Steel Vengeance

Steel Vengeance is a steel roller coaster located at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, United States. It was formerly known as Mean Streak, a wooden coaster constructed by Dinn Corporation that opened in 1991 as the tallest wooden coaster in the world. Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) was hired to remake the ride into a hybrid coaster by combining their steel I-Box track with some of Mean Streak's wooden structure. It reopened as Steel Vengeance on May 5, 2018, setting 10 world records and becoming the tallest, fastest, and longest hybrid roller coaster.

Mean Streak operated for more than 25 years before its closure in 2016. At the time, the ride's future was uncertain. Cedar Point later dropped subtle hints of a possible track conversion in its advertising, which was officially confirmed the following year. Leading up to its opening, Steel Vengeance was marketed as the world's first hybrid hypercoaster, combining a steel track with wooden supports that exceeds a height of 200 ft. The coaster also features four inversions, a 90-degree drop, and a top speed of 74 mph. Since its debut, Steel Vengeance has consistently ranked as a top 5 steel coaster in the annual Golden Ticket Awards.

History

Wooden roller coaster

Cedar Point revealed in 1990 that a new roller coaster would be built for the 1991 season.

Hybrid refurbishment

On August 1, 2016, Cedar Point announced that Mean Streak would offer its last rides to the public on September 16, 2016.[11][12] Park officials, however, declined to confirm that the ride was being torn down.[13] Following its closure, unconfirmed rumors emerged that the roller coaster was being refurbished by Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC), a manufacturing company well known for its restoration work on existing wooden roller coasters.[14]

Cedar Point began teasing the public on the ride's future with the release of an 18-second teaser video entitled "They're Coming" on April 1, 2017. Cedar Point showed video shots briefly panning several elements of the rumored conversion.[15] Another similar video showing snippets of the new ride was released a few months later in June.[16] Three more videos were released over the summer of 2017, with catchphrases "They're rollin' in like thunder", "There's a score to settle", and "They stake their claim."[17] On August 16, 2017, Cedar Point held an official announcement for Steel Vengeance.[18] It was also announced that a virtual recreation of the ride would be made available in the PC video game, Planet Coaster.[19]

Steel Vengeance opened to the public on May 5, 2018,[20] but a minor collision between two trains forced Steel Vengeance to remain closed for most of its opening day.[21][22] The coaster resumed operation with only a single train while RMC investigated the issue and made modifications.[23][24] The ride was closed on certain weekday mornings to allow RMC to make repairs.[25] The park temporarily removed the ride from its Fast Lane Plus lineup and considered timed boarding passes as a result of its limited capacity.[23][25]

Following an incident on Twisted Timbers at Kings Dominion, where a phone hit a rider in the face during the ride, Cedar Point issued a temporary ban on cell phones when entering the ride's queue beginning in August 2018.[28][29] The ban was lifted the following season after zipper pouches were installed on the trains to safely secure loose items.[30][31] Metal detectors were installed in the queue, ensuring that all loose articles were placed in these pouches.[32] The pouches were removed in 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the previous ban was reinstated.[33]

Ride experience

Mean Streak

After leaving the station, the Mean Streak train passed through the storage tracks and made a 180-degree turn to the right, before ascending the 161 ft lift hill. After cresting the top of the hill, the train dropped 155 ft at a 52-degree-angle, reaching a top speed of 65 mph. While dropping, riders went through a set of trim brakes on the first drop. Riders then went through a 123 ft twisted turnaround followed by a small airtime hill, and then another twisted turnaround. The train maneuvered over the lift hill and dipped down to the right. After that, the train traveled through the ride's structure and down another hill, turning to the left into the mid-course brake run. The train then dipped down to the left into another airtime hill. Riders then went through several small airtime hills and turned through the ride's structure followed by the final brake run.[40] One cycle of the ride lasted 3 minutes and 13 seconds, making it the former longest duration of any roller coaster at Cedar Point.[6][41]

When Mean Streak opened in 1991, it was the tallest wooden roller coaster in the world and featured the longest drop.[42] Upon closure in 2016, Mean Streak had the seventh tallest lift, the tenth fastest speed, the fourth longest track-length and the seventh longest drop.[43][44][45][46]

After leaving the station, the train makes a 180-degree right turn, passes over two small bunny hills, and begins its ascent up the 205 ft chain lift hill. After cresting the top of the lift hill, the train drops 200 ft at a 90-degree angle, reaching its maximum speed of 74 mph. After this drop, the train traverses a speed hill followed by a climb into a larger airtime hill, which drops riders slightly to the right. Next, the train climbs up a left-turning, 116 ft outward-banked hill,[47] dips slightly right, and passes over a double up element, which leads to the first inversion, a zero-g roll variant.

The train dips right, passing underneath the lift hill into an overbanked turn to the right that incorporates an airtime hill, known as a wave turn, which leads into the second inversion, a zero-g stall. The train passes through the lift hill structure for a second time and dips down, entering another double up element into the mid-course brake run. This is followed by a sharp left turn into a short, steep drop that dips slightly left. The train then navigates an upward turn to the left, traverses another airtime hill, and rises once more into a slight left turn.

Next, the train enters a small drop into a high-speed overbanked left turn, which leads into the third inversion, another zero-g roll. It exits into a double-up and another high-speed overbanked left turn, followed by one last zero-g roll as the fourth inversion. There is a final overbanked left turn followed by a series of 6 small airtime hills for the finale, and then the train reaches the final brake run and returns to the

previousnames	Mean Streak (1991–2016)
location	Cedar Point
section	Frontier Town
coordinates	41.48625°N, -82.69326°W
opened	May 5, 2018
soft opened	April 25, 2018
status	Operating
previousattraction	Mean Streak
type	Steel
manufacturer	Rocky Mountain Construction
designer	Alan Schilke
model	I-Box Track
track	Twister
lift	Chain lift hill
height ft	205
drop ft	200
length ft	5740
speed mph	74
inversions	4
duration	2:30
angle	90
capacity	1200
restriction in	52‡R1R‡
trains	3
carspertrain	6
rowspercar	2
ridersperrow	2
virtual queue name	Fast Lane Plus only
virtual queue image	Cedar Fair Fast Lane Plus availability icon.svg
virtual queue status	available
rcdb number	15411
video	Steel Vengeance Cedar Point RMC Hybrid Coaster Off-Ride Footage.webm

Steel Vengeance

History

Wooden roller coaster

Hybrid refurbishment

Characteristics

Ride experience

Mean Streak

Steel Vengeance

World records

Incidents

Reception

See also

External links

References