Gatekeeper Test runs

He made the POV. :)

It really is in the realm of optical illusion. At Dollywood, we watched Wild Eagle and my first thought was..."well, it looks pretty, but a little pokey". The actual ride experience was anything but, and Gatekeeper has an even faster clip with more intense elements.

Frankly, I think a lot of people will be surprised at how thrilling it is, not to mention the completely unique sensation the train gives you.

Yes, I know. I was thinking that they may not have taken it yet do to the fact they may want to finish as much of the entrance, ride entrance, everything else as much as they could before they tool the POV.

Kevinj said:
It really is in the realm of optical illusion. At Dollywood, we watched Wild Eagle and my first thought was..."well, it looks pretty, but a little pokey". The actual ride experience was anything but, and Gatekeeper has an even faster clip with more intense elements.

Frankly, I think a lot of people will be surprised at how thrilling it is, not to mention the completely unique sensation the train gives you.

kudos for actual experience of wing coaster before judging GK

I think Gatekeeper will be intense. It looks like it has a little bit of everything, intense inversions, an airtime hill, near miss section, this coaster should be a great one.

http://miniurl.com/91QN

Winged coasters will rotate slower and slow down the train due to Angular Momentum http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0k276y9kuQQ

The rides entrance sign is now in place! Its missing the lettering though.
https://mobile.twitter.com/cedarpointnews/status/328685973443584001

Saturday they had it testing all day with 3 trains and everything was running smoothly.

Hey Tony.

(just in case you're around).

See my signature.

Any chance we can get a little fog action in the keyholes for Halloweekends? I'm doubting that as a possibility during the regular season...not that it wouldn't be cool, but you do want guests to have a nice view of them.

Just remember. A little fog can make a huge impact...:)

Kevinj +1

That would have to be one of the best elements to endure. The towers engulfed in fog and no sight of the keyhole as you enter the inversion. Total What the.....? moment. Talk about Fright Factor!

Kevinj said:
Hey Tony.

(just in case you're around).

See my signature.

Any chance we can get a little fog action in the keyholes for Halloweekends? I'm doubting that as a possibility during the regular season...not that it wouldn't be cool, but you do want guests to have a nice view of them.

Just remember. A little fog can make a huge impact...:)

I'm trying to throw money at the screen to Tony so they can do this, but I don't think he is getting them...

djcarl said:
http://miniurl.com/91QN

http://youtubedoubler.com/82Dz (your link)

it's pretty much on par with the speed. give or take.

it just does not look as fast in real life I get , but then the video is still not real life.

They have something like fog on X Flight at SFGAm, it's more mist that comes from sprayers on a support in the middle of the long in-line roll. However, it doesn't create as much of a 'wall' as you would think, as wind from the train and in general blowing by tends to just displace it and make it more of a refreshing element rather than a suspenseful one.
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Ddi9nZPg5F0/0.jpg

I imagine since there is almost always a slight breeze off of the lake that fog in the keyholes would just get blown about and not have the desired effect. I think fog effects work best when lower to the ground, rather than higher up on things like the keyhole towers.

EDIT: Oh, and since it somehow still seems to be in question -- like Tony said, wingriders look slow, but are not at all. And if you give them time to break in the ride and break out the fast wheels, you'll find that when you ride, Gatekeeper will be going at quite a good clip throughout the whole layout by about mid summer. (X Flight was like this, it was quick-ish at preview day, and really sped up by about mid-July)

I love having fog on coasters. I enjoy it for the refreshing aspect of it as previously mentioned. But as also stated, the wind from the lake might defeat the purpose.

Let's at least experiment with it before we just toss our hands up in the air.

Like John Lennon sang, give fog a chance.

Kevinj said:
Let's at least experiment with it before we just toss out hands up in the air.

Like John Lennon sang, give fog a chance.

Fog the park, then see what rides get the most from it.

Already know one, Top Thrill Dragster.

so i think tony got his first ride...

https://twitter.com/TonyClarkCP/status/328996759479148545

I like how it's less than two weeks from opening and a POV has yet to be posted. Christ.

dumakey1224 said:
I like how it's less than two weeks from opening and a POV has yet to be posted. Christ.

That's because it's not May 6th yet.