Delirium_Guy Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Well, I moved to Florida in February of 2008 so last season was the first season that I hadn't been to Kings Island pretty much my entire life. With the announcement of Diamondback, I definitely knew I needed to visit the Park while I was also in to visit my family. Anyone who knows me at all knows I tend to be a bit critical of Kings Island. For starters, I've grown up with the park. I've seen many many different changes throughout the years and more recently the changes haven't been all that positive. I'm not going to go into much detail with this, just a few random thoughts from my visit last night. * Park is the cleanest I have seen it in several years, definitely a positive. I think the front gate area and new Guest Relations window look great and is much more inviting to guests. * Diamondback looks great in the Park, it just seems weird that after so many years without it that KI finally has a ride of that stature. May be 10 years or so behind the rest of the industry, but better late than never I suppose :-) * For the most part, I noticed a definite improvement in ride crews and the efficiency at which they get the trains loaded and out of the station (with the exception of Diamondback, which for some reason was stacking almost everytime and it was only a 2 train operation). As for the ride on Diamondback.... * The ride was just OK for me. I went with low expectations, as I've ridden all the other B&M Hypers in this country, it rode about like I expected. Actually, my first ride left me underwhelmed even. I was told that its quite moody, which would prove true as the last two rides I took were significantly different and better than the first. * Front seat as my favorite. The night rides provided some stronger pops of air going over the tops of the hills, that is until you get to the third hill which is watered down to the brake....me thinks that third hill without the brake would probably give the Intamin's a run for their money in the airtime department * Back seat was excellent for the second drop, block drop and splashdown drop. First drop was surprisingly quite disappointing for me in this seat. * Love climbing the lift, nice different perspective of seeing the Park * Whoever said that the braking on the ride is minimal and has no effect on the ride, I beg to differ. The 3rd hill brake was grabbin significantly last night and killed what would have been a wonderful hill. Braking on the midcourse absolutely kills the second half, dullsville and the helix is probably one of the lamest I've encountered with little force or much of anything happening. * Two nice surprises.....the hammerhead turn is the best I've experienced on the B&M hypers and the splashdown drop in the backseat was OUTSTANDING. * Night rides are fantastic and IMHO far superior to The Beast due to the lack of lights. * Its a great addition to Kings Island and a ride that is about 10 years overdue.....better late than never I suppose. Its great to finally see a B&M running at the Park. The ride is fun, but certainly not even close to being a top ten contender for me. * GREAT merchandise location for the ride and an excellent assortment of goodies * Park operations were absolutely HORRIBLE yesterday, perhaps its just because of my first time encountering them. The weather policy regarding rain seems a tad silly and over exaggerated. I realize the blame falls on Magnum's little bump a few years ago, but truth be told, there's always more to the story to tell.....its not like Magnum hadn't operated 15 years prior to that in the rain without incident * This non-sense of taking everything down to one train after rain, what a way to make the guest experience enjoyable. I don't think I've ever encountered Beast running one train until last night. Vortex was one train, with a 6-7 train wait in the station. Firehawk was one train. Not sure about Flight Deck, Adventure Express or SOB, as I didn't make it back to that side of the Park. It was nice to go back to KI after a not going at all last season. Somethings improved, but somethings not so much. They will enjoy a successful season with Diamondback, no doubt, and I'm glad to see the ride there. The best thing about the entire visit, despite not really riding all that many things, was seeing old friends.....and meeting new ones! Avatar, it was a pleasure and I look forward to you visiting Orlando in the Fall.....Ryan you had better be joining because you don't know what you are missing down here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD-120-420 Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I'm not sure what to think about DB yet. I havent ridden it yet, and I have heard mixed reviews. The 2nd 1/2 of the ride looks really slow and non-forcefull. I hope I'm wrong though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster_junky Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 i unfortunatly have only rode Diamondback twice, once in row 16 and once in row 3, and i must say that i got twice as much air time in row 3 than row 16. but i still think it is a very good ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopThrill Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I will have to agree with you on that, the second half of the ride on DB is not that forceful. The hill's after the MCBR don't really provide much air-time, more like a few seconds of floating. I was there Friday night, before the rain and after rain, we got on DB were only two trains were running. Then we would have waited five mins for The Beast but no only one train running. So yeah after the rain we felt dissapointed, Beast, Vortex, Racer, Firehawk, SOB, were only running on train, couldn't see Flight Deck. Only Diamondback and Back Lot were running to trains, I was starting to think were afraid to run more than on train on most of the coasters. We should have left when the rain started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster_junky Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 does the track to wooden coasters swell when it rains, because if it does i could sorta understand the bumping down to one train each on them? and i have never seen The Racer or The Beast run only one train. