Mantis removal or transformation?

It means wipe your feet before you walk into his office.

Whatever the plans are for the Mantis site, I welcome the change.

jsmith7300 said:
On a side note, "Rougarou" sounds like a ride you'd find in the kiddie area. I really hope that name doesn't get used for a thrill ride.

I agree completely. I can't stand that name to be honest. I'm not too crazy about "King James" either.

I hope they don't get rid of this I just don't want to believe this, this is unfortunate.

I'm of the belief that anything that Tony wrote on his "to do" list is not going to happen. I don't think that he would have directly revealed any of their actual plans like that.

What has been the biggest rumor surrounding Mantis? Switching to floorless / seated trains. Did you notice that Tony didn't mention that in his list of rumors? He said "relocate Mantis" and then not long after we learned that Mantis is closing on October 19th. I doubt CP would announce that the ride was closing and then say, "Gotcha, we were just kidding, it's actually moving to a different part of the park." If it is going to move outside of CP, then where is it going? No parks have been making preparations to receive Mantis that we know of yet. That's not to say that they couldn't but I'm just saying that so far we don't have any evidence to support that theory.

The video that they released made reference to "No. 12" in the title which I thought was kind of unusual. Mantis might be referred to that name by people within the park and maybe some hardcore fans and enthusiasts, but for a video being released to the entire world it seemed odd to call out the number in the title. "Darkness falls on No. 12" Seems like a pretty ambiguous title if you ask me which leaves the door open for different options.

Speaking of No. 12, "OMG I edited this thing like 12 TIMES!" was a recent tweet by Tony with a link to a blog post where he said, "I can't divulge the specifics, but there's a science to the schedule. Maybe after coffee, I'll tell you. As long as you don't ruin my carpet with dirty shoes!" Tony sure had "flooring" on his mind in that post. ;) Maybe his office is getting new carpet this winter.

So assuming that none of that means a thing, what about all of the unanswered questions. Why would CP remove a coaster that, when compared with others in the park, is still fairly young? If they really need the real estate for some big new fancy ride, then why not just move Mantis to another part of the park? Or if they're going to move it to another park, why be all secretive about it moving? If the biggest issue with Mantis has been the complaints caused by the riding position then why not address that (if possible) instead of ditching a $12 million ride?

I think that after Mantis finally gives its last ride on October 19th Cedar Point is going to reveal a redesign of the ride. It will give the public something different to experience in an "off" year where there isn't a major coaster announcement at the park. With limited investment, they can breathe new life into "No. 12" and give it a new name, new paint job, new trains, and maybe even some track changes. There seems to be a lot of potential there including a possible expansion and partial enclosure. They clearly haven't gotten as much mileage out of Mantis as some of their other rides and this may be a way to create something that seems "new" without having to spend $25 million dollars.

Then in 2016 they can turn their attention toward Mean Streak. Practice burn for the local fire department anyone? :) I kid, I kid.

I hope mantis stays because Cedar Point is famous for its Roller Coasters and this is one of them and Cedar Point is just giving Mantis some love and attention LOL.

I would honestly love to see Cedar Point get a top spin. I love those. Maybe for their announcement video if will have a top spin spraying "pesticide" on Mantis then showing a new coaster in it's place having the top spin be exterminator 😂

They need to tear that ride down. Even with floor less trains the transitions would be awful. Maybe a gci woodie cause cp loves gci

I just don't like the idea of mantis becoming a floorless, it's not like it would be a world class top of the line floorless. I don't think cedar point would do something like recycle an old unpopular stand up. It did its time and soon it will hopefully be gone. Take out a good coaster for a great one, not saying it will come this yr but a guy can hope

Do you suppose a coaster could climb over Mantis in the same way Mantis climbs over Iron Dragon "squashing" it into a floorless coaster in the process? "Darkness falls ON number 12." Certainly the grim reaper equates to darkness so could the ride be called GRIM REAPER? Imagine an enormous coaster climbing high above Mantis and onto the island or towards the marina entrance. I'm not one of those people crying that CP is running out of space. I think that idea is preposterous! They are incredibly creative and imaginative in managing continuous growth. In conjunction with the previous fantasy, I like the idea stated in an earlier post about removing the red dorms and relocating the perimeter road, utilizing the free space to accommodate a coaster or at least a portion of its footprint. Cedar Point seems to pay close attention to their skyline as well as the placement of entrances to their large attractions. Most of the park perimeter is lined by coasters with the exception of the area that is Thunder Canyon and the area near the marina entrance. A coaster entrance near the marina would fill a void between Raptor and the long walk to Power Tower or Iron Dragon. (if the latter isn't considered a large enough attraction than an even longer walk to Mantis or MF). An entrance to a large attraction would also fit nicely between the long walk from MF to STR. (Again if the latter isn't considered large enough, than an even longer walk to SRF or Maverick) Either way it seems possible a large coaster footprint could combine with the existing footprint of Mantis and travel in either direction. I enjoy the speculating, but I can't help but think they will choose to work with the space near the marina at some point in the very near future.

