Diamondback POV is up!

^Wow...that is even more insane than I thought it would be?

(I know that none of us can predict the future), but should we expect those waits to be down quite a bit next Saturday? I'm debating on visiting then, or May 9th...but I'm not sure if I can wait another 3 weeks. ;)

If the crew is solid, heck, even if it's not, that ride is ridiculously easy to load. I bet they'll have no issues hitting their capacity targets. The queue isn't even that big, so even if the line looks long, I doubt it's four hours.

I've got all of the goodies up now, including the high definition, slow motion splash that everyone knows they want to watch...

http://coasterbuzz.com/content/kings-island-diamondback.aspx

The interesting thing that Gonch and I found when we were there is that there isn't a whole lot to photograph of this ride. I mean, it really is pretty limited in terms of what you can see.

Love the goofy music for the slo mo spashdown!

Seeing Gonch's familiar voice come out of his familiar face is a bonus.

Wow...just...wow. Jeff, you still doubt this line is 4 hours? lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ6P7yVoiNM

Nice video! As long as that line looks, I don't think that it's anywhere near 4 hours long. About a train length segment of that line leaves the station every few minutes. My guestimate is about a wait of about 50 trains, or about an hour and 45 minutes.

I'm not there to find out for myself today. That's just a guess.

I'm happy that the ride is proving to be popular. I'm getting to the park before it opens next Saturday and heading straight for Diamondback.

Am I the only one that thought the first drop had some "extra sway" in it when the train passes over?

Jeff, regarding the ban on "no hands up", since this footage was taken on media day, I assumed it to be exempted from the ban. I am guessing that if KI adds images of the riders at some point, that they would all be holding on. It's been a couple of years since the Patriot commercial shoot, and that's the last I knew the ban was still in place. I take your word that is has been lifted since then.

Yep. I noticed the extra sway the first time I watched it. It shocked me too. I'm sure that it's safe though.

DantheCoasterman said:
Wow...just...wow. Jeff, you still doubt this line is 4 hours? lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ6P7yVoiNM

The line actually got WAY longer than that at one point right around 10am when the park finally officially opened. The line continued clockwise around the ride all the way back to the train station. I was standing there watching park officials tell people to expect a 5 hour wait if they decided to get in line at that point.

Diamondback moves people like crazy though and from what I could tell, the actual wait was somewhere between 3 and 4 hours from that point. (the end of the line in that video is still at a point that would've been under two hours - that's how many people this ride can move)

It was a madhouse.

Here's a pic showing just how big the line got - if we were looking at a clock, the station/queue would be on the three, you can see the line go out of frame on the right side. It continues clockwise around the bottom of the photo past the six position and the line comes back into frame around where seven would be and the line ended up right around the train station just past the lift hill somewhere between the 12 and 1 position.

How does this compare with the line/wait for Behemoth on opening day last year? Just curious.

This goes to show that outside Disney, the B&M hyper coasters are the coasters with the best capacity! The one with the best capacity is Hollywood Dream: The Ride at Universal Studios Japan. Its a mini hyper with a small 150 feet hill at 45 degrees and 3500 feet of track. Yet, those crazy japanese run 4 trains on it, using dual stations!

I was shocked when I waited the whole line for Behemoth and it wasn't longer than 40 minutes. My friend (who did not fit in the tiny seat) took an hour to wait for Flight Deck. The lack of any fast pass/universal express/flash pass truly help and that is one thing I have to give Cedar Fair credit... keep it simple and fair for everyone.

Great pic, Gonch. Thanks for sharing.

I want to add that in Gonches pic, you can also see how Beast's new entrance has been designed!

Diamondback totally rocks! Have to agree airtime more intense in middle. Rode pretty much all sections of the train yesterday (an insane amount of times) and loved them all. Last seat was fun over the hills but it lacked the serious airtime you can get in other seats. My daughter and I were counting 8 seconds of pure airtime over the hills :)
I expected nothing less from B&M :)

Went to KI today-didnt join the maniacs in the morning. I dont know how someone didnt get killed during the running of the bullls!

By 10am the line was wrapped clear around the other side of the splash down to under the splash down hill. Waited till after 5pm-was 1.25 hour wait and still got a shirt! :)

LOVE Diamondback!! KI only 99 miles from me and a simple 1.5 hour drive! Looks like hubby and I will be spending alot more time at KI this season! Sorry Raptor!

Diamondback is just what KI needed.

btw-Diamondback Coasterdynamix model for sale-but is far from being a pure replica.

