2023 Offseason Speculation/Work

[Orion742]

The park just confirmed Diamondback getting painted this winter in a tweet asking how many gallons you think it will take to paint it.

I know we already knew this but it is still exciting that the park said something about it.

[Rivertown Rider]

Flying Ace is getting some painting done.

 

 

[KIghostguy]

Some photos of Diamondback’s repaint so far here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmSjA-0sZc7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Look closely on slide two—you can see a color change starting to appear on the supports. A darker brown.

[johnjniehaus]

30 minutes ago, KIghostguy said:

Some photos of Diamondback’s repaint so far here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmSjA-0sZc7/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

Look closely on slide two—you can see a color change starting to appear on the supports. A darker brown.

I do see that on the splashdown section heading into the brake run. Will definitely be interesting...I was thinking they would keep it red and change the support structure colors but guess we're getting brown track. I guess I have mixed feelings on the change. First, brown seems to fit Rivertown better but isn't that because literally everything else in Rivertown with exception of the railroad is brown already? (Mystic, Beast, even WWC has brown rafts) I'm interested to see how it looks when completed. Will it fit better overall or with it be too much brown in one area of the park? 

[KIghostguy]

2 minutes ago, johnjniehaus said:

I do see that on the splashdown section heading into the brake run. Will definitely be interesting...I was thinking they would keep it red and change the support structure colors but guess we're getting brown track. I guess I have mixed feelings on the change. First, brown seems to fit Rivertown better but isn't that because literally everything else in Rivertown with exception of the railroad is brown already? (Mystic, Beast, even WWC has brown rafts) I'm interested to see how it looks when completed. Will it fit better overall or with it be too much brown in one area of the park? 

It looks like the track is staying red and the supports are changing color.

[JCoaster25]

Figured I'd weigh in and give everyone a nice visual of Diamondback's new color scheme based on photos we've seen so far. I really dig the chocolate brown support color. Fits Rivertown well, and helps the ride blend in with the landscape better.

[johnjniehaus]

Shoot! my eyes are so bad I thought the new color was this "brown" color on the track. This coaster really needs a paint job ... I'm thinking now all that is was the faded red that's been there the whole time? Can't say as I can see the support color change but again we've already established I need to get my vision checked! 

[TombRaiderFTW]

I like the new support color so much! If they want to go ahead and make all the supports that same brown, too, instead of having different colors on the lift hill, I'd be okay with that, too. It fits Rivertown so much better and removes a bit of that Kinzel era "red track, yellow supports" sterility of the early Cedar Fair years.

EDIT: It looks like they might be repainting the lift supports yellow. Ah well, the brown in place of the tan is still a win!

[FUN&ONLY!]

12 hours ago, TombRaiderFTW said:

I like the new support color so much! If they want to go ahead and make all the supports that same brown, too, instead of having different colors on the lift hill, I'd be okay with that, too. It fits Rivertown so much better and removes a bit of that Kinzel era "red track, yellow supports" sterility of the early Cedar Fair years.

EDIT: It looks like they might be repainting the lift supports yellow. Ah well, the brown in place of the tan is still a win!

At the base of the lift hill, there appears to be a small part painted the chocolate brown color over the old faded yellow color. I am curious about the gray color also seen in one of the pictures next to the chocolate brown. Maybe Kings Island was testing different colors for the supports?

[WoodVengeance]

35 minutes ago, FUN&ONLY! said:

At the base of the lift hill, there appears to be a small part painted the chocolate brown color over the old faded yellow color. I am curious about the gray color also seen in one of the pictures next to the chocolate brown. Maybe Kings Island was testing different colors for the supports?

I would imagine Kings Island would have chosen the colors already, unless they're doing what Kennywood did with Phantom's Revenge and are having a public poll.

[PKIDelirium]

The red-yellow certainly made a bright visual statement when it was new, but it didn't fit with Rivertown, and came before they started doing things like Mystic to properly fit their areas.

In those photos it looks like the track leading up into the brake run has a kind of "tree bark" color to it but I'm not seeing anything on the supports yet.

It would be nice if the area behind the former Crypt building had a bunch of trees replanted. Rumor from back when DB was being built is those were cleared in case they needed to use a tower crane installation to complete the back part of the ride, if the big Manitowoc crawler crane wouldn't work on the back road. True or not, it's been left an open grass lot ever since and re-foliating that area would made it look a lot nicer.

[Orion742]

10 hours ago, PKIDelirium said:

The red-yellow certainly made a bright visual statement when it was new, but it didn't fit with Rivertown, and came before they started doing things like Mystic to properly fit their areas.

In those photos it looks like the track leading up into the brake run has a kind of "tree bark" color to it but I'm not seeing anything on the supports yet.

It would be nice if the area behind the former Crypt building had a bunch of trees replanted. Rumor from back when DB was being built is those were cleared in case they needed to use a tower crane installation to complete the back part of the ride, if the big Manitowoc crawler crane wouldn't work on the back road. True or not, it's been left an open grass lot ever since and re-foliating that area would made it look a lot nicer.

I hope they give the trains some new paint as well.

If they could figure out how to bring back the orange without well… you know what on the seats. That would be nice. Lol.