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gigacoaster2k Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I love every seat on DB, but my favorite is the very rear seat. I love getting yanked over those hills, and notice that you get slightly more air in the back than in the middle or front. I noticed several times yesterday that on the way up the hill, the train sometimes swayed very slightly. I love the first drop, it feels like a free fall. But the second hill and second drop are out of this world.. I love ejector/floater air and gut wrenching drops. I DO NOT like the trim on the hill, but the MCBR does not ruin the ride for me. I almost lost my phone and car keys to those two hills after the MCBR. The helix only feels forceful when I'm in the rear seats. Other than that, it just feels like a prelude to the splashdown. The hammerhead, however, is great and has some force. I have also noticed that one DB ride op is a stapler. I won't mention any names, but I don't like struggling to breathe on a coaster, and I cherish my airtime. It's not funny or cute, it's annoying and painful. Regardless of all this, I'm madly in love with Diamondback. The air is unreal, and so is the view, but I'm also partial to B&M coasters. I could watch it and listen to it all day, and I'll wait in its line no matter how long it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beast1979 Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I'm not sure what to think about DB yet. I havent ridden it yet, and I have heard mixed reviews. The 2nd 1/2 of the ride looks really slow and non-forcefull. I hope I'm wrong though. You won't be dissapointed. Period. The Second half of the ride is less forceful, but it is still very very fun. I found myself during ERT last night screaming "Don't let it stop! Just keep going!" Fantastic, amazing, spectacular ride. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamondback FOF Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 * This non-sense of taking everything down to one train after rain, what a way to make the guest experience enjoyable. I don't think I've ever encountered Beast running one train until last night. Vortex was one train, with a 6-7 train wait in the station. Firehawk was one train. Not sure about Flight Deck, Adventure Express or SOB, as I didn't make it back to that side of the Park. I've never seen The Beast, Vortex, AE, or Flight Deck running only one train. As far as Flight Deck, it's often running only one train whether it just got done raining or not. does the track to wooden coasters swell when it rains, because if it does i could sorta understand the bumping down to one train each on them? and i have never seen The Racer or The Beast run only one train. The wood on wooden coasters, but not the actual metal track, swells when it rains. All that does is usually make it run slightly smoother and quicker. I don't think it makes any sense to run only one train. What does it matter it the wood swells a little bit? It helps that ride. IDK. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterboy22101 Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 I, well I can't believe im even saying this, but my new favorite DB seet is 1-2. I get extreme airtime and the view is great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium_Guy Posted May 11, 2009 Author Share Posted May 11, 2009 I, well I can't believe im even saying this, but my new favorite DB seet is 1-2. I get extreme airtime and the view is great! I wanted to get around to trying that seat actually, especially after my front seat ride, but I decided to give the back one more shot. Doesnt surprise to hear your statement though, that is the case many times....one great example is seat 1-3 on Magnum. I'd like to make it back and ride a few more times. Its not a terrible ride, didn't mean to imply that if I did, its just really missing something for me and I think a lot of it has to do with the second half of the ride. After some of the pops of air that I got in the front seat though, it cetainly leaves me curious about your seat. I'm interested in seeing how ejector like it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterboy22101 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I get EXTREME airtime on hills 2, 3, 5, 6, and 10! But I get the most airtime, suprising, comming out of the MCBR. I love the back(16-4) and I always put my arm out to get wet, but the front in my opinion is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tchu Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Did I miss something with this 'third hill brake'? Haven't been to the park the last couple weekends, so I suppose anything is possible... but last I road it, there's not a brake on the ride till the fifth hill. As for the best seat, I agree that the front car is the best spot on the train. Fantastic view and the fifth hill (oddly enough, the trimmed hill) offers a burst of air that I would personally describe as more ejector than floater. The back seat does offer more overall outta your seat air-time, but I prefer the more varied in force air-time of the front seat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterboy22101 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Did I miss something with this 'third hill brake'? Haven't been to the park the last couple weekends, so I suppose anything is possible... but last I road it, there's not a brake on the ride till the fifth hill. As for the best seat, I agree that the front car is the best spot on the train. Fantastic view and the fifth hill (oddly enough, the trimmed hill) offers a burst of air that I would personally describe as more ejector than floater. The back seat does offer more overall outta your seat air-time, but I prefer the more varied in force air-time of the front seat. They were probaly talking about the trim coming out of the overbanked turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTCO Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 My Take On Diamondback: Fantastic. Amazing. Stunning. I am literally in love with this ride. My favorite seat is gonna have to be row 1 left seat, and row 12 right seat. To me these are the best seats, with the best air time. I'm at 31 rides and hoping to get 100+ by the end of the season! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ki Man Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 * Whoever said that the braking on the ride is minimal and has no effect on the ride, I beg to differ. The 3rd hill brake was grabbin significantly last night and killed what would have been a wonderful hill. Braking on the midcourse absolutely kills the second half, and the helix is probably one of the lamest I've encountered with little force or much of anything happening. Just brining this up again... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TopThrill Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Friday night when I was on it DB, the third hill break really slowed the the train down. If it didn't we would have gotten some huge air! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterboy22101 Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Ill agree with you on the helix. The second helix is a great feature because it goes over the midway, but it lacks some major force. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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