From the Diamondback Blog:

You've got the questions, we have the answers. To send a Diamondback question, drop me an e-mail at don.Helbig@visitkingsisland.com. Please include your first and last name, city and state. A select number of questions will be answered each week.

Sent one of my questions in!

Thank you once again, Mr. Helbig.

What an awesome feature to make this even more interactive with guests. I have sent my question and eagerly wait for a response

Hopefully everyone asks for a realignment of the WebCams to see the lift hill. I know that's what I asked.

Wow! Kudos to Mr. Helbig for once again going above and beyond for us. I look forward to checking out the questions and his responses and look forward to future entries in the evermore active blog.

Am I being pessimistic that the questions answered will NOT be any of the fanboy/enthusiast variety??

I'll be interested to see what the first couple look like, but I have a feeling all these will be geared to GP'ers, and frankly anyone who visits this site, is closely following D-back's construction, or has any sort of knowledge about B&M coasters would be able to answer themselves! (Terpy, are you with me on this??)

Yes you are being pessimistic

Wow yet another big move by Kings Island personnel and another great move to get the public more involved.

Great idea Don! I sent in a question about an hour ago, i hope i get an answer soon!

Am I being pessimistic that the questions answered will NOT be any of the fanboy/enthusiast variety??

I'll be interested to see what the first couple look like, but I have a feeling all these will be geared to GP'ers, and frankly anyone who visits this site, is closely following D-back's construction, or has any sort of knowledge about B&M coasters would be able to answer themselves! (Terpy, are you with me on this??)

Not really. Give the nice gentleman a chance. Send in your question...and wait.

Don can be surprising!

I got what I wanted, they moved the webcam!

Now all he has to do is explain the massive amount of yellow supports....

He answered my question very quickly (Thanks Mr. Helbig!) and it is a question that is the enthusiast variety. It is a question that has been debated on here for a little bit. He said he will put it up on the blog later in the week.

Now all he has to do is explain the massive amount of yellow supports....

???

^I asked him to please move the webcam and explain why there were more yellow supports then in the Concept Art, so far he has not answered....

Well, there is a simple reason for that. Because they decided to change the color of the supports after the rendering was developed. Keep in mind that the track for Backlot Stunt Coaster was originally yellow in the original renderings, but they then decided to make the track be the same color as the supports. Sometimes they change the color just because they want to. They may not have a valid reason as to why, besides the fact that they can change the color.

CoastersRZ brings up a great point about concepts. Besides Firehawk (which just used the recycled Stealth video), this is the first concept video for a new ride at Kings Island that we have seen so far and I think so far it's been fairly accurate. I just hope the splash down area and landscaping looks as good in real life as it does in the video, so far though it seems KI and CF are going all out on this ride and its about time Kings Island went all out on a ride. I loved a lot of things about Paramount but I noticed their concept videos were ALWAYS huge exaggerations of the finished product.

I sent in my email around 3pm. yesterday and still haven't gotten a reply. I hope i do get an answer though. If not, ill just ask at Fall Freakout.

Questions that are submitted to the blog will be answered in the blog, not necessarily individually. Additionally, some questions have been asked several times, so you may see the answer to your same question in the blog with someone else's name on it.

CoastersRZ brings up a great point about concepts. Besides Firehawk (which just used the recycled Stealth video), this is the first concept video for a new ride at Kings Island that we have seen so far and I think so far it's been fairly accurate. I just hope the splash down area and landscaping looks as good in real life as it does in the video, so far though it seems KI and CF are going all out on this ride and its about time Kings Island went all out on a ride. I loved a lot of things about Paramount but I noticed their concept videos were ALWAYS huge exaggerations of the finished product.

Might be a question worth asking, in regards to the splashdown area. The renderings and promotional artwork show a detailed splashdown made to look like a natural pond. Will the final result hold true to the renderings, landscaping the splashdown with large boulders around the shore and the occasional rock jutting up from the middle... or was this effect just for the artwork used to promote the ride?

I'm really hoping they give special care to landscaping the splashdown area. A natural looking pond with boulders and lush foliage nearby will look a thousand times better than a swimming pool with a rather bare lawn surrounding it.

CoastersRZ brings up a great point about concepts. Besides Firehawk (which just used the recycled Stealth video), this is the first concept video for a new ride at Kings Island that we have seen so far and I think so far it's been fairly accurate. I just hope the splash down area and landscaping looks as good in real life as it does in the video, so far though it seems KI and CF are going all out on this ride and its about time Kings Island went all out on a ride. I loved a lot of things about Paramount but I noticed their concept videos were ALWAYS huge exaggerations of the finished product.

Might be a question worth asking, in regards to the splashdown area. The renderings and promotional artwork show a detailed splashdown made to look like a natural pond. Will the final result hold true to the renderings, landscaping the splashdown with large boulders around the shore and the occasional rock jutting up from the middle... or was this effect just for the artwork used to promote the ride?

I'm really hoping they give special care to landscaping the splashdown area. A natural looking pond with boulders and lush foliage nearby will look a thousand times better than a swimming pool with a rather bare lawn surrounding it.

That's certainly a question that's worth asking. I encourage you to do so.

Question sent. Here's hoping for a response that confirms the top-notch landscaping seen in the renders!

^^I'm sure KI is taking volunteers to do the yard work and landscaping!!

^I doubt that. Kings Island has a really good landscaping staff and it seems they have been investing more and more into them the past few years. When we did a pre opening day tour this year I think that's what I was most impressed with was how much landscaping has been improved this year.

^^Agreed, BUT...I just think the expectations may be a little overboard here!! (even for BGE! )

But don't lose hope if it isn't well landscaped at the beginning of the season. Remember that landscaping is a tough job during an Ohio winter.

I asked my question! I asked about any gold pass benefits (speed lanes) for DB of if there was going to be a Gold Pass preview day.

But don't lose hope if it isn't well landscaped at the beginning of the season. Remember that landscaping is a tough job during an Ohio winter.

Especially during the winter we're likely to get.

Wow. Are you a wooly worm now?

Terpy, who wonders how you do a long term winter weather forecast

^History tells us that weather balances it's self out throughout the year, like if it was very warm during the summer it will probably be very cold during the winter.

We had an Abnormally warm and Dry Summer, so chances are we will have a cold and wet winter.

You had best go back and re-read your history. Over long periods of time, that is true. In any given year, though, there is no such correlation.