SANDUSKY: The first shovelful of dirt had barely been thrown in the Cedar Point cemetery of dead rides, and the speculation was already flying faster than the Valravn: What will become of the Mean Streak’s valuable real estate?
Park General Manager Jason McClure said, with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek, that it is time to mourn the passing of the ride that once broke the world record for the tallest lift and the longest drop on a wooden roller coaster.
“We are here to focus on the Mean Streak,” he said.
Born May 11, 1991, the Mean Streak passed away before hundreds of fans and a fair number of detractors at 8:22 p.m. Friday when its entrance sign, seat and other pieces of its remains were deposited in the park’s cemetery along the midway, joining the likes of the Mantis and Disaster Transport.
During the service, park spokesman Tony Clark, dressed like a zombie to mark the occasion and the opening night of HalloWeekends, said most will not mourn the loss of the ride, with the exception of chiropractors.
The coaster, which boasted some 26 million riders over the years, was known for its rough and bumpy rides.
Clark joked that perhaps some of the coaster’s 1.7 million board feet of southern yellow pine could be converted into more comfortable park benches.
The Mean Streak’s rough-and-tumble ride will be exactly what many wooden coaster aficionados will miss.
Andrew Schaffer, 28, of Hartville, said after the park announced this summer that the Mean Streak was closing, he made extra trips to the park and “busted out” his own personal ride records.
On one outing, he hit 40 rides in the same day, including repeat “rattling” rides on the Mean Streak and 14 trips on his favorite coaster, the Millennium Force.
“This is all depressing,” he said. “The Mean Streak is a ride I wish I hadn’t ignored in the past.
“Getting rattled around is what riding a wooden roller coaster is all about.”
Park officials say one of the reasons the Mean Streak is getting the ax is because ridership had fallen off in recent years.
Bath Township’s Jenny Fiedler, 20, said she was among the faithful ones who always rode the coaster whenever she visited the park.
Estimating she has been on the coaster hundreds of times, Fiedler said it wasn’t until the park announced the closure that she had to wait for her turn to ride.
On one visit to the park this past summer, she waited more than an hour to ride the coaster.
“I have always loved this ride,” she said. “I liked that it is not like the new rides that are so smooth.
“This one was a little rough, and I kind of liked it.”
Craig Webb, who saw double after his last ride on the Mean Streak, can be reached at cwebb@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3547. Visit his Airtime blog on Ohio.com and Facebook.