Can Mean Streak be saved?
Homey G. said:
Playa, how old is CBaby and Da Midget now?
They 'is' not too old, but now they are tall. CMidget was 46" in bare feet back in May and easily 48" in shoes...unless you're a certain bonehead Guest Services rep at VF named Sarah who smacked Da Poor Midget in the head five times with that stupid bar and still refused to give her a wristband. What a dork. Oooh, did I let that slip?
Seems like when I first remember your posts, they relegated themselves to the wave pool.
You stumbled on yet another CPlaya oddity: I like wavepools. I like them an awful lot. If I had to choose between a wavepool and another coaster at my local park, I'd pick a wavepool first. Yet, I have never taken the kids to a park with a wavepool. Weird, huh? Actually, CBaby opted out of two trips where she would have got some wavepool time--so it's not all my fault.
You might be thinking of the VF's kiddie pool and perhaps even been a reader of the SKPG series on URC. A lot has happened over the summer and I guess I have to update everybody when I get the time.
-'Playa
(who doesn't think Hercules is as rough as it is pointless and stupid)
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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.
*** This post was edited by CoastaPlaya on 10/28/2002. ***
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87 different coasters for this year and counting... 149 total!
I don't dislike Mean Streak because its a rough one- Big Dipper at SFWoA isn't smooth, and it's one of my favorite woodies. As said before, the ride is tame. Minimal airtime, too much time spent bumbling around. It does make for some nice pictures though.
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Never Has Gravity Been So Uplifting.
I rode Mean Streak for the first time in '92 and got off pretty beaten up. My second ride, I leaned forward in my seat, and took all the shaking in my padded rear end. That made all the difference and Mean Streak took over as my favorite coaster, even beating out Magnum. But many people still hated it's roughness. I'm convinced it's all in the way you ride it...or rode it.
Now that it is trimmed, it's not always as rough, and on the days it's running slow, it's just planing boring. If I hadn't enjoyed it so much early on, I wouldn't find it as boring as I do now. Nor would I be as disappointed in it.
Can they fix it? Hard to say. I believe it was built to ride rough, hence the name. Even if they could "fix it" so that it could run fast again without tearing itself apart, I still think it will continue to be too rough for a lot of people.
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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead
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The top 3 all time cobrarolls.
1)Raptor's
2)Deja Vu's (times 3)
3)Batman Knight Flight's
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There is a new twist in the Top-Hat. :)
I dont really think hercules is painfull, its just tame.
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Coaster count:32
top3:Boulder Dash, Steel Force,Wildcat(Hershey)
1. Bad Location
2. Poor original construction design
3. No Airtime
4. Trim Breaks
5. Dinn/Summers
6. Poor trains
7. Long, out of the way queue
8. You've gotta cross the tracks to get to it
9. They've built a storage shed in the middle of the structure
The list goes on and on. I think Mean Streak was simply a victim of bad timing - the "new era" of coasters (by this I mean the spectacular GCI/CCI era of which we are now part) really hadn't begun in full force back in 1991. I think it's a shame, too, that such a beautiful coaster has so many downfalls. Cedar Point had best get rid of the rattletrap Disaster Transport before Mean Streak, though. If nothing else, Mean Streak is a pleasure to look at - I can't think of another coaster which looks so appealing.
Look at all this negativity towards my baby!
Opthodoc, my reply... ;)
1) Great location. Place the big woodie at the back of the park, so the people have to go past all the other rides to get there. It's RCT 101 ;)
2) I think the original design was great.
3) No airtime? How can I defend that one ;)
4) Trim brakes? Yes the do hurt the ride, but you should have rode it back in 1991, what a totally different ride.
7) I like the queue inside the structure, adds to the excitement.
It's my favorite ride in the park, and it is the black sheep of the park, no doubt. That said, I don't know if anything can be done to change it, and that's fine with me!
-Mikey
Lose the trims and grease up the track and you won't get a better ride anywhere. All you puddin' pies that complain about coasters being to rough need to find a new hobby.
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Just when you think you have all the answers, I change the questions
Ok here is my opinion:
I don't care how overbraked it is the design sucks. Sure its one of the most beautiful coasters to look at but even without the breaks it has never been that great. Sure its not that painful but it isn't to comfortable.
