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Diamondback Testing - Photos and Video, First Ride Auction, Vote For KICentral & More!


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With April just on the horizon, Diamondback - Kings Island's new 230' steel hypercoaster, has begun its first phase in testing. Loaded with water dummies, this steel beast is scheduled to cycle trains every afternoon until the park opens to the public on April 18th. KICentral was the ONLY fan site granted special access to bring you coverage of Diamondback as it comes out of its shell! Click here to see up close and personal photos of Diamondback being tested and

to see an exclusive video of Diamondback making her first rounds!

Every year Cincinnati's unique publication CityBeat hosts their "Best of Cincinnati" poll. KICentral.com is currently in the running for best web site in Cincinnati! Please show your support by following this link and voting for KICentral.com as best web site in Cincinnati!

Kings Island, in cooperation with A Kid Again, formerly known as Adventures for Wish Kids, is holding an auction for the first rides on the new Diamondback roller coaster that will appeal to philanthropists and coaster-enthusiasts alike.

Beginning February 2, the park will auction off a minimum of 96 seats to the highest bidders, who will be the first official riders on Diamondback – the tallest, fastest and meanest roller coaster to ever strike Kings Island. Bids can be placed until April 15 by visiting www.kiDiamondback.com/public/auction/ or by calling Kings Island at (800) 288-0808.

A winning bid will include the inaugural ride on Diamondback, a commemorative first rider ticket, a special gift from the park and an admission ticket. Following the inaugural ride, each event ticket holder will be invited to stay and play in the park until closing at 10:00pm.

The official opening of Diamondback, including the top bidders supporting A Kid Again, will take place on Opening Day, April 18. The highest successful bidder will select their seat on the first train while all other successful bidders will be assigned their seats according to their bid amount. Minimum bids begin at $50.00.

One-hundred percent of the proceeds from the auction will go directly to A Kid Again. Founded July 6, 1995, A Kid Again is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing fun-filled outings and on-going support to children with life threatening illnesses and their families from the day of diagnosis until the children reach the age of 20.

Because A Kid Again is a 501 © (3) not-for-profit, the donation from top bidders is tax-deductable to the fullest extent of the IRS tax code.

A Kid Again currently has over 1,380 children with life threatening illness enrolled into its programs. The organization includes the entire family on its adventures, thus serving over 6,500 hurting people annually!

Diamondback is the 15th roller coaster at Kings Island. The ride stands 230 feet at its highest point with a first drop of 215 feet at a 74-degree angle and will snake its way around 5,282 feet of track in excess of 80 miles per hour. Guests must be a minimum of 54 inches or taller to ride Diamondback.

Diamondback first rider information:

  • A minimum of 96 bidders will be seated.
  • Bids must start at $50.00 and may be increased at any time until bidding is closed.
  • Bids will not be posted until they have been secured by phone with a credit card to assure legitimacy.
  • The bidding process will close the morning of April 15, at 8:30am. It is our intention to keep you informed through this website. To bid, simply go to www.kiDiamondback.com. Also, the top bidders will be listed so you can check the status of your bid.
  • The official opening of Diamondback, including the top bidders supporting A Kid Again, will take place on Opening Day, April 18.
  • The highest successful bidder will select their seat on the first train while all other successful bidders will be assigned their seats according to their bid amount.

A diverse range of job opportunities are available at Kings Island, as the park announced today plans to hire more than 4,000 seasonal associates for the 2009 operating season, which begins April 18. Associates are needed in all areas of park operation, including admissions, call center, cash control, entertainment, food and beverage, games, guest relations, lifeguards, merchandise, rides, security, sweeps and warehouse. Anyone 15 years of age or older who wants an exciting and rewarding place to work this summer can learn more about the different departments and opportunities at visitkingsisland.com. Apply online, and then come out to the job fair for an interview.

Kings Island is an Equal Opportunity employer. For more information or questions regarding employment, please call (513) 754-5748 or visitkingsisland.com.

Do you want the latest information sent directly to your cell phone? Sign up for KICentral's official mobile club and receive text alerts with the latest news and information about Kings Island! Signing up is fast and free! Click here for more information about KICentral's official mobile club!

Are you an avid Kings Island fan or do you casually visit once a year? It doesn't matter! KICentral.com is the site for you. Why not register on the forums of KICentral and tell us about your thoughts and experiences involving Kings Island! Registration is fast, FREE, and easy. Don't forget to keep checking KICentral.com for the latest news, rumors and information about Kings Island amusement park!

Regards,

Ryan

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Very fine pictures Ronny! Glad you got to witness DBack in operation.

I was not present, but instead was having fun today at DAAP being the music/video guy at the annual sophomore bridge break. The hilarity that ensued from the thesis year skits and videos had the entire 300 seat lecture hall laughing like hyenas .

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My god, the sound is amazing! I can't wait to hear it in person. Thanks for the coverage guys! Ronny, great pictures.

Did you guys get to see the first run?

The first test run was yesterday (Thursday) at approximately 4:41p. We were not present, nor was any member of the media. No one knew that they were going to test on Thursday until the last minute, hence many of you getting the "you're not missing anything" responses when you emailed Don Helbig.

I got butterflies while watching that video!

Maybe it was because I was expecting to get "RickRolled" the whole time I was watching!?!?!

Thanks for posting, it was wonderful to watch.

Trust me, we considered it. :rolleyes:

That looks awesome! I didn't hear any trim brakes (or MCBR) in use in the video, lets hope it stays that way!

That's the beauty of it -- from my take of it, you can clearly see the train slow down a little at the MCBR, but it's very graceful and will likely be unnoticed by the rider.

I'm so happy that KI will finally have that famous B&M Roar! It speeds into the brake run, the airtime looks amazing!

You have no idea... hearing that train rip through the turns with a sound emitting from it that is only comparable to what you'd hear during an F5 tornado is incredible! That's the reason why I didn't doctor the video up at all... I wanted you guys to hear it too!

Did they mention why there wasn't a test dummy in one of the front seats?

The test dummies are actually water dummies -- they can be filled to different capacities with water to represent persons of different weights. As they tested the ride, they moved the water dummies around every once in a while between cyclones to represent that random nature of the distribution of weight in the train during typical operation. At some points, they entirely removed the dummies in certain seats to represent vacancies.

FYI Please note that if you want to take photos of Diamondback testing, please limit yourself to the passenger pickup area unless you have specific permission to be anywhere else on the property. Otherwise you will be trespassing.

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is there anyway to download the video so it will play on an ipod?

Yes, you can. Download the Videora iPod Touch Converter here: http://www.videora.com/en-us/Converter/iPod/

When you get to the home screen it should have a box on the left hand side saying "Convert" at the top, then "CD", "Video File", and "Online Video". Click on Online Video and follow the on-screen instructions.

Amazing Photos! Fangtastic Video! I LOVE that roar, boy does it hiss!

And Hey,

http://www.KICentral.com/photos/albums/use...esting_0010.jpg

That looks kinda familiar.....

http://i274.photobucket.com/albums/jj254/J...09/DSC01540.jpg

Yeah, except for the train going over the tracks. ;)

I still call that being a copy cat. ;)

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As Abraham Lincoln wisely observed, you can call a cat's tail a leg, but the fact remains that cats have four legs, regardless of what you call it. The perspective in those photos, though grand, is not novel, unique or in any way protected from copying by others. Moreover, Ronnie added an element, as he noted, you were missing...an operating train. I hate to tell you this, but literally thousands and thousands of photographers will take photos from the same perspective you did over the years, and almost none of them will have ever seen your photo. They are, therefore, not copying, nor was Ronnie.

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