Cedar Point Closing Mean Streak: Their Massive Wooden Coaster
Today, Cedar Point has officially announced that Mean Streak will be closing September 16th 2016. The park says it’s time to say goodbye to what was the tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster in the world and left us with this video titled “The Axe”
When the Mean Streak was built in 1991, it was the world tallest and fastest wooden roller coaster. It stands 161 feet tall and tops out at a speed of 65 mph.
This is sad but also exciting at the same time.. It’s a love hate thing to say the least for coaster lovers. The announcement leaves coaster fans scrambling to find out what is next at the “Coaster Capital of the World”. Will the coaster be torn down? Or will it refurbished with a new, steel track, which has become a popular option in the industry to remake older coasters into new and more thrilling rides. When we asked Cedar Point reps, they said the park is “making way for future development in FrontierTown”.
“Mean Streak has, and always will be a significant part of our roller coaster legacy at Cedar Point,” said Jason McClure, vice president and general manager for Cedar Point. “But we have our sights set on the future of FrontierTown, and unfortunately, that means Mean Streak has to leave our lineup of world-class attractions.“
Before we speculate on what could be next, we can’t pass up the opportunity to mention when and how guests can take one last ride and send Mean Streak off with a bang.
DON’T MISS YOUR CHANCE TO RIDE
Mean Streak is currently open for riding on the following days:
- Daily through September 5 during normal park hours
- Saturday, September 10: park open 1 – 10 p.m.
- Sunday, September 11: park open 11 a.m. – 8 p.m
Although Mean Streak usually has little to no wait, expect the line to be a longer now that fans know the ride is closing.
THE LAST RIDES
On Friday night, September 16, the opening night of Cedar Point’s 20th HalloWeekends, fans can say one final goodbyes to Mean Streak. From 6 – 7 p.m., guests can take one final trip along the giant wooden structure. Then at 7:30, join in for a special closing ceremony as Cedar Point gives “last rites” to the ride and march’s in procession from FrontierTown to the Dead Rides Cemetery near the front of the park. Mean Streak will lie in repose before burial so guests may see it for the last time.
So what’s in the future? The park has not released that information just yet… but we can’t go without mentioning the long time rumor of Mean Streak getting the “RMC treatment”. For non-coaster gurus, that means a company called Rocky Mountain Construction giving the ride a total makeover. The company takes the existing ride and mixes it with some steel structures and replaces the entire track basically creating a new ride using the existing structure. Think of it as remixing a song so to say. It’s a great way to make old rides smooth and fun again! RMC has already completed these type of makeovers on many famed wood coasters around the world such as Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain.
We have been on many of the RMC makeovers and are huge fans. We love the fact that they are incredibly smooth and have the ability to go upside down!
So why do we think there could be any truth to this rumor? A few weeks back, some RMC stakes and orange markings were spotted on the supports for Mean Streak.
Even though the steak clearly said RMC, don’t count on that being a sure thing. The stake labeled RMC only lasted a week or two and was removed. If true, this would be the first partnership between RMC and Cedar Fair, Cedar Point’s parent company. Cedar Fair has been known to play mind games with coaster fans from time to time…
In 2009, Cedar Point sent out promotional bottles that had a Whyte Lightning logo on it. After months of mind games, fans found out that Whyte Lightning was indeed not the parks new ride. It turned out to be Shoot the Rapids, which is now the name of two popular rides that are removed.
With the 150th anniversary coming up in the next few years, we have a lot to look forward to in the coming seasons. What do you think is coming up in Cedar Point’s future? Check out what Cedar Point’s Communications Director, Tony Clark has to say about all the new things for 2016 and their plans for the future in our Valravn media day interview!
For coaster fans that won’t be able to make it to the park, they can take one last front seat ride below.
For tickets and more information, visit the official Cedar Point website by clicking here.
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