The History of Rougarou

Rougarou is not a new roller coaster. It is Mantis reborn. In 2015 Cedar Point kept the track and structure of its old stand-up coaster, swapped the trains, and gave the ride a new name drawn from Cajun legend.

Mantis reborn

For nearly twenty years this coaster was Mantis, a stand-up ride where guests were strapped in on their feet. Stand-up coasters fell out of favor, widely considered uncomfortable, so in 2015 Cedar Point kept the entire 1996 layout and structure and simply replaced the stand-up trains with floorless ones, where riders sit with their legs dangling over open track and no floor beneath them. The course is unchanged, still four inversions from a vertical loop, a dive loop, an inclined loop, and a corkscrew, rising 145 feet and reaching sixty miles per hour. Only the trains and the way you ride changed.

A werewolf on Lake Erie

The name Rougarou comes from French and Cajun folklore, a werewolf-like creature of Louisiana legend. It fit Cedar Point's mid-decade habit of naming rides after dark mythological beasts, and it deliberately left behind the awkward stand-up association that had made Mantis unpopular in its later years.

Sister coasters

As a floorless coaster, Rougarou joined B&M's family of the type. Its relatives include Dominator at sister park Kings Dominion, another large B&M floorless coaster where riders fly with nothing beneath their feet.

One thing to know

Rougarou and Mantis are physically the same roller coaster. If you rode Mantis before 2015 and Rougarou afterward, you rode the identical track. The only thing that changed was whether you were standing up or sitting with your legs hanging free.

Rougarou is one chapter in the history of Cedar Point.

Rougarou at a glance