gad198

I've had a chance to chat with a few members of the Kings Island maintenance personnel who work on Diamondback each day, and they've all had the same story. The seat belts were added because of the incident on New Texas Giant last year. I asked them if they knew that no one had ever been ejected from any B&M ride and that their rides with clamshell restraints have conservatively given more than 100 million rides without incident. They all came back with "it's just a CYA thing". When I asked if they'll ever be removed their response has been "not anytime soon". For those of you who still believe that a seat belt would somehow keep you in in the event of an ejection, I urge you to please read the official ride accident report from the state of Massachusetts regarding the Superman: Ride of Steel ejection in 2004. I don't have enough posts here to insert a link, but simply Google "Superman ride accident 2004" and it's the first result listed. Long story short, the victim in the Superman accident in 2004 was ejected while his seat belt was still attached. There's a reason coaster designers do not use seat belts as the only means of restraining you.

I took the same tour a few years ago. I asked our guide about what the "average" gratuity was and she simply said "it depends". Our guide also led Tony Stewart on a VIP tour a few weeks prior to our visit so I think her response was probably appropriate. You'll definitely want to tip something, and I would think that a reasonable tip would start somewhere between $50-$100. A couple of things I'd strongly suggest doing: (1) Don't try and power ride the full eight hours. There's plenty of time to get on what you want to get on. Take a few breaks to take in a show (I'd recommend the On Broadway show), cool off, snack, and stay hydrated. (2) You get reservations to restaurants and shows. Utilize the hour break during your tour to eat at a sit-down restaurant. Utilize the host to reserve any shows you want to see so you can get the best seats. (3) You get early entry privileges, but my advice would be to pass. It's a long day and you'll already be doing a lot of riding. You'll appreciate the extra sleep you gained by not getting to the park that early later on that day. I won my VIP tour as part of a contest and it was - by far - the best day I've ever had there and I wish the same for you. Have fun!

+1000. I couldn't have said it better myself. There are a lot of enthusiasts who rag on from B&M because they believe that isn't as good as their older stuff or rides from another manufacturer. If the newest B&M isn't top-20 worthy in their minds then automatically it's deemed that it sucks. Sometimes I think people enjoy making statements like that because it's fashionable in some circles. Parks are voting with their dollars. B&M has at least four or five "big" projects they're working on right now (that we know of). Parks are businesses, and in return for spending big dollars on a ride parks want a known quantity. They want uptime. They don't want hassles after the ride is installed. B&M has a much better handle on their products than do a lot of other manufacturers right now, and parks know this. There's a reason they're continuing to get the business.

I've gone on the first Friday of May the last four years in a row and it's a really nice day to go. There are school groups there but it's not bad at all. Typical Intimidator waits are usually 5-10 minutes those days. The Volcano line still stinks though so make sure you ride that first. You didn't mention it in your original question, but if you have a Gold/Platinum pass then there's also Intimidator & Volcano ERT that day from 9-9:30.

Is it just me or do the restraints (the larger surface area of the restraint, specifically) and seatbacks on the train look very similar in design to the trains on B&M hypers?

Excellent pictures Zach! I signed up to post on TPR specifically for this trip report. We missed seeing you up at KI this year, so hopefully school has been kind to you. Did you work at the Island this past year?