Mantis Preys on Riders, Gives an Uncomfortable Ride
I never thought I'd see the day I would give a Bolliger & Mabillard designed coaster such a low rating. I like, if not love, all of their installations. Their coasters offer the smoothest rides while still delivering thrilling and innovative manuevers. Well, now I have to say that I love "almost all" of their coasters.
The Mantis opens with a straight 130 foot drop. Next you enter a massive vertical loop that offers some g-forces, but nothing too intense. The dive loop is pretty smooth then you rise up and swoop back down for the inclined loop. That's where things go wrong. The rest of the ride there was this pressure in my legs and feet that was pretty painful. Add to that some pretty substantial headbang on turns and in the last inversion (corkscrew). For the last two-thirds of the ride I was just waiting for it to end. A feeling I've never had on a B&M coaster.
Even the older B&M's and the stand-ups like the Georgia Scorcher at Six Flags Over Georgia and even Vortex at Carowinds didn't beat me up or leave me with such a negative impression. Maybe a different seat would've offered a better ride, but this was by far one of my worst experiences on a steel coaster. Luckily Scorcher and Chang make the case for fun stand-up coasters. Because after you
feel that pain in your legs you wonder why they don't just through some sitdown trains on that track. The look of the ride, location, and the relatively fun opening third save Mantis from an inconceivable '3'. Final Rating - 4.0 (Below Average)
Check out the rest of my rating scale here. Also, check out this roller coaster video of Mantis.
Did you have a similar experience on Mantis? Leave a comment below.
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Mantis @ Cedar Point | Coaster Reviews
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3 comments:
My dad, who's about 6'1", does not enjoy this ride due to its roughness, but my cousin, who's about 5'1", loves it. Maybe the designers were short. o-o
They should have replaced this with the Maverick, not the log flume. That was one of my "old favorites". :(
sry, but this is probably one of the rates that makes no sense to me. I am 6'2", and i LOVED Mantis. there was some pressure on my calf muscles, i admit, but despite that, this ride was AWESOME. i don't see whats so bad about this ride atall.
This review is pretty much spot on. I was so excited to try a stand-up coaster, and I'm really hoping that this particular coaster was a fluke, that there are really great standups out there. I had heard nothing but bad things about Mantis, but I was still so disappointed by it. I didn't really experience severe leg pain, but the headbanging I got on it was absolutely shocking for a B&M coaster.
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