Would giving Mean Streak the New Texas Giant treatment be worth it?

I'm sure everyone has seen the rave reviews that New Texas Giant has gotten since its rebuild, and I've already seen converting Mean Streak to the I-Box track floated as an idea around here a bit.

But my question is, would it really be worth it? A lot of complains I've heard about Mean Streak, disregarding the roughness, are that it has a rather boring layout as far as wooden roller coasters go, especially when compared to more recent ones. I wouldn't really be able to judge since I haven't ridden it since 2008-ish and the last time I rode I was too busy getting fillings shaken out, but apparently even without the first-drop trim the course isn't very exciting, or so people say.

I guess a lot of it could be the brakes, could be that people are so used to the train crawling through the second half past the MCBR, but as impressive as it is to look at, I can't really see it having the potential to be great even with the I-Box track, unless a lot of additional reprofiling and re-banking goes on.

I don't think Cedar Point would waste money on traditionally retracking the ride if they were going to get the Iron Horse treatment. Plus, Mean Streak would be no more of a wooden roller coaster than Gemini if it got the treatment.

YES IT WOULD!!!! I think the clearing of the queue is for cranes to occupy for the transformation. I am almost willing to bet money on this. ***ALMOST.....I was just thinking if this WAS for a new building for Halloweekends, is it not a little too late to have an entire large building up in just a couple of months along with decorating the entire interior? Let alone permits and whatnot?

I'll take that bet.

^^ I don't think that CP & CF care if "would be no more of a wooden roller coaster than Gemini if it got the treatment." No one rides a coaster because it is wood or steel--they ride it for a ride. People ride both El Toro and MF. If the "Iron Horse treatment" improved the ride in a cost-effective manner, CF would do it. If, in their opinion, the ride would be boring for whatever reason, no go. But wood v steel only matters in relation to quality of ride & cost effectiveness

If it means making is smoother, then yeah it's worth it

Just think of an extended 80 degree drop on MS with newly designed overbanks ACTUALLY taken with speed without having someone get out of the car to push. This this is RIPE for this treatment. Mean Streak II has a nice ring to it. :)

I think we will see many more years out of Mean Streak. If they were planning to take it down in the near future, why would they keep re-tracking it?

They just resurfaced it. I doubt they'll go to Steel track. If they are going to go hybrid, I say bulldoze Mean Streak and put a good hybrid in.

I've ridden Texas Giant multiple times before and after the refurb and honestly can say I don't think it was worth the money invested. It's a good ride now, don't get me wrong, but I'd think the money would be much better spent on something GCI has built in recent years.

You could argue the layout as a problem, but Texas Giant's layout was changed quite a bit during the process, if I remember correctly. So if it did, I would imagine the layout (which by the way is terribly boring, especially with the trim brake) would change as well.

Yeah it changed somewhat, but it's still generally the same thing. I agree, Mean Streaks layout is boring and isn't really worth fixing. Considering the fact it's been over 5 years since the last coaster, things are starting to feel stale at CP and trying to 'fix' a layout seems ridiculous when you can come up with some brand new, different, and awesome.

New, different, awesome are synonyms for expensive. Between Wing Coaster, Maverick, TTD, and Millennium we have almost $100 million in coasters. Bulldozing MS and replacing is just not cost effective (even though a new GCI woody in its place would be great)

They spent almost $10 million refurbishing it. How much do you think a new wooden coaster would cost?

Six Flags over Texas probably could have dismantled Texas Giant, and build a Voyage type roller coaster for less than the cost to refurbish it. (Voyage was about $6.5 million in 2006= 7.5 in 2012).

I think if the park was given the option of tearing it down or re-tracking it, I think they would re-track it. It's massive, and I know they wanted it to be a big success when it was built, so why not re-try instead of giving up?

And another thing, this thing is a real looker. I've always thought Mean streak was one of the most stunning coasters I've ever seen, even though the ride itself might not be as pleasant. You have this landmark that dominates the sky in that area, If I were them I would want to work with it instead of scrapping it.

And who's to say they couldn't change the layout a bit too? Add some more drops in, sharpen some curves, they could also increase the speed a bit too, who knows.

I've seen the argument so many times that Six Flags over Texas could have torn down Texas Giant and built an all-new, better wooden coaster for cheaper.

However, that is going to eventually get them in a similar position. Wooden coasters get old and rough and require an extreme amount of maintenance and care.

With New Texas Giant, I imagine they're going to have a coaster that requires far less maintenance going forward, more on the level of Gemini rather than Mean Streak, The Voyage, or Beast.

So, in that respect, I feel that Six Flags got what they paid for, and it was a good investment. They paid a medium price (not as high as a steel coaster or as low as a wooden coaster), and they'll have a medium level of maintenance going forward. While the cost of the rehab or the high cost of a steel coaster might not seem like a good investment at first, the savings will add up long term.

I think that it would be worth it to "fix" Mean Streak. It is actually one of my favorite rides, and I would love to see it become smoother and maybe even faster. But to do this it would take a lot of money, and I can't see it happening within the next couple of years, at least. Cedar Point wanted it to be big when they built it, and it is awesome to look at.

They need to do it. Texas Giant looks extremely fun.

Who says it could only be a refurbishment? If Cedar Point wanted to, they could tear down Mean Streak to make room for a Rocky Mountain Coaster (same company that did the Texas Giant referb) with a completely new layout. I mean the Outlaw that is being built out at Silver Dollar City looks pretty amazing so far.