Creed Bratton Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 I honestly really like the ride. I was at the park on Monday and only rode it once as I had other things I wanted to get done. Aside from that, I love the beach view on the lift (obviously riding on the left side). I think that if you sit anywhere other than the 4 corners the ride could just be okay, but those 4 corners provide great thrills. I think the speed is just right, if it was any faster it would feel like the ride wasn't worth the wait, i.e. TTD. I've not had any issues with the restraints, but having good posture helps with that. My first ride on it was around 4 in the morning on Media Day and that blew me away. As some have said, the coaster is very nice to look at. I think that CP did an amazing job designing the entrance around such a great coaster. The only greivance I have is that they keep separators at the entrance to the station, making the line too long if it gets to that point. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordSkippy Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 I thought Gatekeeper was great. It certainly warranted the destruction of Disaster Transport. Although I do like Wild Eagle a bit better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ki lover Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 It's a waste of 25 million to me! 3rd best B&M in the park and I rather have had them built an Intamin. I rode it for the first time Sunday, and my sister and I were very bummed out. Not trying to be negative, just my honest opinion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 From a ride experience I thought Gatekeeper was good, though not great. I enjoyed Wild Eagle a lot more. In my opinion though that is only half of the story with Gatekeeper. Gatekeeper wasn't meant to supplant Millennium Force, Maverick, or Dragster as the crown jewel of the point. It was meant to complement them which, in my opinion, it does quite well. It offers a previously unavailable ride experience, adds a tremendous new air of excitement to the front gate area, and adds another large ride to what was already (again, in my opinion) the greatest amusement park skyline in the world. It is very hard to argue that Gatekeeper isn't visually stunning. It offers a ride experience that isn't so forceful that it excludes/intimidates people from riding. I think we have all seen people trying to drag their terrified friends into line for Millennium or Dragster. It is something that everyone in the family (of a certain height) can enjoy together and that a lot of people getting off seemed eager to re-ride when I was there. Would a lot of enthusiasts have preferred to see an Intamin Woodie there? Sure. I would have too. But I think that Gatekeeper was a much better long term addition. There is absolutely nothing wrong with having another reliable people eater at The Point. In many many ways I think that they really hit a home run with this addition. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RideWarriorAP Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 On a scale of 1-10, I rate Gatekeeper at a 7. The ride is not that fast, but is very smooth which makes the tolerable. The keyhole element inversions is the only thing that makes this ride fun IMO. I have noticed that if you sit on the right side of the train the ride is more comfortable compared to the left. I have been on Gatekeeper 10 times total this year. 8 of those has been on the right side. The left side gave me a major headache both times, which is why I will stay away from going on the left unless I really have to. I am just glad CP constructed this ride at the front of the park. It balances out the crowd because of all the major ride are located at the middle and end of the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeastForever Posted August 7, 2013 Share Posted August 7, 2013 Meh, it was above-average but nothing spectacular. Definitely not worth 2-hour waits like Maverick or Millenium Force are. You have to admit, Cedar Point would be no where close where it is today without Intamin. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Cedar Point was around over a century prior to MF. If it wasn't Intamin, another company would have built the coasters. (This is turning into another decoding thread! ) 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 The installment of TTD has done the most for CP IMO. Amazing structure, yes! Most for the park no way! I would have to give that to Millie! TTD is down to much! Didn't even Kinzel say this was the worst investment he ever made? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ki lover Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 The installment of TTD has done the most for CP IMO. Amazing structure, yes! Most for the park no way! I would have to give that to Millie! TTD is down to much! Didn't even Kinzel say this was the worst investment he ever made? Kinzel is a clown for saying that. It's about on everyone's top 3 list at cp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCrypt Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Just because it's a crowd favorite doesn't mean it's economical, efficient, and a good overall investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Browntggrr Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 Say what ya want about Mr. Knizel; you gotta give credit where credit is due: It takes a true man to admit he made a $25,000,000 mistake. