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The one thing I don't like about Diamondback


raptor
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I go to KI once a year and ride everything numerous times in five or six hours. Yeah I don't marathon 10 plus times anymore..but going on a weekday in May? It's hardly a wait for the most popular attractions. I wish I lived closer...but go in dumb times of the year, and yeah. I'm sure the belts suck. Don't blame the sentiment.

Hadn't seen your post yet sebastian^^ not aimed at you.

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Those looking down their integrity nose:

* Some can't afford to go to Kings Island at all. Do you have "integrity?"

* Some can't afford food. Do you have "integrity?"

* Some can't afford housing. Do you have "integrity?"

* Some choose between paying the rent or getting prescriptions filled. Do you have "integrity?"

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I always wonder if the seatbelt would actually do much in the event of the lapbar failing. Would they really keep you in your seat going downhill?  It's kind of loose on me. 

(Not that I want them to change the seatbelts, I trust the lapbar. I'm just curious.)

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I always wonder if the seatbelt would actually do much in the event of the lapbar failing. Would they really keep you in your seat going downhill?  It's kind of loose on me. 

(Not that I want them to change the seatbelts, I trust the lapbar. I'm just curious.)

 

For its first several years, it didn't even have seat belts. It doesn't need seat belts because the lap bar has two redundant locking mechanisms. The seat belts were added later, presumably in response to an unrelated incident at another park.

 

And if the lap bar were to fail completely, someone here on KIC alleged a while back that a sack of potatoes would come back to the station still in its seat without a lap bar. Some believe that. Some do not. But it's something to think about.

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I always wonder if the seatbelt would actually do much in the event of the lapbar failing. Would they really keep you in your seat going downhill?  It's kind of loose on me. 

(Not that I want them to change the seatbelts, I trust the lapbar. I'm just curious.)

 

For its first several years, it didn't even have seat belts. It doesn't need seat belts because the lap bar has two redundant locking mechanisms. The seat belts were added later, presumably in response to an unrelated incident at another park.

 

And if the lap bar were to fail completely, someone here on KIC alleged a while back that a sack of potatoes would come back to the station still in its seat without a lap bar. Some believe that. Some do not. But it's something to think about.

 

 

Yeah I know, I rode it many times without the seatbelt.  I didn't mind it.  I just wondered if something were to happen if it would actually help or if it was just a peace-of-mind thing. I have my doubts that someone would be able to stay in their seat with no restraint. For instance, when you stop as you're about to go into the station, sometimes that's so abrupt that I can imagine that alone would throw you out of your seat if there was nothing there to hold you in.  

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The season before the seatbelts were added, a few guests were complained that the restraint seemed to move forward during the ride (even though they remained locked as designed). With the change, any perceived movement of the primary restraint isn't likely to be an issue.

It should be noted that the seatbelts have virtually no effect on the ride experience.

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The season before the seatbelts were added, a few guests were complained that the restraint seemed to move forward during the ride (even though they remained locked as designed). With the change, any perceived movement of the primary restraint isn't likely to be an issue.

It should be noted that the seatbelts have virtually no effect on the ride experience.

Yep, already noted that.

Man it feels good to be faster than you for once.

:)

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If the issue is trying to keep the bars from popping up in the tiny chance that both locking systems fail, then they should use a belt on TOP of the bar connecting it to the seat. Something like FOF. It is a much faster belt to check, too, and easy to fasten as opposed to the current ones which must be fastened before the bar comes down (not a guarantee considering how deeply the belts are buried in the seat.)

 

 

If the issue is trying to keep larger people from coming out of the seat, the lap belt is the only way to go. Frankly, I could swear that a loose B&M clamshell feels unsafe, but that's just an illusion, considering that no B&M hyper has ever had an ejection accident, and I'm sure people have ridden with a larger gap between the restraint and their thighs.

 

 

Considering that the issue seems to be guests who were scared that the bar was "coming up", a belt like FOF would probably keep them a bit more calm.

 

 

 

By the way, it's not a one-to-one comparison, but KI has its own proof that a belt accessible on top of the restraint as a backup is quicker to check than a lap belt. Banshee - it regularly hits interval and has an AMAZING crew, and I wish every coaster could be dispatched that quickly. (Admittedly, Banshee also has less distance to walk between seats than Diamondback, but it's still easier to check a seatbelt that is always exposed above the bar.)

 

 

Here's a pic of my "FoF-type" belt idea - two configurations, both retractable belts

 

 

XnTujKp.jpg

 

The second one is also pretty buried in the seat, but might be needed if the retractable belt reel can't be mounted further up the seat . Perhaps another bar attacked to the back seat post could put it next to the "armrest" portion if there isn't enough support already?

 

 

The other major issue with this is that the belt release button is awkwardly close to where people hold on to the bar. Either some sort of new grab bar is in order or some weird placement of the belt.

 

 

Or, you know, you could remove the belt like every other B&M hyper outside the CF chain.

 

 

(Admittedly, Fury 325 gets nice dispatch times with the belts. IDK if those are the same as Diamondback's or a bit different.)

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^Honestly maybe it's me, but seems as though the holdup with most coasters with belts is not the buckling or checking during loading, it's first the struggle with getting unbuckled, then finagling your way out during unloading. The finagling part isn't really an issue on DB, but pretty much every other Coaster KI, same with the unbuckling.

Sent from my XT1526 using Tapatalk

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Nitro opened with a cable that attached from the "top of the bar" to the side of the seat frame.

After less than two weeks, it was quietly removed. Guest fingers were then no longer subject to that proven danger...

I found a picture of Nitro's old seatbelts. And they are exactly what DB needs if KI insists on a backup restraint to comfort guests in the case of the bar "coming up."

 

http://www.coastergallery.com/1999/ga67.html

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Those seatbelts on Nitro look cool, but I can see where someone could get their finger caught in there if they held on in the wrong place...

Sigh.

Caught?

Try ripped off...

Terp, who REALLY did NOT want to have to say that. See also the old Bees at Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and Geauga Lake before that.

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 I got my brother who sometimes suffers from panic attacks on Diamondback and the whole time up the first hill he was talking about how small the restraint was and how he didn't know if his restraint came down far enough before locking or if it was locked at all.(there was a little play in it)  I tried to reassure him that these restraints are fine and never come open, but he was white as a ghost when he got off that ride. LOL!

 

 He was definitely uncomfortable with the restraint system. I thought the seats were the most comfortable I've ever experienced.

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