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Say Farewell to Mean Streak - Cedar Point's Giant Wooden Coaster Closing
"It's time. Time to say goodbye to what was the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world - Mean Streak."
In the words of Cedar Point, Mean Streak, a groundbreaking (and backbreaking) wooden coaster that was once the tallest and fastest of its kind, will "get the ax" September 16. It is loved by many because of its significance and true wooden coaster feel, but is disliked by others because it is rough, long, and slow. Mean Streak opened back in 1991, and its time to let go of it. The coaster will no longer operate after the opening night of HalloWeekends, the park's Halloween event. After Magnum XL-200 opened at the park, the coaster wars began, and Cedar Point was in its prime. Just two years after 'Magnum' opened as the tallest and fastest coaster in the world, Mean Streak came along. It became the tallest and fastest wooden coaster in the world. It was a huge hit at first, but as time went on, it no longer had lines and had extremely low ridership. As of now, the coaster has lines near ten minutes during peak season. What's next for Mean Streak? Many theories have risen. Mean Streak takes up a lot of land, and a big coaster can fit there. The coaster could be demolished for new developments, but Mean Streak also is subject to retracking, either from Great Coasters International, or Rocky Mountain Construction. GCI would retrack it with wooden track as they did with Cedar Point's sister park's coaster, GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm. RMC can retrack Mean Streak with their wooden Topper Track, used on Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City and Lightning Rod at Dollywood (though these were built from the ground up), or they can retrack it with their steel I-Box track, used on Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England and Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain. The use of GCI's wooden track would most likely be just a regular retracking and keep the layout of Mean Streak mostly the same. The use of RMC's I-Box track or Topper Track would most likely result in a complete overhaul. The original wooden track would be stripped and the majority of the layout would be altered. The drop would be steepened, inversions would most likely be put into place, and overbanks would make their way into the layout. I believe all four are possible options. Cedar Point could demolish Mean Streak, retrack it with wooden track from GCI, Topper Track from RMC, or I-Box track from RMC. A common rumor is a B&M Flying Coaster will be put in its place. I do not know which of these, or if any of these will occur. If Mean Streak is retracked, the new coaster should open in either 2017 or 2018.
Header photo of Mean Streak courtesy of Cedar Point.
