How was your ride?

^ I was wondering the same thing. I could hear it in the b roll footage.

I guess I was just a little shocked because I've never experienced similar tightness from restraints in the past. I did intentionally gain weight over the winter so body type probably has a lot to do with it. I'm really looking forward to riding it again on my next trip when I've had a good night's sleep and etc. I think leaving Pittsburgh at 11:30 pm and riding it right after 4:00 am had a lot to with how I felt at the event. Typically I act like a 12 year old at CP, today I was more like a zombie.

First of all, I've seen lots of on ride rider cam videos on gatekeeper. Was there a camera on the train that goes to the gift shop or is it just a mounted camera today. Also, on this one they seem to have tightnessbn their restraints as well. http://youtu.be/XOVBxqWpj1Y

Another thing is that they spend a lot of time on the block. I noticed this in other videos as well. I'm sure this will improve as the crew learns to pick up the pace.

Got 11 rides in. In various seats to see the differences. Did not experience the front or rear,just in between those. As a 'single rider',I was just filling in seats. I had no restraint problems,I'm 6'1" 145lbs,maybe I was paying too much attention to the ride and ignoring the restaint. For me,towards the rear seemed smoother,outer seats seemed to 'shake' more than the inners and left side always seemed smoother. GateKeeper seemed to lack speed as though all rides were in slow-motion,Maybe I'm just used to the speed of MF,TTD,& Mav.

Now I'll be able to concentrate on the other coasters.

TOO MUCH free food,I over-ate. Large blueberry muffin at Donut Time,waffles-eggs-potatoes at Midway Market,pigged out on meatloaf and mashed potatoes at Midway Market,cheeseburger at Coasters,went back to Midway for pasta & meatballs.

I just hope it frees up Maverick!

Restraints aside, can anyone else comment on the ride experience as it pertains to height, speed, layout, airtime, smoothness, etc.? How does the experience compare to other rides in the park?

I'm not totally surprised by the comments about GK being slow. Hasn't that been a common criticism of the other winged coasters out there so far? (I, for one, don't necessarily think slowness is a bad thing... It can create some awesome hang time on inversions.)

Regardless, the attraction / entrance look absolutely incredible, especially at night. So excited to see it and ride it in person.

Got 20 rides in, sat everywhere. Was awesome all around. Last row right is crazy down the drop. Loved every second.

"Restraints aside, can anyone else comment on the ride experience as it pertains to height, speed, layout, airtime, smoothness, etc.? How does the experience compare to other rides in the park?"

The height is nice, especially being flipped at 160 ft up. The speed is nice until the first keyhole and then imo it dies down too much. Airtime was the best when I sat in the back row on the right side. It seemed as if the transition from the loop to the airtime hill was very unique in that seat. I felt like I experienced decent weightlessness going through the first keyhole when I sat in the back of the ride as well. As far as smoothness goes, it's top notch. I agree that it doesn't have to be about speed if the proper elements are used (i.e. raptor after initial break run). I just felt that after the keyhole it died down too much and didn't have the elements to take my mind off of slowing down.

I thought it was a great ride. Had around 12 laps on it today. I'm 6'4 and 200lbs and didnt have any noticeable discomfort with the restraints. As for the ride, I really liked the back right seat. The first inversion is great and its much more intense ride in the back. Absolutely nothing wrong with the front seat...a great feel and you what a view. I love the keyhole elements and the return over the keyhole towers. Plus it looks absolutely great starting at the beach and turning in over the front gate area. I think they did a great job with design and layout.

Now Millennium Force was just a little temperamental today. Blue train was having its issues but still a great ride as always....got several laps on it today.

The noise y'all are hearing is the anti rollbacks and or chain dog moving around as the train inverts.

I thought it was a great ride. It seemed to speed up a little as the day went on and the ride had some nice airtime and G forces.

I think wing coasters may be perceived as being slow because you don't have a reference of the track going by, you have pretty much an expansive vista which masks some of the speed. Gatekeeper has plenty of intensity though, I really thought it was a feast of aerial delights and a very fun ride. It's also very reridable, took about twelve laps throughout the day and could have tolerated many more.

