Rougareviews

"Welcome back riders how was your ride!" Was it truly a completely different experience from Mantis as they said? What were the special effects like? I'm excited to find out, but even more excited to ride it for myself!

I rode it 20 times this morning and it is definitely better than Mantis. It's so much faster now and very forceful now. The transitions in some seats can really whip you around and if you aren't careful with bracing yourself your head can get tossed around a little bit. It reminds me of a B&M Maverick in terms of transitions. However, it is a smooth ride in terms of the B&M rattle. I rode in every row and it seems like more towards the front or more towards the back is the smoothest on the inside seats. The middle rows have a little bit of a rattle but not too bad. It also seems as if the train has less people in it, it is a little rougher. It still isn't a rough ride, but after 20 rides, my neck is quite sore. My favorite row is the front, but the back row is amazing as well if you're looking for a more intense experience.

Large crowd for preview night. Rougarou is about 45 min. Haven't been on it yet but waiting in line. Efficiency is only a little better than Mantis. Almost every cycle stacks two trains outside of the station, albeit for only a few seconds. Looking forward to riding, hope they can sort out dispatching and improve on that down the line.

For now I would chalk that inefficiency up to this being the dress rehearsal. There is no way a floorless coaster can have even close to the same efficiency as Mantis.

Hope they have it figured out by the time you get to the platform, Pete. :) 22 days till I get my first ride.

Well, like Mantis, the ride is a winner! Very smooth, flowing and enjoyable. I would say Rougarou is more fun than Mantis but Mantis was more intense. It is a ride that is very easy to marathon now, when the crowds cooperate. Lots of fun and I think CP guests will make it a favorite.

I do miss the intensity of the stand up trains a bit. It used to be my pre ski season training machine, I think it was actually a little beneficial in developing leg strength if ridden the right way. But, I will take the ride being a lot of fun and it remains one of my favorites at CP.

For me the ride was a lot more enjoyable than Mantis! I did get my ears smacked once right after the MCBR though. I wish they would have used better restraints.

I echo pretty much what everyone else is saying. Think it was about 9:35 last night when I got on it. Meant to sit in the front, but sat second from the back when they asked for 2 riders. Seems really fun, but I need to see if I can learn how to limit the head banging.

So first drop trims are off and the first half is smoother? If it is just too intense after the MCBR seems like the easy fix would be to use the MCBR to slow down the second half of the ride. This might also give a couple seconds to prevent the minor stacking.

I have now ridden it twice and can say that I fully enjoy it! Being a male the standup factor of Mantis will not be missed by me whatsoever. The ride is now very comfortable minus the slight head-banging that takes place. I would compare this head-banging to Raptor more so than Corckscrew. There are about one or two times throughout the course of the ride when I hit my head but nothing more. The head-banging would only really bother me though in marathon sessions. Thankfully the block brakes on the first hill are not on which leads to an extremely high paced adventure of a ride. Does anyone else agree that it would be nearly as good as gatekeeper if only the over the shoulder restraints were more comfortable?

May I correct you, Dragsterboy?
Block brakes are situated along the course to prevent, if necessary, a train from entering a section of the ride before its safe. They can and do bring a coaster to a dead stop.
Trim brakes are situated on a course to slow the train down along the way, and can amount to one or more placements within the same block of track. They don't stop a train, but just trim the speed. Many times trim brakes are added after a ride opens if it's determined that the train is moving too fast causing uncomfortable forces, or excessive wear and tear. The trim brake on Mantis was an addition. If its gone now that's fine, and I see most everyone here is hoping it doesn't return.

Block brakes can be and are used to slow a train down as well, but it's not the only function.

Block brakes = good.
Trim brakes = not always.

I like that you can still hear the brakes when the train runs through them, but they don't actually engage.

So, what about the theming? Anyone notice any difference from night/day? Anyone score one of the coveted, promised "glimpses of the rougarou?

The night theming was really well done, IMO. They used the halloweekends-type lights that spin and move to illuminate the first drop, and that paired with mist and the sounds of the Rougarou, it really comes together after the sun goes down.

Counting Media Day, Opening Day, and Mothers Day, I rode Rougarou a combined 12 times this past weekend! I love Rougarou so much better than Mantis! So much smoother than Mantis! Even though there are a couple spots you may or may not smack your ears a couple times, it's not a big deal as long as I'm not bleeding when I get off. That's never happened yet anyway. Lol. My favorite part of this ride is the faster speed that the trains do while going through the course. I'm with Cedar Point on this one that Rougarou is going to put up ridership numbers Mantis never had. Way to go Cedar Point! :)

Maybe it's because of my height, but I didn't experience head banging one time. And I rode it 4 times, all in different rows.

Once during media day, I hit my head a little hard in the second half of the ride. I was sitting near the back of the train.

I rode second row, extreme right seat. I'm 5'10" and after the MCBR my head took a beating. Nice enjoyable ride until then. I think it will be awhile before I ride again.

In two rides today, row 1 and row 2 I only boxed my ears once. On my second ride going through the corkscrew. Other then that I feel this ride is a winner for what it is. Taking something with low ridership and with minimal investment (compared to removal and a new ride) made it enjoyable.

Now.. on to that hunk of wood in the back of the park.

I don't experience the head banging on it like some people have described. It seemed very smooth to me and I like the ride. One thing that doesn't really make that much difference to me are the floorless trains. I really don't notice the lack of floor, it just seems like I am sitting in a normal sit down train. Maybe that's because I am taller and the angle is wrong, I don't know.

I've never been able to notice the floorless effect unless sitting in the front row, based on my experience with Kraken.