Cedar Point's GateKeeper roller coaster testing ahead of schedule

Will it be open by opening day early entry?

This thing is finished already? I haven't seen any pictures!

Also, omg, this cost $26 million? That seems absurd! Btw, the renderings did not portray those two gate tower things as being open down the middle.

...we’ll look and see if we can lift our arms up because we know people like to do that.

Interesting. The park has been know to not condone raising hands. The mere mention of it by park personnel is unusual.

...And Tyler,the article states

“There’s no doubt we’re going to be ready on time, and we’re probably going to be ready 10 or 11 days before our opening,” Mr. Lococo said."

Media day for the new ride is scheduled a few days before opening day. The park is not going to schedule a day for the media to visit, take photos, video the ride, ect. unless they are pretty certain that the ride is going to be ready. I think your early entry opening day plan is going to be a go.

I like you, I really do. Think before you type. The headline states that the ride is testing ahead of schedule. I think you already knew the answer before you posted the question. :D

I asked the question before I saw that there was a link to the article.

Interesting about the arms-up thing, Travis. For a long time any shots of rides done by the park included riders that always had their arms down and their hands on the bar in proper riding position. Once I was part of a tv shoot at Kings Island and we were instructed to always have our hands and arms down. This was probably because "hands snd arms inside the car at all times" is a safety mantra and they don't want to appear to be breaking their own rule.
As far as this test goes, they know people are gonna do it so they're gonna have to try it, and no harm in mentioning it.
However, rather recently I saw publicity pics of a ride where the riders werent all hanging on the way they should. Shoot, I can't remember where I saw it, or what ride. Mighta been Diamondback.

I don't like the 6'6" height rule. I'm just at that height (don't know my real height, I'm tall). I was going to make a trip to CP, but with that requirement I probably won't now.

Yes, these maximum height restrictions are annoying, but I guess they need to be respected for safety just like the minimum height. For what its worth, I am about half a cm under 6' 6" and had no problems with fitting onto The Swarm at Thorpe Park, so maybe its worth getting yourself measured to check. Mind you, no ride op actually checked me there despite having the same restrictions so it was down to my guesswork. Hopefully they are a little more consiencious at Cedar Point!

People are shorter in the evening than in the morning, so you might want to go back later if you are found to be too tall. Also, you could wear a pair of Converse Chuck All Stars. That might make you shorter by an inch or so.

^^ Whhhaaatt??

Where did the $26 million figure come from? Cedar Point's website and other sources have pegged it at a $30 million investment.

I wonder if that's simply misinformation being passed along, or if the coaster cost $26 million while other aspects (new entrance, landscaping, destruction) comprised the other $4 million.

The ride total seems to vary between $25 and $26 million, while the whole project is quoted at $30 million.

I'd suggest a pair of those "barefoot" running shoes if you think this would be a real issue. Kinda the opposite of "stuffing" your kids shoes. (I've been told people do that... haha)

An interesting fact of biology is that your body compresses throughout the day. Your weight and pressures of walking, etc will actually cause you to lose a small amount of height as you move around through the day.

In addition, as you spend hours and miles walking through a theme park, you will compress the cushioning of your shoes down too. Our son ran into this once at CP, where at the end of the day he was too short for a 52' ride that he had ridden at the beginning of the day.

I don't care about the cost, I'm just overall excited that this is a big change to the skyline, and I'm looking forward to riding Gatekeeper! :)

LostKause said:

People are shorter in the evening than in the morning, so you might want to go back later if you are found to be too tall. Also, you could wear a pair of Converse Chuck All Stars. That might make you shorter by an inch or so.

Firstly, I think less than like a half percent of the population is taller than 6'6, so most of us are good. Secondly, I think flip flops are a better choice than any shoe would be if you are hitting that height ceiling.

Edit: Just looked it up, people 6'2 or over in America only make up 5% of the population. Therefore, it must be way less than .5% of people here over 6'6. There's way more fat people in this country that won't fit in the seats than there are tall people.

Tommytheduck said:

An interesting fact of biology is that your body compresses throughout the day. Your weight and pressures of walking, etc will actually cause you to lose a small amount of height as you move around through the day.

In addition, as you spend hours and miles walking through a theme park, you will compress the cushioning of your shoes down too. Our son ran into this once at CP, where at the end of the day he was too short for a 52' ride that he had ridden at the beginning of the day.

That is crazy. I thought Travis was just quoting another inside joke or just being silly. Had no idea that was a real thing.

I have learned so many random factoids here at CB. I am known among my friends as the master of useless trivia. :)

I learned that first part at the "Bodies" exhibit. Very very cool stuff if you don't mind looking at it.

Always wanted to go to that. My husband thinks it is creepy though, so haven't ever seen it.

I can understand the creep factor, however it's fascinating to me. I took my son, who was maybe 9 at the time. Once he got over laughing at the penises and boobs, I like to think that it was educational for him too.

My husband is about 9 years old in maturity, so I'll keep working on it.

I'm just kidding about hubby though. He's at least 11. ;)