Are stand ups a dying breed?

[Dr Zhark]

With whats going on with Mantis and Skyride being removed do you think stand ups are a dying breed?

[TombRaiderFTW]

Yes, but not because of Mantis and SkyRider closing. The aspect of standing up on a roller coaster hit its peak around fifteen to twenty years ago, and no one really managed to create a stand-up coaster that actually got decent capacity. The ones that were built are just living out their service lives. Stand-ups were a dying breed when people stopped building them.

In my opinion, B&M did a better job of the restraints than TOGO (I was never around for an Arrow stand-up), but no layout I've ridden from either company really set my heart aflutter. I do enjoy Shockwave at KD more than Mantis, Green Lantern, Apocalypse, or Georgia Scorcher. I thought Vortex at Carowinds was decent, though. The restraints on Shockwave are comically awkward and difficult to get into.

[Joncars05]

I voted yes. Its such an awkward position to ride a roller coaster for me. I didn't like how you could hurt you man region as well if you rode it the wrong way. I feel like fads come and go when it comes to roller coaster (stand ups, swinging, etc) and this is just one type of coaster that has completed it run.

[BeastForever]

Shouldn't this be a rhetorical question by now?

[bkroz]

The following post is my opinion only: Honestly, I think they just chose the wrong style and stuck with it.

I'll blame much of it on B&M. First, because all remaining stand-up coasters today are B&M, so I think it's fair to make them central in the discussion. Secondly, since historically they're the ones who invent (or in this case, invest in) a gimmick and run with it to make it their own and mass produce it to a high-quality degree, I think the direction stand-up coasters went (or would've gone) is thanks to B&M.

I bet part of B&M's reliability is thanks to their repetition. That's not a slight. Basically, their inverts all have a common ancestor, you know? Different layouts, different statistics, but most B&M inverts have a certain look, a certain feel, a certain style, and a certain roster of elements that you expect to appear... A cobra roll, a wing-over, a helix, a first drop into a loop into a barrel roll, etc. They didn't reinvent the wheel with each one, and that's good!

Same can be said of their Dive Machines, all sharing a common ancestor (vertical drop, dive loop, drop, splash, etc. shuffled around and played with, but with a more or less consistent style and feel). Same of hyper-coasters. They developed a style and of course it's evolved and grown and shifted, but in general you know what to expect when B&M is opening a 200-ish-foot roller coaster in terms of what it'll feel like, what elements it'll feature, what it'll look like, etc.

They did the same for stand-up coasters. They developed a style that they more or less kept. It just so happens that the list of elements and the style and the feel they invented for stand-ups is... chaos. Stand-ups probably shouldn't have been built with each taller and faster and steeper than the one before. One gimmick at a time, please. And the style they developed and then expanded on for each subsequent addition was just of jumbled, tilted inversions, odd turnarounds, slanted loops, knotted track, etc. Again, like inverts, they kept it consistent and you more or less have a picture in your mind when you think of a B&M stand-up. But this...

Why why why?!

They look like bad doodles more than super-smooth, perfectly-paced, well-laid-out B&M masterpieces. It was just an odd decision that they said, "For our stand-up coaster line, let's build super-huge vertical loop that leads into an inclined helix which itself goes into a giant inclined loop that lead into really small tight corkscrews then helix around for a bit then slam side to side as they roll into a dive loop and then twist back through themselves and then leap into a big corkscrew and then a hammerhead turnaround that tilts the wrong way... Or some variation thereof."

If B&M had build their stand-ups like they build their floorless coasters, I think they'd still be more happily received. But even then, I think the awful truth is - whether it's a gimmick or not aside - standing on roller coasters doesn't make them any more fun. Diamondback standing would probably not be as good as Diamondback sitting.

Now, on a small one-trick pony like King Cobra or Shockwave? Sure. If the point of the ride is to stand, then have that be the point, not that it's also tall and fast and goes upside down 6 times. If B&M had made little, 80 foot tall standing coasters that looped once, had a few airtime hills, helixed, then came back home, I think they'd make for fun family coasters and probably still be around. Ah well.

[/opinion]

[jcgoble3]

I voted no because I'm in denial.

[Sonofbeast2.0]

Hopefully I'm not the only one thinking he was talking about stand up comedians... Which I could not, vouch for if their dying out or not...

As for stand up coaster, yes...

[KIFan1]

I voted NO since each coaster type has a lifespan. People thought inverts were dead but Banshee came in, people thought flying coasters were dead but Japan is getting on, people thought floorless were dead but India got one last year. Stand ups will come back one day.

[KIBeast]

I don't believe that it has been officially announced (by CP that is) that Mantis is being removed.

