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Mantis at Cedar Point


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Nooooooooooooo. I love Mantis just as it is. It's one of my favorite coasters, and the only stand-up I've ever ridden. I really, really hope that they don't convert it to floorless.

The fact you've ridden only one goes far in explaining why you like it.

In my opinion, it's the second worst in America, better only than the aptly named Apocalypse at Six Flags America.

What does that have to do with the fact that I find it to be a better coaster in general than the vast majority of coasters I've ridden? As of June 2012 (the last time I updated my coaster rankings on my profile page), Mantis was my #4 steel out of 24. Having ridden other stand-ups would not change the fact that I ranked Mantis (and still rank it) above major rides like Diamondback, Raptor, and Magnum, nor would it change the fact that I simply enjoy Mantis. Enjoyment of a ride is independent of what other rides you've have ridden. Or at least for me it is.

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^I would agree with you to an extent. But perhaps it is not so much Mantis that you rank highly as it is the concept of a Standup coaster. If you rode one that was exponentially better, you could potentially begin to see Mantis as being less good, and since there would be a better coaster to give you the same novelty of a standup, Mantis would cease to be better than those others, as you can get what it once offered you elsewhere.

I like to think of it like this. There was a time when I would have ranked Diamondback above the likes of Adventure Express and The Beast. However, as I rode more coasters (specifically hypercoasters) I realized that I really liked the IDEA of a hypercoaster, but began to see Diamondback as being a fairly weak representative of hypercoasters in general. So where it once sat in my list, it has been replaced with Maggie and/or Phantom's Revenge, and upon my realizing that it is a very mediocre hypercoaster, I no longer rank it above those coasters, as I no longer find it impressive.

I'm sure that post made exactly zero sense, but whatever. It makes sense to me.

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I've never ridden Mantis, but I rode Chang many times (front row far left was my favorite!). I always enjoyed Chang, but have noticed many people don't care for Mantis. The two rides are very similar, but people seem to complain more about roughness/head banging etc. on Mantis. I just always found it interesting that two stand-up coasters with very similar layouts built by the same manufacturer within a year of one another could give such different experiences. Then again, the newer Riddler's Revenge and Georgia Scorcher seem to be rated much higher than Mantis or Chang (Green Lantern). Maybe they just learned to make a better stand-up experience with each new project.

My first and favorite was King Cobra - just a really unique, quirky ride, and lots of fun!

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I've never ridden Mantis, but I rode Chang many times (front row far left was my favorite!). I always enjoyed Chang, but have noticed many people don't care for Mantis. The two rides are very similar, but people seem to complain more about roughness/head banging etc. on Mantis. I just always found it interesting that two stand-up coasters with very similar layouts built by the same manufacturer within a year of one another could give such different experiences. Then again, the newer Riddler's Revenge and Georgia Scorcher seem to be rated much higher than Mantis or Chang (Green Lantern). Maybe they just learned to make a better stand-up experience with each new project.

My first and favorite was King Cobra - just a really unique, quirky ride, and lots of fun!

At least one poster here prefers Mantis to Green Lantern, as GL headbanged more than Mantis when he rode it. GL's layout looks more interesting, but it rides worse.

Georgia Scorcher underwhelmed me. There was hardly any headbanging, but it just didn't feel like it did anything interesting. Apocalypse was... very fitting for SFA, which I think should be called Land of Rides Rougher Than They Really Have Any Right Being. I'd honestly say my favorite stand-up is Vortex at Carowinds, followed by Shockwave at Kings Dominion.

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The Mantis photo booth is often closed, though it was operating on my last visit (7/18-19). The pictures on the CRT televisions were too bad to make out faces, but I can't say anything about the actual product being sold.

I do enjoy Mantis, but only after learning how to ride it "correctly". Of course, that shouldn't be necessary for an amusement device.

I'd like to ride another standup coaster at some point to compare. I'm determined to ride a TOGO standup before those disappear for good.

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