Cedar Point announces new roller coaster - 13abc.com Toledo (OH) News, Weather and Sports

Cedar Point announces new roller coaster

Posted: Updated:
13abc.com Christine Long - email

Cedar Point announces it's building a new record-breaking roller coaster called the Gatekeeper.

The Gatekeeper will be the longest, tallest, and fastest coaster of its kind in the world. The track will fly above the main entrance to the park in Sandusky.

Cedar Point released this video simulation of the Gatekeeper on Monday. The new ride is scheduled to be ready to roll at the beginning of the 2013 season.

"A winged coaster," says John Hildebrandt, the Vice President and General Manger of Cedar Point. "The first kind of coaster we've ever had like this. There are very few in the world."

Riders will essentially ride on the wing with over-the-shoulder restraints. The ride plummets a whopping 170 feet at a top speed of 67 miles per hour. The Gatekeeper will travel more than four thousand feet in one trip and last two minutes and forty seconds.

"Ours is going to be the biggest in the world, the highest, and the steepest drop. Winged roller coasters ride out on the sides, so it has been compared to riding on the wing of an airplane," says Hildebrandt.

The Gatekeeper will be located near the park's main entrance. It will replace Disaster Transport and Space Spiral. Space Spiral will run through Labor Day. Demolition has already begun on Disaster Transport.

Cedar Point's VP and GM explains the significance behind the new coaster's name and how it will change the landscape.

"The Gatekeeper is because the ride is actually going to fly over the front gate of the park," says Hildebrandt. "As part of the project we're re-vamping and re-doing the whole entrance plaza to the park. There's two big towers where the ride will shooo fly through."

The Gatekeeper will be able to accommodate approximately 1,700 riders per hour. The ride is scheduled to be ready to open with the rest of the park in May of 2013.

  • Local

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 10:50 PM EDT2013-05-19 02:50:34 GMT
    Three suspects are still on the loose after an-early morning home invasion and murder in Waterville Township and investigators say the death of 34-year-old James Safadi was not a random act of violence.
    Investigators say the home invasion death of 34-year-old James Safadi in Waterville was not a random act of violence. They believe the local business owner was targeted.

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 9:01 PM EDT2013-05-19 01:01:59 GMT
    A team that played  football  for years has reunited to pay tribute to their coach who died from ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's Disease.It was the fifth year for the Dave Calabrese Football Blitz, but
    It was the fifth year for the Dave Calabrese Football Blitz, but the first without Calabrese, who died just days ago after a battle with ALS.

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 7:57 PM EDT2013-05-18 23:57:12 GMT
    While the most intense of the severe weather will be in the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley, it is possible that we could see some severe thunderstorms, as early as Monday night, especially west of the Toledo metro area.
    While the most intense of the severe weather will be in the Great Plains and Mississippi Valley, it is possible that we could see some severe thunderstorms, as early as Monday night, especially west of the Toledo metro area.
    •   

  • Regional

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 9:52 PM EDT2013-05-19 01:52:31 GMT
    LEXINGTON, Mich. (AP) - Carol Connell remembers well the gift she gave Sara Ylen, a friend seemingly forced to bear too much misery. Ylen, a Michigan mother of two young boys, said she was battling cancer
    A Michigan mom who claimed to be battling cancer and a rape survior is being accused of fraud and her community is reeling.

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 8:52 PM EDT2013-05-19 00:52:10 GMT
    DETROIT (AP) - A tiny insect is threatening Michigan's fruit and vegetable crops. The brown marmorated stink bug's presence in Michigan has growers and agriculture experts concerned because there are
    A tiny insect is threatening Michigan's fruit and vegetable crops. The brown marmorated stink bug's presence in Michigan has growers and agriculture experts concerned.

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 8:42 PM EDT2013-05-19 00:42:53 GMT
    CLEVELAND (AP) - Some of the Amish sentenced in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio are upset with federal prison education requirements. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has required some to study
    Some of the Amish sentenced in beard-cutting attacks on fellow Amish in Ohio are upset with federal prison education requirements.
    •   

  • Top Stories

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 10:50 PM EDT2013-05-19 02:50:34 GMT
    Three suspects are still on the loose after an-early morning home invasion and murder in Waterville Township and investigators say the death of 34-year-old James Safadi was not a random act of violence.
    Investigators say the home invasion death of 34-year-old James Safadi in Waterville was not a random act of violence. They believe the local business owner was targeted.

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 9:52 PM EDT2013-05-19 01:52:31 GMT
    LEXINGTON, Mich. (AP) - Carol Connell remembers well the gift she gave Sara Ylen, a friend seemingly forced to bear too much misery. Ylen, a Michigan mother of two young boys, said she was battling cancer
    A Michigan mom who claimed to be battling cancer and a rape survior is being accused of fraud and her community is reeling.

  • Saturday, May 18 2013 9:11 PM EDT2013-05-19 01:11:00 GMT
    DAMASCUS, Va. (AP) - Witnesses in southwestern Virginia say a car has driven into a crowd at a festival parade. Several people appeared to be hurt, but the nature of their injuries wasn't immediately
    An elderly driver plowed into dozens of hikers marching in a Saturday parade in a small Virginia mountain town.
    •   

Area Events Calendar

See It, Shoot It, Send It!