Cedar Point's Gatekeeper: Your reaction?

[McSalsa]

^^

$30,000,000!?!?

Dang, Wing Riders are more expensive than Hypercoasters that are 60+ feet taller and 1,000+ feet longer than them...Diamondback here at Kings Island cost only $22 million in '09...

[beastrider97]

^I think the full cost includes the new front gate and whatever work will go on near the ride.

[flightoffear1996]

And probaly the demo of D.T.

[malem]

And probaly the demo of D.T.

The demo cost of DT is almost certainly negative, given the sheer amount of steel there.

[KIfan1980]

I doubt the cost is negative - While sale of scrap could recover some costs, it would shock me if it was anywhere near 100%

[Original]

^^

$30,000,000!?!?

You may be surprised. But I could use up that amount of money!

[Original]

There is a webcam of Gate Keeper's construction. You might have to hit refresh to get to the present time.

http://www.cedarpoint.com/Gatekeeper/webcam

[TTD-120-420]

^Gatekeeper has no meaning behind it.

I thought it was named Gatekeeper because of its deliberate positioning over the gate or something?

I was explaining that it had no dark undertones with it like Banshee did. I understand it is keeping the front gate.

[markr]

Sorry to be a party pooper, but has anyone thought yet about how Fast Lane will affect capacity? I plan do ERT with my good old Platinum Pass so, hopefully, this won't be an issue for me.

[beastrider97]

If it's implemented as well as it is on Millie and Maverick, I doubt it will affect capacity too much. If it's like Kings Island where it is a walk right into the station with no wait, it could seriously impact the capacity, as on Opening Day I could see people buying Fast Lane just to use it on Gatekeeper most of the day.

[Browntggrr]

^ Which would be a terrible decision if purchasing just for GK.

Purchasing FL can't prevent the opening day blues for new rides as there are often long waits (inexperience by all park entities) with numerous breakdowns.

What should also be considered: opening day at CP is normally very chilly that time of year due to being directly on Lake Erie, which will probably only have a temperature of 55°. The air temperature could be 70° just 10 miles South of the park, and 50° at the park if the wind is coming off the lake.

- Brown- who has been to opening days for Raptor & MF and has learned to stay home & mow the lawn.

[Tanna]

Would it draw new customers to the park? Me, probably. I've never been to Cedar Point, and to be honest, the Travel Channel does a good job of advertising the parks, especially Cedar Point. It adds to the list of pros as to why a person would pack ai camper and go to Sandusky. I think it's a great investment, as long as it's reliable.

[jasonondropzone]

The name is the only thing that disappoints me.

[raptor]

Love to see a big new coaster that goes over near the lake. I am dissapointed to see the Spiral go, old vintage stuff like that brings charm to the park and I believe it was one of the oldest rides in the park.

[Browntggrr]

^ Space Spiral was built in 1965.

From what I can find, not prove-

Older rides:

Midway Carousel- 1946

Cadillac Cars- 1958

Scrambler- 1960

Sky Ride- 1961

CP&LE RR- 1963

BS- 1964

Turnpike Cars- 1965

[PhantomTheater]

Even though Cedar Downs and Kiddy Kingdom Carousel were added in late 60's, both were built in the 1920's and can be considered older than Spiral.

[KIBeast]

Gatekeeper is going to be a great addition. According to what I have heard, these wing riders don't have much of a problem with downtime. I won't miss DT or SS. DT was boring and I never rode SS because it looked uninteresting.

[bkroz]

If it's implemented as well as it is on Millie and Maverick, I doubt it will affect capacity too much. If it's like Kings Island where it is a walk right into the station with no wait, it could seriously impact the capacity, as on Opening Day I could see people buying Fast Lane just to use it on Gatekeeper most of the day.

At Kings Dominion, even "unlimited" Fast Lane only offers two rides on Volcano per day due to the ride's low capacity nature. At Busch Gardens Williamsburg, even the "unlimited" Quick Queue does not include Verbolten (a Quick Queue Unlimited Plus gets you one priority-board on Verbolten). Universal's Express Pass Plus Unlimited still doesn't work on Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit (2009) or Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (2010). In other words, as long as exceptions are spelled out, it's fair and smart to limit for new or low-capacity rides. I think you'll see Cedar Point do that.

I would also suggest that they do what Busch Gardens does: block off one row (or maybe two pairs of seats on one side, for a Wing Rider) for Fast Lane users only. They'll be represented 4-per-train and will experience a shorter wait than others, but will still wait their turn.