Death of the Stand Up coaster?

In order of desirability for another lap: King Cobra, Scorcher, Riddler, SkyRider, ShockWave - Drayton, Vortices 1&2, Chang, Mantis, B:TE, ShockWave - PKD, Iron Wolf.

Ugh. Completely different preferences on here I see. I think the Togo stand-ups are absolute garbage. I'd rather marathon Mantis than do laps on PKD's ShockWave.

I miss King Cobra. It was the coaster that made me realize that I really liked coasters.

Wait a second, there is only 18 B&M inverts in the US that means Ive ridden over half of them. Not only that, 1/3rd of the inverts in this country are B:TRs.

Yes they are. (Batman's) and I don't consider that a bad thing.

kRaXLeRidAh said:
I think the Togo stand-ups are absolute garbage.

I actually agree, partially. I think Shockwave's finale is garbage, from an engineering standpoint. But the sadist in me has a blast slamming through it, and then getting gut-punched as the brakes hit. I think it's hysterical just how poorly engineered it is, but for some reason I find it fun.

Aside from that I can tell you exactly why I prefer the Togos--the trains feel more open (especially in the front which is where I almost always ride), and there's actually some airtime. All the B&Ms are just loaded with positive Gs throughout, some of which are so strong it hurts my legs.

Parks that may see standups in their future.

Cedar Fair -Kings Island, Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland all as eventual replacements for the Togo's. I was at KD last week with my brother and after riding Shockwave I told him that I was surprised that thing was still standing. I'm betting Anaconda's day are numbered too. That water park is creeping closer and closer.

Six Flags- St. Louis, Fiesta Texas and SF over Texas.

I don't see any independent parks or the former Busch parks getting oneand I agree that any new standups will mimic Scorcher more so than Mantis.

I would be highly surprised if another standup coaster ever got built in North America.

Its been so long since I rode King Cobra I don't remember much about it, except that I liked it. I seem to remeber the ride had a section of 'trick track' (for lack of a better term), where the track dipped left, then dipped right a couple of times. Does anyone else remember that?

Nostalgia may be in play here, but I really liked King Cobra. One distinction from the more modern rides is that Togo seemed to design elements that really played to the idea of standing up. The parallel-to-the-ground helix, the trick track mentioned by RPM above, and the final rapid-fire bunny hills were all accentuated by standing up, and would not have worked as well if you were sitting.

Conversely, the B&Ms use elements that are common to other sit-down coasters they've built. There's really nothing in a ride like Mantis that specifically caters to standing up; it's more or less a steel looping coaster with stand-up trains.

So I guess that when I'm on a ride like Mantis or Chang, I question why I'm not simply sitting down, and the whole thing feels gimmicky. On the Cobra, for all of the flaws one could point out, it was clear that that ride design was more fully integrated into that idea. Damn, I wish I could ride that again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTqL6TKb_Qw

0:38

The trick-track and bunny hops are what "made" King Cobra and SkyRider. KD's Shockwave is just so painfully headbanging in the helix all of the good parts of the ride are forgotten due to brain trauma.

edit: the one thing B&M does in stand-ups that they don't do (At all? Maybe just generally?) in other coasters is the cool oblique loop.

Here's another King Cobra video that I liked a little better.

Now I miss that ride even more. :(

FLYINGSCOOTER said:
I rode Mantis a few times. I found it a tad, PAINFUL!

There's just something about pushing G's on your nads that doesn't bode well with me.

;)

I lovingly refer to that ride as "ManTest"... I'm sure you can sort why.

I absolutely love Mantis. The coaster is so smooth and there is almost no head banging whatsoever. Thats my take though, I'm not trying to speak for others. I just found the coaster to be extremely fun. Rolling throw the loop into the dive loop the flat spin and two quick transitions. I've always like this ride.

If I had to choose between Mantis and SkyRider it would be a no brainer. Wait! I hope thats not a name of coaster.

Also, I find it very unique and exciting that your standing in a complete upright position when you take on the elements of the ride. That alone is super cool. Its different then sitting in a bucket seat on most other rides. The colour/color scheme is brilliant and the B&M roar are just an added bonus.

Mantis has some unique elements, an interesting layout, and it has a great view of the park.

But, to me, lately, within the last decade, it does feel somewhat gimmicky.

I find no testicular discomfort at all when riding it. I have very strong legs to hold me away from the "seat", I suppose.

(I never thought that I would use the word "testicular" in a CoasterBuzz post before. lol)

2Hostyl said:

staticman00 said:
However, Iron Wolf at Great America would suddenly become an interesting ride again with floorless trains.

What would be interesting about a short one-loop seated coaster? Though I guess it's close enough to Camp Cartoon Network that IW could then be considered a "starter" coaster. Seriously, seated Iron Wolf < Demon.

When I say "interesting" I mean "ridable without a chiropractor on site." As it stands now, Iron Wolf is already below Demon, so there's no change there. At least when seated you won't feel like someone is taking a jackhammer to your delicates.

I could never get on board with Stand ups. After I stand in line, after having walked through the park, i am not standing on a coaster. I am sitting down and getting comfortable for a couple minutes til the ride is over. Exception: Rodeo/Rotor rides - they're too fun to pass up :-)

Totally love the inverteds. Especially in the front row - only place to be.