Gatekeeper much louder and painful vibrations

I was last at the park in may and I just got back on Sunday and was surpised to see gatekeeper running very fast and noticeably much louder than in may and then while riding I noticed these awful vibrations at the bottom of the first drop. I saw
Another thread on the vibrations but I wanted to see if anyone else has noticed the louder it's gotten as well. It's almost as Loud as raptor coming down the first drop an Into the first inversion.

I too have noticed how much faster it is. I see a huge difference in how fast it was on media day to now. The vibrations have also gotten worse and so has the noise. I dont think it is as loud as Raptor but i have noticed that it has gotten louder. I think now the only quiet part of the ride are the two zero-g rolls.

It's sand filled track, theres no way it's as loud as raptor...

I was there Sunday-Tuesday (Today) Rode it 6 times. Previous trip was in May. It's MUCH MUCH worse in terms of roughness. It did seem faster, but it's vibrating an awful lot. Not just at the bottom of the hill but over the course of the entire ride. And not a typical shake. It's like a pulling, tugging type feeling.

I am really trying to like this ride but I can't. It's stupid that I'm even trying to talk myself into liking it. After this last trip our group has decided its a "meh" kind of ride.

Looks Nice.. Expensive yard decoration though....

At the bottom of the first drop, it is definitely increasingly louder than it was opening weekend. The trains make such a weird clicking noise throughout the course too (you can especially hear it through the turnaround by the picnic pavilions, and the flyover before going into the brakes), which I don't understand.

You can hear it well in this video pretty well from 1:57-2:27

EDIT: forgot to post the link to the video haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3xl64r07UE

I thought we assumed that clicking was the sound of the wheels going over track piece transitions.

^^ The same noise can be heard at certain points on X-Flight as well.

The clicking noise is from the portion of the anti-rollback system that are on the train. Because these pieces are simple steel pieces with a hinge on one side, they are not held up under the train during the ride. Whenever the train goes through a maneuver where negative or zero gravity occurs these pieces begin floating, just like the riders. The clicking you are hearing occurs when the parts come out of free fall and are stopped by the fixture on the train designed to hold the parts. Diamondback also has this noticeable sound just as it hits the pullout on it's first drop.

I was there for media day, and rode it a couple more times at Coastermania.

Watching that video above, it's moving WAY faster now, I really noticed the speed difference through the keyholes.

And it's much, MUCH louder. I remember standing on the far side of the carousel by Sky Ride on media day, commenting on how you could not hear the ride at all, and that was with the rest of the park being quiet.

Based on my visit yesterday, GK does seem to be a little bit louder now that the ride has been thoroughly 'broken in'. It still isn't anywhere near as loud as Raptor though. You could still have a conversation in the front gate area without having to shout at each other.

Do you think that if the ride has been running faster, that is what is potentiating the vibrations?

When I first rode it in June, it was butter smooth but also didn't seem like a fast ride.

Can they really speed the ride up or is this just happening on its own?

IIRC, they can put different wheels on it to make it go faster or slower. Factors that can also increase speed are weight of all the combined riders, moisture on the track, etc. They can maybe speed up the lift chain or lower the pressure on the trim brakes.

And obviously, wheel material would also have an impact on the sound of the ride.

Maybe there are mainly nylon wheels on it now, which would explain the noise, speed, and vibrations. Polyurethane wheels would make it quieter, slower, and smoother.