Gatekeeper anticappointment

Timber-Rider said:

But, I would not call it stealing. The people who do that paid to be in the park, and if the park loses a little money by not supervising their products, they are probably fine with taking that as a loss.

So the crap that's closest to the front doors of any retail store is fair game if no one's supervising it? Holy ****ing ****.

I...I just can't take reading any more anecdotes. It's not enough to have an opinion, it's gotta be followed up with a **********ing bedtime story.

You know.

Yes, I do. It's stealing.

Timber-Rider said:

I wasn't saying that stealing was ok. I was saying that parks are ok with taking the loss...

I wasn't saying that stealing was ok, I was saying that stealing is ok.

I hate to bring things back to the original topic ;) but I rode GateKeeper today for the first time since media day, and absolutely loved it. I smiled through the whole ride. Now, admittedly I was in the front left, which I didn't get a chance to ride on media day, but even riding the back right was more fun this time around.

The guy at the photo counter said they had put the faster nylon wheels on -- apparently they had still been using the polyurethane wheels for media day (I hope I have those two types correct). Even before he said that, we were talking about how the outside seats were less headachey than before and the ride seemed to have a lot more zip. Also, the crew was really bustin' it, and without having to stop for press folks and whatnot, there was minimal stacking of trains, and thus less time spent in the tension vest restraints at the end.

But most of all, the front left is definitely where. it's. at. Especially while barefoot. Particularly now with the higher speed, this view gives the best foot- and head-chopping experience. GateKeeper went way up on my list -- clearly above Wild Eagle, which I had still ranked above GK before today. The GateKeeper I experienced today is exactly what I had expected all along, and that's why I was a little anticipointed on media day.

And I dare say, in response to my own post a few days ago, even the ending isn't that bad. I smiled through that too. :)

Bird, I'm with you in that my GateKeeper rides during the bonus ride time this past Friday seemed much better than my ones on Media Day. My rides did not seem to crawl through the course as they did on Media Day, and I kept wondering if it was all in my head.

I even felt some pulling force on the turns and some airtime on the hills. I thought maybe it was because there was some wind that was making things feel faster (and my new riding style of holding the vest away from my body), but I'll be ecstatic if it actually is faster with new wheels, creating a better ride experience.

I'm going to wait for another evening of GateKeeper (maybe this coming bonus ride night on Thursday), before following up that review I posted for the better, but I'm excited by your post.

I agree - riding in the front row was pretty awesome.

I think the first half of Gatekeeper is pretty tremendous. Wing-over drop, huge bunny hop, big barrel roll, zero g roll through two keyholes (wow was that cool on opening day when masses of people were waiting outside the front gate), a quick and a quick overbanked turnaround. What the heck else do you want? The zero g element back across the keyholes feels a bit to slow to me, but some people might like that - kind of reminds me of Volcano at KD. It kind of falls apart a bit after it hits the midcourse. The helix is pretty forceless and and the bunnies don't generate much airtime, but after taking a few rides in a short time during media day, I was actually glad it was sort of "over" after the midcourse. Maybe I am just getting old.

To me it has an Alpengeist feeling to it - where the first half is as good as just about anything made from steel and the second half just doesn't carry enough speed to keep the intensity level where I like it. Alpie is a 17 year old ride that as far as I know still has a lot of fans and plenty of riders so I am not worried.

My ride on GK was when I had been in line for 2.5 hours. I also had to pee and was starving. It was worth it to wait an extra 15 min for the front even with those conditions. After the ride I was loopy. I almost hugged the ride attendant. It was one of the most disorientating and fun experiences of my life.

I don't think we rode the same helix, Matt.

I posted this in my trip report in the monday the 20th thread, but I'll say again here:

We rode the ride three times yesterday, and twice we asked to wait to ride the front. There were four of us in our party, and only six people waiting in the front seat queue, and we were told both times that we were not allowed to wait for it! We were really disappointed because the wait times were consistently an hour. Both times, as soon as we were directed to our spot for the next train, the couple behind us was allowed to go wait for the front (seeing as two of the six people had just got on the train). It seems unfair and illogical, especially given that adding the four of us to the front seat queue would not have caused us to spill into the way of traffic in the setation (the second time we were rejected, we were told that they are not allowed to have people lined up past the second row queue, despite the railings being long enough to accommodate another four people). It was a frustrating experience, and we drive five hours to get to the park and won't be back until august, possibly Halloweekends. Has anyone else had the same experience?

