Mantis ( Return to 3 train operation?? )

Oh yes it would and has...3 trains definitely helped the line move better, even when they weren't hitting interval. Anybody thats payed attention to this ride since it opened, knows that the wait in line has went way up after removing the third train. It's pretty simple math..

Also, about that "seat"... Maybe an adjustment so that people could not sit on it but at the same time still not be able to slip out.
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I was super before Superstew was cool!

Something I noticed that we tried to fix about halfway through the season was the load/unload ride hosts checking rows concurrently (at the same time). this way if a row needed to be released, only 1 row at a time was being released so that only 4 people could bounce or sit down at a time. I'm gonna make a conscious effort to do this during the summer. Hope it helps.

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MANTIS ROCKS 2002 & 2003

I thought part of the slow up is always people are unable to do the seat belt themself. Why is a seat belt needed any way. I dont see much of a point really. I know a lot of rides or atleast B&M's have these but its not needed. I know Hulk at IOA and if i rememeber Kumba at BGT doesnt have them. Im sure there are many more but those are just examples. Is this just a thing that was done to meet CP's high safety standard?

I may be wrong, but if I remember correctly there had been "rumored" experiences of the harnesses unpopping one click. Imagine riding and your harness loosens up. Physically, there is nothing wrong with the ride, but I have seen (and experienced) when you lock the seat halfway between two pegs. The seat seems locked but it hasn't clicked in place. Sure, you're only going to move like 1/2 inch, but it would be scary. Same thing with the harnesses so people got scared. But yeah, they really have no other function than to slow us down.

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MANTIS ROCKS 2002 & 2003

My harness unlocked on Raptor a summer or two ago... I think it was in the cobra roll. I wrapped my feet up under the train as far as I could and held that OTSR like nobody's business :)... It may have only un-locked one click but I wasn't going to find out. I was really glad there was a seat belt :) thanks B&M :)

PS - I think CP prefers to have the belts wherever possible just as an added safety precaution...

Why does the seat look like a seat? Why is the back end of the seat flared out, creating a ridge at the back of the seat? That's fine on a bicycle, where you are SITTING on the seat but need clearance for your legs to go up and down. But if you are STANDING, that flare at the back of the seat makes it really tough to straddle the seat AND keep your feet back...it almost forces you to put your feet forward, which is the leading cause of calf pain!

The next problem, then, is the safety belt. Does the belt really have to go between the riders' legs? Why not switch to a belt similar to that used on Wicked Twister, so that riders can fasten it themselves?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Who can't ride Mantis:TCFKAB anymore anyway...

MrInkspot@aol.com, thats what that little black belt is on the ride. It's there to keep you from sliding out in case your harness pops open.

Rideman, I would think its there to help keep someone in... And who would want to stand if the train gets stopped at the MCBR? I'd rather take a seat. ;)

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I own you!
*** This post was edited by joe 2/24/2003 8:42:29 AM ***

RideMan said:

The next problem, then, is the safety belt. Does the belt really have to go between the riders' legs? Why not switch to a belt similar to that used on Wicked Twister, so that riders can fasten it themselves?

--Dave Althoff, Jr.
Who can't ride Mantis:TCFKAB anymore anyway...

Everytime I ride I have never had a problem fastening the seat belt. It just a matter of understanding which way to fasten it in. At that was even before I worked there. Watching from the queue on a train or two will help everyone understand what to do.

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MANTIS ROCKS 2002 & 2003

I've never had a problem fastening it myself either.

I hate the belt's on WT...mostly because I love the one's on Raptor. It gives that extra feeling of being secure, and...I just wish WT had belts like Raptor.
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OMG! The Space Spiral is leaning!!" Must be the weight of that new air conditioning system everyone keeps hypothesizing about...

I could never fasten my own belt on Mantis. Hold the seat down with my thighs, hold the belt in one hand, pull the bar down with the other, and try to squeeze my shoulders up into the mostly-closed shoulder bar while trying not to lose my grip on the belt.....#1, I don't have enough hands to hold everything that needs to be held at once, and #2, my arms are not long enough to reach the dangling belt once the shoudler bar is down. It's just a lousy design.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

You guys all don't like the belts, But 2 saftey restiraints are mandatory on all costers and a few select other rides. It's not just CP's rule, but they they would make it if it wasn't a required operation. Just think about it. Someone name me one coaster at CP that DOES NOT have a seat belt. If for some reason your harness or restartaint comes open, like the nice Ohio seatbelt campaign, "What's holding you back?"
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Matt - '02-'03 WT crew
Guest- "Are the towers supposed to move??" Me- "No, I just sit in a chair underneath it all day long, hoping it collapses on my head."

Just be glad that Mantis has OTSR's, and not the arm loops/waist bar combo that's on the Togo Standups. (Sky Rider PCW, King Cobra, PKI (removed), and Shockwave (PKD removed I believe??)

Those are painful. the fact that you can tighten the bar during the ride so that the bar is flush against you're cheak bones. Now that's a headbanger.

Further back in this thread was a suggestion that the ride ops begin telling the oncoming riders to stand up before the next train moves into the station.

Last year, there was a ride op (his name was John as referenced in my trip report) who did this. He said many times that riders must "stand up straight...do not, I repeat, DO NOT SIT, bounce or bend your legs".

It did not matter. Restraints were unlocked 2 or 3 times on each train while loading.

Personally, I feel for the Mantis ride ops having to deal with the clueless.

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I'd rather die living than live like I'm dead

Carnage, as of last year, PKD still has ShockWave.

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I own you!

OldCPer said:
Last year, there was a ride op (his name was John as referenced in my trip report) who did this. He said many times that riders must "stand up straight...do not, I repeat, DO NOT SIT, bounce or bend your legs".

I wasn't talking about on spiels as I know they do that. I was talking about the people on the load side going up and down the rows and personally telling the next group of people row by row in between every train. Maybe that's what you were talking about too, but I've never seen it done. Then again, I rarely ride Mantis when there is any kind of line because it usually just frustrates me at how slow things move. :)

-Matt
2001 Magnum Crew
2003 Magnum Crew

*** This post was edited by MDOmnis 2/25/2003 3:02:40 PM ***

Mathew said:
. . . Someone name me one coaster at CP that DOES NOT have a seat belt. If . . .

Corkscrew

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**insert witty comment here**

joe said:
Carnage, as of last year, PKD still has ShockWave.

I stand corrected. I wasn't sure if it had been removed. I know it's been up for sale for quite awhile. Frankly I wouldn't mind seeing them all go. The ride is slow, and painful. Those restraints and the helix are brutal.

Mathew said:
. . . Someone name me one coaster at CP that DOES NOT have a seat belt. If . . .

Iron Dragon
*** This post was edited by Carnage 2/25/2003 3:43:56 PM ***

On Mantis, the belt is there to serve as a back-up for the shoulder bar, and possibly also to serve as a measuring device to insure the shoulder bar is down "far enough." To serve those purposes does not necessarily mean that the belt has to attach to the seat and go between the rider's legs. Attach the belt to the armrest instead, so that when it is unfastened and the shoulder bar is closed, the rider can actually reach it.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Onw way to speed loading is to just not care and let people sit like they do on Kentucky Kingdoms Chang ;) (BTW, Chang is a little biggger Banshee mirror clone with an extra corkscrew). Of course they still manage to let their line move slower than the ISP that sponsers the ride.Chang
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Wow, a new ride is being built.
*** This post was edited by Joe E. 2/25/2003 4:58:46 PM ***