Mantis removal or transformation?

I honestly think (and nobody can change my opinion on this) that we are getting a transformation. Let me list off some reasons why:
1. The green paint spotted one the underside of Mantis.
2. The new trademarked Cedar Fair name "Rugarou" and it's connection to the swampy land Mantis is on.
3. The park said that this is your last chance to stand on a Mantis. That refers to the old slogan, and could also mean we are getting floorless trains.
4. The park also said it is being removed for "riders compaining of rough experiences from it's standing up position". This also could support the floorless theory.
5. An updated Mantis with the name Rougarou (a werewolf who lives in swamps) would be perfect to announce on the park's last day, which also falls on HalloWeekends.
So overall, I think the ride itself still holds a lot of potential, just a good bunch of new trains and a re-theming would make Mantis a totally different ride experience for me. What do you guys think?:)

CP wants to make money. New floorless trains for Mantis would cost a lot of money. In order for that investment to make sense, the park would have to feel fairly certain that the new trains would generate enough additional revenue to cover their cost (and then some). Can we really expect that floorless trains, a change in paint color, and a different name are going to matter much to the GP? Sure, such a transformation might be interesting to the enthusiast community, but I don't see it drawing sizable crowds...

If Mantis is, indeed, being transformed rather than removed (which seems to make the most sense at this point given how, if the ride were to be removed, I think the park would come out and say so rather than this vague "last stand" mumbo jumbo), I think a more substantial, marketable transformation--perhaps with some track adjustments--would be the liklier outcome.

The timing of all of this seems weird to me, though. Why October 19th? That seems too late to remove Mantis for something to be put in its place for the 2015 season. And if the ride were merely going to be removed (with its location remaining vacant next year), why not wait until the end of the season? As for a transformation, I also don't see how that would require more than a full off-season...

Why cant anybody come to terms with the likelihood that Mantis is removed all together.

They said its squashed.. done.. gone. They didnt say it will be re-imagined.

Mantis will be taken out and we are getting a new Rollercoaster.. one of epic proprtions.. its obvious.. This is a VERY BIG plan...

VERY BIG.. The point is about to go into a HUGE TRANSITION...

The reason why Tony is so excited about the future is not because of 1 ride or change.. Its because a SLEW of them are coming..

A Mean Streak Revamp..

A New Coaster in Mantis' Place

A New Dark Ride.

And Possibly another coaster..

Why else would they keep saying the "coaster capitol of the world" over and over and over.. if these announcements arent going to end up with getting us a new coaster.

I dont understand why some people are so stauchly against believing the possibility of a new coaster. Its like.. if they dont see it, they wont beleive it.

Take the leap of faith, drink the coaster kool-aid!

Will you be disappointed if its not a 500ft Montrosity? Possibly..

But believing and speculating, and thinking it will be is almost as fun as having it.

INVEST YOURSELF

Maverick00 said:
I'm still leaning towards them converting it to a floorless coaster, painting it green and naming it Rougearau.

You see guys, I had a gut feeling about Mantis and nobody believed me. Maverick00, I agree with you 100% in this post! Now we just have to wait and see If It's getting converted or not. :)

@MF14

1. That green paint may be test paint for it's new home. See X Flight-->Firehawk. Or if it's to be scrapped, why match the paint up if it's going away, just use what you have.

2. That could very well be a theme used for the area or whatever takes it's place, but the trademark could be used for wherever it moves to as well, the TM is for the CF chain as a whole

3. I'd say it goes towards nostalgia to the '96 promo, which Tony even says they went for. It could also mean we're getting flying trains given the rampant speculation.

4. You said "it is being removed" I think that answers the question :P

5. I do like the new name, but new paint & name on a ride is a big SIX thing to do, not a FUN park. Surprised enough they did it with Jr Gemini/Wilderness Run. But again I do like the name & idea, but how does this point support the theory.

I think you're wrong, but that's just me. They said we're getting a thrill ride aimed at teens, this follows suit with other park removals in the past, and it lines up with them as such, and honestly, the cryptic stuff to me just makes us speculate more, which is smart with good marketing.

@NextGen89..I'm right there with ya, been on that same conclusion since 1200 today xD..well the Mantis removal part.

Instead of ten more pages of back and forth reasons for either side let's just agree on the following. One of two things will happen:

1.) Mantis is gone forever.
2.) Mantis undergoes a transformation of sorts.

There is ample evidence to argue both, but it is clear everyone is very firm in their opinion one way or the other. I believe it stays and undergoes a first ever B&M transformation. But it really doesn't matter what I think, just like it doesn't matter (to me) what you think. Everyone has argued their side thoroughly. You're not going to convince people to change their opinion.

^"They said its squashed.. done.. gone. They didnt say it will be re-imagined."

They also didn't say the words 'done' and/or 'gone'. A complete scrap of the ride wouldn't require shutting it down with two (heavily popular) halloweekends left in the season.

Could it be a possibility that the ride is getting a complete layout revamp? You're getting a nearly brand-new coaster for half the price of a brand-new one.

Remember Tony's list of "things to do"?

3. Relocate Mantis

Makes me think that's thrown out the window.

Top Thrill 182 said:
CP wants to make money. New floorless trains for Mantis would cost a lot of money. In order for that investment to make sense, the park would have to feel fairly certain that the new trains would generate enough additional revenue to cover their cost (and then some). Can we really expect that floorless trains, a change in paint color, and a different name are going to matter much to the GP? Sure, such a transformation might be interesting to the enthusiast community, but I don't see it drawing sizable crowds...