I will say, that after our first ride (sitting in the middle of the train on the left), we were underwhelmed. Little force and felt the ride was lacking speed and intensity. However, for the second and third ride we sat in the last seats on the right, and experienced a much different ride. Lots of pull coming out of the first loop element after the drop, and especially in the turnaround. The barrel roll coming back towards the mid course brake run is great. In the back you really feel the pull as you twist, it almost feels as though the train isn't going to make it, which was kind of exciting. The only downside is that there doesn't seem to be much airtime anywhere on the ride. I preferred Wild Eagle, and I think that is mostly due to preferring the straight drop as opposed to the turn over/half loop style drop.

Overall, it's probably my 5th fav coaster in the park (Dragster, Maverick, Raptor, MF, Gatekeeper).

birdhombre said:

I hate to bring things back to the original topic ;) but I rode GateKeeper today for the first time since media day, and absolutely loved it. I smiled through the whole ride. Now, admittedly I was in the front left, which I didn't get a chance to ride on media day, but even riding the back right was more fun this time around.

The guy at the photo counter said they had put the faster nylon wheels on -- apparently they had still been using the polyurethane wheels for media day (I hope I have those two types correct). Even before he said that, we were talking about how the outside seats were less headachey than before and the ride seemed to have a lot more zip. Also, the crew was really bustin' it, and without having to stop for press folks and whatnot, there was minimal stacking of trains, and thus less time spent in the tension vest restraints at the end.

But most of all, the front left is definitely where. it's. at. Especially while barefoot. Particularly now with the higher speed, this view gives the best foot- and head-chopping experience. GateKeeper went way up on my list -- clearly above Wild Eagle, which I had still ranked above GK before today. The GateKeeper I experienced today is exactly what I had expected all along, and that's why I was a little anticipointed on media day.

And I dare say, in response to my own post a few days ago, even the ending isn't that bad. I smiled through that too. :)

I agree with you 102.9%. (Sorry RCMAC, I agree with him .1% more than I do with you)

You quoted his entire post to say that?

Never mind about that. How do I earn my .1% ?

I'm afraid I can't agree that GateKeeper is the best steel coaster ever, so that's not it...

SquareOne42 said:

...we were told both times that we were not allowed to wait for it!

I always ask politely to wait for the front (or back or wherever). If they say no (which is incredibly rare), I wait for my preferred row anyway. I'm gangster like that.

Tsk. What's next for you? Stealing Cokes?

Hey if the ride attendant is okay with the efficiency loss then it's not bad. If they really wanted to control it better they'd have ride-ops for each row of seats.

I thought the station throttling was odd with regard to the front row too, but I figure it's still early in the season and they'll adjust eventually. So long as people aren't in the way, and there are enough others to fill the rest of the train, I don't see what's wrong with people lining up for the front beyond the queue rails. It's not like Raptor where extending beyond the front queue really does get in the way.

It just seemed silly... The station throttler (not sure what their official title is) asked the front row queuers if anyone could fill in the other rows. Everyone remained silent and kind of looked at each other nervously. Technically she asked, she didn't tell us to move. So after a moment she said, "I guess not."

I mean, if we were OK riding somewhere else, why would we be standing here? Meanwhile there's a whole staircase full of people who would love to fill those other rows and get on the next train. Let 'em in. I'm not sure why it has to be any more complicated than that.

That said, had she specifically asked my friend and me to go somewhere else, we would have, even if we might not be happy about it. And considering the exhilaration I experienced in the front left seat, I'm ever so glad we were able to wait.

I don't understand why they're being so restrictive on the front and back seats either. It's creating an illusion of a short wait for the front and back seats for everyone entering the station, so they're getting excited, then frustrated.

There's a proven formula on all of CP's major coasters and just about everywhere else. You allow significantly more people to wait for the front seat. Then, most guests scoff at the additional long line for the front and quickly fill the other rows without direction.

GK's station should have been designed with a significantly longer front seat queue like the other park majors. When that was full, then access could have been restricted if it was causing congestion.

Millennium Force went through this same deal its opening season, and if I recall, everyone was allowed to wait for their desired seat the following season. I expect next season will be different for Gatekeeper as well.

I think Millennium Force went a step beyond to only allowing 36 people in the station at a time. Even Maverick and Dragster were more relaxed than that when they opened.

Sadly, they still throttle Intimidator's station at Carowinds. Not sure why they assign seats.