GYK, I agree with a lot of what you said about B&M stand-ups as opposed to TOGO. I took what B&M did with that style was looked at the standing coasters and figured out a way to put different kinds of inversions within the layout as opposed to one inversion that you find on TOGO's. The only thing I don't like about them is the back and forth changes of direction towards the end of these layouts. Other than that, I think they transition through their inversions very smoothly.

[Dr Zhark]

I do not think it is because of B&M it is just nobody want to stand on a roller coaster and I do believe that they are just not a popular type anymore.

[OleShawn]

When SOB was announced that they was tearing it down, did they tease with it or did they just come out and say, "Its being removed" Mantis is getting the PR about how its being squashed doesnt since to me. Why would they waste money on PR and make light of the fact a ride is being removed? I say its being renamed and painted or getting floorless trains or all three. Like Terpy said, they are in the business of making money.

[coasterfanatic83]

Son of Beast had nothing to tease about. It had been standing there as a black eye on the park for years.

And I doubt that they have spent much money on PR here at all. Making that video, sending a few emails, and having Tony tweet a couple times probably doesn't cost much.

[CP&LERR Fan]

The Mantis isn't being torn down.

[Dr Zhark]

I do not know what you guys are thinking but I did not mean that Mantis is getting torn down just in case

[The Interpreter]

If a red house is painted blue, the floor raised two feet and a room or two added on, is it still a red house?

Terp, who likes to ask questions...

[shark6495]

Same can be said for a broom. If you replace the handle then a few years later replace the broom part is it still the same broom.

[The Interpreter]

What if you replace the broom head with a mop head?

Terp, who likes to ask questions.

[shark6495]

Then you have created a monster thing. Why why why

It's an interesting theory. If a coaster gets a new name and

[Goki32]

I rode Mantis once it wasn't bad for me it was okay

[LoraX]

I have never been much of a fan of stand ups. I loved Chang. I know people don't understand that at all. Shockwave was ok.

I hate the restraints on stand ups. More times than not, if I do not like a certain type of coaster it boils down to not liking the restraints.

[shark6495]

TBH the only stand-up I have ridden was KC. Other than that, never have I been on one. Its also the only coaster I ever grayed out on.

[LoraX]

KC was the worst one I had rode until this summer. It was better than Apocalypse at Six Flags America. It doesn't take a lot to be better than Apocalypse, in my opinion of course.

[LordSkippy]

The only two stand-ups I've ever ridden are SkyRider and Mantis. I liked SkyRider. I didn't like Mantis. Both are going to close.

I don't think it can be objectively argued that stand-ups are not a dying breed. Comparing the number of stand-ups built over the past 15 years to the number torn down in that same time period is enough to tell you that.

That being said, I don't think they'll disappear entirely any time soon.

EDIT: Has anyone here really stopped to think how confused the next generation of coaster enthusiasts is going to be looking at 1990s and 2000s Cedar Point footage if Mantis is converted into a floorless? If I found something like that out, it'd blow my mind.

[The Interpreter]

KC was the worst one I had rode until this summer. It was better than Apocalypse at Six Flags America. It doesn't take a lot to be better than Apocalypse, in my opinion of course.

That being said (and I agree), Apocalypse is far, far superior to The Roller Coaster at New York New York Casino at Las Vegas.

Then again, so is getting bitten by a dog.

[LoraX]

I know I am in the minority, but I liked Chang. I guess back then the only comparison was KC. When we went to NJFTP, I didn't get the opportunity to ride it there. I really wanted to ride The Big Droppy thing, which was awesome.

[BB1]

Maybe it is just me but i feel like it would hurt to ride a Stand Up. I personally never have ridden a Stand Up, but i could see how it could be going out.......right now. I could see the breed being resurrected as maybe a 80'-90' coaster, with some light bends, possibly having one loop element still. But the huge ones........ouch!

[homestar92]

I've ridden three stand-ups: A smaller B&M (Vortex at Carowinds), a larger B&M (Mantis), and a TOGO (SkyRider).

I would say that in my experience, the smaller B&M was the best, followed by the TOGO, with the large B&M being far below the others.

[BB1]

So would you agree that the smaller the SU the better the experience?

[homestar92]

So would you agree that the smaller the SU the better the experience?

I don't know that the equation would be purely linear. I'm sure there's a parabolic curve somewhere, and a whole lot of other variables we aren't accounting for, too. If height were solely responsible for quality, Apocalypse would be one of the better standups, and from everything I've heard, it isn't.

[Bengals890]

I have ridden 5 Mantis, Vortex(Carowinds), Georgia Scorcher, Skyrider and Shockwave. I loved the TOGO's I don't know why most people say they are death machines they are by far the best but Scorcher was good too. The thing about them is no one is willing to build them anymore. I believe if a stand-up was built now rather than the most recent being in 1999 they would be far better than the older designs. The reason they are dying is that no one is willing to bulid them anymore because of the unpopular designs of the 90's. Just my 2 cents.