Track has arrived!

Definitely hoping that there's some sort of "plussing" to the ride other than being the tallest and longest of its kind. Some sort of obstacle to drop into/through would be great. That adds so much to the appeal of Gatekeeper - in addition to its location above the main gate. I'm confident that CP will have a layout that will become the 2016 selfie photo spot...

Do you think the fact that CP gets invaded by all sorts of bugs and spiders, more so than other parks, makes a difference when it comes to designing theming at the park? These bugs can get into small areas that are very hard to clean on a regular basis.

Nope, that's no excuse for not even trying.

I'll just leave you with one example. Look at Banshee's station, then look at GateKeeper's. Banshee's has a medieval theme to it and even has its overhead lights randomly dim, making the place appear haunted. GateKeeper's is a generic open roof. Banshee also has little tombstones at the entrance and along the side of the queue. GateKeeper has.. none of that. At least they both have nice, large entrance signs.

Little things go a long way.

^ Totally agree. I was just at KI for the first time this past weekend and was blown away by how much better they are with theming. I liked the dimming lights and the Banshee station design along with the tombstones in the queue. I would like to CP try a little better than a mist machine and a speaker with sound effects. A dive coaster is a perfect opportunity to go all out with theming. But if they hype up anything about theming, I'll keep my expectations low.

I went to KI for the first time the weekend before you did Thabto and was also very impressed with theming. I especially liked Beast's station. I thought the theming was done well with that ride.

Well being that it was a "theme park" before Cedar Fair bought it would have a lot to do with it.

Rides don't have to be heavily themed to be fun. Just little touches to compliment the ride are good enough for me. Thats what i think was done with Banshee. Great station, tombstones, lighting, fog/mist. Put the extra money into the actual ride.

Maverick is probably the best you will see at Cedar Point "theme" wise. They put it in Frontier Town....they better tie it into that setting somehow, and they did.

Where the new ride is going, it will just need the little touches to tie into the name of the ride. We all know they make some great ride entrance plazas with a great sign.....i think the surprise will be with the train and vest restraints. A splashdown would be a nice touch.

You honestly want a splash down in a climate that is generally high 60's-low 70's in May/Early June and down into the 50's if not 40's come late October? As cool as they look, that mist isn't gonna feel too good then.

Who says the mist has to hit you? Diamondback's splashdown doesn't come anywhere near you. It just looks cool from a distance,

Instead of a tunnel they should just cover the drop in thick fog.

How about a tunnel WITH thick fog. We all know how Rougarou's fog turned out though.

And we also all know how the last tunnel with fog went. ;P

I really enjoyed the fog in Maverick's tunnel. It made the lighting effects that much more dramatic.

CoasterKyle1121 said:

Who says the mist has to hit you? Diamondback's splashdown doesn't come anywhere near you. It just looks cool from a distance,

If the wind is blowing the right way it does. You can get wet on the midway bridge between Maverick and Snake river falls. If the wind is blowing south, the water bombs can get you and if the wind is blowing north, the SNF splash can get you. It all just depends.

If you're in the back row on DiamondStack, you tend to get at least a little mist.

Has any new track (or supports) arrived?

I watched the crew take another track section off a truck yesterday (Tuesday). There is currently more support sections then track and that staging area is getting pretty full- I was a bit awe-struck by the size of the track sections. You don't really get a good idea of just how big they are until you see someone standing next to it.

You tease us by not taking photos! :D

Will the train pay homage to the streamlined 60s vibe of those cool cars you used to be able to drive under there? I do see a connection from my youth of that area when it was those cool hydraulic diving jets. I think the entrance will be in that exact same place ,in a closed blue streak midway thus driving the expansion of the chicken joint there. That wooded area is so nice and I can see them making it the next cool cue area.

I'll just leave these here.

^ You can't leave those there! You need to bring them out to the construction site and start assembling. Slacker!