Mantis removal or transformation?

Where there is smoke there is fire.

Back on one of the first few pages of the original 2015 speculation thread, the "mantis converting to a floor less" rumor came out. So far it is one of the only rumors with numerous "clues and innuendos" showing that it may be actually happening.

It is the only rumor I have heard consistently all summer from numerous sources. The last time that happened (just last year with Banshee) it was 95% accurate (the rumor mill got the tallest and fastest part wrong)

I think Rougarou will be an awesome addition, but I also think it won't be the ONLY investment for 2015.

Other things I think are in the future (not necessarily 2015):

1. - Dark ride. I wasn't overly impressed with WMG when I rode it, but it certainly had a long line all day every day. Might be in combination with #3
2. - Mean Streak changes / demolition. Mantis may be a test case for revamping an old ride. I don't see how Tony can use the phrase "guests vote with their feet" and not apply it to MS as well.
3. Blue streak midway revamp - This area needs something, it's like a ghost town most days when I go.

Last thing - earlier someone posted to look on "Amusement park business websites" do you mean the sites like italintl.com? What other ones are there?

^
The "Mantis is going floorless" rumors started in 2001...

^^Also Mean Streak does have quite the line at times..I was there a few weeks ago and it had a 30 minute wait, and stayed like that or more consistently through the day.

Bryan Edwards said:
“Mantis) was a great roller coaster…in it’s 18-year history it’s given over 22 million rides,” “So, definitely a popular coaster; but, again, we think our guests are going to be very excited about our plans for the future.”

This is what leaves me head scratching. This ride has averaged 1.2 million riders PER YEAR (not DT or Space Spiral ridership yearly #s which were far lower). I personally waited 45 minutes in line for it July 2nd.
The park doesn't typically scrap or permanently remove still popular rides that don't require high maintenance or are still attracting visitors. Think about that.

I think Tony's #3 on his to-do list is
CORRECT: RELOCATE MANTIS. Has anyone thought of this? I know people have talked about tearing down and putting Mantis at another CF park but how about RELOCATION INSIDE of Cedar Point? YEP,who said that can't be an option? There is 1 spot it could go that that has been talked about by Pete and others in the past. Trust me, they're not going to totally scrap good B&M track and not do something else with it. It's also alot cheaper to pour new footers and move a ride (its been done with bigger things) than to demolish it. They wouldn't have to move it far now, would they? Just a little third option to stir the pot.

The sights around the Mantis area should be interesting from Oct 24-Nov 2. Let's make sure to check them out.

How bout they take that ride that isn't that popular and send it to another park that could have even more riders?

It may not be the end of this coaster..I would find it quite odd to see them scrap a 12 million B&M. CP would literally be the first to scrap a B&M. Yeah there's a few SBNO & whatnot, and some SBNO relocated, but still.

Why move it to another area of the park? To build something else in its place?

Why not just build that "something else" in whatever place you were going to move Mantis. logic people!

^^ Totally agreed. Yep, it would be quite odd to scrap it all together wouldn't it? It just doesn't happen. Again, the relocation idea.

^ Tilt-a-whirl, Sometimes you move big things and relocate them (like a Giant Ferris Wheel to the beach) if the current area necessitates the future ride layout and is needed for a much bigger project in the future (i.e. Millenium Force). It's been done before, even at CP.
They couldn't have put MFs layout by the beach now, could they?

Call me crazy.. but I think that Tony's list may actually be true.

5 year plan

I think Mantis is being relocated and they will be putting in a Louisiana Boyou themed Aquatrax.

Build a Pier Over The Lake

etc.

Im calling it.

It seems like all the Cedar Fair executives have been using the slogan "Roller Coaster Capital of the World" more and more . In fact, Cedar Point's twitter bio was changed from "The Best Amusement Park in the World for however many years running" to "Roller Coaster Capital of the World". Just seems like they are referencing coasters more and more.

It's in their DNA, you know, Thrills Connect.

Amazing..all from the Amazement Park..Queen of Watering Places..The Richard Kinzel Causeway..

You know, that place.