Jo

From the KI program/park map :

Diamondback Line Tip: The wait for Diamondback is usually longer in the morning than in the afternoon and early evening hours. We recommend that you take advantage of the shorter lines on the Park's other world-class rides and attractions during the AM hours.

And how! I don't know how they knew this, but it was TRUE. I got to KI from Columbus at 8:30 A. and there was a huge line of cars on KI Drive waiting to get in. I chalked it up to the auction thing and season pass action. All that was true, but by the time I was in the park, shortly after nine, there was already a huge crush of people on International Street waiting for early ride time. Perhaps it took the park by surprise, but it was terribly managed- half the people there had gold passes, half didn't- the half-didn'ts were made to step aside and the "gate" just kept getting smaller and smaller as people were stalling around the area that everyone else needed to pass through. It was a well behaved crowd, fortunately, and I saw no incidents, but maybe they should take a cue from CP and only allow those with valid early entry into the park, and then allow the GP in at 10.

Anyway, free at last, I walked through Nickelodeon and saw the line coming from the direction of Diamondback - and kept walking. And walking. By that time it was already stretching around the "island" all the way to the Crypt, practically full circle, just as that amazing shot from the tower shows. So I half-heartedly joined the line around 9:30- things ran smoothly for the coaster and by the time I got to the actual queue it was after 11. The queue itself, if full, is 60 minutes - I finally stepped off the ride (row 2, left side- woo hoo!) at about 12:15.

My second ride, in the afternoon, was slightly more than an hour wait- it seemed like a breeze!

The ride was fabulous, the hills seem tall and steep throughout and the airtime (especially in the front) was amazing. I did think the mid-course brake was a little grabby - maybe even more so today than what you see on the POV vid - not sure. All I could think of was how absolutely slammin' the last half could be without it.

The "suits" throughout the park today all seemed as happy as they could be, it was gorgeous weather and, with such a great turnout and everybody raving, a very successful day for them. The auction raised a ton of money, too.

Just about everyone that rode was sporting a layered look at the Island today - they put their free "First Rider" t shirt on over whatever they were wearing, and it was so fun to see. They were everywhere.

This ride is the exact boost that Kings Island needed, and I think ride enthusiasts from all over will be ecstatic.

DantheCoasterman said:
Wow...just...wow. Jeff, you still doubt this line is 4 hours? lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ6P7yVoiNM

The picture Gonch posted shows what I saw when I got into the park just before 10 a.m. My group wisely waited until after lunch, and around 2:00 the line ended only as far back as those green restrooms seen about 7 seconds into that video. From there it was 1 hr, 5 min until we were actually seated and ready to launch. I was very impressed.

I don't think the 2nd rows (the "outside" seats) give a feeling much different than a 4-across floorless -- I noticed most people's feet didn't touch the car, so it seems floorless in that sense -- but what's nice about that seating arrangement is having a much better view than if you had another set of seats right in front of you.

The interesting thing that Gonch and I found when we were there is that there isn't a whole lot to photograph of this ride. I mean, it really is pretty limited in terms of what you can see.

You can get some great photos if you go into The Crypt's exit. I got some nice snaps back there and of the ride flying overhead.

Visibility will be even worse once the trees are full of leaves.

I thought the Beast entrance area was interesting. Although the trees were sacrificed for the final Diamondback helix, the new plaza area looks nice and clean with new pavers throughout. It's opened up some, and looks a lot less junky. The little western-looking entrance building looks like it's had some touching up too- or maybe it was just seeing it in a new light that gave it a fresh appearance. Anyway, good job.

The entrance area to Diamondback was well done, too, with the same pavers. Once the grass grows in and the newly planted trees take root, the cee-ment pond area will look a lot better. I've noticed lately that the Cedar Fair parks might be trying harder to give their new rides a more polished, well established look -rather than the new-ride-in-a-mud-pit look we've seen before. Although it might look a little bare right now, at least it looks finished. Good job there, too.

LongLiveTheSmurfRide said:
You can get some great photos if you go into The Crypt's exit. I got some nice snaps back there and of the ride flying overhead.

I didn't mess with that on opening day being as there were a lot of people with the same idea when I wandered by.

They were letting people go back the train tracks on Friday, but Jeff and I didn't bother. We quickly put away the cameras and rode instead. :)

Speaking of riding on Friday, here's some footage of our ride with the Mayor of Cincinnati that I mentioned earlier in the thread. The dude's totally pimp.

I rode it in the morning yesterday and thought it was fun! I rode in the evening and was blown away! :o) Definitely my favorite B&M hyper!

Glad to hear all these positive reviews about Diamondback!

...now how was the Crypt? :)