How do you know it wont draw sizeable crowds? Lets see - Mantis sure wasn't!

This needed to be put here hours ago..

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/13/1321bf8687a87957d32cd36e87b2448fe39...bfc55c.jpg

Jakefeeney said:
I've spent most of the afternoon reading all the posts here, but can't remember where the concept of 'Rougarou' came from? Do we have any evidence that it's a possibility, or is it just a clever theming suggestion?

Cedar Fair trademarked the name rougarou and at the coaster camp out the campsite was called Camp Rou

NextGen89 said:
Why cant anybody come to terms with the likelihood that Mantis is removed all together.

They said its squashed.. done.. gone. They didnt say it will be re-imagined.

Mantis will be taken out and we are getting a new Rollercoaster.. one of epic proprtions.. its obvious.. This is a VERY BIG plan...

VERY BIG.. The point is about to go into a HUGE TRANSITION...

Your point? When Texas Giant, The Rattler, Cyclone & Colossus were closed, they all said they were being closed. Of course after Texas Giant, everyone figured RMC, but the fact remains that they said they were closing for good. The rides were reimagined and reopened. Check out the newspaper article here: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2014/06/03/six-flags-magic-mountain-...-colossus/

Notice "close" and "new ride will replace the land".

Does anyone remember when Medusa became Bizarro? The signs saying "Last Chance to ride Medusa", the paint change to part of the ride mid-season. Just seems familiar here. This could be the end of the standing portion of Mantis (as in the "last stand" and the bug finally being "squashed" per the original promo) and the transformation into something new.

Its pure speculation obviously but I wouldn't count a revamp out yet. I do agree with you that major changes are coming however and this is definitely proof they are.

I don't know anything about revamps, I'm not ganna lie, none of us do, B&M has never completed one.

However it doesn't seem like the sort of, oh just slap some trains on it, paint, and lets go kind of issue. It seems very technical, very intense, and very expensive for an 18 year old ride.

Plus again, they tell us in '15 it will be a thrill ride for teens..That's the biggest throw off.

I'd love to see Mantis stay, and it'd be crazy to see a conversion and see what it rides like, but I don't see it happening right now. I see it getting transferred within the chain. I wouldn't expect them to throw away a 12 mil B&M

Okay, just looked everything over now for 2015, including this thread (took way too long). Every one is just saying the same thing in different ways but anyway, here are my thoughts, first wight the insanity of this thread:

Originally when Tony announced todays announcement on Twitter, he said it was a major announcement, never anything about 2015, not even the hashtag. We all fell for the tweet thinking it was the 2015 announcement leaving what appears to be a large amount of users disappointed. Which leads me to my next point, the announcement was great (especially Tony's part :) ) Sure, they never said anything new was coming and left numerous details up in the air, but Cedar Point has that right. They could have just closed Mantis one day without warning. Also, this was a major announcement for all of you saying it wasn't. The fact that Mantis as we know it today will not be here next year is huge news. Believe it or not, a large amount of people like this ride and there are even more who don't care one way or another. Often times I would be waiting more that 20 minutes or more for it, so this ride being changed/destroyed/relocated/etc. is big news, at least to a lot of people, so saying this wasn't a big announcement is just pointless it was. Enough of criticism, now onto the announcement.

The park really never confirmed anything about Mantis except the the ride as we know it now will not be there next year. In my opinion, this was just the first part of a huge announcement that is going to come in parts, lets say four (same as the amount of panels on the thing that may be for a halloweekend haunt). We already know that another part is the Breakers renovation, and my guess is the next part to come will be more on what exactly happens to Mantis, then on to the thrill ride we were promised for 2015. Simply converting a ride does not, at least to me, make it new, so I am guessing something else will happen either in the location of Mantis or elsewhere in the park.

I have said it before and will say it again, the park said they hoped they saved the best for last and by closing down a major attraction, they could potentially be on their way to accomplishing that goal. Speculate all you guys want but at this point the only options are Mantis goes away for ever or is redone, so stop saying the same thing as every one before you, we have nothing to go off of except what we learned today.

What if they repainted Mantis, converted to sit down (floorless or not), added/changed a few elements, and put part of it inside a mountain of some type..

If the park is going to go to that much expense, why not just build a new coaster?

No more used rides at Dorney Park please :-(

Stinger
Demon Drop
Possessed

I swear that park is the island of misfit toys.

Until that twitter post by Dorney Park I was expecting a re-train of mantis to a floorless, but now seems it really is gone.

Time will tell, but closing it early makes me think it's to allow the extra time for removal.

I still think news is coming about Mean Streak, the numbered hint 111, 1880 on the CP blog was directly related as far as I can tell. (with the numbers subtracted equaling the year Mean Streak opened)

As far as the dark ride rumors, just don't see it IMO. They announced it would be a "thrill ride aimed at teens and other hard-core thrill seekers". I just don't see a dark ride being considered this. Can someone point me in the direction of a dark ride that would entice a "hard- core thrill seeker"? Again, just my opinion but I don't see it fitting the bill.

To me the biggest clue about the structure of Mantis staying is that they say it is easy to say goodbye this time. They wouldn't say that if the ride was truly going away. They wouldn't post something saying yeah we have a crappy coaster that no one will miss. It's easy to say goodbye because it is coming back just under a new name/theme. Also I enjoy how everyone said there isn't time to redo mean streak for next year and now they are all clamoring about how Mantis will be removed for a big ride next year.