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Kings Island

Park News - (7/3/09) A quick update about the status of Son of Beast can be found here, but the basic gist for those of you planning trips to the park is that the coaster is still closed and has no known estimate of when it will reopen. Given the time it will take to conduct an inspection and pending legal action, there is a chance it could remain closed for the rest of the season.
  (7/1/09) The local news has posted a good video story about The Beast turning 30 this year.
  (6/24/09) The latest update on the whole Son of Beast situation says that the woman who filed the complaint about the ride was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit where she was suffering from a broken blood vessel in her brain. Ouch… SOB doesn’t even have OTS restraints to bash you in the head so this can’t be good news.
  (6/23/09) Last week we had heard that Kings Island had shut down the Son of Beast roller coaster and no one seemed to know why. All reports indicated that no major technical malfunction took place, but instead the park had just quietly shut it down and never reopened it. Privately, I had a few discussions with select individuals about what I thought was the most likely cause behind this move and it turns out I was right.
  The local news has now confirmed that the ride is closed following a claim from a woman who says she suffered a “head injury” from riding it on May 31st, though she didn’t file her report with the park until June 16th. Please note that this is a voluntary shutdown of the coaster from Kings Island who is being pro-active and has now planned “a thorough maintenance review” of Son of Beast before they will reopen it. No timeline was given in regards to when it may reopen, and no further details seem to be available about the exact details of the injury itself.
  (6/19/09) I’m not sure how true this is, but there is a rumor gaining movement around the Ohio area enthusiast circles that something may be wrong with Son of Beast. The ride has been closed for the past couple of days, which really isn’t a big deal, with the rumors saying that it will be down for quite awhile. So far no one seems to know exactly what has happened that could keep SOB down for so long.
  (6/5/09) Kings Island has extended their park hours to remain open until Midnight on the following dates: July 4, 11, 18, 25 and August 1.
  (5/18/09) Last season when Tomb Raider reopened as The Crypt, I had heard from a friend that the ride program had changed for the worse at the time early in the season. From what I remember of the phone call they told me that it only delivered one solid inversion and a second near-miss inversion where they were stuck upside-down for a bit and rolled back. I never gave it much thought after that as I had never heard anything more about it for the rest of the season. I don’t know if they kept that ride program for the entire season or changed it again for the better soon afterwards, but I figured that no news was good news.
  Jump ahead a year later and this past weekend I received a very similar e-mail from a reader claiming that starting this past Friday the ride was running a very toned tone ride program that only inverted the riders twice, and seemed to provide a shorter overall ride length. There is already quite an on-going discussion resulting from the fallout from this unpopular change taking place at KI Central as well over this latest change. Anyone know why they changed it? Is this temporary until they can fix some kind of maintenance issue or is this how they expect to run it from now on?
  (5/16/09) A photo updates from the Kings Island Ride Warriors event have been posted to Gravity Photography.
  (5/14/09) A good report from the Ride Warrior Weekend event has been posted to Negative-G.
  (5/7/09) If you happened to catch a posting yesterday where a reader told us that one of the local TV stations reported that Don Helbig was leaving Kings Island for Kings Dominion... forget I ever posted it. Turns out it wasn’t true and was simply the fabrication of someone trying to spread some bad rumors around. My apologies to everyone involved.
  (5/6/09) Okay, I wasn’t going to post anything about this, since it really is a non-event, but I’ve been getting too many reports about since it happened over the weekend. If you’ve heard the rumors, then it’s true… Diamondback systems shut the coaster one afternoon, bringing one train to a stop in the mid-course brake run. After it was determined that the coaster would be shut down for awhile, the riders of that train were evacuated onto the platform and led back into the park. As I said, this really is a non-event, and nothing to get excited about, as the ride’s safety systems did exactly what they were designed to do. You can see pictures of the event posted to Coaster101 followed up by a large photo update showing off tons of pictures of the rest of the park on the next page.
  (5/2/09) KICentral reports some interesting new developments at Kings Island in regards to some of the older areas of Coney Mall being cleaned up a bit. Could this be a hint for something new to come in the future, or perhaps they’re just making room for a new Haunt for Halloween. More as we find out. The park has one more new development… you can now follow them on Twitter.
  (4/22/09) Kings Island reports that the ASA Action Sports World Tour will make a stop at the park for two days of competition on May 23-24, 2009. The events will feature top X Games style competitions for Skateboarding, BMX, Freestyle Motocross and more.
  (4/15/09) A large update of pictures of the park taken back in 1975 has been added to KIExtreme.com.
  (4/14/09) One of the most famous residents of Kings Island will turn 30 this year. Of course I’m talking about the wooden behemoth known as The Beast, an infamously popular wooden coaster that opened to the media on April 13th, 1979 as the world’s longest wooden roller coaster, a record that it still holds even today, clocking in 7,400 feet (1.4 miles), a length seconded only by it’s offspring, the nearby Son of Beast (7,032 ft). 
  (4/7/09) The repainting of Vortex has been confirmed with photos posted to Kings Island Insider, though it seems that they are only really focused on repainting the coaster’s orange rails.
  (4/6/09) I haven’t seen any photos of it yet, but I’ve heard that Kings Island has begun to repaint Vortex to brighten it up a bit. Anyone know more?
  (3/26/09) Kings Island reports that they have reicieved more than $75,000 in bids to be the first to ride Diamondback when it opens on April 18th. All of the proceeds will go to A Kid Again, a non-profit organization dedicated to providing fun-filled adventures for children with life threatening illnesses and their family. In addition to the 75k, the park also received an in-kind donation of $50,000 from Bonneville Radio Cincinnati for the auction as well.
  (3/16/09) Kings Island has announced their live entertainment options for the 2009 season. The park will feature three brand new shows as well as several returning favorites. New this year will be Down Home Country (Festhaus – Country Song/Dance Revue), Don’t Stop The Music (International Bandstand - DJ and Popular hits) and Marty’s Party (Putz HQ – Kids Show). Returning favorites include: Endless Summer on Ice, Flashback: Totally 80’s and The Country Line.
  (3/1/09) A new fanpage for WinterFest at Kings Island has been created on Facebook.
  (2/25/09) Kings Island has launched a new official blog called Kings Island Insider. Currently they are showing off some retracking on The Beast and a peek at new Beast trains from CoasterDynamix and how you can buy one. In other news we’ve heard from Don Helbig that the response to the auction for seats on Diamondback has been huge, with over 200 bids put in so far, the top one for $2,500. He also tells us that the park will offer three new shows this season, Down Home Country, Don't Stop The Music and the Marty's Party kids show. Returning shows include Endless Summer on Ice, Flashback: Totally 80's and The County Line.
  (1/13/09) KIExtreme has posted nearly 30 pictures showing off what the park looked like back in 1972 on opening day, April 29th.

