Diamondback First Thoughts and Impressions?!

[tigellinus]

When getting into the park when heading towards DB what is the quickest way to get to the line?

Maria

through Nick Universe

Technically that doesn't narrow it down...

[coasterville]

I made it to the park for opening day as well.

Somewhere in my mind I thought if I arrived at the park at 7:45AM I would be in great shape, wound up taking me until 11:10 to get my first ride.

When I joined queue #1 - the crowd to get into early entry I was back by Graeters. (Note to self for future new ride installs: new coaster is more important than restroom stop)

So Finally got through the funnel into Nick around 9:15, walked around to find the line was halfway down the hill between the Tower and the floral clock. One good thing, it is so refreshing to have a new ride project that opens on opening day, a park opening, with all trains/seats in service, and running reliably. I don't think I noticed any downtime all day. This creates the phenomenon of the 2-Hour "Walk" instead of a two hour wait, because once they had the platform crew in rhythm, the line mostly just keeps moving with very brief pauses every now and then.

Owing to having a build that has caused me trouble on some rides, I gave the test seat a whirl, and the test seat here is fully working with a locking lap bar and a signal indicator light that comes on when the lap bar position sensor is tripped. With the seat assigning the whole thing was going pretty smooth.

Now, onto the ride:

Ride #1 - Row 16, seat closest to load side.

Luck was with me when I drew a backseat ride for my first ever ride. I was concerned when I could only feel 1 click in the lapbar on the train vs. three on the tester, but the bar felt to be in the same position relative to my body, anyway I was good to go. I haven't gotten an od numbered row yet, but I think I really like the seating configuration of the even numbered rows with the two seats spread far apart. Nothing on either side of you, my feet could not touch the floor and I am 6' tall. no seatbelt, just this clamshell lapbar.

We take off from the station, and my first impressions were amazement over the quantity and quality (strong) airtime on every single drop in the back seat. Even the drop off the mid course, and that drop that felt like it had a trim on it delivered good air. To me, strong airtime is the #1 thing I look for in a hypercoaster. Oh and the helix over Beast plaza is surely a signature element of the ride with how it reacts with those walking through Rivertown, quickly followed by the real signature moment in the splashdown finale. In the backseats if you ride arms up you just might cause yourself to get a bit more out of the splashdown effect than was intended. I loved it, very much worth the wait. Now I've been there, done that, got the FREE T-shirt.

I apprecaiated the fact they handed out the actual shirts and not exchange vouchers at the ride exit. I then went inside and purchased the on ride photo.

Then I went to ride other rides, as I was showing the park off to a Kings Island first time visitor.

The quick rundown:

Soft drink wristbands - still available, I have no idea why the park doesn't advertise this promotion more. I think I saw it advertised at one stand (I-Street Pizza).

Invertigo - Saw line, we deicded we could skip.

Son of Beast - 45 minutes - middle of train. "My momma alway said if you can't say anything nice..."

Flight Deck - line back to stairs down to the bridge where the giant billboard used to be w/switchback open. Running its usual reliable self, I agree with those in the seat ahead of us that thought "They should run you around twice its so short"

Adventure Express - Line just back past the split into two lanes w/ switchback open. - Another ride runnings its usual reliable self, if only with two trains.

Racer - Walk on! - Red side running better than blue side, but blue side seems to have the racing advantage. (These seats get smaller every year! )

Festhaus - You have to love when the lifespan of your pizza from the pizza oven to your tray is under 45 seconds. They were that busy. Festhaus also wins points for having dishes of fresh watermelon. I'm a big watermelon fan so I grabbed one of those bowls without even asking how much. It wasn't the best melon, but it was far from the worst I've ever had. The country music show looked like it had potential, the show with the guy in the cow costume, can we pass out noise cancelling headphones?

X base - visit 1 - Both FoF and Firehawk lines spilling out onto the midway, I think I'll try back later. Intel by text message indicated Firehawk line was running something like 2 hours.

Vortex - Line just back to end of permanent queue with switchbacks open - Nice new paint job! - Running about the same as usual.

Back Lot Stunt Coaster - Line through 1 switchback - I didn't notice the bars were black, I thought they were still orange. I did notice the faux instrument panels are gone from the cars, as are the front license tags. Helicopter still out of comission but the rest of the show scene seems intact. In car audio and the splashdown were both non existant. Still a fun if unusual coaster.

Beast - 1 hour - with the top and middle queue houses in use. Nice to see a lot of fresh wood on the ride, particularly around the helix area. It still shakes, rattles, and rolls a lot but its getting better.

