RingMaster

By the way... ...called it.

It's also one of the busiest in the park, and most people (particularly women) don't seem to realize that, when there are massive lines for that restroom (the Girls restroom in question only has six stalls), they can just walk 15 feet to the opposite restroom (which has 25 stalls).

....who's gonna go up to KI tomorrow and watch test runs from the parking lot?

"...is this ride geese-proof?" or, "Betcha Jeff Siebert's at home right now going, 'I hate you, Don. I hate you so very much.'" or even, "Throw in some 22s and we'd be all set."

^^ It's also happened quite a bit to Invertigo to where it's valleyed in-betwixt the second lift hill and loop, leaving riders stuck 15 feet off the ground.

It's sad enough the car is close to the same width as the entire station. But they've got to be freezing on the ride with them wearing shorts, tank tops and flip-flops. In February. In Ohio. Pfft. Tourists.

Holy sweet niblets. Look how close Diamondback is to White Water Canyon in this picture: That's killer.

Apparently, there's talk of dropping the Hard Rock name from the park completely: http://discovermyrtlebeachforum.com/index.php?showtopic=1854

Right, and then PETA will come knocking on our doors asking why there are dead deer lying around the park grounds 'cause someone got a little trigger happy....

I DON'T KNOW WHAT WE'RE YELLING ABOUT!! ...but yeah, I can see the line for Diamondback on Opening Day wind around Wings Diner, the Antique Photo shop and the Icee shop. Then going down the path where cornSTALKERS used to reside, past the Paradise Island stand (that's NEVER open, mind you), past the floral clock and up the worksite path. THEN making a left and going past the Dodgems, wrapping behind the Skyline Chili stand, occupying the Skyline Chili patio, going behind the Scrambler, and around the Carousel. And THEN occupying the entirety of the Paramount Story, before wrapping around the Eiffel Tower and heading past the Showplace Theatre before finally stopping just at the Chick-Fil-A stand. ....that's just a guess, of course.

And which one of you people neglected to mention Kumba, Montu, and good ol' Nessie (along with Journey to Atlantis in Orlando)? And you call yourselves Busch Gardens/SeaWorld lovers.... I guess you have to have more than 7 coasters (nine+ and the thrill seekers will actually bother to speak of said amusement park's name in the same sentence as Cedar Point/Six Flags) in the same park in order for thrill seekers to spend more than an hour or two in its confines. PS: And they all have to be either Beemers or Intamins or it doesn't count. PPS: Oh, and they all have to be over 200 feet or else it's not considered a thrill ride. PPPS: I forgot to mention they also have to be on flat ground (preferably surrounded by gravel) for maximum thrills. No trying to use the landscape such as hills, valleys, or water to the ride's advantage (tunnels are fine). .....okay, now I just got too carried away. I'm gonna go ride Nemesis on YouTube now....

I've been searching for the last hour for the actual online article, but Screamscape had just reported on Cedar Fair apparently getting into legal battle with the state over more money issues: Park News - (1/16/09) According to the text of an article sent to Screamscape (unfortunately without a link to the online article) it seems Cedar Fair may be facing a bit of a legal battle with the state over the minimum wage laws and what they are required to pay employees. Apparently the starting wage being offered on Cedar Point's website are only $7/hr, below the state's new $7.30/hr minimum wage. From what I've been told the park is claiming they are exempt for some reason, which just seems crazy to me since theme park employees already get the shaft when it comes to pay anyway. I thought Cedar Fair had a little more class than that, since fighting your local minimum wage laws is just insulting to your staff. I know that would sure inspire confidence in me that the people running the rides care about their jobs and aren't dreaming about taking a better paying job flipping McBurgers or running a register at Walmart. Maybe it's just me being old school… thinking back to my first theme park job back in the '80s when working at your local theme park was seen as prestigious and parks could be picky about who they hired instead of scraping the bottom of the barrel as they do today. Now before you jump on the handgun and say Screamscape is just making stuff up (due to the lack of a link to the actual article), PointBuzz had begun talking about this just two days earlier: Cedar Point Forum - What are they thinking?! Although this is, so far, only taking place at Cedar Point, with the recent issues involving the treatment of foreign workers both at the Point and here at the Island, this may be a a state-wide issue, meaning Kings Island could be a part of this as well, over minimum wage discrepancies.

