Rougareviews

I definitely couldn't stomach more than a few rides on it, but I figure that's just me getting older.

We tried it this week and neither my husband nor I liked it. I got the sea sickness effect, PLUS the head banging.

Chris

I rode Rougarou 4 times while at the park. It was fun and forceful! In the front I experienced no head banging. In the back I experienced the dreaded punch to my ears. I learned if I lean forward the head banging was non existent. Would I marathon it, probably not. Will I avoid it like Mantis, definitely not.

"Floorless Coaster 1 was great"

I finally got my first chance to ride Rougarou on our trip to the park Tuesday - Wednesday. On Tuesday I rode in the front seat (far left side) and yesterday's spin was somewhere in the middle on the right side. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride, and it delivers on what it's supposed to be; an intense wild experience from start to finish.

I always loved Mantis' layout. In fact, much like Mean Streak, I just admire the beauty of the design. The view of the spaghetti bowl from the train just oozes coaster craziness, and those first few elements after the drop are just set up perfectly in my opinion. That said, like so many others I only rode Mantis a handful of times since its opening out of sheer discomfort. I just never enjoyed the physical experience of riding it, but would give it a chance every so often.

Rougarou, on the other hand, will now be a must-ride for me (and my wife who absolutely hated Mantis, btw) on every visit. Great decision by the park, and it's now a solid player in an already dynamic lineup. And no, I did not experience any headbanging to write home about.

But.

They might as well have called it, Floorless Coaster 1. I'm just a bit stupified why the park would find such a creative name (had any of you ever heard of a "Rougarou" before?), claim to have elements of theming that "none of us would expect from Cedar Point" (paraphrasing from McClure there), and then do absolutely nothing.

I kinda-sorta heard the werewolf like noise near the first drop, but only when I tried. The noise of the ride and the rest of the park nearly drowns it out, and one could easily never even notice it unless you knew it was there already. There was no fog to be seen anywhere (or mist pretending to be fog), and while I am sure the lights are pretty at night, that is not something anyone would not expect in terms of theming from Cedar Point. It's lights. I could set that up on my Maple tree at home.

Do I expect Disney? No; that's not what I am saying. But with this particular ride, a little effort could go a long way, and in terms of any theming elements I would simply say that this is a big opportunity not seized.

Imagine this;

1) Fog machines on the water (along with some speakers with that creepy sound) along the waterway in the queue as you approach the station. That particular part of the queue is so cool and such a neat opportunity to emphasize the "swamp creature" aspect. But, nothing.

2) Remember to actually turn on the fog machine on the first drop. Come on, this is your new ride. Can I flip the switch?

3) Fog in the spaghetti bowl. Mad crazy fog. I'll even settle for a tiny. How cool would that be? The track is all so low to the ground, it all seems so simple.

Final verdict? 7/10. A solid ride, but why anyone went to the effort to call this thing "Rougarou" escapes me. What was McClure alluding to, exactly, when he said there would be things not expected of a ride from Cedar Point?

I find it odd also that they did absolutely nothing except for the howl and some misters. The spaghetti bowl has so much potential for some themed elements.

And I thought we were supposed to see a rougarou somewhere on the ride.

I saw four of the Rougarou's in line...Oops it's bike week.

Yeah, the ride seems a bit unfinished to me. I'm really hoping that maybe they're just waiting on something, and things will appear later in the year - or maybe they will bring theming to it in the fall. I mean, with Blood on the Bayou next door, maybe they will tie it in somehow.

I already knew what to expect, of course, but I thought at the least the fog on the drop would be working on one of the two days we were there. Does that make or break the ride? Of course not; this park just frustrates me sometimes with their seeming lack of effort towards going that one extra mile that would really put a ride's experience over-the-top.

I'll share your hope, exit, but what you just mentioned was why I was silently excited about what theming (especially when McClure said what he did...I would still like to know exactly what he was referring to) surprises they may have in store. And the entire ride's structure and queue was already there just waiting to be decorated; like I said, opportunity completely missed by the park in my opinion to turn a triple into a home run.

^ Kind of like Maverick's water bombs not working anymore! ;)

Was there on Wednesday, got one ride in after a reasonable wait, albeit with someone about 3-4 people in front of me in line who was telling anyone who would listen "This used to be Mantis, they just repainted it and put new trains on it" ad nauseum for the entire 30-ish minutes I was in line.