[Shaggy]

16 hours ago, WoodVengeance said:

I would imagine Kings Island would have chosen the colors already, unless they're doing what Kennywood did with Phantom's Revenge and are having a public poll.

It seems KI prefers to perform color patch tests on large re-paints.

The mustard/orange/gold color that was seen on the backside of the Eiffel Tower last year was a color test.  They obviously decided to remain with green, but it was apparent they considered a major color change for the tower.

 

[TombRaiderFTW]

On 12/19/2022 at 1:40 AM, PKIDelirium said:

It would be nice if the area behind the former Crypt building had a bunch of trees replanted. Rumor from back when DB was being built is those were cleared in case they needed to use a tower crane installation to complete the back part of the ride, if the big Manitowoc crawler crane wouldn't work on the back road. True or not, it's been left an open grass lot ever since and re-foliating that area would made it look a lot nicer.

I have a vague memory of someone from the park during the early stages of Diamondback's construction (maybe during Fall Freak Out '08?) saying that they didn't want the area around Diamondback to be clear-cut the way the area around Backlot was. I would argue that that still kinda ended up happening. The best time to fix that issue would have been in 2009; the next best time is now.

[SonofBaconator]

22 hours ago, Shaggy said:

The mustard/orange/gold color that was seen on the backside of the Eiffel Tower last year was a color test.

I couldn’t imagine our Eiffel Tower being anything other than the green it’s been. Did they want gold for the Golden Celebration?

 

[johnjniehaus]

19 hours ago, SonofBaconator said:

I couldn’t imagine our Eiffel Tower being anything other than the green it’s been. Did they want gold for the Golden Celebration?

 

I thought gold would have been pretty cool for the 50th and obviously down the road repaint it back to green whenever the gold got worn out. However, the repaint of green was fine too. Just glad to see them giving some of the older rides some attention with new paint. The Racer was definitely my favorite one they repainted for the anniversary. 

[Orion13]

I took some pictures of Diamondback getting repainted

[Orion742]

15 minutes ago, Orion13 said:

I took some pictures of Diamondback getting repainted

Great pictures thank you!

They are coming along really fast! Glad to see the bright red return after so many years.

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

Circle are staring to form on Sol Spin and Cargo Loco 

[CoastersRZ]

Those look more like just tire tracks from equipment and not preparations for the actual ride pads yet.

[Cedar Fair Fanboy]

12 minutes ago, CoastersRZ said:

Those look more like just tire tracks from equipment and not preparations for the actual ride pads yet.

If so then can you explain Sol Spin dug up hole.

[PKIDelirium]

On 12/21/2022 at 9:25 AM, Orion13 said:

I took some pictures of Diamondback getting repainted

Ah, so the "tree bark" I was seeing is just the pre-paint blasting on the existing old red. Looks like the entire red layer was taken off the track in the pool, maybe it needs extra attention.

[CoastersRZ]

On 12/21/2022 at 9:17 PM, Cedar Fair Fanboy said:

If so then can you explain Sol Spin dug up hole.

That doesn`t look like a purpose dug hole for a ride foundation.  Looks like they were doing some preliminary grading in that area.

[Coasterteam]

Gravity Group revealed at the ACE No Coaster Con the amount of work Racer is getting.

It seems just Red is getting work. We might see blue side get some work next year?

Looking forward to riding Red and winning more! 

 

[CoastersRZ]

Sounds good.  Is it getting Gravity Group`s new track system?  In several years, if KI keeps up this rehab work on The Racer and The Beast, they will eventually all be the new vertical style track, which will hopefully provide a smoother ride for years to come.

[Coasterteam]

58 minutes ago, CoastersRZ said:

Sounds good.  Is it getting Gravity Group`s new track system?  In several years, if KI keeps up this rehab work on The Racer and The Beast, they will eventually all be the new vertical style track, which will hopefully provide a smoother ride for years to come.

Yes, they also showed a table of all the projects they’re doing in 2023. Some unnamed still, but 6000+ feet of track is being redone across multiple parks with the precut track! 

[SonofBaconator]

When wooden roller coaster track gets replaced over the years, that reminds me of the ”Ship of Theseus” thought experiment

[FUN&ONLY!]

I am really excited for this retrack. The Racer’s return run has really been it’s roughest and weakest section ever since Gravity Group redid a sizable potion of the first half. From what I have seen online, Blue Racer should be getting its second half redone next off-season, so I am really looking forward to that as well.

Beyond a smoother second half, the reprofiling should allow for some really solid airtime on Red Racer’s return run just like the reprofiled sections in the first half. However, what I never quite understood is the one hill right before the turnaround on the Red Racer that was not fully retracked like its counterpart on Blue Racer. I think Red Racer will easily be the best side of The Racer this year, but I think Blue Racer will have the better first half simply because of that one “rougher” airtime hill on Red Racer.

[Orion13]

It looks like some work is being done on Adventure Express!

[FUN&ONLY!]

It looks like Red Racer’s retrack is coming along very nicely from the webcams. On the other hand, though, it appears that no progress has been made on Diamondback’s repaint since Winterfest. A few areas of the track had been repainted near the station in December, but that seems to be it. Maybe Baynum Solutions is focusing on other projects before getting back to Diamondback.