mantis rumor

It's not as easy as it sounds. There would have to be many alterations to the coaster than just replacing the trains. The station would have to be rebuilt to accomodate the new train configuration, and I imagine several elements of the ride would have to be modified or removed due to the strong g forces of sitting down rather than standing. Ever wonder why riders are told they MUST stand for the ride and can't be in the sitting position?

Having said that, it would've been cheaper just to have relocated the floorless coaster from Geauga Lake to CP

I really don't g-forces would be an issue...I think you guys are over-thinking this. They tell passengers to stand up for security reasons. If you sit down, you are not completely secure. I really don't see how the layout is much different than a floorless layout. Look, I'm not saying Mantis is ever going to be converted to a floorless, but I'm sure it could be done with station work without too much trouble. It's just a matter if the cost is justified. If Cedar Point is happy with the ridership of Mantis, this is a non-issue.

Major modifications to a ride can not be made without the manufacturers permission for liability reasons.

Actually, G-Forces could be a problem now that you mention it. I rode it once picking my feet up and sitting on that little thing between your legs I felt a lot mroe G's pulling me down when I sat compared to when I would stand.

^ That doesn't mean anything. To make anything close to an accurate comparison, you would need to "sit" with the seat in it's lowest position.

I agree, Mantus will never be converted because of cost constraints. But could someone please explain the physics of how the force on a rider on the mantis track could be worse on a seated train then a standing train? Because I am not seeing it.

Me either. Two types of acceleration and associated g-force are present on Mantis. Linear acceleration and rotational acceleration. The first would not be affected by whether you stand or sit (although how your body reacts the force will change and so you will feel it differently and it may increase stress on certain body parts). The second will be dependent on how far you are away from the center of rotation. In this case, by having your body closer to the track in distance, the less acceleration/force you will experience for the same angular velocity. So, depending on the design, sitting could reduce such force, but again, because of your posture, you will react the force differntly and the feeling will change. However, given that the change in position of your body relative to the ride is not large whether sitting or standing (again - depending on the design), I wouldn't expect a major difference in forces - just how you feel them in your body.

Bottom line - although the forces are applied (unless you go to a radical train design like a stretched wing concept) shouldn't change much, how you feel those forces due to body position will change. The re-design would have to account for this. Additionally, if the train configuration and mass change significantly, they may have to reshape certain sections of track to accomodate the new force levels that would arise. All costing serious $$.

^That makes more sense. Also sit down coasters have been converted to stand up so what's the difference if a stand up is converted to a sit down (floorless)

Why would you want Mantis converted to a floorless? I think the ride is really good as it is, and stand up coasters are pretty rare, which makes the ride something fairly unique to CP.

Given the large scale of the inversions, I find it highly unlikely that the tiny difference in the positioning of the body relative to to the track, between a stand-up and floorless configuration, would make much difference. And even if it did, rotational forces could be reduced simply by reducing the velocity with which those inversions are taken. An issue easily remedied by sticking a trim brake on the first drop to bleed off a few excess m.p.h.

Oh, wait. They already did that. Problem solved.

:)

Heres a little fun question. What was the name Mantis was suppose to be but CP was afraid the name was to scary for people to ride it?

Banshee?

Lol steve...playing cp trivia with the enthusiasts aren't we? :-)

:) Hey we are down empty due to off season :D
Plus your right, I didn't know that until this year and I saw a guest with an old Banshee T-Shirt and it was awesome to see. I wonder what colors it would be if they kept it.

Sgarver said:
:) Hey we are down empty due to off season :D
Plus your right, I didn't know that until this year and I saw a guest with an old Banshee T-Shirt and it was awesome to see. I wonder what colors it would be if they kept it.

Last year, I would always spiel, "oncoming riders, welcome to BANSHEE..."

I cant count the number of people who ask me what coaster it is when I wear my Banshee shirt. I just say it's the next new ride. :)

Yeah I remember you wearing that shirt while you came to the ride for ert during coastermania

And I remember the bad luck I had that day (PWE boat crashed into the shore, lost wallet) and following day (got into an accident with a motorcyclist) from wearing that shirt.

Your driver didn't happen to be a short guy name Alex was he? He was from my ride that needed him for a good month :)

Sgarver said:
Heres a little fun question. What was the name Mantis was suppose to be but CP was afraid the name was to scary for people to ride it?

so they named it after a bug that we can squish with our foot... :/