2009 - Diamondback - (6/26/09) A couple of new videos showing off Diamondback as well as the rest of Kings Island can be seen over at CoasterImage.com.
  (4/23/09) New Dimondback updates can be found at Coaster-Net and Theme Park Review this week.
  (4/22/09) BlockBrake has posted their own report from the opening day of Diamondback this week.
  (4/21/09) According to a few readers who were at the park on Saturday, the actual line time for Diamondback never got longer than 2.5 hours, thanks to the high capacity ride design and great opening day crews.
  (4/20/09) Large and in charge, Diamondback opened to the public this weekend and we’ve seen a flood of internet coverage over this latest monster coaster. You can find updates posted to PointPics, RCPro and CoasterImage.
  It’s also worth checking out the brief video clip here showing off the few of the line for the ride on Saturday, which apparently was about 3 hours long on average and at one point was said to be around the 5 hour mark.
  (4/18/09) A couple of great Diamondback videos have already made their way onto YouTube today. The one I embedded below may be the best looking one, since it shows a complete front row POV and thena reverse POV of the riders taking the course afterwards which has a unique look backwards at the splashdown effect.

  (4/14/09) Big news for Kings Island fans… as Rex and The Beast will be giving away one of their charity auction tickets to be one of the first riders on Diamondback, where you can ride along with Rex. You can find out the details about how to enter the drawing here.
  (4/13/09) Kings Island reports that as of Friday, the total amount bid to be the first riders on the new Diamondback coaster has su rpassed $95,000. The current top bid is $5,000 for just one seat, with the bidding still open through April 15.
  (3/19/09) Kings Island has sent out a couple of new pictures of Diamonback making test runs. One nice train shot where you can see the water scoop hanging off the side of the back of the train and the other is a great splashdown shot.
  (3/11/09) Kings Island released another picture of Diamondback, this one with a “twist”. Watchful coaster enthusiasts will notice what may be out first look at the water scoops mounted to the back of the last car that create the huge rooster-tails of water during the splash-down.
  (3/9/09) New pictures of Diamondback making test runs can be seen at KIExtreme.
  (3/6/09) Kings Island has sent out a fun photo this week showing off a Diamondback train making the big splashdown just before the end of the run in the former Swan Lake. As you can see the first B&M Hypercoaster splash effect makes rooster tails of water fly high into the air just like their Dive Machine counterparts.
  (3/2/09) A video of Diamondback making test runs can be found here, while Don Helbig at the park sent us a great photo of the train testing. Ummm…Don? I think you lost one of your water dummies from the front row however. That’s a sure sign that this thing will have some serious air-time. You can also catch another interview with Don Helbig over at Coaster Force.
  (2/24/09) Coaster-net.com has posted a ton of new Diamondback pictures this week, as well as a video interview with Don Helbig who talks more about what we can expect to see at Kings Island this season. Speaking of Diamondback… I’ve also heard that the coaster could begin actually testing sometime within the next 1 to 2 weeks.
  (2/10/09) Three new Diamondback construction pictures were sent to us from Kings Island this week showing off the station and the drop into the splashdown. An interview with Don Helbig has also been posted to Behind the Thrills this week.
  (2/3/09) Kings Island has announced that they will auction off the first 96 seats on Diamondback from now through April 15th here. Right now you have to call in your bids but online bidding will be added soon. All of the proceeds will go to benefit the “A Kid Again” organization.
