The new RMC "hyper hybrid" coaster Steel Vengeance might offer an amazing ride, but its operational record is in danger of becoming as much of a headache as riding its predecessor, Mean Streak, was for Cedar Point visitors.
The coaster closed again today after reports that a tire flew from the track into an area near the queue. It would be the second significant mishap on the Rocky Mountain Construction coaster since its debut last spring.
A Facebook user posted to a Cedar Point fan group that it appeared a drive wheel tire snapped. The tire then fell near the queue area, which snakes underneath the ride. No confirmation of those details from the park yet, though readers in the park report that ride ops are saying they expect an extended downtime. No injuries have been reported. Evening update: Details confirmed. Readers are saying trains were running again just before park close.
Steel Vengeance wowed us on its media preview day, but paying guests to the park got an abbreviated introduction to the coaster when it a returning train collided with a dispatching train in the station on its opening day. That forced Cedar Point to close the ride then to run it in one-train operation for an extended period upon its return.
Adding to the challenges, Cedar Point parent Cedar Fair this month reported attendance was down two percent and revenue down one percent across the company, which invested big in RMC coasters for this season.
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To add to their woes this year, RMCs other masterwork, Lightning Rod at Dollywood, still isn’t working quite right either...
Meanwhile down in Atlanta, RMC's actual best coaster (Twisted Cyclone) is running brilliantly (albeit weekends only now).
Hearing rumor lightning rod has a sinkhole on backside that caused significant bumps in track? If true this could be the first issue that's not actually related to the ride manufacturer. I've ridden both, rank them easily #1 SV and #2 LR out of any coaster I've ever been on but the downtimes are very disheartening as a RMC fan.
I was in the queue area right underneath the coaster and where the incident happened. There was a really loud boom followed by screeching and screaming (like I’m scared for my life screaming) a wheel fell to the left of me and a steel plate with green Wires fell to the right. Needless to say we left right after and didn’t ride any rides after. Very scary experience not knowing what was going to come down as the queue area we were in had a roof. I love Cedar point and look forward every year, but I’m disappointed that after the incident they were only reporting mechanical issues.
Steel Vengeance is a magnificent ride...hopefully they can get it sorted out
I was at Dollywood this past June and was stranded in the Lightning Rod’s station for more than 30min before it was operational again. We visited 8 months prior and were also stranded in the Lightning Rod station. Point being: I enjoy RMC rides, but not as the cost of random unsustainability.
Hopefully Steel Vengenance will be back up and running soon!
I was thinking the same thing about Dollywood. I like RMC Coasters but here lately there downtime is ridiculous.
Ride opened again at around 11:45pm Friday night. Was able to ride it twice. Best ride eve.
I rode Steel Vengeance this past month, and it was the best roller coaster I've ever experienced! I hope they can clean up the engineering.
This is such an extreme coaster, it's bound to have a few kinks to iron out. Best ride on the planet, in my opinion.
Outlaw Run is the original RMC hybrid coaster, and still the best one out there!
Ok it never "collided" it was going 2 mph.. it bumped it
The ride is great. I was just there Aug 8 and 9. It was the only coaster that wasn't down for any time. Millennium and top thrill dragster were down a majority of the time. The true problem is the fast pass. We had early entry into the park and there is no fast pass for the first hour. Ride wait time for Steele vengeance was 30 min. Later in the day from the same point in line it was 2 hours. Everyone was complaining way to many fast pass tickets were sold. It was the first time I've ever been to a park (I go to many) and could see a real negative impact with fast passes. There has always been the "not fare that they don't wait like others" but 4 times the wait due to fast pass. I had gone to cedar point last year and this year and it was so bad that I won't make an effort to go next year. I live in Texas. The ride is worth a wait. Millennium Force is one of the top rides in the world along with Top Thrill Dragster. After riding them all back to back.... Steele Vengeance is my favorite. They (RMC) have mastered the air time. They even have you getting air time while doing a nearly 540 roll (more than 360 degree roll). You are suspended in air as the car circles you.
I don’t remember James Koehl mentioning anything about Mean Streak/Steel Vengeance being built on an ancient Native American burial ground during his historical tour of the Point.
I'm pretty sure that wasn't a "drive wheel" pictured on Facebook. It was most likely a "guide wheel" since when I rode Steel Vengeance a couple of weeks ago, I distinctly notices that all of the "drive wheels" (the ones that ride on top of the track - and carry most of the weight of the train) were composed of tan/beige nylon/poly. The "guide wheels" (the ones the ride on this inside of the rails and keep the train gauged properly on the track) were composed of black nylon/poly. The wheel in the picture embedded into the ground appeared to be black, not beige/tan. It's also not clear whether the wheel came directly from a train or perhaps was sitting in a maintenance area and simply fell or a shelf. I have a hard time believing that a wheel would just pop off a train and Cedar Point would put the coaster back in service the same day. If something as serious as a wheel coming off occurred, I would think there would at least need to be some investigation to determine how it happened, which would not be concluded in a matter of hours.
Not a piece of the train dude, one of the wheels embedded in the track as part of the ride’s control system.
It wasn't a wheel from the train at all. It was a tire from one of the feed motors somewhere along the track.
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The wheel almost hit my cousin and I! It missed us by 2 feet. We were standing in the Fast Lane line. No one apologized or offered anything to us for nearly being killed by a flying roller coaster wheel. Disappointing because Steel Venfeamcd is by far the best ride at CP.