I'm kinda hoping they pull a desert-type setting like they did for the media announcement for Diamondback, what with the cacti, rocks, broken wagon wheels, and dust/dirt/sand. I would love to see that magnified on the patches of land encompassing the second helix area and splashdown/station area. Kinda like this picture: Or more this picture:

.....ERT on The Beast on its 30th anniversary? ....EVERY DAY of the season? ...count me in.

Those Kings Island Diamondback Support Support Groups are kinda scary to go to. The last time I went, someone death gripped the support beam to the warehouse we were in and started bawling 'cause it was the same color and style as the support holding the bottom of DB's first drop. Anyway....anyone think the inaugural installment of the final track piece will happen on the 31st when members of KICentral will partake in walking around the monstrosity that is Diamondback?

Who would've known SFNE would get the Killing Joke placed on their Dark Knight's head for this year and get outsourced not to China, but to Mexico. At least in Mexico they don't have to worry about lead paint.

Because it, unfortunately, happened in Argentina (or Peru or somewhere ins S. America), when, after a bus careened off a freeway bridge and into the lake below, a crane similar to Casper tried to hoist the bus up, only to have the crane topple over the bridge and fall into the water and on top of the bus still in the lake. .....back on topic.... Lift hill and 1st drop is Mt. Helbig (Helbig's Peak). 2nd hill and drop will be Mt. Norris. So the the third hill/drop should be Segal Summit, named after the infamous Steven Segal.

They're planning to build that Little Mermaid ride as we speak, though not in Disneyland. It's part of their billion-dollar makeover for California's Adventure. Other attractions include an area devoted entirely to the recent Pixar flick Cars (with an E-Ticket attraction featuring a version of Epcot's Test Track, but with two cars racing side-by-side), a completely redone entrance to the park (that postcard entrance is replaced with a 1920s Los Angeles), and a completely redone Paradise Pier (which would look more like what Luna Park used to look like way back when).

Here's to hoping the trees beside The Crypt are spared during the concrete pouring and support erecting.

2) Why move coasters? 3) Cedar Fair re-used five-year-old roller coasters from a different park by relocating them to other Cedar Fair parks and slightly re-themed them. If anything, they should have every building in Geauga Lake re-used in another park. Or at least get the blueprints to those buildings so they could at least build new iterations of them at other CF parks. Not to mention the Diamondback announcement was themed to an Old Western setting. The station is themed to an Old Western building. Some Geauga Lake buildings have an Old Western aesthetic to them.

Looks like they're going for "Quantity Over Quality" again next year. It's better to have one or two really good, high-quality shows, than have three or four mediocre-at-best, horrendous-at-worst shows just to fill all the show venues.

.....you're riding a coaster themed to the Diamondback RattleSNAKE. The coaster train is themed to a giant SNAKE. You're, in essence, riding a giant SNAKE. Just to help you with your hatred of snakes, Indy.

Just to give you guys an idea of what DB's station could possibly look like next year: The station won't be THAT high up 'cause it's not an inverted coaster. But you get the idea.

Note to The Vortex, Flight Deck, Beast, and Racer crews (FoF don't count cause he's right about the bad capacity)....tigellinus just called you guys out!

I was also (and still am) not visually impressed with Diamondback's height. I think without the Arrow/wooden coaster lattice supports that I'm used to seeing on KI's taller coasters (and Cedar Point's as well for that matter) the visual impact is somehow diminished. The gargantuan B&M track and supports also contribute to Diamondback's seemingly short stature. Just go there and see it in person, then you will be blown back on your rear. Trust me, this thing is beautiful. I agree with CoasterCrazy on this one. When I'm looking straight up at it, it just doesn't look that high up when I'M looking straight up at it. However, when I'm looking at Son of Beast, that thing looks HUGE to me. Especially when riding past where the loop used to be during the ride course and you look up the lift hill and first drop. It is stunning. But then when I go up Crypt's exit and look at Diamondback from the bottom of the first drop up to the lift hill, the feeling of size and stature just isn't there. Hopefully, when the drop is finished and I get to look at it up close, my thoughts will change.