Cedar Point 2013

Or the new Leviathan sign up in Canada.

Or Wild Eagle in Dollywood. There is ride station and entrance that is totally done with class. Let's see what Matt Quimot is all about with his former Disney experience and see what appears. That, I feel is a true testiment to his creativity and investmentinto the park.

Cedar King said:
It seems it just you and me who cares about the "leftover" land next to GateKeeper (near troika).

It's not that others don't care. It's that others may not see value in speculating this early in the process.

CPfan1976 said:
You're forgetting that a queue line is going to probably take up some area in front of (parallel to) the refreshments stands and shooting over to the beach to enter the station (probably behind Troika).

Why wouldn't GK be like the other B&M's in the park, where the queue is in the coaster's infield?

Ya you'll probly see something like Raptor and Leviathan where the queue is under the maintenance bays.

Is the front gate gone now!?

http://www.cedarpoint.com/online-fun/webcams

^ That would be a negative.

I hope they have some que line going near the beach and maybe some under the ride or station. Like Raptor, but with a beach view. I dont want them totally covering up the beach view with thick trees that block it. Maybe some small bushes and planters, but that's it.

Chuck_E_Cheese said:
Or Wild Eagle in Dollywood. There is ride station and entrance that is totally done with class. Let's see what Matt Quimot is all about with his former Disney experience and see what appears. That, I feel is a true testiment to his creativity and investmentinto the park.

Just because Matt comes from Disney doesn't mean every new installation is going to be a themed attraction.

Cedar Fair rarely, if ever, makes their stations "pretty." They're architecturally and structurally sound, provide shelter, and move people on and off the trains. Beyond that, I don't know why everyone needs a fancy platform. In no way does it enhance or detract from the ride experience.

I wish people would stop thinking that he's the second coming of Christ and everyone's going to get everything they wished for. He's a new guy with impeccable credentials. And I can't think of anyone better for the job right now. But he's not going to wave a giant money wand and go over budget on every new project so it looks "fancy."

You mean he's not the second coming of christ? Damn, looks like I'm an atheist again.

Guide_Wheel said:
...I don't know why everyone needs a fancy platform. In no way does it enhance or detract from the ride experience.

That must be why Disney doesn't invest money in their stations and queues.

Guide_Wheel said:

I don't know why everyone needs a fancy platform. In no way does it enhance or detract from the ride experience.

So if you took away the whole queue and pre ride experience from the Tower of Terror at Disney World, you would get the same experience? If you did that, I would guarantee you would have a different ride experience.

My point is, this isn't Disney or the Tower of Terror. Tower of Terror has a story, a plot, a theme. Cedar Fair rides aren't themed like Disney's are. That's what Disney does. The comparison has been beaten to death.

If "he" themed this station and went all crazy, then you'd criticize him the next time they build something and don't theme it.

Who cares if it's themed? The masses will still ride it just like they have been riding CF's attractions for years and years.

I think you're treating it too much like an either-or situation. There's a lot of area between ToT-level of theme and none at all. And theme absolutely does enhance the ride experience.

Though you're right that people would ride it regardless. But that sounds an awful lot like "people gotta eat".

Then I agree to disagree. To me, the ride experience is what sells me, not the way the platform looks. This coaster has wings. Wiiiings! People will want to experience the feeling. When they get to the platform, I have a hard time believing they're going to say, "You know, this ride would have been better with a castle as a station." Or whatever theme you want it to be.

And well, "people gotta ride." It's a ride park.

There probably wouldn't be very many people who would say that, but I also think there is something to be said about the park guests that look at the ride station and say, "Man that is really cool." You can't forget that not all guests are there to experience the steepest, fastest, tallest, etc....

This doesn't really have anything to do with GateKeeper but I think Becca just left us.
http://www.cedarpoint.com/blog-article/online-fun/A-Note-to-OnPoint-Blog-Readers

I wonder how the new blogger will be...

Good luck, Becca :)

About theme, however, there is an "in between" style of theme you can add to a ride. Tower of terror is heavily themed. Corkscrew, for example, is not themed at all. Maverick, is lightly themed to the wild west, as well as drag racing for Dragster. They are talking about "lightly" theming gatekeeper. It would be nice if they did design a station, possibly the queue area, to a light theme. Take the gold griffon for example. I think they will put that at GK somewhere, as they did paint it, after all. A station can simply just be a steel roof with plain beams and cement platform, but anyone can think a tad more and spice it up a bit. I hope they do that with gatekeeper's station and go beyond plain steel and cement.

It's time to get rid of the blog. The updates are few and far between and the writers since Tony and Tyler have been mediocre at best.

Tony and Tyler's updates were awesome. I liked how they posted on PointBuzz too.

Becca was the only writer after Tony and Tyler.

I think they should just stop the blog if they aren't going to be as detailed as Tony was. We actually learned things through the blog, but now we just get a few pictures and an update about when season passes goes on sale.

As for theme, lets compare X Flight's station with Wild Eagle's. Wild Eagle's looks awesome and X Flight's looks trashy. It isn't about telling a story or a theme, it is about making the area aesthetically pleasing.