Mantis Becomes Rougarou Floorless Coaster - Cedar Point 2015

^ It wouldn't but with a sitdown train they wouldn't even need a movable floor.

Oh Mantis, You shall be missed. A name so perfect for a stand-up coaster.

I have had that picture (blown up from the book) on my wall for almost as long as Mantis has been around.

I have that book! I used to stare at those layout style pictures for hourrrrsss.

Lmao I wonder how many of us actually have that book. It's the best coaster book to this day.

What's the title?

I can't remember, it's at my parents' house haha. It was one of 4 similar typed books I had for different eras of roller coaster evolution.

[TTD03]

CKidd wrote:

^ Exactly a few miles down the road from me is a ski resort that operates as one of the largest water parks in the north east in the summer time... Pa is certainly not Minnesota but I would assume they have similar climates

Dude, u, me, live really close to each other. Good ol' Camelbeach/Camelback.

Coaster Hero wrote:

^^^That wouldn't fix anything. Actually it would make matters worse. SFGA once switched one of the seats on bizarro so it would face backwards, and a lot of people got sick on it. I think it would be great for the enthusiasts (Bizarro because of the flamethrower. Imagine that thing! But not Mantis), just not the GP, which matters more to them

I would love to see sitdown trains. There are only a handful in the world, and imagine the first drop in one of those. Some people say they're even better than floorless (Ill decide myself when i ride Kumba one day).

Also, its true that CP would have 3 floorless experiences if they went through with this, but the GP wouldn't notice. Look at SFGA. They have a floorless, an inverted, and a flyer. That's 3 right there. And if the rumours of a wingrider hold true, that would make it 4. Honestly, only we enthusiasts notice these things. For the GP, as long as it's not something like Looping Disaster they will go for it. They don't seem to notice the little things we do and every coaster for them is a new experience.

When exactly if you know did Great Adventure switch the 1 seat on Bizarro? I would have killed to ride it like that.

wait, how close? camelback is only about 15 minutes from me

^^They tried it in the year it first opened as Bizarro (2008), and it was in October. Wish I got to ride that

Coaster Hero wrote:

^^^
I would love to see sitdown trains. There are only a handful in the world, and imagine the first drop in one of those. Some people say they're even better than floorless (Ill decide myself when i ride Kumba one day).

\

Kumba is an incredible ride, the train design creates turbine like winds in your face. I could barely keep my eyes open, very underrated and intense ride. It's really incredible. I have not ridden Dominator, but it is my top B&M. I would imagine these new trains would have new, wider restraints like those on Banshee.

Anyone wonder what happened to The Time Machine at Hard Rock Park? It was carefully dismantled last month. Wonder if CF is involved at all.

[GRIM.657]

stevecoaster wrote:

Oh Mantis, You shall be missed. A name so perfect for a stand-up coaster. (IMG)

That book is a large part of why I ended up on this site :p good stuff

highthrills2 wrote:

and then there was the other stand up that just closed forever>> :( in canada

so i wouldnt be suprosed if c.f is just removing there stand ups and putting in new stuff> out with old in with new-ish

Yeah I think that's pretty much it. Oh well.

^Agreed. Standup coasters were a concept that sounded good back in the 90's back when they started appearing everywhere, but I think parks are starting to realize that: A. The gimmick is getting kinda old with the GP. and B. Standup coasters were always a bit rough, but with all of them aging it's unbearable for a taller than average person. If you disagree, think of the last time a park installed a new standup coaster. (Not relocated like GL at SFGA) That was a LONG while back.

I can also almost say the same about floorless coasters, but on a much smaller rate and scale. They are starting to be installed less and less, not because they are uncomfortable, which they aren't, but because it's getting old, and a lot of parks have them now. We will still see them being installed here and there, but not like the old days.

In maybe 10 years, give or take a few, we will see the same thing happen to Wingriders. But it will happen even slower than with floorless because they haven't popped up EVERYWHERE like floorless coasters. The GP eventually get's bored of some coaster designs and the designers have to create a new experience to replace it. Here's how I think it went: Floorless replaced Standup, Wingrider is currently replacing Floorless, and eventually something will replace Wingriders. It's always happened.

One last point, coasters have always had either inversions, or airtime. Almost never both. In the beginning it was all inversions, but with Magnum XL-200 the GP was introduced to speed and airtime. And I think they enjoyed it so much that nowadays, we are seeing more coasters geared to airtime than inversions. Because there are only so many inversions, most of which a rider has experienced before, and it's difficult to make an inverting ride better by making new elements. They can only change the pacing and ORDER of elements really. With speed and airtime, it can be a different experience each time. New elements can easily be made, like that horseshoe roll with the weird sideways crest on Fury 325. Don't get me wrong, inverting coasters aren't going anywhere, but we will see many more mega lite, hyper, and giga coasters within the next few years.

