How was your ride?

Right there with you, Tod. I'm not exactly skinny (5'6 179 lbs) but the vest stinks. It gets tighter throughout the ride, to the point that I have difficulty breathing while sitting on the brake run.

The only way I've found to combat it is to hold the vest against the shoulder restraint as you're leaving the station. It works for the most part and gives my chest a little more room. I overheard several other people complaining to the ride ops about how tight the vests are.

Otherwise, the ride is amazing. The back, on either side, provides quite the thrill and I actually experienced a little airtime. It just stinks that the ride is held back by a horrendous restraint system.

WaterDummy said:
Right there with you, Tod. I'm not exactly skinny (5'6 179 lbs) but the vest stinks. It gets tighter throughout the ride, to the point that I have difficulty breathing while sitting on the brake run.

I read more about the collarbone and it turns out that they are just more prominent on some people. I'm as tall as you but I weigh 125 lbs. It's probably the way we're built, not our bulk (or lack thereof).

Thank you for mentioning how it restricts breathing! That added to the discomfort. I hate to sound whiny about this. Not all discomfort is bad. I love bumpy rides like Blue Streak or Mean Streak. I love rides that are shaky and feel dangerous. The GK harness is something else entirely.

I tried gripping the vest where it meets my collarbone and kind of flared it outward during the ride. I also tried holding the vest against the shoulder restraint. It didn't really work for me. Sometimes the ride attendants push the harness down and destroy all your extra room. Or you struggle to maintain the extra space throughout the ride, and fail anyway. That makes you tired, and you completely miss the ride. At the end I feel like I'm riding a harness, not a roller coaster.

Personally, this one feels like a once-in-a-while, I-feel-masochistic-today ride. Like Mantis.

On a more positive note:
1. Most people seemed to tolerate the restraints and were happy.
2. If the restraints are so bad they drive away the masses, they WILL be fixed.
3. Gatekeeper will keep traffic off the other rides.

I'm glad others agree that these are the worst restraints on a coaster. I dont understand why B&M decided these restraints are good for coasters or why a park would purchase a coaster that isn't comfortable due to the restraints. Thanks for the reports so now when i go to coastermania i will ride it once for the credit if the line isn't long, otherwise i will skip it and ride MF and Raptor during morning ert.

^I think the park needs to put a warning on the the rules to ride sign out in front of the ride before they get sued for those stupid restraints!

a great investment for the park. Many thanks go out to the Cedar Point family of employees for giving us the chance to ride today. We took 6 laps and it is awesome.

I want to reiterate that I am grateful that Cedar Point provided us with the opportunity to ride this before the park opens, and their hospitality was unusually generous. I believe they genuinely care about their customers and will fix the restraints if they become a problem for enough people. And if most riders are happy with the restraints as-is, then I'll be just as happy riding other things.

All they would have to do is eliminate the flexible vest and replace it with a more traditional molded restraint and the problem would disappear. They could even do it on a couple of seats on one train only, for "problem riders".

El Loco1 said:
I'm glad others agree that these are the worst restraints on a coaster.

I think it really depends on the individual. Many people said they were comfortable. You may be in the crowd that fits.

I assume these are the same restraints as Wild Eagle, that being said those were probably the OTSR on any coaster I have been on. I experienced no discomfort at all. I was curious if there is any airtime on the hill before the corkscrew and/or dropping off the MCBR in the back of the train?

El Loco1 said:
^I think the park needs to put a warning on the the rules to ride sign out in front of the ride before they get sued for those stupid restraints!

Well, at least you're not being over dramatic or anything. ;)

Ride is very smooth. Intense in several places. I preferred the left side overall. Rode in the back left two times and back right once. Right front was good too for the view and increased wind in your face. Didn't wait for the left front because 2 of the 3 trains had a water dummy in it. Couple other times in middle on either side.

Not sure why but I liked the ride more each time I rode it. Same was true of Raptor last summer. Started riding it more and more and became a bigger fan of the ride as the summer went along. Maybe its a B&M thing.

I am a tall thin guy who didn't have any pain while riding. Did notice a small bruise on my left collarbone as the seatbelt hit it on the drive home. Doesn't really hurt and it wouldn't keep me from riding the ride again.

Seems like the restraints are like Mavericks. Some people say they suck, some people say they're fine. I guess I will find out on the 19th.

Thanks for the updates everyone. I would have gone today but that's an absurd drive to ride for that little of time.

Trains look amazing in the dark!

I get to ride it saturday at 9 AM. WOO!

^ Same here Tyler. I'm a little nervous about these restraints now that everybody is mentioning the discomfort, but I don't care at all. I'm so excited for it.

Hello,

I always read these posts, but this is the first time I decided to join and post because I did attend media day. My friend and I were actually waiting in the parking lot with several others shortly after 3:00 am. First off, I would like to extend my thanks to Cedar Point for giving us the opportunity to ride it before the general public. You've always had a lifelong customer in me, but you definitely solidified my future business with today.

Moving on, the ride makes an excellent addition to the park. It makes the new entrance look amazing. I personally feel the ride itself is average at best. It starts off amazing, but after the keyhole it's just "eh". I'm hoping that the three hour drive from Pittsburgh to Sandusky in the middle of the night is affecting my opinion. Hopefully I was more or less sleep walking because I really do want to like the ride. Anyways, I personally thought the second half of the ride was too slow and the restraints were uncomfortable due to the tightness. I read in a previous post that it may be a skinny thing, however; I'm 5ft 9, 205 lbs and by the break run, I couldn't fully expand my lungs to breathe. I'm not out of shape either so it's not like I have to lose weight to enjoy the ride. I'm looking forward to my next visit because I want to like it, but for now I put MF, Maverick, and Raptor ahead of it.

The "Big Boy Seats".....i didnt notice any difference in the seat or the restraint, all we noticed was maybe an extra inch on the belt!

I'm getting nervous from people saying the restraints suffocate you.

^ I can see how it can have that suffocating feeling, but i really didn't experience that. Different body types, different experience. I thought they were actually comfortable! Preferred them over any other OTSR in the park!

I didn't experience any restraint pain either -- in fact, its one of the most comfortable OTSR systems I have experienced...so it really DOES seem to be more of a "body build" type thing....

OR, perhaps its a "I rode GK 10 times and by the 10th time the restraint was horrible" kind of thing. I think for most people that ride it once then move on aren't going to have much to say about the restraint system. That's one of those things coaster enthusiasts that ride over and over are apt to notice and discuss, not the general public.

At any rate, it certainly wasn't a problem for me -- I'm 5'9, 220, 38 inch waist and zero problems.

Rcoaster10 said:
I'm getting nervous from people saying the restraints suffocate you.

It doesn't so much suffocate you, as it just makes it difficult to take deep breaths. It's a little disconcerting.

^^It's refreshing to read some positive feedback regarding the restraint system.

can anyone explain the 'click clack click clack' noise that is going on the whole course of the ride? seems out of place for a B&M.