How was your ride?

Are the vests really that bad? If so, I don't understand why B&M continues to ship restraints that are so clearly painful... Definitely seems like something that can and should be tweaked.

The Vekoma flyer vests keep riders safe without suffocating them, so clearly it's doable.

The restraints were pretty bad for me, but i learned to deal with it somewhat. I rarely ever feel claustraphobic on a ride, but the feeling of not being able to get a full breath of air in my lungs really made me feel uncomfortable to say the least. I talked to a few people at media day, it sounds like they will tweak the restraint problem.

Beside that, the ride is amazing. A perfect addition to the park. Got some 20+ rides in, then had to call it a day. My head couldn't take anymore G's that day.

First, we were able to ride Gatekeeper in many different seats. Our favorite is the left side back seat. The intensity is more extreme in the back and the illusion of hitting the keyholes is emphasized by watching the train in front of you spin through before you get there. i also agree that the vests are not the best design. I had pain on my clavicle bones and my friend found a shortness of breath. Will be back and will enjoy Gatekeeper for years! The plaza area is wonderful. Well planned and thought out! Kudos to the designers, architects and installers!

Here are my thoughts about Gatekeeper after riding it at media day.

My first ride on it was fantastic. I was laughing throughout the entire ride. None of the other Laos I took were quite as good as the first. Some of that must have been the excitement of the new ride combined with the lack of sleep getting there before 4AM. Overall it is a solid ride and a great addition to the park.

Overall, I was a little disappointed by the ride, but I can't quite put my finger on why. I really wanted to like ride, but I just can't put it in the same league as Magnum and Millennium Force. I think the thing that hurts the ride the most are the restraints. On the lift hill and first inversion they are ok, but they just keep getting tighter over time. On coasters, I love the open feeling on rides like Millennium and Diamondback. Those restraints don't allow for any open feeling. In addition, I found the restraints to be a little painful. Some of the rides by the brake run it was very snug, and wouldn't allow for a deep breath. Some of the rides, it provided some mild discomfort. One ride, it was painful sitting in the brake run waiting to unload, digging into my collar bone. After 10 rides or so, the cumulative effect of the restraint made it so I really couldn't ride it without some mild discomfort, even before it tightened. The next day, my collar bone was still sore.

Overall, a good ride, but I don't think it's something that I would want to marathon.

Except for Media Day, its not going to be a ride all year you are going to be able to marathon, unless you dish out for a PastLane+ pass -- this is going to have 2-3 hours waits on busy days and 1-2 hour waits on less crowded days....

Maybe on Fridays during September you might be able to ride a couple two three times in a row -- but otherwise, I don't think anyone will be worried about marathoning it...

I rode it about 17 times and yes the restraints can become unbearable at some point in the ride. For those who rode it nearly 30 times i wonder if they still have a collar bone?

I definitely believe its all about body type. I had no issues at all with the restraints and neither did my friend who is 6'0140lbs soak and wet. And yes the back left seat is the deal-breaker from the wing over drop, good pops of air, and it definitely enhances the keyhole feature tremedously. The right side in the back is also great but the left side is more intense.

Here's my full details. Rode very back left outside out of recommendation from a friend, it was worth it. The first drop back there was up there as one of my favorite ride elements I've ever been on. The ride itself afterwards wasn't as thrilling as expected. Wing coasters don't exactly "fly" through their elements, they somewhat glide through, so right there kills the intensity a tad, as you weren't blowing through the towers at the front gate, moreover coasting through them. I will say though this ride is damn near one of the smoothest things I've ever been on, just absolutely incredible. The ride & queue theming is nice as well as an addition. CP finally did a new ride true justice & really made a huge impression with it. One flaw is the camelback hill also posed practically no great airtime. The first drop was the best bit of airtime I experienced. This however I conclude from two things. One: The vests do tighten down quite a bit, mine even had a good latch on me after dispatch, however I noticed it got pulled in a bit more after the end of the immelman. It didn't cause pain, but it did however almost practically staple me to the seat, which in thus killed the airtime. I talked with a friend of mine there on the ride and that may be in the works to be adjusted (honestly I wish scrapped, because Wild Eagle & others don't have this vest, the restraint itself does enough, and would still be enjoyable. My suggestion if this isn't fixed or not in the near future, pull the vest out to the red rails with your hands prior to dispatch to give it some room to move, but however still keeping you safe & secured. I have yet to try this idea but it's the only conclusion I could think of to avoid this. Second the weather is going to dramatically effect this ride. With the wind speed, direction, and cold morning I had while riding, I'm sure the ride wasn't going through as quickly and intense as it could have truly been.

