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Confessions of a CP Fanboy
By Jonathan | April 27, 2009 at 12:08 pm
It was a bright, sunny Saturday morning when Abi and I set out to ride the latest and greatest roller coaster that Kings Island has to offer. With an expected high temperature to reach the mid-70s and not a cloud to be seen, we couldn’t have asked for a better day to ride roller coasters! Kings Island officially opened for the season at 10am, but Gold Pass and Platinum Pass holders (which we are) were able to begin riding select coasters at 9am. We arrived to the park at about 8am to find a crowd already beginning to form. I estimated about 2000-3000 people in line before us, which was pretty impressive considering the park wasn’t even open yet. Most of the crowd was there to take part in the grand opening in Diamondback, now the tallest and faster roller coaster at Kings Island.
Diamondback promised to provided guests with a ride unlike any other at the park, and we wouldn’t be disappointed.
At about 9am the gates opened and those at the beginning of the line began to run toward the ride entrance in the back of the park. People were packed in like sardines, so by the time Abi and I made it through the gate, we already standing in line. For those familiar with KI, the line had already slithered back to the entrance of Nickelodeon Universe. I guessed that it would take about two hours to make it through the line, which turned out to be about 30 minutes over. Nothing eventful happened until we got closer to the actual queues for the ride where we could pay more attention to the amazing structure of the coaster, and the magnificent splashdown at the end of the ride. The queues were obviously completely filled, but the line moved pretty quickly which is always a good thing. We made it from the start of the line to the loading platform in a mere 45 minutes. I would have expected it to take at least 1-1.5 hours, and I’m wondering if KI really thought that one completely through for crowd control. However, I now know that even on a busy day it’s not as bad as it looks!
The loading platform didn’t offer up anything special, pretty standard stuff there. Abi and I chose to sit in the very last seat of the train, which meant with the new style car that we were on the outside of a four-seat car, and pushed back a little. It’s a pretty unique design, which I liked, but I’m not sure I actually was able to see much more than usual once the ride started. Diamondback used a standard chain-lift system, but was missing the click-click-click of your old school roller coaster rollback protection system. I haven’t done any investigation on the newer safety mechanisms, but it was a smooth, quiet ride up to the top. From that point forward the details of the ride are a bit sketchy; probably due to the mix of excitement, adrenaline, and just trying to enjoy the ride, but Diamondback has quickly become one of my favorite rides at Kings Island.
Diamondback is a reasonably long ride, running about three minutes from the time you leave the station until the time you return. Longer rides always make me feel like I get my money’s worth, so the ride gets a good mark in that category. There are plenty of big, smooth hills with lots of air time, which is always something I enjoy. The fantastic first drop carries riders right over the heads of guests walking down the sidewalk, and also just past riders on the Kings Island Railroad. The bright red and yellow track can be seen from almost anywhere in the park, attracting attention from coaster riders and non-riders alike. Diamondback features an incredible splashdown effect at the end of the ride which really is a neat touch for people watching the ride. The splash looks cool, and also helps to slow the train down as it nears the station. Trying to describe it won’t do it justice, so look for a video on YouTube if you’re interested. The ride moves about 1600 riders per hour, above average for most coasters, which really makes the time fly in that queue line.
Overall the ride gets a good rating from me, trying to eliminate as much of my Cedar Point bias as possible… Nice work, Kings Island and Cedar Fair, keep them coming.
Topics: review, roller coasters | 3 Comments »
April 27th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
So if you could choose Diamondback or any individual ride at Cedar Point, which would you pick?
April 27th, 2009 at 7:59 pm
I would pick a ride at Cedar Point over Diamondback.
May 8th, 2009 at 9:35 am
You forgot to mention the worst part of the ride… it is not made for 50% of the American population and there was a very sweet handicap man behind us that waited the whole time, super pumped (already had a diamond back T-shirt), and he was not able to ride because he was too big.
It broke my heart!!! Also, I would pick diamond back over Mantis any day!!!