While riding Beast - I received a text that Diamondback line was completely within the permanent queue area. Considering thel long line it had around 11am, as substanitated by the evil Diamondback line youtube video, and word of moht that it got around to Beast and maybe even Crypt, this is a good sign that we finally have a new high capacity thriller. Line was bck to Central Grill in Nick when I joined it the second time. This time it was about 1 hour all told.

Diamondback Ride #2 - row #12, seat nearest unload side. Much the same as ride #1 except I an very happy to announce even the middle of train gets great airtime throughout the ride. We have a winner here!

Reptar - Just like Delirum, my friend was too tall (he's almost 7') to ride this) - Skipped.

Avatar - Luck got us into Row 1, and I got a corner seat. Still running the shortened cycle, but there is a huge difference between row 1 and row 3 on this ride.

Fairly Odd Coaster - Short line - nothing noteworthy, same reliable self.

Then we backtracked to X Base, noted the new high striker, it like most of the games were having a real slow night on this packed Saturday, I fear that with the economby and all, the games are going to be a casualty in people entertainment budget. Then there was the case of beng panhandled at least three times walking down Coney Mall. And their opening line was wanting a BUCK? What happened to buddy can you spare a quarter?

Oh yeah -

Firehawk - 1 hour - I knew I was off to a good start when instead of saying he needd to shove harder on the bar, the ride op asked me if I wanted the bar tighter than it was already set. I still love this ride, mind you it now falls to my #2 ride in the park behind Diamondback, but its still a fantastic ride.

Flight of Fear - 20 minutes - heard firewords go off while waiting to ride. I'm still in the 'can just barely ride' category on this one. Ended the day on another solid reliable performer, the mid course still sucks the life out of the second half of the ride,.

All in all a great day at the park, the vast majority of ride crews seemed to be on top of their game. Oh, and the new hand dryers in the I-Street restrooms are wierd but very effective, I just don't think there are enough of them. I don't like the new blue admission stamps - Yes, the rub off on your shirts, face, and anythign else the come in contact with. I saw more than a few blue splotches on people's white t-shirts. go into a bathroom as soon as you get pack into the park - half the ink will just run right off your hand into the sink under the water. Literally, you can watch the water turn blue in the sink. I also got the "What bar were you at last night?" comment on Sunday.

[tigellinus]

Back Lot Stunt Coaster -

In car audio and the splashdown were both non existant.

Hasn't this been the case for a while, and neither are ever coming back!?

[coasterguy15]

I thought that the view down the first hill in the front was AMAZING! Also, when I sat in the very back of a train, going over the third hill gave an extreme and surprising pop of airtime.

[HandsUp]

Got there for the ERT today and went right to DB (worth the trip this past week to get our passes). As my wife and I aproached through Nick-it was amazing how different Rivertown looks. DB dominates the whole landscape now, to the point where it's a litle hard to remember where you are and what was where. I hope that they introduce a little more shade to the area between Nick and DB. I'm sure it was necessary to accomodate the DB, but I really liked the shade and secluded feel back there with the ivy tunnel. The old log flume especially just seems so out in the open now. Hopefully there will be more trees that will grow in to fit with the Rivertown theme.

Had to wait less than 5 minutes for our 1st ride. Barely time to check out the splashdown area-which looks just awesome right in the middle there. Loved how the the seats leave your feet dangling and the clamshell is the only restraint. The ride to the top offered a great view of The Vortex. The first three hills truly give the feeling of being shot out of a cannon. It seems like the train lifts off the track and you're thrown out of your seat. The 3rd hill especially seems very steep. The banked sections slammed us into our seats. The 'bunny hills' coming back looked to have the paint wearing out already! The final helix and splashdown are great how close you are to the main drag. Can't tell what parts of the train touch the water, because we got a little spray, even hough we were in the middle of the train.

Overall, this is a fantastic coaster, unlike anything that KI's ever seen. Though very different from the MF, it still gave a lot of the same sensations. For our 2nd ride, we were able to get the very back seat, and that was great. Intense airtime and I loved getting whipped over the top of the 1st hill. If there was anything at all that I could complain about, it would be nice if it hugged the terrain back there a little more. Though in the woods-the landscape is a virtual non-feature. I can't complain though..especially the capacity. The line, when we rode later, as very swift. This coaster really ups the thrill factor for the whole park. The quick addition of this and Firehawk is awesome. Thanks CF!