Roller Coaster Enthusiasts Flocking To Cedar Point To Ride Steel Vengeance
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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Nearly two years ago, the legendary Mean Streak roller coaster at Cedar Point took its final ride.
KDKA-TV's Amy Wadas there to be among those taking the last laps on the iconic attraction.
Now, Steel Vengeance is picking up where Mean Streak left off and the new coaster is already breaking records.
So, Wadas went back to see where it stacks up, among coaster connoisseurs.
At 205 feet tall, the Steel Vengeance is the world's first hyper-hybrid roller coaster.
Hyper meaning between 200 to 300 feet tall and hybrid meaning a wooden structure with a steel track on top of it.
It's something roller coaster enthusiasts like Heather Lucy love.
"It gives you that big old school roller coaster with the wooden track, but it gives you the nice smooth ride of steel," Lucy said.
Lucy traveled from Ohiopyle with the family to Cedar Point so they could experience history being made.
"It's so smooth and fast and the rolls just surprise you every time," one fan said.
The coaster breaks many world records in the hyper-hybrid category.
Steel Vengeance travels 74 miles per hour, has a 90-degree drop and even has four inversions.
"Going straight down, it felt like you were in the air and not on the tracks," Jordan Yoder said.
That's because Steel Vengeance has the most airtime on a hyper-hybrid coaster - you're out of your seat for about 27 seconds.
Steel Vengeance opened to the public in May of this year and was 2 1/2 years in the making.
It's standing where the Mean Streak once stood in Frontiertown, which took its final ride in September of 2016.
"I like it a lot better than Mean Streak. Mean Streak was fun, but this is a lot smoother of a ride and all the twists and turns are pretty unexpected," Stephanie Hoyt said.
While Steel Vengeance may have some similarities to the Mean Streak, Cedar Point's Tony Clark said there's only one thing remaining.
"The only thing Steel Vengeance shares with the old ride is the physical footprint of where the footings are. The concrete pillars inside the ground that hold the pillars up," Clark said.
Clark says no one else in the world has a coaster like this.
"We like to push the limits. Build bigger, faster, smoother and just more fun," Clark said.
