster polls and I don't understand why. It's huge. It's also the most beautifull coaster I have ever seen.
BTW...If you ride the back car front and lean of the seat I found that it can be great!
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Live for FUN!
GO SHAMROCKS!
GO WOLVERINES!
I think people "hate" it for two reasons.
1. They added trim brakes.
The Streak that is Mean was the number one woody in either 1991 or 1992.
2. Most people don't know when to ride.
FYI: Try riding Mean Streak late at night in the first car and most importantly do not let your back touch the seat. You may still not think it is the best coaster but it will sure change your perspective.
This works even better after it rains (at night).
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Dispatch Master, This is Transport one! I'm losing control, I'm losing control!
I love the Mean Streak. You're right, it is a beautiful coaster, and it gives a good ride, even with the brakes. I love racing through the structure and the very few times I've been lucky enough to have trains "meet" when one comes over the drop and another is going the other way. Plus, going up the lift you get a spectacular view of the entire peninsula. One reason I can think that it may not be a popular coaster is that is doesn't have nearly any airtime, something that is almost expected for wooden coasters. But I love it all the same!
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Disaster Transport '97 Crew
Iron Dragon '98 Crew
Since next season will be the 10th anniversary of MS, I hope the point celebrates it with a new track and new trains. I really do like this ride, but it is just a little too rough, even for a woodie. SFDL retracked their Predator coaster, why not MS?
Anyone that claims MS is rough has obviously not ridden The Beast and SOB. Those 2 coasters beat the crap out of me, and I went back for more because I love rough rides. Mean Streak WAS retracked in the off-season, and many people on this board said they felt a difference early into the season. Now, I don't know if this still holds true since it's August. They retrack Mean Streak every off-season.
I have ridden the beast and on Thursday afternoon I rode MS once more. Never again. For years I have defended this coaster, however, I believe that on thursday, CP broke out the square wheels for the day. This ride was just horrible. Even the slow sections, which seems to be most of the ride, were rough and bumpy. WHat drove me crazy the most was the non stop squeeling of the wheels on the track. From the moment we were let out of the station until we pulled back in, constant sqeaking of the wheels on the track. It was like the cars didn't quite fit. I hated this ride.
I doubt they retrack it every season. When I say retrack, I mean rip the whole track off a rebuild. I say new trains because Jeff once said that the reason MS was so rough is because the wheels don't turn in unison with the track (not an exact quote).
CP bound: I know what you mean regarding The Beast, but when I went to PKI in June, The Beast was running as smooth as silk. I have no idea why, because it has really beat me up in the past and just was an uncomfortable ride. But it was running great. I don't know what they did to it.
For a coaster to be considered a good one, you should not have to sit in a certian seat. You should not have to ride it in a certian way. You should not have to lean to a cretian direction. You should not have to rede it at a certian time, during certian weather, ect. If a woodie is good, it will deliver thrills from all seats, in all weather, for all riders.
The Raven at Holiday World is a perfect example, not big, not long, not the fastest, not a single record broken, but it delivers a fantastic, relentless, sustained speed ride in all seats, all the time. The riding methods that make MS "rideable" would make Raven an insane ride, not just good. A beautiful structure does not a good coaster make.
Save a tree, recycle the Mean Streak!
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Only 2,290½ miles from Cedar Po!nt.
Mean Streak (like Blue Streak) has so many track repairs that by the end of the season the entire ride has a new track. Those seven carpenters that walk the track every morning look for such things as hair line cracks in the track. The track is not an issue. Lubricant on the trains and track as well as train padding is the major problem. I think the park could escape not getting new trains if those two were done.
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Dispatch Master, This is Transport one! I'm losing control, I'm losing control!
Mean Streak's fatal flaw, besides it's braking, is that the layout itself is uninspired. If Summer's had included fewer straight/ramp stretches or had the concept of parabolic hills, it would have been far better, even when braked.
There are about four airtime hills on this ride. I wonder why you can't feel any of them with a full train.
The ending on Mean Streak is very strange (with the brake set up and station drop). Rumor has it that the ride was supposed to have a different ending. It was thought that it would have been to intense for many riders.
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Dispatch Master, This is Transport one! I'm losing control, I'm losing control!
I used to remember Mean Streak as a coaster with a lot of airtime when I was littler. I remember making a corner, seeing wood all aroung me and then out of the blue, dropping down a steep hill and flying out of the seat, too bad it's not like that anymore.
I think that someone had a URL to a place that showed the different ending to MS but I'm not sure.
I rode MS once in '94 and '95. The latter time we waited an hour and a half and roughed us up pretty badly. One family member of mine can get back spasms if the condition is right, and they almost got on on MS. He swore never again to ride it so much we could put that on his tombstone lol. Anyways the last time I rode it was wierd going up the lift thinking "A woodie shouldn't be this high.." Then we crawled over the turns. Ugh. The coaster is a beauty, esp at night.
The ending changed because it would have been too intense?! What was it, a 5 foot high bump?! lol
I had a *very* good ride on Mean Streak earlier in the season. It was raining pretty hard for most of the morning. Cleared up just enough to keep most rides open and most people away. I rode MS in the front car (total of 4 people on the ride). It was actually pretty interesting at the top of the lift hill being held back by the brake. MS rode fast, with a minimum of squealing and even some hints of air here and there.
I rode it on a dry day with a full train. I rode in the center and I didn't think it was particulary rough but it was slow and the squealing almost killed my ears. The train fought to get over each hill. I was surprised we even made it back to the station.