Gatekeeper Crew

I rode Gatekeeper 3 times around 1:30 today. The crew really had their act together. All three times the train never had to completely stop to get back into the station. Never had that happen before, They were barely over a minute between releasing trains. Great job. It is appreciated and and I stopped at customer relations to pass along this information.

Always love when crews hit dispatch intervals. Kings Island needs to learn this trick.

I've been impressed with them as well this year, both the few times I've ridden in person and a few times I've watched the ride on the webcam. It's like the CP of old the way they get trains out. Love seeing that!

I will add in my 2 cents that GateKeeper has had the most outstanding crew this season. Every time we've been to the park, their dispatches have been like this. CP Maverick, don't even get me started on Diamondstack. LOL

Being that I'm five minutes from Kings Island and frequently go and look around. Diamondback has improved greatly this year, they turned it around somehow someway. There is the occasional stack still, but nowhere near the level it was last year or the year before.

I wish operations down here matched what CP has, I'd love to know why they're bad, especially post IROC. We got hit with it too up here but it doesn't seem anywhere near as bad honestly. Regardless, it's def a spot that KI could greatly improve on. Hell I have threads in KIC everywhere about operations, just look lol

Hopefully it has improved as the season has gone on, but we were there the second weekend and it was bad. It wasn't just stacking, it was stacking and trains being held for at least 30-45 seconds on the first brake run. Most of the other coasters were the same. The only one that was hitting any kind of interval was Banshee. Honestly, my asssessment of the majority of the ride ops at KI is they look like they just couldn't give a crap whether they make your day better or not. Very much in contrast to what I see at CP where I feel like the majority will go out of their way to make your day better.

You do have to remember, KI hires minors in rides except for Team Leads/Controls positions where you have to be 18+. Also for many, KI is a first job for these kids, whereas ride ops at CP probably have held a job/etc. and are doing this during college/etc.

I agree that Gatekeeper's crew has been great this year so far. That crew keeps the line moving real well.

Wicked Twister's crew has been amazing also. Every time I ride, they send that train out as soon as the ride is "ready". Kudos to that crew as well.

WT was doing much of the same yesterday. After the restraints released the operator periodically announced "30 seconds", "20 seconds" and so on. It wasn't a completely accurate countdown, but it added a sense of urgency to both the crew and the riders. Granted there weren't more than 8 or 10 riders per cycle at the time, but it was impressive nonetheless and fit in well with the overall high energy level of the ride.

I was so impressed with the gatekeeper crew I thought I just kept coming during a power hour. I asked an operator when power hour was, and was shocked when he said "9 am until 10 pm. We try to be as fast as possible throughout the day." They have some nearly Fury 325 level dispatches going. I've seen most dispatches as early as the Immelmann through airtime hill section.