It's also a beautifully engineered machine. B&M really pays attention to details. This is the geek coming out in me, but I was really impressed with little things like a damper on the anti-rollback rack. First time I've seen this, the rack can move backward for a short distance and has rubber springs to control the motion of the rack. Engagement of the train during a stop on the lift must be very smooth.

All in all, Gatekeeper and the new gate are wonderful additions to the park and I think the ride will be a real crowd pleaser.

Was on it 17 times today. Sat in every row. The ride was just ok for me. The vest does get very tight. Some rows have really bad vibrations through out the ride which is very uncomfortable.

The keyholes are the best part. The rest of the ride was just meh.

I rode it a few times. Meaning three. With that being said I thought it was just ok. It does vibrate quite a bit in the back right side. I'm not sure if it has to do with sitting towards the inside so you would feel that more. However, my two left side rides were much better. I was toward the front on my second trip and to the outside less pronounced vibrations there. Last ride was towards the back again and probably the best. The best parts to me are the airtime hill and the roll after the turnaround. That element alone has great airtime alone while going upside down was the it moment for me. To me it is good, but not great. Depending on where you sit can really make or break this ride which for the average rider who will ride once or twice in a day can leave them missing the best this ride has to offer.

I believe the click-clack-click noises, particularly during the return pass by the keyhole, is the coaster's weight transferring to different set of wheels as it's rotating. Since it's effectively a barrel roll it rides, almost independently, on each set of wheels in sequence as it passes by.

I agree with Walt. Maybe it wast just me, but the ride seemed to get faster towards the after noon. Overall I love the ride. Backseat right side or any front seat is my favorite. I got 25 rides in so my collarbones were soar at the end of the day. Keep in mind though I marathoned the hell out of this ride. On a normal day in the park, I probably wouldn't ride GateKeeper for 12 hours straight. Raptor and Millenium were a good break in the middle of the day to let my collarbones rest for a bit but I ended up going back to GateKeeper at the end of the day. Great addition to the park.

Am I'm the only one that noticed the difference between the big boy belts and the regular are minimal, to say the least? They are almost the exact same.

WOW! Awesome ride, beautiful day. Restraint vest was comfortable until the end of the ride. Waiting to enter the station it was tight and hard to take a deep breath. But don't let that stop you from riding. Also noticed slight nausea. Never experienced that before.

Thanks to Cedar Point for their hospitality and generousity.

I tend to rate coasters on a variety of factors, including length of experience and re-ridability. Based on those and a couple other things, GK is now my second favorite coaster at CP (MF remains #1, with TTD dropping to #3). It's a great addition to the CP coaster arsenal - whereas Raptor's movements are tight and quick like a fighter jet, GK's seem much more like a aerobatic biplane -- much more of a wider arc and flow.

Another great advantage is that it is a very different ride from side to side -- had a great ride in the back left, then also loved it in the front right. And the rides in the middle of the train were also really enjoyable. The keyholes just add to the fun. I do agree that the restraints are a bit tight (I'm 6'3", 185); I wonder if the tension on them could be dialed back a bit. But that's really just a quibble.

I think the lines will be very, very long for this one, at least for a few years. Great thing about it is that it will likely take some of the draw away from Maverick and hopefully make that line a little more tolerable. But those GK crew members -- who were really great today, by the way -- are in for some late nights, as GK's front-of-the-park location will make it a "last ride" for a lot of people. At any rate it will be fun to see how the traffic patterns change in that part of the park.

Full marks for the CP staff today; it was really fun to get this opportunity to "preview" the ride. And the front gate is indeed gorgeous. A world-class entrance to a world-class park.

Cedar point is world's best amusement park.As far as this coaster is concerned then , it is simply best among all. The instant and fastest curve makes you a bit terrified but with a lot of amusement and entertainment.
I loved the man and his idea,who made this amusement park for us .
In fact it has become the identity of OHIO.

Blue Streak,Gemini , Jr.Gemini and Mantis are the best coaster rides according to me...Simply love in these.

Interesting comments about the restraints. I thought they were the same as Wild Eagle's, which IMO are just about perfect as far as OTSR--the polar opposite of Maverick's painful ear/head jabbers. Has anyone ridden both WE and GK to comment if there are any differences?