Gatekeeper vs. Lake Erie winds

Im just thinking out loud here but does anyone one think the winds from Lake Erie will pose a threat to Gatekeeper (in terms of train speed). The shape of the trains seem less aerodynamic than the trains on other coasters.

No.

No.

I heard from someone that Magnum is closed if the wind speed goes over 40mph, because it wouldnt make the second hill. But GateKeeper goes the other direction for most of its elements, so if anything, I would think it would speed up. I can't be 100% sure, but that is my educated guess based on something I have heard.

Damn it, Dill, we had a pattern here.

Lets put it this way. It's not Windseeker.

Kevin, in a way, I do agree it won't hurt the ride. Whats wrong with going faster?

If the winds are a problem you could just tape a cheetah to its back.

^ +1

Dill7198 said:
I heard from someone that Magnum is closed if the wind speed goes over 40mph, because it wouldnt make the second hill. But GateKeeper goes the other direction for most of its elements, so if anything, I would think it would speed up. I can't be 100% sure, but that is my educated guess based on something I have heard.

That would only make sense if the wind is out of the northeast, and it's much more likely on any given day that the wind at Cedar Point will be from the west or southwest. Also if the wind is not straight from the northeast but from the north or the east, you would have a crosswind hitting Magnum on the first drop so you wouldn't even get the full 40 mph.

I don't care whether there's a logical reason for it or not, but I'd bet big money that winds over 40mph will shut down GK along with every other coaster in the park. Just because.

Your mom is to fat to ride TTD. said:
If the winds are a problem you could just tape a cheetah to its back.

Or they could put it indoors! ;)

^It would keep the sand off the tracks. ;)

No problem. By the way, not just Magnum but a LOT of the rides close if the winds get that high -- typical Lake Erie winds are negligible when it comes to rides the scope of Gatekeeper

The real question is what about the other surrounding rides?

After a few seasons of fighting flying sand from windy days the portions of Gatekeeper near the beach, the beginning and ending, will be enclosed, given a space theme, and renamed Disaster Gatekeeper.

Theme park review just posted a video on Vine that showed how much speed the ride had lost due to winds in the area. The video showed the train creeping slowly through the inclinded dive loop. Looks like wind will be an issue for this ride.

Back to coaster physics, wind effects roller coasters. If the wind blows hard enough it will stop any coaster or speed it up to unsafe levels. If a hurricane were to blow in off of Lake Erie, they would shut the ride down. The only question is what speed wind is still considered safe for operation.

... and yes, if you were riding Gatekeeper without restraints, you were experiencing zero G, and a 100 MPH wind came along it would probably blow you out of the train.

I was at the Point on a really windy fall day a couple of years ago. Winds were blowing 30-40 from the north and Raptor, Magnum, and Millennium were down. Maverick doesn't mind the wind and I've been there lots of windy days.

Generally a strong NE shuts down Magnum, a strong SW shuts down Raptor, and a strong NW - N will close Dragster. A really strong wind will shut down Millennium. Tomorrow (Sunday) the marine forecast is up to 30 knots from the W, so that may well be a problem for Gatekeeper.

I haven't heard an official wind speed for GateKeeper, but X Flight at SFGAm shuts down at 30 mph from any direction.