Mantis removal or transformation?

*NewsFlash*

Cedar Piont to remove all coasters over the next X years to install all Thrill Flat Rides in Hopes to attract more Family type Thrill seekers.

More at 11.

People let it come in its own due time. Besides us coaster heads, the GP still needs to be excited! Watch the rides on mantis top the charts before closing down for whatever may be next. Great way to possibly pack in guests for the finish of 2014.

I think everyone is just in denial about the facts and is reading into this way, way too much. Every media outlet said Mantis gives it's last ride on October 19th, plain and simple. The ride is closing.

This coaster is going to Michigan or Valley fair. This coaster isn't interesting enough to re-brand. These parks could use a ride like this. This is a removal. What is coming should be huge. No sentiment here, just business. The new Green paint scheme should serve it well at a new park.

^ Thank you

For those citing the article as a totally cut and dry answer that the ride will definitely be removed all together ... Didn't it say, "permanently 'SHUT' down" ??

It may be splitting hairs here, but there seems to be a big difference between 'shut' down and "TORN" down ! If it's really leaving for good, wouldn't you just come out with it and exclaim that it's being completely dismantled and sent somewhere else ? Like another park perhaps, or the scrap yard ?

Mantis may very well be heading to the chopping block. But if it's going away forever and nothing is immediately going in that location, then why close it 2 weeks early ?? Why not let it ride out the rest of the season ! Not sure what it accomplishes by ending its life prematurely.

Not only that, but given CP's pattern for installing coasters over the last few years and how/when they start building them - well at least begin breaking ground for them anyhow (typically in August or sooner) - if a new creation was to go in Mantis' spot for 2015, it's almost a guaranteed certainty that the dismantling would have already commenced.

Also, a few years back, MS was shut down early (mid October) as well. Was it because it was being removed ? No. The consensus was then that CP needed the extra time (that whole whopping 14 days or so) to get it ready for the next season. Yep, almost 7 full months just to re-track and re-profile PART of the ride.

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

Turns out the ride has annually drawn over 1.2 million riders on average, for its entire existence.

Who knew that walking by the queue was a piss poor way to analyze the ride's popularity?

;)

Maybe it's getting moved to Dorney?

The fact that Tony's list specifically said "move Mantis" makes me actually think that it won't be moved within CP. It'd be tough to go back now since there's been so much speculation, but when that list was posted I said that I found it interesting that he said "move Mantis" and not "Make Mantis floorless" or something to that effect. The list seemed to be compilation of a bunch of different rumors and when it came to Mantis making it floorless has been THE biggest rumor. So I found it odd that he specifically did not bring that up at all. To me that was a clue as to what the announcement was going to be about and now here we are. :)

Moving a roller coaster within the park is certainly possible but it would be a pretty costly endeavor. I think if they were going to go to the trouble of bringing in a crane (or several) and hiring a crew to dismantle the entire ride, it'd either end up be scrapped or sold to another park. By the time that they'd pay to relocate and refurbish the ride (which they'd have to do because the ride is not going to remain in its present form), they might as well go ahead and build a brand new roller coaster.

If they do plan to sell it and they have a buyer lined up then maybe the sale price would be the driving factor in getting rid of it because it will provide partial funding for a new ride.

If they do rip it out then they must really want that real estate for something special...which is always possible. Personally, I think it's staying put and they're going to transform it into something different.

Then again maybe I'm just having a hard time accepting that the self-proclaimed "Roller Coaster Capital of the World" is going to rip out one of their main coasters instead of doing something else with it. For all of Mantis' shortcomings, it'll always be more thrilling than Pipe Scream. Haha.

For those of you using the Dorney tweet as a sign, Kings Island also tweeted that they were excited for their sister park's announcement....

If there's been no land clearing or footer work done at Dorney (or any other likely destination) by now, then I would be surprised to see it moved. Or if it is moved, it would be surprising if it opened for 2015.

As unlikely as it has seemed in the past, a conversion seems more likely than ever (which isn't saying much). A less likely option would be that they move it elsewhere in the park.

Curious as to some of the answers people have to the following questions (mostly from those who believe it is not being converted):

1.) If the ride is being relocated, why haven't we seen construction of footers at another Cedar Fair park? This isn't a "last minute decision" if it was moving, we would see work taking place at the park it is heading to, and the ride would have been dismantled already and on its way to that park to be ready for 2015.

