Cedar Point announces Gatekeeper, a B&M wing roller coaster, for 2013

That's an excerpt? :-)

Wow, that sure as hell is one dramatic looking new entrance gate. Very fitting for what is becoming more and more of a thrill park.

That lift hill inversion looks like something you'd only ever see in RCT2 lol.

Or if you went to Chicago.

bjames said:

That lift hill inversion looks like something you'd only ever see in RCT2 lol.

I think that all the time.

More and more coasters are being built that look awfully similar to the wacky RCT stuff we were doing back in the day that got blasted for being "too unrealistic."

Lord Gonchar said:

bjames said:

That lift hill inversion looks like something you'd only ever see in RCT2 lol.

I think that all the time.

More and more coasters are being built that look awfully similar to the wacky RCT stuff we were doing back in the day that got blasted for being "too unrealistic."

Who said anything about "back in the day" maybe I still build RCT coasters ... nobody has to know though...

Oh and Gatekeeper looks awesome .. except that is one retarded name. I get it it flies over the front gate but still despite being so big and bad looking the name makes me think of a creepy old man with the key to the park. Not a thrilling coaster haha

Or Thorpe Park this year...

With some imagination, the name rocks. The Gatekeeper, in my wacky mind, is a vicious giant golden bird that protects the park's front gate from whatever. It's like a cool nickname given to a dangerous, scary mythical creature who never received a real name. I like it.

As for the ride, it is going to be a huge hit. It's looking to be one of the coolest coasters the park has ever built, in my opinion.

I know I get pooped on when I complain about capacity, however, the Cedar Point website claims it will have a capacity of approximately 1,710 riders per hour. That sounds overstated, but if it's anything close to that, that's great. This ride will be very popular, if only because it is the first thing people see when entering the park. They are going to need plenty of lap bar checkers, especially when the ride is new.

I read online somewhere that it will still have a single load/unload station. I just don't know how that's not going to be a problem.

I rode Dollywood's Wing Rider a few months ago, and really enjoyed it. I am really looking forward to Gatekeeper.

Well so much for the name of the new ride being derived from Greek Mythology. I had heard that the name was gonna be Typhon which according to mythology was one of the most feared creatures in ancient literature! The coaster itself looks AMAZING and I plan on doing 2 days at Cedar Point next year to ride it. I will say that I was hoping for a coaster with a height of Wild Eagle, but the drop makes up for it! 2013 is gonna be a good coaster year!

I REALLY like everything about this coaster except I don't understand one thing: Why have a mid course brake practically at the end of the ride? Most mid course breaks have quite a few elements after them. This almost seems like an ending break run. This ride has the mid course break, then does a 360 spin, small turn and then final breaks? Just seems like an odd placement.

I have not ridden any wing riders yet so for those who have , how are the restraints and will Gatekeeper have the same ones?

LostKause said:

I read online somewhere that it will still have a single load/unload station. I just don't know how that's not going to be a problem.

I rode Dollywood's Wing Rider a few months ago, and really enjoyed it. I am really looking forward to Gatekeeper.

I've been on both Wild Eagle and X-Flight, which both have the single load/unload station, and I thought they moved trains pretty well. The first 10 seconds are a little crazy with people putting things in/getting things out of the bins, but after that the time to load and check restraints is very quick in my opinion.

^As for the restraints, I think they're very comfortable on both, and very forgiving. Although I'm a pretty thin guy, and I've thought that about other rides when it really wasn't the case.

My PS3 went out (yellow light of death), so I fired up my old computer and got back into RCT2. All these years later and the game is still a blast!

The ride looks great. I love the double key hole twists right over the front gate. I also don't mind the name that much, and the color scheme looks fresh.

RollerCoasterGod said:

Why have a mid course brake practically at the end of the ride?

Pacing, I reckon.

If they dispatch a train the instant another train leaves the lift hill, it should arrive at the end of the lift (block) just after the other train passes the mid block break (block 2). Arrow used to do that too right?

Also, it's probably more of a contained area to put the stair case/emergency exit blah blah. Whatever, just imagine the ride ends there.

I think if they forbid people coming into the station with all of their crap, that solves the biggest station problem. Dollywood seemed to dispatch quickly when the ride ops hustled (which wasn't often), and if you eliminate the crap exchange I think it will load fast enough.

C'mon, Jeff, give em a break. Those ride ops are old retired folks!
I'm thinkin' of goin' there myself, y'all. :-)

Jeff said:
the crap exchange

I so wish they'd call it that.

I still don't get why (other than cost and/or space limitation) a separate unload station hasn't been designed into this type of coaster. We've seen them on other coasters that don't really need it; I would think it would really help on a ride that loads and unloads on the same side (in this case, both).

I wonder if there was discussion about threading the track through the keyholes on the return leg.

Matt D. had a pretty good write-up on PointBuzz about why a separate unload station does not necessarily benefit the ride, and actually can hurt it if you only run two trains. I tend to agree that it wouldn't likely make any difference. The amount of time you would have to save by way of unload is only the time it takes for people to get out of their seats, which I bet averages five seconds.