Cedar Point to add a floorless roller coaster

Staff report

SANDUSKY

Cedar Point’s next roller coaster will be the Rougarou, which will have floorless train cars that run on a track over the amusement parks’ central lagoon.

It will open in the spring, in time for next season. The Rougarou will use the super structure and track of the Mantis roller coaster, which will close at the end of the current season.

Named after a werewolf-like creature in French folklore, Rougarou will carry riders up to 60 mph as their feet dangle inches above the track and the waters below. The trains will be manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, Monthey, Switzerland, the same team behind Cedar Point rides Raptor and GateKeeper.

The Rougarou will begin with a climb to the top of the 145-foot-tall first hill, then make a 180-degree turn to the right and plummet 137 feet at a 52-degree angle to within inches above the water. Riders will then be flipped upside-down by a 119-foot-tall vertical loop, spun around a 103-foot-tall dive loop, whipped around a highly banked 360-degree turn and then twisted upside-down again.

Just when riders think the ride is over, the trains will go through a 360-degree flat spin, tight and twisty turns and a figure-eight finale.

Riders must be 54 inches tall to ride Rougarou.