Rougarou
2015
​5th Anniversary Edition

Rougarou is Cedar Point's Floorless Roller Coaster. The roller coaster was built in 1996 as Mantis. Mantis was a Stand Up Roller Coaster that closed in 2014. For the 2015 season, Mantis was converted into the Floorless style Rougarou.

In 2006 Skyhawk opened as the world's tallest swing ride. Riders would twist and turn thru canyons on Maverick in 2007. Kids ruled the planet in 2008 when Planet Snoopy opened. In 2010 Shoot The Rapids opened on the Frontier Trail as Cedar Point's tallest water ride. WindSeeker took riders 301 feet in the air in 2011. In January 2012, long time Cedar Fair CEO Dick Kinzel retired. The new CEO would be Matt Oumitt. Under Mantt's Leadership Cedar Fair would take a different direction. Dinosaurs Alive on Adventure Island opened in 2012. In 2013 riders would fly over the parks new front gate on GateKeeper. In 2014 Gemini Midway was remolded. 

With all these new additions, 2015 would bring something unique to Cedar Point. 

In 1996, Cedar Point opened its new stand-up roller coaster, Mantis!

When Mantis opened, it was the tallest, fastest and longest stand-up roller coaster in the world! Not to mention, it had the most inversions of ANY stand-up coaster ever created! Mantis also held the title of the world's tallest inversion on any roller coaster on earth.

As impressive those statistics were, and as cool as the ride looked, Mantis wouldn't stay popular for long! Many people were complaining that the ride was painful and that it made it hard for guests to walk for a while after riding it.

A few years after the ride opened rumors emerged that the ride would be changed. It was thought for over a decade that a transformation likely could not happen, because guests' Heart lines would be in a different position.

This rumor continued for many years.

 During the summer of 2014 an interesting change was noticed to Mantis. A small section of the track was painted green. When this was noticed, rumors swirled in the Coaster Community.
Rumors ranged from this being a spot of test paint to this being a new welding job of some kind.

---

On September 2, 2014, Cedar Point released this video making the announcement that Cedar Point would be "squashing" the 18 year old Mantis.

Mantis closed forever on Sunday, October 19,2014.

On Thursday, September 18, 2014 Cedar Point announced Mantis would be converted into the Floorless Rougarou. Rougarou would be he first stand up roller coaster in the world to be converted into a flourless roller coaster. 

The ride was being marketed as a new experience and it gave something the park didn't have before. Over the years many Floorless Roller Coasters had been built. The first Floorless Coaster opened in 1999 at Six Flags Great Adventure. 

The ride began its conversion to Rougarou in early September 2014. The transformation began with the ride being painted. Fall 2014 was a good time to paint because it was so warm. The entire ride had been painted by the end of October. 

Cedar Point closed Mantis on October 19, 2014 to allow enough to for the ride to be transformed. 

During the winter the ride received a new dropping floor. The station was modified to fit the new floor. The ride also got a new safety system, control system as well as a new breaking system. All this was required to make room for the new trains. 

Construction crews worked hard to make sure the ride would be ready for when the park opened. 

With it's transformation completed, Rougarou opened to the public on Saturday, May 9, 2015!

Rougarou brought a good sized crowed to the ride once it opened! The ride was popular again. 

Rougarou was designed by Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH. Rougarou  was built by Bolliger & Mabillard. Over the years the company would build: Raptor (1994) Mantis (1996-2014), GateKeeper (2013), Rougarou (2015), and Valravn (2016). These coaster types have often been some of the most popular rides in any amusement park.

The conversion made the ride much better. It was more conferrable as a floorless coaster and the ride was more re-rideable. 

Ride Stats:
Height-           145 feet
Drop-              137 feet
Speed-            60 MPH
Length-            3,900 feet
Inversions-       4
Hills-                2 
Type-                Floorless Roller Coaster 
Designer-         Ing.-Buro Stengel GmbH
Company-        Bollinger & Mabillard
Capacity-         1,800  riders per hour
Year Opened-  2015

Number of Coasters at Cedar Point when opened- 17
Cedar Point's 16th oldest roller coaster.

Rougarou features the newer floorless style trains from B&M that make the ride a much better riding experience!

Theming

Rougarou has a very lose theme, but the ride does have some theme elements and a back story to the ride. 

A Rougarou is a legendary french werwolf. 

Rougarou's back story is that a Rougarou has been hiding in the Cedar Point woods by the lagoons. Waiting for when it can attack. 

During the ride riders get a glimpse of a Rougarou. They can hear it, and see it as they ride the ride. 

Ride Experience

The Rougarou ride experience begins with guest entering the line for the ride. The line is located down an alleyway that is between Rougarou and Cedar Point and Lake Erie Railroad. 

The average wait time for Roguarou is 10-15 minutes. The longest wait time can be up to 1 hour. 

Riders are loaded into the car. Each rider is held into place with an over the shoulder restraint and a seatbelt. 

The floor is dropped from below the riders and the journey begins. 

Rougarou features a 145 foot lift hill! Riders are lifted over the lagoon and over Iron Dragon's first hill!

Rougarou gives a great view on the way up the hill. It takes 45 second for the train to get to the top of the ride. 

After reaching the top of the lift hill, Rougarou then makes a huge right hand banked turn.

Rougarou then drops 137 feet at a 52 degree angle!

Rougarou reaches speeds of 60 MPH.

Going down the drop, riders feel a sense of weightlessness and get airtime!

Riders are then thrown into a huge 119 foot tall vertical loop! This element was the tallest inversion on any roller coaster when Mantis opened in 1996.

Rougarou then goes into an amazing 103 foot dive loop! This dive loop turns the ride around and sees it to the next element. 

Rougarou is a massive coaster that has huge inversions and a lot of height!

Rougarou then sends its riders into a very fast pace turn. The turn is hight banked and is located above the station as well as the break run. 

Rougarou is a very high energy roller coaster that is a very exciting ride from the start all the way to the finish!

Rougarou's next element is its 3rd inversion! Rougarou's 3rd inversion is an inclined dive loop! Rougarou is the only floorless roller coaster in the world to feature in inclined loop!

Rougarou then curves up to the block break. As the train goes thru the block riders experience a nice pop of airtime! 

After dropping from the block break Rougarou takes your picture and sends its riders into its fourth and final inversion, a corkscrew. 

The rest of the ride is taken at a fairly fast pace. 

Rougarou takes riders into two figure eight helixes. These helixes are very forceful.

 After the helix, the ride goes into the final break run that takes the ride into the station!

Riders arive to the station where they exit the ride. The exit leades to the ride's photo booth. 

Rougarou offers riders a different experience. It was the first roller coaster to be changed from a Stand UP roller coaster to a Floorless Coaster. After Rougarou two other coasters were also converted. Vortex at California's Great America became Patriot in 2017 and Apocalypse at Six Flags America became Firebird in 2019.

Rougarou was a very good addition to Cedar Point. After Rougarou, Cedar Point would add: Valravn (2016), Cedar Point Shores Waterpark (2017), Steel Vengeance (2018), Forbidden Frontier on Adventure Island (2019), and Cedar Point's 150th Anniversary Celebration (2021). All of these new actions have helped make Cedar Point a better place. 

Converting Mantis into Rougarou was a really good idea. It demonstrates proof of Cedar Point's commitment into innovation and being ''The Roller Coaster Capital of the World".

Riders must be at least 48 inches tall to ride Rougarou. 

Photos by: Jake Hamons, COASTER-net, and Cedar Point. 

Last Updated: 5/20/2020