I just want to say kudos to the marketing department for tying this "announcement" to their original commercial back in 1996.

http://youtu.be/z4lCoOiGl_E

I dont understand comments saying that this isnt a big announcement and it doesn't connect with 2015. To me its a huge announcement. Mantis is a huge roller coaster and has a big part in the CP skyline and they're announcing its closure. And it most defiantly does have to do with 2015 because obviously something in that area will be different by next year. I dont know what they will be doing with it because I've heard lots of good evidence from both sides. So that being said i can safely say that the mantis announcement has got me very excited and i am really really looking forward for the rest of the announcement.

^^Voice echoed kinda reminds me of the Didact from Halo 4, go take a listen and compare, it's kinda there

This is a big announcement, but this isn't all of Project 2015

Mathyou said:
I just want to say kudos to the marketing department for tying this "announcement" to their original commercial back in 1996.

http://youtu.be/z4lCoOiGl_E

Never would have noticed that. Pretty cool!! I'm suddenly feeling nostalgic for a ride that I don't even really like. Maybe it's because it's the first big ride in my lifetime that I've seen come AND go.

Also, I just stumbled upon the Millennium Force promo video from 1999, and it was really neat!! I hope they go back to doing more promos like that with new rides. Theming is huge!

Blimst said:
It seems like all the Cedar Fair executives have been using the slogan "Roller Coaster Capital of the World" more and more . In fact, Cedar Point's twitter bio was changed from "The Best Amusement Park in the World for however many years running" to "Roller Coaster Capital of the World". Just seems like they are referencing coasters more and more.

That is true, but I also think they will be losing that title of "The Best Amusement Park in the World" this year.

CPfan1976 said:

^ Tilt-a-whirl, Sometimes you move big things and relocate them (like a Giant Ferris Wheel to the beach) if the current area necessitates the future ride layout and is needed for a much bigger project in the future (i.e. Millenium Force). It's been done before, even at CP.
They couldn't have put MFs layout by the beach now, could they?

The Giant Wheel and Mantis are hardly the same.

CPfan1976 said:
I think Tony's #3 on his to-do list is
CORRECT: RELOCATE MANTIS. Has anyone thought of this? I know people have talked about tearing down and putting Mantis at another CF park but how about RELOCATION INSIDE of Cedar Point?

I mentioned this a few pages back, and agree with you 100%. If you look at google earth, compare the size of the Mantis footprint to the size of the footprint where they removed those dorms a few years back, the dorms towards the offices, and they look to be similar. Also imagine the room it would free up between the Millennium midway, the current mantis footprint, and millennium island. Tons of room for a huge project. As you stated already, CP has done this in the past, twice now that I count. Moved the Big Wheel to the beach to free up room for MF, and moved the Pirate ship to the old DD area to make room for Windseeker. Plus relocation of Mantis wasnt mentioned on the forums nearly as much as all the other things on that list are ( with the exception of the silly lake erie tunnel). :-)

Mean streak stand up!
Rmc style!
Rmc Gemini!

Tilt-a-Whirl said:
The Giant Wheel and Mantis are hardly the same.

You're absolutely correct, one is a giant ferris wheel and the other is a coaster ;-) I joke I joke however im sure the wheel took some serious work to move, its massive!

CPfan1976 said:
Bryan Edwards said:
“Mantis) was a great roller coaster…in it’s 18-year history it’s given over 22 million rides,” “So, definitely a popular coaster; but, again, we think our guests are going to be very excited about our plans for the future.”

This is what leaves me head scratching.

Me too. Consider the ridership numbers the park used to release every season. Here is the chart which Jason Hammond (thanks Jason!) put together many years ago.

http://rollercoasterfreak.com/Cedar_Point/Ridership.bmp

The actual numbers are not posted on the chart, but just estimating the Mantis totals, you get to about 17 million rides from '96-'08. That leaves 5 seasons, plus most of this season for the remaining 5+ million riders to reach 22+ million total.

It seems highly unlikely that ridership would have risen much above 1 million per year since 2008, but that would have to be the case for there to be a sharp drop in ridership in the past few years. It's more likely that ridership stayed around 1 million per year and slightly declined each year.

Meanwhile, Mean Streak had less than 1 million riders per year from '04-'08 and likely less than a million every year since.

I find the whole decision making process intriguing. I'm not sad Mantis is the one to go, but it's still a $12 million dollar attraction. That can't be an easy decision to make.