Cedar Point Announces New ‘Winged’ Roller Coaster

Northern Ohio amusement park Cedar Point hails itself as the roller coaster capital of the world, and, in the park’s near-constant spirit of innovation, they’ll be adding a new roller coaster for the 2013 season.

The new ride is part of a multi-million dollar renovation of the park’s main entrance, which will now include the new coaster flying over the main entrance upside down. Gatekeeper will be the longest winged roller coaster in the world and will boast the longest drop of any winged coaster on the planet, according to a Cedar Point press release. According to The Associated Press, the ride is scheduled to open in May of next year.

Designed by coaster manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard, Monthey, Switzerland, the ride along its 4,164 feet of dark and light blue steel tubular track will take approximately 2 minutes and 40 seconds.

“Once riders crest the top of the 170-foot-tall lift hill, the coaster train will rotate 180 degrees to the right, turning riders upside down before plummeting a record 163 feet toward the ground at speeds reaching 67 mph,” the release reports. “Then the train will enter a half loop, go through a half twist and curve out in the opposite direction from which it came. A towering 105-foot-tall camelback hill awaits just before riders glide through a 360-degree giant flat spin. The train will then fly through the middle of two support towers that will dominate Cedar Point’s new Main Entrance. The coaster will then make a tight, 180-degree turnaround which pushes riders through an overbanked turn and rockets them back towards the station. A 360-degree in-line roll, camelback drop and spiral round out the amazing elements that GateKeeper will treat its passengers to next summer.”

Though the new coaster is bound to excite roller coaster enthusiasts, the march of progress isn’t without a cost. To build the new ride, Cedar Point has closed and will be tearing down Disaster Transport, an indoor space-themed coaster that has been at the park since the mid 1980s. The park also closed and dismantled The Wildcat roller coaster earlier this year to make room for a light show.

Cedar Point is located in Sandusky, Ohio.