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 Review of Mean Streak @ Cedar Point
2 Rating Posted by: PhantomNik on 3/11/2008 12:30:00 PM
One cannot help but be rendered speechless when you first see the massive wooden structure that is Mean Streak. It is a marvel to look at, with its wooden superstructure sprawling all along the back reaches of the peninsula in Cedar Points Frontier Town. I couldnt believe my eyes the first time I saw it, and as I watched the trains navigate the course from the ground, all I could think was "is this thing REALLY that bad?!?" Well, in a word, no, I dont think Mean Streak is nearly as bad as some people make it out to be. However, that being said, I have to be honest that although I have had some decent fun on my rides on it, it still disappoints when you think about the ride it "could" be.

For all intents and purposes, Cedar Point (or Cedar Fair, whoever the culprit was) decided to neuter this coaster, and in about the worst way I have ever seen. I understand that maybe a wooden coaster this big may have been aggressive back in the day, but you know what? I wouldve liked to have had a ride on this bad boy in its early years. The placement of trims is a common remedy for coasters that push a little too hard, but their placement on Mean Streak makes no sense at all. But Ill get to that in a minute. Entering the line, I love how you wind right through the coasters structure. Looking up at that mass of wood while in line is really neat. The crew works well on this one, and they have at least 2 trains (often 3) running, so waits are minimal. After boarding the PTC train, you head off towards the massive lift hill.

At the top, you have a stellar view of the lake and begin the descent down the first drop, from 161 feet up! Great fun, right? Well, sadly, not really, thanks to the baffling trim brake on the first drop. I just dont get it. Let this coaster live, dang it! What results is one of the weirdest first drops I have experienced. It is almost choppy, as the brakes pulse over the train several times. When they finally release, you do drop, but it seems almost anticlimactic as you just dont feel like youve experienced a big drop at all. The rest of the ride is spent trying to recover the speed that was lost due to that trim. After a while, the speed starts to get pretty good, but then you hit another set of trims, and that pretty much kills the speed again. I dont mind the mid-course ones, but those first drop ones are pointless, plain and simple. Maybe cutting it loose leads to roughness, but at least then it would live up to its name!

The layout itself is not bad at all, in my opinion. It is basically a super-sized twister design, with many turns through and around itself, and some decent drops thrown in. The pacing, thanks to the lackluster speed, is a bit off. One thing I will say is that I have not experienced the "bone-rattling" roughness that some speak of when discussing this coaster. Shoot, it doesnt go fast enough fot that! Sitting up front it is very smooth, and in the back it shimmies somewhat but nothing that I would classify as rough. There are actually a couple spots where there is a slight hint of airtime, but its not as pronounced as it could be since the (yep, you guessed it) speed is lagging behind. Notice a theme here? A pretty good layout, with some fairly good drops, just doesnt deliver a bang for the buck without the speed that a coaster this big should deliver. I truly doubt that the coaster ever reaches its claimed top speed of 65 mph. Theres just no way.

So, youre probably all thinking, thats a lot of negative sounding talk for a ride that gets a 6! Maybe, but Im just pointing out that its not that this coaster is BAD, its just that it fails to live up to what it could be. Truth is, I still have a fair amount of fun on the ride, and it has some moments that are enjoyable. The drops are decent, except for the puzzlement that is the first drop. Overall, Id say it is a barely above average wooden coaster, as it is fairly smooth and has a decent layout to compliment i
 

Review Comments

detroit_jc on 3/12/2008 9:02:59 PM said:
i have been on this back in 91" and the speed was relentless througout the whole course. even the mid course trims barely kicked in. they just need to let this thing break out and kick some butt.
PhantomNik on 3/20/2008 9:31:09 AM said:
Yep, thats pretty much what I figured. Sounds like it was a fairly decent coaster back then, and at least it brought some actual intensity to the table, as opposed to over-trimmed cautiousness.
detroit_jc on 3/20/2008 4:39:40 PM said:
phantom believe it or not back then people actually cheered when we arrived back at the station. a few years later when i rode it i was actually pretty upset and dissappointed about it.
bumprnugit on 7/25/2008 10:31:49 PM said:
When I rode this in it'.s inaugural season, even then I walked away scratching my head. How could something SO big, SO imposing, be SO forceless? This was the ride that was supposed to compete with king-of-the-hills Texas Giant (which I have never ridden) but even back in what some on this board my consider the days of antiquity I had enough world-class rides under my belt to know this was not one of them. From that trip to the present, I refer to this sheep in wolf'.s clothing as Yellow Streak (why hasn'.t this caught on????)
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