The ride itself was blindingly fast, I swear even the lift hill is faster than I remember. Was seated in the second row, and frankly the ride was great until we hit the last corkscrew and I got a solid bang off of the restraints. I don't know if it depends on where on the car I ride, but it was intense enough that I had to walk it off for a bit.

Other than that though, great ride and investment, though like everyone else I'm disappointed at the lack of any sort of theming. The station house especially; the building already had a pseudo-Bourbon Street look to it, and if anything it looks slightly tackier with the wraparound Rougarou signs along the roof.

Said know-it-all in line was also telling everyone that the spaghetti bowl was intended to be indoors when it was built as Mantis; haven't heard that before, but compared to other things you hear in line, it's at least slightly reasonable.

That Crazy Dan said:

Was there on Wednesday, got one ride in after a reasonable wait, albeit with someone about 3-4 people in front of me in line who was telling anyone who would listen "This used to be Mantis, they just repainted it and put new trains on it" ad nauseum for the entire 30-ish minutes I was in line.

The ride itself was blindingly fast, I swear even the lift hill is faster than I remember. Was seated in the second row, and frankly the ride was great until we hit the last corkscrew and I got a solid bang off of the restraints. I don't know if it depends on where on the car I ride, but it was intense enough that I had to walk it off for a bit.

Other than that though, great ride and investment, though like everyone else I'm disappointed at the lack of any sort of theming. The station house especially; the building already had a pseudo-Bourbon Street look to it, and if anything it looks slightly tackier with the wraparound Rougarou signs along the roof.

Said know-it-all in line was also telling everyone that the spaghetti bowl was intended to be indoors when it was built as Mantis; haven't heard that before, but compared to other things you hear in line, it's at least slightly reasonable.

I've heard that before. So you're not the only one that's heard it.

Did you just quote the entire lengthy post directly ahead of yours to write two short sentences?

Sooooo...finally made it to CP for the first time, Coastermania, was sidelined earlier this year otherwise would have been there sooner.

Rode Rougaru for the first time Friday, and my reviews.....ehh...better than Mantis...yes....did CP hit a home run with this one....no.....

Head got knocked around a bit....thrill factor was low. Little disappointed, but happy no more Mantis!!! At least now I have another coaster to ride when I am up there, previously I refused to ride Mantis. I would ride it once a year to see maybe just maybe it wasn't as bad as I thought, wrong.

CP is up to something bigger and better for next year, I can just sense it.

Ride on!

After multiple rides in different seats during Coasting For Kids this past Sunday, those are my feelings on Rougarou too: no question it's better than Mantis, and now there's another coaster I can ride at the park. I did find that keeping my head forward helped avoid ear-bumping, much like I do on Raptor. Even with that, row 2 was notably jarring. It's a shame they couldn't use the newer B&M restraints, although I understand why.

I loved it. In fact, my first though after getting off was, "Wow, we had to stand up on that thing?" It was certainly a familiar experience, but without the damage to my testicles. The visuals in the front row are pretty spectacular.

Jeff said:

I loved it. In fact, my first though after getting off was, "Wow, we had to stand up on that thing?" It was certainly a familiar experience, but without the damage to my testicles. The visuals in the front row are pretty spectacular.

Saving my testicles was a huge plus, why I now say I have another ride in the park I can ride! I need to try the front seat I guess, I'll be back up there and ride again for sure. Just didn't have that WOW factor for me like Gatekeeper, TTD, Maverick, Millennium, Raptor and Magnum did when they all opened up. I guess I expected more, but I know CP will surprise me sooner than later again.

Ride on!!

Ride in the front and lean forward. Great ride.

darkrider68 said:

Ride in the front and lean forward. Great ride.

I will try that next time I am up there!! Thanks for the advice!

Finally got to try it out today. Vast improvement over Mantis. The ride seemed more nimble. Very cool (rather) simplistic upgrade.

I can't figure out all the fuss over the head bashing. I had 0 problem. Do people even try to use their neck muscles to keep their head straight? Or do y'all just constantly go through life like a bobblehead doll?