Predator at SFDL = brakes on first drop, slow, bumpy, yet still one of my favorite woodies. Why? A great design with hills that you can get a moderate amount of airtime on along with some nice laterals. It runs like mean streak but it is still fun.
ophthodoc said:
1. Bad Location - right...breathtaking view by the lake...
2. Poor original construction design - watcha talkin bout willis? That is one HUGE mass of wood...
3. No Airtime - airtime doesn't make up a coaster you know
4. Trim Breaks - only to keep itself from tearing apart
5. Dinn/Summers - so? it's not them, it's what has been done to it
6. Poor trains - I agree, on one
7. Long, out of the way queue - I think it's cooler that way
8. You've gotta cross the tracks to get to it - seems like your just trying to think of vague reasons the ACTUAL RIDE is so horrible
9. They've built a storage shed in the middle of the structure - wow! omg - we're like, going to have to have a rumble!
I rode it once after the rain and it was AWESOME! The tracks were nice and greezed up and it was a wild ride.
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LeWiS
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-Matt in Iowa
195 coasters ridden -- Faves: Shivering Timbers, Ghostrider, Twister, Hershey Wildcat, Lightning Racer
ophthodoc said:
Cedar Point had best get rid of the rattletrap Disaster Transport...
Now look what you did...you had me agreeing with you almost all the way through your post and then came the fightin' words.
Don't you talk about DT now 'cuz that's when the 'Playa goes off...
DT is the butt-ugliest thing you've ever seen but has more campy, cheesy, dopey, silly fun per foot of track (trench?) than anything short of Gemini. The new goofy '3-D' queue smacks of the old fun house and it's one of the few rides even close to a family coaster. Da Midget loves it, CBaby adores it and I like it too.
Personally I only rank it behind Gemini, MF, Demon Drop and just maybe WT as rides I gotta get on at CP. (Of course, you have to keep in mind that I live 20 minutes from a sister park, so that impacts the list quite a bit.) If they ever decided to get rid of it, ship it to MN. Please.
-'Playa
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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.
Ride Of Steel said:
I don't care how overbraked it is the design sucks.
You've never ridden it without the trims, have you? Maybe the fact that the ride is horrible with trims means it's not as good as it could be, but that can't counter the fact that when I rode it with ineffective trims, I thought I had reached nirvana. There is no other ride of that quality and length (time-wise) anywhere. Roughness? The fact that the structure feels like it's shaking apart is the only positive I can find on a normal ride. Get your back off the seat and let yourselves get thrown around a little, people, and you should be okay. No, the real problem with this ride is that the trims transform it into Mildy Agitated Streak (moniker courtesy of my cousin, Phil). Considering that the trims are there to keep the whole darn thing from literaly shaking itself apart, I doubt there's way to rectify the problem.
It's too bad, as this is one of the most photogenic rides around.
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Dude, you're getting an Intamin!
Well, I'm not telling you, specificly how to sit, really. I'm saying that, as long as DON'T sit a specific way, and just let it be, you'll be fine! ;-)
As for nostalgia about how good it used to be (and still can, in some circumatances), I think it keeps getting brought up to convince people who have never experianced it first hand that this ride actually does have a spark of goodness in it. If we can't do that, what's the point of this thread in the first place?
(SF)Great American said:
Ride Of Steel said:
I don't care how overbraked it is the design sucks.
You've never ridden it without the trims, have you? Maybe the fact that the ride is horrible with trims means it's not as good as it could be, but that can't counter the fact that when I rode it with ineffective trims, I thought I had reached nirvana. There is no other ride of that quality and length (time-wise) anywhere. Roughness? The fact that the structure feels like it's shaking apart is the only positive I can find on a normal ride. Get your back off the seat and let yourselves get thrown around a little, people, and you should be okay. No, the real problem with this ride is that the trims transform it into Mildy Agitated Streak (moniker courtesy of my cousin, Phil). Considering that the trims are there to keep the whole darn thing from literaly shaking itself apart, I doubt there's way to rectify the problem.
It's too bad, as this is one of the most photogenic rides around.
Yes I have ridden it WITHOUT TRIMS 4 years ago. I hated it just as much.
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