Vertical Construction Has Begun!

Please don't tell me that they are once again completely blocking the beach view AGAIN with that cement wall. : (

I sure hope they will pour filler cement in to make a midway boardwalk going over there. If they put a wicked twister style fence atop it, I hope it won't block the beach view.

also, why would they need a barrier? the lake shoreline is a good 40 feet from the coaster, so why would they need to protect it from waves?

I'm sure its to help fight against erosion. the wall does not seem the that tall.

Hopefully we can get some up close pictures of that area with the station.

As for that wall, it is trenched down. I believe you are seeing the outer edge footprint of where the new boundaries of the queue line cement will be poured, etc. The beach view will remain open,IMO. I do see a high grade wire fence coming up like WT has. Remember the old cement footprint for DT was rectangular before they tore it up to dig for the GK footers, this new cement footprint will have a contoured shape (think around the outer edge of Windseeker). New cement has to be poured around the loading station for the split queue going under the track and also for the outer edges of the ride. They did this also with WT (after the forward launch area) gradually adding more cement even a year later. The first year, it was sand where you shot out of the station, other cement to fill that in was poured the next year.Just my 2c.

There's really nothing to worry about Miss maverick. That wall will probably be 80-90% buried. It's sole purpose (as previously stated) is to keep the sand from eroding. Not only does it help keep the area looking nice but it's also necessary as a security barrier. So, since not having them is out of the question, those fences used along the beach are as good as you're going to get in terms of unobstructed views.

My understanding is that the area on the other side of the ride will be much like the area around Windseeker.

So, that's more than likely a retaining wall, and sand and concrete will be filled in for a sidewalk of sorts.

TTD 120mph said:
You can definitely tell they dug down a good 4-5 feet. So, there will probably be 2-3 feet of of concrete above grade/ground with the fence on top of that.

Your right, here is the ditch by the beach on the edge of Gatekeeper.

Bossmccann said:
You can actually see some square things which is where the line will be...

Pretty sure those are station footers. A paved sidewalk (which is essentially what a queue line is) doesn't require footers.

It might be kinda cool to have the exit photo station on the beach side right about where that lift truck is in the picture. Non-riders can enjoy the lake while waiting and you get a nice view of the lake as you exit the ride. I don't think it will be that way, however.

This picture settles the debate of the concrete wall height. As expected, it's only a wall to prevent erosion, and barely will be above ground level. There is also some recent tour pictures in that album that I haven't seen posted here yet.

Wall height

Rest of the album

here is the full tour info: http://www.cprundown.com/1/post/2013/01/off-season-tour.html

Pretty sure those are station footers. A paved sidewalk (which is essentially what a queue line is) doesn't require footers.

I agree with that but I do know for a fact that the queue line will go right in between those footers, or very near them.

You mean the queue will be routed near and eventually into the station? You don't say!

;)

No I mean it will actually go underneath the station

Just some other information about GK that hasn't been brought up. GK is too close to the roof of the restrooms. They have found out that the left side of the train is too low and the riders are too close to the building structure.

Wow, and before a pull through was even done.

Then destroy the restrooms. ;)

So does that mean they'll have to bring the roof down a little on the restrooms or just re-locate them?

Or perhaps they can shove in that extra piece of unused maverick roll and have it near miss.

Wait a minute. I don't know about this little bit of information. As it stands right now, there's no way the track by the front gate bathrooms is that close. Rippin, are you referring to the track that comes out of the 2nd zero g roll? The same track that's not installed yet. I'm a little curious as to how they found this out.