From May until late October when the park is open, amusement park enthusiasts all over the country, and even the world, travel to Sandusky, Ohio to experience Cedar Point's never ending array of entertainment. But most likely have never even thought about what takes place at the roller coaster capital of the world during the parks offseason.

While most of the over 6,000 employees that make up the Cedar Point staff in a variety of vocation's are not at work from late October to early May, a few diligent people are to ensure the park is ready for the 2-5 million guests it will host during the season months. Everything from ride maintenance to hotel renovations, culinary experimentation to entertainment production and new construction are all addressed in the offseason, along with the search for those thousands of employees.

The big project underway at the park this offseason is a substantial one that will forever change the first impression guests receive when entering Cedar Point. The soon to be world's longest winged coaster called "The Gatekeeper" has been under construction since late October and is roughly half way to completion here in mid-January.

The 4,164 foot marvel will boast the worlds tallest drop for a wing coaster at 164 feet and will feature six inversions, also believed to be a world record. The entrance for this attraction sits where the demolished Space Spiral and Disaster Transport used to call home and will loop over the heads of guests entering the park through 100 foot tall key holes located at the front entrance.

Construction of the Gatekeeper is said to be on schedule and is expected to be ready for use when the park opens on May 11. Many other projects will be completed in a number of departments from now until then to ensure Cedar Point is ready for opening day, but all guests will see is the spectacular finished product, not the hours of hard work that goes into preparing the world's best amusement park.