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ki lover Posted August 8, 2013 Share Posted August 8, 2013 I know one thing tho; Mean Streak was a really good investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ride On_17 Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Just found this thread so I thought I'd chime in. I absolutely love Gatekeeper and believe it was the perfect addition for the park at the perfect time. It provides a completely different experience (or should I say 4 different experiences? front, back, left right) than already offered at the park. With a park as big as CP and with as many coasters as it has, it can be difficult to add a new ride without it seeming just like any other ride there. That's what I love so much about CP, they have so many different ride experiences and no 2 of their coasters give the same experience. With the past several coaster intallations at the Point, guests have been able to go on forceful, quick flips and turns of Raptor, a launch and vertical spirals on Wicked Twister, high speed and height on Millennium Force, sudden acceleration on Dragster, and airtime and wild maneuvers on Maverick. What better way to balance the recent coasters than to add a more gentle experience that guests could take a break from extreme thrills. Gatekeeper does exactly this. The park yet again added another unique experience to the park and somehow managed to fill another gap in its coaster lineup, allowing their newest creation to take on its own identity without resembling any other ride experience currently at the park. It has transformed the park, and for years and years to come visitors will have their first impressions of the park with "that coaster that flies over the entrance!" On no other ride at the park do you feel like you are truly gracefully soaring and flying with series of fun, thrilling inversions and elements. Plus in the evening when the line for this ride dies down I can ride it multiple times while getting away from the heart pounding adrenaline rushes of many of the other coasters. Also, I believe there are many more kids who would rather ride Gatekeeper than Dragster or Millennium. I have yet seen someone on the verge of crying due to being afraid to ride it--unlike on MF or Dragster. It is a more family friendly ride, and I still can't stress enough how much I love this ride. Not only for how much I personally enjoy it, but also for how much the park has benefited from it, both aesthetically and in its ride lineup. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tr0y Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I will say disaster transport was an eyesore, and space spiral was replaced by WindSeeker... Gatekeeper was ok, my favorite part being the wing over drop/half loop into a Immelmann loop... They really cleaned up that side of the park, its a lot more open and seems less cluttered, The entrance also looks great especially at night. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTCO Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I do enjoy Gatekeeper... However, coming right out of the first corkscrew into the keyhole, I have noticed a 'pump' sort of feeling that the train does. It feels like the train is shaking back and forth. It's very odd, and I don't remember it doing that the first couple weeks it opened. The problem could be a structural thing or a train thing, but I don't like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombieninja Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 I think the problem with Gatekeeper is people went in with high expectations. I don't think the intention from the start was to create the most thrilling machine in the park. After all, this is the replacement for Disaster Transport. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RailRider Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 The times are a changing my friends... Cedar Point was known and marketed as the Thrill Seekers Capital and is why so many big intense rides were built. Millie, TTD, Maverick, Wicked Twister and some big flats during this time. None of these rides would be considered family friendly and that isn't where CP was focused. But as in park spending continued to drop and other parks in the chain were outpacing the crown jewel in earnings FUN had to reevaluate how things were run on the point and within the chain. The family of 4 will spend more money in a park than a group of thrill seekers ever will and once this realization was confirmed the old regime was kindly escorted off the property and a new management team was brought in with ties to the mouse. A Soliloquy on the industry. Compare Disney World against Universal. Who has the more technical ground breaking rides and who has the greater attendance and income? Transformers, Harry Potter, Spiderman and The Mummy, vs Dumbo, Peter Pan, Its a Small World, and Space Mountain. Ahh yes bigger does not mean better and the Middle Class family holds the majority of Nickles in the world. While some around these boards and others like it may bane about the ride experience of Gatekeeper as not being thrilling enough, families are lining up to ride and visit CP because of the new focus on the family. Expect this Paradigm Shift to continue... That is why something like Banshee is coming in place of something more intense and thrilling. I for one like change and have a strong idea of where the cheese has been re-positioned. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beastrider97 Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Visited the park over the last weekend and rode Gatekeeper 5 times. Rode all 4 "corner" rows, with back left being my favorite. I really liked the ride, there IS airtime as far as I could tell, but it is barely felt due to the restraint system. Back left offered some nice forces and felt as if being yanked through some of the inversions which I loved. Overall, I feel it is a great addition to the park, if only for what it did to the former DT area and the front gate. That area of the park looks so much better now without the box o' disaster. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdf21972 Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 first time and only time i rode was in July. Very nice day cool breeze. I purchased the Fast Lane plus just for this reason, and it was smooth and very unique ride experience. I can now say this is my favorite coaster and planning another trip in september just to ride Gatekeeper. As a KI regular, Diamondback and Beast were the best rides but now with Gatekeeper I have mixed emotions about Diamondback being my #1. Wishing that KI Banshee was a wing coaster but I will take it and cannot wait to ride it in 2014! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondbacker27 Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Fav. ride there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jr for Birdy Posted August 27, 2013 Share Posted August 27, 2013 After spending the last two days at the Point, I rode GK several times and really enjoyed it. Nice relaxing, smooth coaster, I thought it was really fun and unique. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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