2.) If the park is completely getting rid of the ride for the space why Mantis? We've already established it has a fairly respectful ridership compared to other coasters at the park. Why not dismantle an older attraction (such as Mine Ride, which probably has lower ridership, and higher maintenance costs) and build this "mystery" attraction there?

3.) Why isn't the park CONFIRMING its complete removal? Bryan Edwards won't give a straight answer, and neither will other park reps. If it was completely being taken out, I believe the park would be open about this, what's there to hide? Why aren't they coming out and explicitly saying "the ride will be torn down."?

Also, it's a lot easier to offer to rename a ride after someone when you know that you're going to have a ride that needs to be renamed. :)

We-o-we-oooo said:
TTD is one of only two machines like it on the planet and it manages to keep running.

Actually there are 15 hydraulic launch coasters in the world. All made by Intamin.

^^I don't believe there were footings for Dominator & X Flight early too, I could be wrong, I was just starting to get into coasters a few years before that happened.

I'm skeptical about the change..could it happen, oh of course, but I just don't see it right now. Maybe closer to the closing/announcement date..but right now I'll stand firm on a removal.

^I don't think there were either. I know that construction (by construction, I mean footers poured) hadn't started in Muskegon for Thunderhawk until after the October announcement, and that coaster was ready to go by opening day for Michigan's Adventure. They even had to fill in the part of the lake that it was on before pouring the footers. I'd say it was November before all that was said and done.

I feel the same thing for Dominator as that wasn't announced until October after Geauga closed either. Not sure about X-Flight/Firehawk though as that closed earlier.

It took 8.5 hrs and12 pages of post, CoasterJay and NextGen1989 said it !

I would kill to have batman knight flight / dominator like ride in my backyard again. Mantis's first hill into loop is already very similar to what BKF was like .

Kind of bummed because I started liking Mantis again this year..... Get your main body off the restraints and backpad, then for each curved left or right, stand on only one foot and shake the other leg a bit, alternating turn by turn,
Also if you about 6' tall, get your head out of the restraints by stretching your neck out.

My 2 cents:

Mantis totally gone, space sits empty of an attraction for at least 2015 while some sort of construction is taking place.

2015 brings a new flat or something new to Soak City

^ Again, this does not answer two important questions. I'm not trying to be difficult, I'm trying to understand the thinking behind those that think it will be removed completely.

- If it's totally gone, why close the ride two weeks before closing? White Water Landing, Demon Drop, etc. all gave their last rides on the final day of operation.

- Why Mantis? Why remove a relatively reliable B&M coaster that is only eighteen years old vs. an older attraction with lower ridership and higher maintenance costs (like Mine Ride). Both Mantis and Mine Ride sit on very similar pieces of land, with Mine Ride likely taking up more space than Mantis.

I highly doubt Mantis is going anywhere. If anything is going, it will be the name. The video says it all. To step on, or to "squash" the mantis would be to go from standing to sitting. "One last stand" or one more chance to experience the current trains before the changeover. The grim reaper is seen going for the seats, not the ride itself. The message that losing something is never easy, but in this case it is. To me that is a message not to worry because its not going anywhere. Only the name is leaving. I just don't see Cedar Point taking another coaster off their list. Time will tell.

Mantis will not be re-located inside Cedar Point as is, there is no way they would say take your last ride just to move it to the beach...

Mantis will not simply be re-named King James and re-open as a stand up either, once again they would not have said take your last ride/stand if that was all that is happening.

Tilt-a-Whirl - in regards to some of you questions, you are assuming that Mantis is low maintenance but you have no factual evidence that it is. You are also assuming that Mine Ride has low ridership and high maintenance costs which is not based on fact. Another thing to consider is that Mine Ride is one of the coasters that families and kids under 54" can ride. There is a lot more to it than simple assumptions and only CP knows what the real data is, I sure as heck don't.

As far as Mantis ridership goes dividing the number of years it has been open by total ridership is irrelevant. Just because the average ridership is 1.2 million per year does not mean that it has been anywhere near that in recent years nor does it represent if ridership was in a state of decline or not.

I must admit, a conversion is definitely the most likely option that I can come up with. However, I do not think it is a simple throw some new trains on the same track/layout. I think track will be changed and new elements added. Since no coaster has ever been converted from a stand up to something else perhaps they want as much time as possible for testing etc... which is why it is closing a tad early.