Some more info today on possible new attractions for next year. Earlier this week Crain’s Cleveland published an article about the business side of Cedar Fair, and in it they discussed Rougarou and the floorless conversion. The article included this line about potential future conversions, which leaks some information on an update coming to California’s Great America:
“(Cedar Fair CFO Brian) Witherow said Cedar Fair plans to do the same (floorless conversion) with other aging coasters in it’s portfolio, including one next year at it’s park near San Francisco.”
That sounds pretty definitive that Vortex, an aging stand-up coaster at California’s Great America will be getting a conversion. Vortex, which opened back in 1991, could definitely use an upgrade. Similar to Mantis at Cedar Point before it’s conversion, it’s become very rough in recent years, and has also had issues with maintenance and slow loading times.
The aging Vortex at California’s Great America could definitely use an upgrade.
Lots of Great America fans would probably prefer it was removed and replaced with something new because the ride has a small layout with only two inversions and isn’t particularly thrilling, but we’re never ones to complain about parks trying to improve a coaster, and the reviews of Rougarou have been positive across the board which makes us optimistic about the results here. Another interesting aspect of the decision is that nearby Six Flags Discovery Kingdom has Medusa, a highly rated much larger floorless coaster. Still, if the conversion improves Vortex it’s good news for Northern California coaster fans, especially if it comes with new landscaping or theming. It also sounds like similar conversions will be happening at more Cedar Fair parks. There is a slight chance that they are planning to update or evolve a different coaster at Great America, but Vortex seems like the most likely candidate based on the comparison to Rougarou.
Do you think the Rougarou treatment is a good idea for other B&M stand-ups?
Based on the line in the article, we’ll probably be learning more later this summer if the plan is to open the converted ride next year, so stay tuned to Coaster101 for more info later this year. In the meantime, have any of you been on Rougarou yet this season? How does it compare to Mantis, and do you think the conversion will translate well to other stand-up coasters? Let us know in the comments!
This is what I feared when Rogarou was announced, the opening of Pandora’s Box in converting stand ups to floorless, slowly erasing them from existence. Rogarou is still rough, the trains didn’t fix that from what I can tell (much like another ride that I’m not mentioning). I was hoping that this would be a one-off thing like Mistake 360 was (I refuse to call it by the proper name), and unlike RMC’s work that has turned bad rides into great rides (from what I can tell not having ridden any myself), Rogarou didn’t do that. I don’t want to see Six Flags starting this as I’d be outraged if Georgia Scorcher was converted, it was a little rough, but still quite enjoyable.
But I can make a guess as to why they’d do it there, not that I agree with it. Gold Striker was a nightmare to get going because of noise complaints (I mean it was supposed to open in 2009, not 2013), and by taking Vortex, and already existing roller coaster in the park and converting it to a floorless you get a semi-new ride without having to go through the hoops to get a brand-new ride to the park or a relocated ride.
The other candidate could be an RMC conversion of Grizzly, according to Screamscape RMC has hired a surveyer for California, while Roar at Discovery Kingdom is an option (and in all honesty the likely candidate), how about converting what is ranked as one of the worst wooden coasters in the world into a masterpiece like Wicked Cyclone? There’s nothing to support that, but what’s to say that can’t happen.
No. This ride is not built for floorless trains. Some friends of mine rode Rougarou and they hated it so much they said that it was better off as a stand up coaster. The Six Flags stand ups are doing great so why can’t Cedar Fair keep their stand ups?
Or Cedar Fair could relocate Vortex to one of its smaller parks, like Michigan’s Adventure (as a hand-me-down)… or sell it to a different theme park chain (Herschend, Premier Parks, etc.)… unless stand-up to floor-less conversion is in the works. CGA’s Vortex does look kind of small.
If CGA opted to remove the ride, I could picture vertical lift coaster (Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter, or a Zamperla or Zierer manufactured coaster), Gravity Group wood coaster, or a Premier Rides launch coaster (probably not a Superman and Tempesto clone) replacing the B&M stand-up coaster… or CGA mulling over adding a giga-coaster, unless a height limit won’t allow it.