Sitdown coasters just never caught on because there was really not much to market with the seating arrangement, and the GP never really appreciated them as much as floorless models. Sorry for the long post!

The book is called Roller Coaster: Wooden and Steel Coasters, Twisters and Corkscrews by David Bennett, by the way. Mantis is also on the cover.

I agree that Stand-ups were a fad, and perhaps the worst one to date, as we can see by their relatively short lifespans among steel coasters. I don't think I'd miss any of them too much (with possible exception to Riddler's Revenge), but if this conversion works out well the B&Ms could enjoy new life as fun, forceful, rideable looping coasters.

I have that book too! It's like solid blue right? Without the cover on it?

^I believe so, I'm about 99% sure! I am not home to double check at the moment.

So if Mantis were to be relocated I'm thinking Cedar point would want to keep their coaster count by adding a new one there in 2015 or 2016.

Cedar Point finally realized that they cannot beat SFMM in coaster count because ever time they come close, SFMM adds a ride that many people will criticize, like Full Throttle, which is very underrated in my opinion. Cedar point now focuses more on quality rather than quantity, because the only big local competition they have is KI which is their sister park anyway and is a 2 hour drive away.

@:0:17, not anymore according to CP. Notice how much faster Mantis is running here, pre-trim brake.

What is this about?

[TTD03]

stevecoaster, discussion about that is here.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Jesus christ that video is from when they still had 3 trains. Also as far as the no trim brake thing is concerned, that ride hauls ass without it. Definitely a good reason why Chang is so much more spread out during its first half.

[TTD03]

^ I thought Mantis lost its 3rd train only like 5 years ago?

So it looks like the cat out of the bag, or the Rougarou in this case
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zey3WWT ... e=youtu.be

[TTD03]

Unexpectedly, Cedar Point has quietly announced the conversion of the Stand-Up coaster Mantis, into a sitdown Floorless coaster! They have not said much about it, all we have is a video that they posted on their YouTube page.

Here is the official info from the park site.

New in 2015: Rougarou?????? Floorless Roller Coaster!

Cedar Point, The Roller Coaster Capital of the World!?????, will introduce a dynamically new riding experience when it unleashes Rougarou in the spring of 2015!

Named after a terrifying werewolf-like creature in French folklore, Rougarou [roo-guh-roo] feeds on screams and lurks in and around the swampy lagoon at the center of the park, shared with other coasters like Iron Dragon and Top Thrill Dragster.

Rougarou??????s floorless trains will take riders on an epic journey at speeds reaching 60 mph as their feet dangle just inches above the track and the murky waters below. The trains will be manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Monthey, Switzerland, the same team behind rides like Raptor and GateKeeper, and will transform the ride experience dramatically while utilizing the structure and track of the former Mantis roller coaster.

ROU_LD.jpg (116.15 KiB) Viewed 3990 times

The ride begins with a climb to the top of the 145-foot-tall first hill, providing amazing views of the Cedar Point skyline. After reaching the apex, the trains will make a 180-degree turn to the right and plummet 137 feet, at a 52-degree angle, to within inches above the water. Thrill-seekers caught in Rougarou??????s grasp will then be flipped upside-down by a 119-foot-tall vertical loop, spun around a 103-foot-tall dive loop, whipped around a highly-banked 360-degree turn and then twisted upside-down again by the world??????s only inclined loop on a floorless coaster, angled at a wicked 45 degrees. Just when guests think the ride is over, the steel beast will take them through a 360-degree flat spin, tight and twisty turns and a figure-eight finale. Riders must be 54?????? tall to ride Rougarou.

Rougarou POV!

Rougarou Flyover!

Rougarou Pictures

rblog01.jpg (137.82 KiB) Viewed 3807 times

rblog02.jpg (101.97 KiB) Viewed 3807 times

Mantis is already beginning to get painted the new colors for Rougarou.

IMG_3941_600.jpg (218.06 KiB) Viewed 3807 times

Mantis is already beginning to get painted the new colors for Rougarou.

IMG_3957_600.jpg (395.4 KiB) Viewed 3807 times

Mantis is already beginning to get painted the new colors for Rougarou.

IMG_3949_6002.jpg (130.17 KiB) Viewed 3807 times

What we know:

• The name of the ride will be changed from Mantis to Rougarou.
• The ride will be converted from a Stand Up, to a sitdown Floorless coaster.
• The track will be painted orange.
• The supports will be painted green.
• The height will stay the same at 145 feet.
• The drop will stay the same at 137 feet.
• The speed will stay the same at 60 MPH!

What we don't know:

• How long the ride is (if changing)
• How many trains there will be (if changing)
• Opening date

And more!

So what are you feeling? Are you excited for this change?

Update 1
Cedar Point has officially released more information, it has been edited into this post.

Update 2
More pictures have been added to this post!