The moment all of us at Kings Island had been anxiously waiting for happened this afternoon as the first test run on Diamondback took place.
The train, filled with a Water Dummy in each of the 32 seats, began its climb up the 230-foot lift at 4:41pm, rising above the park, above the trees. It roared down the 215-foot first drop at 74-degree angle, and made its way through vertical drops of 193, 131, 129, 110 and 106 feet; two helixes and the splashdown ending (without water) before stopping on the break run outside the station. The ride worked the way it was supposed to the first time!
The sound of the ride was one that only a B&M coaster can make! You can feel the power of this 5,282-foot monster as you stand and watch it from the midway.
Daily testing on Diamondback is scheduled to begin tomorrow.
- Don Helbig
