Mantis known as banshee???

hey guys can you shed some light on this for me.....i was reading in the timeline on this site and it refers to mantis being known as the banshee?

Banshee was the planned named for Mantis. The ride never actually carried that name. It was changed before construction started. It was changed because it was thought that Banshee was politically incorrect. Some banshee shirts were produced before the name was changed and a few lucky individuals have them.

------------------
God bless Intamin, Company that I love. Stand beside her, and ride her, from the opening to the closing of the day.

It was originally going to be named Banshee, but religious groups convinced CP to change the name. Their reasoning is that a banshee is a female spirit who wails to warn of impending death...to me it's a weak argument, but CP listened to their pleas...

------------------
--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

What always makes me laugh is that arguably the most Christian values park in the nation. Holidayworld had a ride called banshee up until lasy year.

Heck Pat Koch was a Nun and now has a Doctrate in Divinity.
------------------
God bless Intamin, Company that I love. Stand beside her, and ride her, from the opening to the closing of the day.

*** This post was edited by MagnumForce 5/20/2003 10:25:23 PM ***

I really, really doubt that "Christian groups" had anything to do with the changing of the name. As a Christian, I can say with authority that there is nothing offensive about the word "Banshee." Or "Demon Drop" for that matter.

Any "Christian" who pickets against such things is missing the point.

------------------
A day is a drop of water in the ocean of eternity. A week is seven drops.

Maybe you dont think so but it is true. Demon Drop is just.........different than Banshee.

Speaking as a Christian, I agree that people overreacted to the name Banshee. Although I personally think Mantis sounds better, but that's just me. Neon yellow just doesn't suit a ride named Banshee.

FYI, this reminds me of my youth pastor, who refused to ride Hellevator last year because it had the word "hell" in it. Translation: he's a chicken. :)

------------------
Life is strange, and so am I.

I have always thought Rapotr and Mantis need their colors switched.

mantis is a good name for a stand up coaster though, after all, a mantis is all legs.

------------------
God bless Intamin, Company that I love. Stand beside her, and ride her, from the opening to the closing of the day.

As far as name and logo is concerned, Mantis is one of my faves! I'm personally glad it's named that and not Banshee. However, even though I'm a Christian, and not crazy about names like Hellevator or Demon Drop, that certainly doesn't mean I won't ride the rides. In fact, I think Banshee is actually a pretty cool roller coaster name. Just not for Mantis! ;-)

Take care and God bless!

As a Christian, I still think Banshee is a great name for any B&M. Sure, they make more of a roar than a wail or a scream, but it's still a loud, scary sounding noise. And I think the colors would go way better with Banshee than Mantis. As for switching the names... Magnum Force, just out of curiosity, how does bright red, yellow, and purpleish blue go with Bird of Prey any more than Mantis?

------------------
I hear America screaming...

It doesn't, but green surely goes with Mantis.

------------------
God bless Intamin, Company that I love. Stand beside her, and ride her, from the opening to the closing of the day.

Personally, I don't think Mantis is any better than Banshee. Sure, let's name a standup coaster after an insect where the female whacks off the head of the male while mating.

Hmmm, maybe it's a more appropriate name for a stand-up after all... ;)

MagnumForce makes a great point, too -- Holiday World had a Banshee, so why the heck would Cedar Point change the name, especially after releasing marketing materials (I have a Banshee T-shirt myself). It makes me wonder what the FULL story is.

To take what redman said further, a banshee is a figure from Irish lore. They were solitary (usually) female fairies that would appear, or more often simply heard, to signal impending death. Important families had their own banshees which would appear for only that family. Different versions I've read said that they would appear near the birthplace of the soon-to-be-deceased, or at the current residence where the victim was to depart from. They would also be heard at specific natural locations, such as trees and rock formations, some of which were even known as "banshee chairs". Some later Christian-influenced interpretations said the banshee's cries were actually that of the Devil, wailing because the soul of the deceased was headed to heaven and therefore out of his reach. (Yes, remember that the banshee in Irish lore was female...)

Maybe it was only in the circles I grew up in, but I remember the phrase "cry like a banshee" growing up (and I'm Polish, not Irish). Of course, mythology has ALWAYS fascinated me. My cats are named Hermes and Loki, and I even my hamster was named Fenris growing up. (Ok, so I don't stick with any one mythos ;) )

When the original story I heard for the name change ("They didn't fully know what a banshee was") came out, I was absolutely incredulous. How do you name a ride after something without realizing what it IS? Duh...

I find it hard to believe people were offended, and it's a great name. Too bad Cedar Point changed it, no matter what the reason.

------------------
--Greg, aka Oat Boy
My page
"I can't believe I just left a nuclear weapon in an elevator." -- Farscape

*** This post was edited by GregLeg 5/21/2003 12:55:16 AM ***

Just like Superman: Krypton Coaster was originally named Jesus: Krypton Coaster before they changed it. Man those religious activist groups sure do jump about everything.
------------------
Phreak223: broadband srmodband, dial up is where it's at foo
Phreak223: man, dial up sucks so bad

I'd love to see "darker" themes on coasters. Banshee doesn't even come close to some the crap running through my head when it comes to coaster names/themes.

I never thought Mantis was that great of a name/theme. They tried to stay "dark" with that year's promo video for the ride (the ride represents the Mantis killing it's prey), but somehow I don't find a bug too threatening. Banshee was so much better.

Is the stuff about Steel Force taking the Banshee sign design true? Was it esentially a reworked version of the disgarded Banshee design?
------------------
www.coasterimage.com
Dorney Park Visits in 2003: 4

Somebody who has a Banshee shirt or something with the logo on it should try to scan and post a picture of it. I would be very interested in seeing what it looked like. Thanks!

all i can say is NEMESIS! Ha!, well if you think about it, most of the US coasters with a 'darker' theme are terrain coasters, look at the Raven, it's deep in the woods, hence quite dark...

------------------

Colossus [1]
Nemesis: Inferno [6]

The official reason for the name change (from GTTP):

"Shortly after the announcement of Banshee, a local newspaper printed several definitions of the word 'banshee' and one included a 'wailing female spirit warning upon impending death.' Obviously, this is not the definition that we at Cedar Point were going to use when promoting Banshee, but after it was printed in the newspaper, we did not feel comfortable with that definition in people's mind and associated with our new roller coaster. For sensitivity reasons, we decided to change it to Mantis, which was on an original short list of names for the ride."

I've always wondered if there was more to the story, but regardless, the name change didn't happen because of "religious groups." I do remember the name "Mantis" being talked about even before the announcement of the coaster. In fact, up until they announced Banshee, I was thought it was going to be called Mantis.

------------------
Virtual Midway
http://www.virtualmidway.com
*** This post was edited by Gemini 5/21/2003 8:52:07 AM ***

OSS returns with another lame attempt at humor that yet again fails miserably... We expect no more (or less) from you, OSS...

------------------
--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)

I have several Banshee items at home but I don't know if Jeff would permit them to be posted/linked.

Wahoo,

why wouldn't he? He lets people link to images offsite all the time...

------------------
--George H
---Currency tracking experiment... http://www.wheresgeorge.com (Referring to The "George" on the $1 bill - Not Me)