On "National Roller Coaster Day,” Friday, Aug. 16, we travel north to Ohio to give you a front row seat on this summer's biggest addition.

Summer mornings begin with a golden sun rising on the coast. Yet this isn’t the Atlantic, rather the place where Sandusky Bay meets Lake Erie in Ohio. The northern shores of Ohio are known for the mountain ranges made of wood and steel at Cedar Point.

"This thing you can see the wheels turning, and you're just outside on the wing,” says Ohio Roller Coaster Enthusiast Eddie Visi. “It does feel like you’re flying.”

The latest in roller coaster design is known as a "Wing Coaster." GateKeeper at Cedar Point places riders on the sides of the track, as if they're riding on the wings of an airplane.

"We want to be the dynamic, make it as smooth as possible, like a flying bird," explains Engineer Kim Gent with Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M). The Switzerland-based designer worked with Cedar Point’s famed Planning and Design department to create the new wing coaster.

While riders can't fly on a wing coaster in The Sunshine State, Floridians are making the pilgrimage to Sandusky, Ohio.

"I love it. It's amazing,” gushes Orlando resident Jo DeGiovanni. Jo loves roller coasters, a lot. She has ride logos from roller coasters at Islands of Adventure and Busch Gardens tatooed on her leg.

"I like Dueling Dragons, it's my favorite in Orlando. I also got the Montu tattoo,” Jo says pointing to her leg, like a proud parent. Both rides are inverted roller coasters, also designed by B&M.

Head over heels, GateKeeper flips riders upside-down six times.

Noteworthy elements include a “wing over drop." At the top of GateKeeper’s 170-foot lift hill, riders rotate 180° upside-down as they plunge to back to the Cedar Point beach while face first.

An “immelmann” inversion sends riders through a half loop before they twist out in the opposite direction from how they entered.

A 360° flat spin is enhanced by GateKeeper’s wide seating base.  The rotation creates a different ride experience depending on what side of the train riders chose to sit on.  The element is positioned in an unique "key-hole" loop over Cedar Point’s new front gate plaza.

Another 360° “in-line-roll” pulls riders close to the new keyhole towers flying above the entry plaza.

"I couldn't count them,” Eddie admits.

Besides GateKeeper there are 15 other scream machines of all different shapes and sizes at Cedar Point.

The 420-foot-tall Top Thrill Dragster travels at 120mph.

The 310-foot tall Millennium Force is consistently ranked as the world's number one roller coaster by the readers of Amusement Today.

The legendary Raptor inverted coaster is joined by the likes of Mantis, a stand-up roller coaster (both created by B&M).

The twin-racing Gemini features two trains that race each other on parallel tracks (the coaster also hosts the Coasting for Kids fundraiser for Orlando's Give Kids the World each summer). 

The plantet's first 200-foot-tall roller coaster, the legendary Magnum XL-200 are all unique to Cedar Point, just like GateKeeper.

"Maybe one day we see it in Orlando,” hints Kim Gent from B&M of a wing rider coaster being built in Florida. But before you get excited, Kim is quick to add, “I have no idea."

Until then, Jo will bring a little GateKeeper home to Florida with her, in the form of a new tattoo sporting Gatekeeper.

“How many times have you been on today?,” I ask.

“Ah, 15!" Jo mentions with contentment in her voice.

Cedar Point is open daily through Labor Day and Friday- Sunday until Halloween.

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