Thought I'd post a more extensive Rougareview outside of my trip report here.
First off, it looks a thousand times better than it did as Mantis. I like the orange track and the green on the supports is fabulous. They also have wolf howling/growling sound effects and some fog by the first drop. I like the graphics on the station but I give them five years before they look horrible.
Modeling the test seat. See the double straps? Only on the big boy seats, the rest just have one strap and one buckle.
They really did a nice job with the station. I can't even tell it used to be a vile standup.
Rougarou rocks! I already like the capacity boost that the floorless trains give the ride right out of the station, and having the floor drop out from under you really starts the ride in a dramatic fashion. The climb up the lift is great with your feet just dangling there as you get such a nice, unobstructed view of the park and Breakers. Cresting the top, I much prefer taking that turnaround sitting down with nothing below me than I do standing on a platform with an uncomfortable bicycle seat. In the back, the predrop is pretty nice but since it just crawls around the turn it doesn't do as much as the predrops on other B&Ms since you aren't pulled as fast. The drop is much better with the trim off and I personally like the fog at the bottom if it's on. The first loop isn't balls-to-the-wall intense but it's a decent one and it doesn't cause the leg tingling you got on Mantis. The dive loop was another element that was fixed by the conversion. It's really intense and awesome but no leg discomfort! The turnaround over the station was decent but forgettable, didn't do much for me. But the next one is now my new favorite element on the ride: the inclined loop. I've always wanted to try an inclined loop sitting down and it was just as awesome as I was expecting. No leg discomfort, good intensity, and the visuals are so weird it's awesome! Unfortunately, after this is where the renovation stopped being as effective. The transition into the turn into the MCBR is much better on the floorless and has plenty of classic B&M snap to it. Coming out of the MCBR you go into this corkscrew that's absolutely vile unless you stick your head forward a bit. The final turns on the ride are nice and intense and yes, no leg tingling which is nice. Still a bit of headbanging on those transitions but I find it much easier to brace and stick my head forward with those new trains. Finally, you hit the final brakes and that's the end of an awesome ride. Coming off of Mantis the one time I rode it for the cred, my legs really hurt with all the blood getting sucked to them by some of those intense elements. With Rougarou, you get a bit of that (a bit less severe than it is on Raptor) and can definitely feel that blood was sucked to your ankles, but not on the massively painful scale you got on Mantis.
Is Rougarou the new greatest coaster on the planet? No. Is it in my top 10? No. Would I travel across the country to ride it? No. But did they take a ride that I used to really dislike and make it one I liked? Yes. I always thought Mantis wasn't on par with the rest of Cedar Point's rides and it was my least favorite ride in the park. Now it's a good supporting ride to hit up if you want to stray away from a flagship. Not to mention that high winds had shut all of the flagships bar Maverick down when we went but Rougarou could run, so it can run in high winds and I think that's a major plus to have a decent ride that can. Great decision on the park's part, I give it two thumbs up. =D>
It really has an overall different presence as it looms over that area.
This might provide a good idea of how it will look from Valravn/whatever they're building.
I feel like it's partially themed with the watery foresty location and the howl and that AWESOME sign, but I think they could have done better. Would it really have cost that much to have it smash through a crappy wooden bayou shack?
You're looking at the new lock screen on my phone!
Really like this view, shame it's really out of the way.
Around...
...and down into the swamp!
Really like the row numbers on the floor for some reason.
New t-shirt!
And a new glass!