  (1/30/09) A good 2-minute HD video clip showing off the construction to Diamondback (from back when there were only 11 pieces left to go) has been posted to YouTube.

  (1/27/09) Kings Island has confirmed that the work crews installed the last piece of Diamondback track yesterday, along with a picture (see gallery) of the final piece being put in place. KIExtreme has added a great new photo update of Diamondback, all taken from the air shortly after the last piece was installed, as well as pictures of the rest of the park covered in snow, all from the air.
  (1/26/09) Kings Island has sent in a few more Diamondback construction shots.
  (1/23/09) Kings Island has sent out another great batch of Diamondback photos… only ten more track pieces to go.
  (1/21/09) Kings Island has sent in several new pictures of Diamondback. According to Don Helbig, there are only 11 pieces of track left to be installed and that Diamondback will be ready for guests when the park opens on April 18th.
  (12/29/08) KI Central has posted some great new construction pictures this month of Diamondback. Check them out.
  (11/27/08) The Behind the Thrills podcast also talks with Don Helbig about Diamondback this week.
  (11/26/08) Coastin’ East has posted an interview with Don Helbig where they talk all about Diamondback.
  (11/19/08) Today we’ve got five new Diamondback construction photos from Kings Island to share with everyone. Enjoy!
  (11/12/08) Kings Island has sent out a couple of new pictures of Diamondback this week as the final piece of the first drop has now been installed.
  (11/11/08) New Diamondback construction pictures have been posted to KICentral this week.
  (11/4/08) Diamondback is growing by leaps and bounds and is getting to the point where it is nearly complete. The coaster was topped off on October 30th (see new photo) as the tallest point (230 ft) was bolted together. As of that day there are only supposed to be five sections of track left to be installed to complete the 215 ft drop, which is expected to be complete by the end of this week. You can also see more updates posted to Coaster101.
  (8/6/08) The new giant coaster at Kings Island was revealed today as Diamondback, named after the deadly snake. Opening in April 2009 the new $22 million B&M Hypercoaster will stand 230 feet tall and race at speeds of up to 80mph down the 215 ft first drop and throughout the 5,282 ft long run. As rumored, it will feature three of the new B&M Hypercoaster train design that Behemoth first used at Canada’s Wonderland this year, with the addition of a snake-head on the front. The trains will be eight cars long, with each car holding 4 riders for an estimated capacity of 1,620pph. Diamondback will also feature a total of 10 drops, with six of them being over a hundred ft tall (215’, 193’, 131’, 129’, 110’ and 106’). The weird thing is that Diamondback will use two different colored supports… the cream colored ones we’ve seen on site already as well as the larger mustard yellow colored ones spotted at the track fabricator, though it seems those bright ones will only be used on the massive lift hill. Also a first for any Hypercoaster, Diamondback will also feature the same kind of finale splashdown effect so far only seen on B&M’s Dive Machines.

Future Development - (5/16/08) I’ve heard a couple of odd rumors regarding the future of things at Kings Island and changes that could start to take place in 2009 or later. The first rumor suggested that as early as the 2009 season Kings Island may consider making Boomerang Bay a separately gated park and no longer part of the entire Kings Island experience in much the same way that Soak City is an extra experience not part of your regular admission to Cedar Point.
  Beyond this, in the more long term scheme of things, our source also tells us that Cedar Fair is looking over the idea of having their own resort hotel on property. If both rumors are true, it looks like they’re trying to find ways to turn Kings Island into a stand-alone resort of it’s own, sort of like a Cedar Point South.