It Feeds On Screams…Literally
On Saturday, May 9, 2015, Cedar Point debuted Rougarou, the first floorless coaster EVER at America’s Roller Coast. Over these last few weeks, I’ve heard various opinions on coaster enthusiasts’ thoughts on what some would call the rebirth of Mantis. Some enthusiasts are big fans on Rougarou and others preferred Mantis more than Rougarou. Personally, and this is coming from somebody who really enjoyed Mantis, I LOVE Rougarou. It’s a totally different ride experience than Mantis was. To me, the ride is smoother as a sit-down experience than Mantis was as a stand-up experience. Rougarou, although the same speed as Mantis at 60 mph, feels faster to me now, which is really cool. The trains are comfortable and I find that there is less head-banging than there was when the ride was Mantis. Of course, there is still a little bit of head-banging towards the second half of the ride, but this is expected with the track layout being as intense as it is, and can be reduced a little bit by moving your head with the elements of the ride. Those of my friends that like Rougarou agree with me on the above.
Now for the negative feedback I’ve heard. Some say that the ride wasn’t as fast as they expected it to be. Well, maybe that could be true in their eyes. As far as I know, it was never said otherwise that Rougarou would be faster than Mantis. Among other feedback I’ve heard was that the ride theming could be better. I can partially agree with this in that I feel the fog at the bottom of the lift hill’s drop could be a little thicker. Also, I have not had any sightings of the “Rougarou” anywhere throughout the ride or the swamp but I am not sure if Cedar Point had intended on any animatronics for the ride or anything of that nature. One of my favorite things about Rougarou is the sound effects of the Rougarou monster. I love the howling that can be heard near the coaster. It gets me even more pumped up and excited to ride.
One of the park’s slogans for Rougarou is “It Feeds on Screams.” That it does, Cedar Point, and I couldn’t agree more, if you couldn’t already tell by the name of my blog. On the evening of Friday, May 8, 2015, I took my first ride on Rougarou during Season Passholder Preview Night and instantly I fell in love with the ride. I recently invented a new hashtag term you will hear for the first time ever here that I like to call the #RougaFLU, and it’s for anybody who loves Rougarou as much as I do. We have the #RougaFLU and there’s no cure. We could ride Rougarou over and over if we were able to.
To me, it is a brand new ride. I don’t think of it as a re-themed Mantis at all. I think of Rougarou just as the park intended for their guests to do…a new (and very first) floorless coaster at Cedar Point with a unique theme and ride experience. I could ride Rougarou all day and still have just as much fun on the ride as my very first ride on Rougarou during Season Passholder Preview Night. My favorite roller coaster in the park used to be Top Thrill Dragster until I rode Rougarou for the first time ever. Top Thrill Dragster was knocked to my #2 favorite coaster and Rougarou now holds the spot as my #1 favorite roller coaster at Cedar Point. It may be the coaster in the park I’ve screamed with excitement the most on throughout the whole ride, and that’s every time I conquer Rougarou, not just my first ride on it. In my opinion, the speed is perfect, the duration of the ride is great, the track elements are intense, and the airtime is amazing. When I ride Rougarou, I really do feel the need to “Scream like a kid again,” and if you have not yet had the chance to experience Rougarou, then you need to soon. It’s an experience that you’ll never forget.
-Jordan Smith