So all in all, fun, great ride with alot of good ideas. My only drawbacks as of late are the lack of good airtime, not as intense as it looked and as thrilling, and somewhat quirky restraints. I waited 3hr30min for my first ride. Was I pleased with it, yes, is it worth the wait after that, eh not really. I'd put that in for maverick, maggie, or millie, not this. Also queues seem to hold about two hours of people roughly, and with full queues, I started before gatekeeper plinko and made it in that time, even with several delays. But still, I'd wait maybe full queues, and def. less than that, but never a full midway wait again. From an enthusiast standpoint this ride isn't that new great thrill in the park we've been craving. It's a fun great new ride, but it's not the new, omg best ride ever, lets pay 100 to get a pass and ride again, kinda thing. Moreover the, hey queues aren't completely full, lemme get a ride in.

Hopefully that is somewhat informative for all of you who haven't ridden yet or wanted some more in-depth info coming out of this thread. Enjoy, sorry for the tldr side of it though :P

Top Thrill 182 said:
Are the vests really that bad?

Yes, they really are that bad. I need to take a picture of my collarbones which range in color from purple to pink.

However, I rode it again yesterday (right before it went down) I was able to hold out the vest - it was quite a fun ride. I received some airtime on the bunny hill and through a couple other inversions; something that was lacking in my other rides.

Was just on Wild Eagle last month. It definitely has vests.

It did, I couldn't remember if it did or didn't, its been awhile. Now my one question is why isn't it a complaint coming from that ride as well?

I've read plenty of complaints about their vests, as well; including some on this very forum.

No idea why there seems to be a difference in experience. WE is a year old, so maybe the vests have stretched. It's also less intense, so that could account for it. All I can say is that as far as OTSR, I thought WE's were just about perfect. Will hopefully have a chance to compare with GK while I am at CP next weekend.

Overall, I was a little disappointed by the ride, but I can't quite put my finger on why.

Me too, and though I've never let those words leave my lips till just now. Why was I disappointed? Well, it's for the same reason I was disappointed with i305 at KD. Lack of trees and close objects to give you perspective or a sense of really moving fast.

GK has a good lakeview off to the left while climbing the lifthill, but after that you're mostly looking at parking lot, or the midfield beneath it which is just seeded dirt. It's not exciting, and it's boring scenery. Contrast that with a ride like, say, the Beast at KI which moves slower yet feels fast, and you can't see the whole layout ahead of you.

I know that's a difficult comparison to make, two completely different rides in every single possible way, but that's how I feel. That's why rides like the Voyage, Beast, and even MF to a lesser extent always will be higher on my list.

I only rode it once and in the front right outer seat...yesterday in the morning when Tony was throwing out T-shirts to people in line! (didn't get one).

The thing about the vest is that it does tighten at the end of the ride, and it pushed down on my hip bone, but this was probably the cause...when I got into my seat, the ride host ran over to me and I didn't get all the way into my seat. It was like he was attacking me in a rush to get all the seats checked, I'm sure. But he just about stapled me into the vest so it was really tight on my hips. :P

But great ride overall, I just need to ride it more times to really get the feeling of it. We wanted to ride at night, but it was down due to wind all night.

I experienced the same issue with the vests on X-Flight. For those who haven't yet ridden GK, think of it as your seatbelt in your car being pulled too far and locking so you can barely move, then add a thick vest that nearly suffocates you. It is not one of B&M's better designs and from what I've observed, not a necessity. I think they should be removed.

Speaking of T-shirts. You would think when somebody was shouting your name (Tony) you would throw them a shirt ;).
On a serious note, I do agree with Miss Mavericko7. I also think it had a lot to do with the expectations that were set. We also have to remember that this type of roller coaster is still a prototype and overtime they will become an outstanding ride type. Cedar Point did an excellent job and really pushed the limits on this type of ride. Just look how many record it broke. Yes after all the hype that CP put out about it it may not have turned out how you expected but just because it is not thrilling does not mean that it is not a good ride.

Also look at what the ride did to the front of the park. It really does make a statement. This is CP giant ball or Eiffel Tower structure.

I agree with removal of these for at least this ride...Or at least the restraint system has some give to it, almost seat belt like, not locking down as soon as it dispatches. I'm not familiar with the design of the restraint system itself yet, but I'm sure there would be a way to make the shoulder restraint/lapbar redundant per say, like diamondback or other ride systems similar. It requires no belt/anything extra due to it's design redundant locking restraints. I find it odd they incorporate this into one design but not the next, but ah well. Maybe voices like this forum will be heard and brought up with leadership/ride design and possibly altered/redesigned...But we shall only see

its a shame parks don't make changes to flaws on coasters, Gatekeeper would be better without vests just like Mantis would be better with sit down trains. You could easily find a replacement for the vests, but i just don't see Cedar Point replacing them.

Did anyone get thrown up on or see anyone get thrown up on?