After what may have felt like an eternity to many of counting down the months, days, hours, minutes or even seconds that time has finally arrived! It’s fast, it’s full of venom and IT’S HERE! Diamondback, Kings Island’s new 230’ steel monster, will open this Saturday. With its incredible height, ten vertical drops, special open-air stadium-style seating and countless other incredible and innovative features, it is certainly the most anticipated new ride of 2009!

This FANGtastic new ride opens Saturday with the park and auction winners will populate the first public trains. The Diamondback First Rider Auction raised an astounding $102,000 for A Kid Again, a local charity that helps children with illnesses and their families.

Click here to see a photo preview of Diamondback or

to see a video of Diamondback in action!

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Hey Dane, looks like you caught someone in the act of taking On-ride photography. Two pictures in fact. Pictures 11 and 14.

It's at the top of the picture, you can see someone's arm sticking up holding what looks like a disposable camera.

http://www.KICentral.com/photos/displayima...=304&pos=10

Just thought I'd point that out. haha These are great photos and I can't wait to see everyone enjoying themselves tomorrow.

After seeing the work on the sign and the completed area, I'm ashamed I cannot visit tomorrow. It looks stunning! Welcome back, Rivertown!

Great video and the edits in it are awesome!

If the video doesn't work for you it's because I made some changes and reuploaded. It'll take a second to render but will be back in a flash!

All things considered, the Rivertown area looks fantastic! Landscaping looks great and well decorated. Only 12 more hours!

I am TOTALLY blown away by how nice the Diamondback sign turned out. It is just perfect. I also like that the park went all out and put a brick path around The Beast instead of just asphalt or concrete...to me it shows that they are still proud of it.

Thanks Kings Island!

I was there for media day today. They stopped the train going up the hill because they saw some dude with a little handheld camera. The ride op tied off, walked up the hill, and took the camera.

As for the ride....it's off the chain. Totally amazing.

Will be at the park bright and early for the ERT! Looking at the photos I can't wait a few more hours!!! Look for me and say Hi!!

The photos are amazing, the landscaping looks great and I love the use of brick pavers for the entry plaza's for Beast, Rivertown Junction and Diamondback. I think Rivertown will have never looked better than this year.

ya i like the new area a lot. I like the DB sign.

Hours away! I can't wait!

Rivertown looks amazing. I almost wanted to cry when I saw those pictures, everything looks so beautiful!! I cannot believe how nice the entrance to The Beast looks. It will be like walking into a whole new park...I will have fun just looking at all of the changes. I really don't think I could have asked for anything better than what they've done. I can't wait to see it all in person in just a few hours!!!

~Ash

Am I allowed to post up my thoughts from media day!?

When I saw the animation, I felt the layout didnt quite fit the area. After watching the video and seeing the photos of the finished product, I have to say I'm quite impressed. It looks pretty darn cool running around back there. I can't wait to ride!

Alright hopefully posting this is OK.

I was also there for media day. My thoughts:

The midway looks great. The sign looks amazing, especially with the adding of more to the sign.. The queue line TVs are a nice touch, though hard to see in harsh sun. The gift shop has a nice setup and really has the western feel. The exit back to the midway seems to be solely a handicap entrance. Everyone must go through the giftshop (at least today).

The ride itself: Front is full of airtime! It's an odd sensation to get airtime, then get shoved as rest of the train catches up. The best seat IMO, and I'm not usually a front seat guy. The middle is fairly tame, not too much G's in either way, but still a fun ride. The back has lots of airtime too. It's a little more intense in the positive G category it seemed. The ride was running great, even with mostly empty cars, and it seemed to speed up as it warmed up. Also, sitting in the back seat during the splash is very intimidating! IT'S HUGE! The back also gives you that yanked feeling over the first hill!

The third hill was definitely a huge pop of air, and rather surprising. The first drop felt very similar to MF's. All told, I rode 8 times, in scattered rows, and the front was my favorite.

The trim break after the hammerhead didn't affect much, and huge airtime still soon follows. The MCBR wasn't grabbing too much either.

My only disappointment of the ride was the final helix. It seemed very tame and not very intense, yet somehow there was still a nice pop of air dropping into the lake, so I can't complain.

The cars look AWESOME with the eyes and teeth! And the seats are amazing. A trick I heard previously, and held true today. The SECOND row is basically a front seat, yet the wait is MUCH less than the actual front. Just a thought for ya all tomorrow.

The buffet provided was also very nice, and I want to say THANK YOU to KI for making such a nice day out of it. Weather was perfect, and the ride is VERY photogenic. Thanks for a great day KI! Have fun tomorrow everyone!

The trim break after the hammerhead didn't affect much, and huge airtime still soon follows. The MCBR wasn't grabbing too much either.

Somewhere, dare-to-fly is smiling, but at the same time finds himself wondering how long that will last.

The trim break after the hammerhead didn't affect much, and huge airtime still soon follows. The MCBR wasn't grabbing too much either.

Somewhere, dare-to-fly is smiling, but at the same time finds himself wondering how long that will last.

So true ! We've been sending PM's about that since Thur.

Do we have another Sammy situation?

Hey Dane, looks like you caught someone in the act of taking On-ride photography. Two pictures in fact. Pictures 11 and 14.

It's at the top of the picture, you can see someone's arm sticking up holding what looks like a disposable camera.

http://www.KICentral.com/photos/displayima...=304&pos=10

Just thought I'd point that out. haha These are great photos and I can't wait to see everyone enjoying themselves tomorrow.

Thanks for posting for those of us that won't be up for a few weeks.

It is an amazing ride. I know that everyone here will enjoy it, the air is off the hook.

The trim break after the hammerhead didn't affect much, and huge airtime still soon follows. The MCBR wasn't grabbing too much either.

Somewhere, dare-to-fly is smiling, but at the same time finds himself wondering how long that will last.

Well. that didn't last too long, unfortunately. Today, I rode Diamondback three times. The first ride, the trim didn't catch, but the MCBR did. The second and third rides, the trim definitely caught on. The train slowed down quite a bit. Although, after the trim caught, we were still flying. I was amaazed how fast you really are going on the hammerhead and even going into the MCBR. The MCBR only caught a little bit my second two rides.

What an awesome media day and WHAT a ride!!

Nice pic of me in front seat on pic 26!

Went again yesterday-Im surprised no one got killed during the running of the bulls! Waited till after 5pm and only had to wait 1.5 hours for another ride. You can bet I will be making way more trips to KI this season!! Sorry Raptor!

Diamondback is just as awesome as everyone had anticipated! Expected nothing less from B&M!