(Intrepid reporting from our 14-year-old amusement park correspondent. Enjoy.)
On Monday, August 1st, Cedar Point officially announced the closure of one of their two wooden coasters, the Mean Streak, which would stop rolling Friday, September 16.
When Mean Streak first opened in 1991, it was the tallest, fastest wooden coaster in the world. Built by Dinn. Corp., it was a very popular ride when it first opened, but the park said it had seen a steady decline in ridership in recent years. In spite of efforts by park management to extensively re-track the ride in 2012, the Mean Streak still had a reputation as a rough ride among some riders. When I visited the park this past weekend, I rode the coaster and didn’t think it was all that very rough. I did, however, find the layout rather boring. After the initial drop, the ride merely meandered around several hills and turns.
Anyway, initial reaction by many after Cedar Point’s announcement was that the coaster was simply going to be torn down. However, there is significant evidence that this is not the case. One historical example: In 2014, Cedar Point announced that their stand-up coaster Mantis would “Get Squashed” and close forever as well. Two weeks after that announcement, we learned that the ride would reopen the following year as a floorless coaster called Rougarou.
Which brings us to today. In early June, several markers and surveying flags began to appear in and around the supports of Mean Streak. This lead me to inquire with a ride operator on another popular ride at Cedar Point, Maverick. The ride operator hinted that the ride would be closing and then reopen as a steel hybrid. He even went as far as to say that this tentative rehabilitation would be completed by Rocky Mountain Construction.
In recent years, Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) has become famous for rehabilitating old wooden coasters with steel track. These new rides are completed with steeper drops, overbanked turns, and even inversions. However, the ride keeps the basic layout of the original wooden coaster. In addition, the new rides use the same wooden structure as their original
counterparts.
One such example of this rehabilitation can be found at Six Flags Over Texas, on the New Texas Giant. The Texas Giant opened in 1990, also built by Dinn. Corp. Its layout was very similar to Mean Streak. In 2009, Six Flags Over Texas announced that the Texas Giant would close forever. Two years
later, it reopened with steel track redone by RMC. The New Texas Giant was ranked #10 in the 2015 Golden Ticket Awards for best steel roller coasters.
This rehabilitation has also been completed on several other roller coasters across the Six Flags chain. These rides are extremely popular. Some have even gone as far as to say that if Cedar Point were to redo Mean Streak with the RMC hybrid treatment, it would be the best ride at Cedar Point.
Although this hasn’t been confirmed by park officials just yet, we could expect an announcement of this rehabilitation in late September or early October. Otherwise, the park has other news to share, including the possible expansion of Soak City. An announcement looks to be coming on August 18.
Below: a POV of a fan made rendition of a possible RMC Mean Streak hybrid reconstruction.
This article appears in Aug 10-16, 2016.
Slight correction… Mean Streak was never the longest.. The Beast has held this title since it’s opening a decade plus before Meanie premiered and still is.
I would love it if they did this and not tore it down!! that POV someone made looks like it would be an awesome ride.
Why did I get a dislike for the truth? LOL.
BTW Lisa U… I hope they retool it and dont tear it down. Despite the roughness I still love it!
I like the ride the way it is now. Wood coasters are supposed to have the roughness feeling to them. Plus the RMC POV looks disgusting if you are used to what Cedar Point currently has.
Mean Streak is certainly the most beautiful wooden structure on Earth. Tearing it down would be a sin. As an old guy (73), I’m getting too fragile for wooden coasters so I’d welcome a steel conversion as long as they keep the original structure. Incidentally, I think the main reason MS has become less popular is its location at the very end of the park, not well marked. Many people don’t even know the ride is there and turn back or go back on the train before riding.
Jake clearly hasn’t been on a real wooden coaster. They are rough, true, but mean streak is so rough and decrepit that it isn’t enjoyable. Try riding more wooden coasters and see what u think. The likes of Viper, American Eagle, El Toro, Goliath, Beast, etc. Mean Streak can’t even begin to compare…
Yea MS is stupid rough… but this problem is caused by the trim brake they put on the downside of the lift hill… this was necessary due to the train was tearing the track up over time. Some days you would get lucky and the trims would be off and as long as you where n the front half you could tell the difference. I think we are pretty safe in saying it will be rmc’d
I also see they edited the article and removed the part saying it was the longest.. a footnote denoting the edit is usually thr correct way to do this
I was at Cedar Point this weekend and I also was told by a worker it would be turned into a wooden hybrid coaster. I was very excited as it is a massive, beautiful coaster but just unnecessarily rough. Last time I rode Mean Streak was 2010 and I was reminded why I didn’t ride it.
Alright um, no, Mean Streak is amazing just the way it is. Sure, it was rough, but I still loved it to death. I went to Cedar Point this summer with some friends, and we rode this ride twice in a row, we loved it that much. That roughness feel, well, it wasn’t bad, and we just had an amazing time.
My sore buttocks