Doubtful that they would build another coaster over top of Mantis. Though, I could totally see them building record setting coaster that happens to be dark colors taking the place of Mantis. Which in turn squashes Mantis and would be the darkness falling on number 12.

MichaelB said:
Doubtful that they would build another coaster over top of Mantis. Though, I could totally see them building record setting coaster that happens to be dark colors taking the place of Mantis. Which in turn squashes Mantis and would be the darkness falling on number 12.

It doesn't need to break a lot of records. I'm pretty sure Maverick broke nothing and it's my favorite steel coaster, just because it's a fun ride while being different and one of a kind. Go ahead and slam me, but MF is basically a taller Intamin hyper, which are all over the place. The only thing different about it is the height.

What they need is something else like Maverick that can't be found at another park in any form. Beyond-vertical coasters are everywhere, but Maverick takes it up several notches. I'd be more than happy with something so abstract there's nothing else like it. A launched wooden coaster? Multiple pre-lift inversions? A dueling coaster? A rebuilt Crystal Beach Cyclone? Something we can't even imagine? That's what Cedar Point needs. Get innovative and imaginative so there's something you can't find at your neighborhood Six Flags park.

I'd be very happy with a dark ride

I know a lot of people think that Dorney might get Mantis if it were to be relocated, but that seems rather unlikely due to the lack of land Dorney has to play with.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/127210511@N07/14988458217/
The image I have linked to gives a good visual reference of the space issues.

If anyone is wondering, the image is to scale. Even though I tried to place Mantis in the most open spot at Dorney, there are still a few issues. First, I placed it too close to the property line. Also there is a stream in the way, although a new ride can be designed to accommodate such obstacles, it is really hard to modify an existing ride. There are other issues as well that I could list if anyone requests, but most people probably do not care about the details. If anyone really does care, let me know. I will be happy to bore you with the details.

I think moving Mantis to Dorney is one rumor we can put to bed. Plenty more to speculate on though!

P.S. I was a little too lazy to edit out Iron Dragon.

cl94, why does Cedar Point need a coaster "that can't be found at another park in any form"? Wouldn't the park be better served by a new coaster that would best appeal to its key demographics?

I doubt it wil happen but there is no reason Dorney couldn't just by some land for Mantis.

Jeff said:
Rattling? You're heading the anti-rollback dogs bouncing around. That's hardly making them crappy rides. Banshee is twice the ride that Raptor is, and hands down the best invert I've been on.

I went into that on lengthy discussion on KIC and agree. However I will say, being towards the end of the season they haven't replaced worn wheels when needed. Last time I was there, the guide wheels were pretty badly worn . You could kinda see on the two inner seats that even on the lift hill, the bogie was moving left & right to compensate for the worn side of the wheel. Nothing wrong with the ride, just needs TLC, but I understand they aren't going to replace worn wheels this late in the season unless they blow one or gets too ridiculous. It may not be new wheel media day smooth, but it's still a beautiful and fantastic invert. It's always a constant tie between that and Alpengeist for me.

That's not likely the wheel as much as spongey bushings. Check out the red thing in this photo. When those things get old, the guide wheels have a little more room to wiggle around. This is probably what makes Hulk at Universal so awful, because those trains shake all over the damn place.

Fair deal, I couldn't exactly see the wheel because they have those covers, but I could totally understand that. Regardless some upkeep isn't being done, but being late in the season, I can't really fault them.

Take DB, late in the season last year it was BAD. Come first day of the season this year, runs about what it was like opening day it's first year.

As much as I still think that Mantis will get transformed...I wouldn't complain if they sent it to Michigan's Adventure. Keep in mind that I've never been there, and I'm not familiar with the layout of the park to know if they could accommodate it in their lineup, but it looks like a park that could use some love.

When we were first talking about getting season passes for 2015 I was kind of excited when I saw that Cedar Fair had another park that was only about 3 1/2 hours from us (same distance as Kings Island). But unless I'm just bored and want to check out something new, I really can't see us going there. CP is closer...and Kings Island has a lot more to offer.

Obviously giving them the Mantis wouldn't change that for me (although it would be nice to know I could still visit the first "big" roller coaster that me and my daughter ever rode together so that might be worth a trip someday) I'd definitely be willing to drive up there if they got something like a Banshee or a Fury 325. I have a feeling that will never happen though.