Photo TR: Diamondback and Pilgrim's Plunge

[Erik Johnson]

My main coaster goal this year was to return back to Ohio and go ride Diamondback. I was simply impressed on how it looked so I made a special trip up there this past weekend to go check it out with some friends. This past weekend also was Holiday's World's opening weekend so we visited that park as well to go check out the new Pilgrim's Plunge ride. Feel free to add comments

 

First up Kings Island.

So, how was your ride Chuck?

This is what it looks like from a distance.

It just hides the train.

The splash is really huge.

It is certainly a top tier B&M Hyper. I still give a slight edge to Behemoth.

This part, in particular, is really awesome.

It does have a lot of that floaty B&M airtime. Especially in the back.

It is true. The lift hill does move really fast. Almost like a cable lift.

A Group of riders heading out of the station, they look happy.

Anyone a Ride Warrior?

Sign over the entrance.

Good to know we are in the right place.

We first went on over to the new coaster, Diamondback.

Ohhhh......pretty.

And we are off!!!

Even park characters respect the flag.

It was time for the National Anthem.

We see you James.

Seas of People.

We got there before park opening. It was perfect park weather so it brought people to the park.

Chuck had been to the park once before, but that was during Winterfest sometime in the 80's.

KI Trash Can: 2009 Edition.

I would have been really sad if it was not.

Just in case you wanted to know.

What is that in the background?

Guy made sure that he was full of coffee for the day.

[Erik Johnson]

Kings Island: Part 2

Look Chuck! No Haunt Maze stuff in KI's version.

Any idea why the train now makes a full stop on the mid-brake-run on Flight of Fear?

Guy was hard at work as always.

Does everyone flash gang signs now?

Vortex, through the steel.

Another group of happy riders.

They do look pretty happy.

Random Vortex photo.

I find it better than most other Arrow multi-loopers.

Next was Vortex.

The launch into the helix is still quite intense.

I guess no water means no splash down effect.

Notice anything missing?

I rode this under the Italian Job banner. So does this count as a new credit?

Yet another splashdown photo.

They were running all the trains they could on all the coasters that day.

One thing for sure, KI's operations were quite strong for the day.

Noted!

Chuck tries his best Beast impression.

The Beast. Too bad for those darn magnetic brakes.

While walking over to the Beast we were greeted by some random marching band.

Next was the old woodie.

I think Chuck remembers his previous adventures with other Junior Hang and Bangs. This one is not as bad.

Next we took on the kiddie coaster credits. Here is one for the index, Larry.

[Wood Dragon 1988]

Nice TR so far. I'm contemplating going to KI this year....this stuff is bad for my wallet LOL.

[Erik Johnson]

Kings Island Part 3

Guy on Flight Deck.

This line only took about 15 minutes.

At least this one is right next door.

That good eh?

Yeah, that is much better.

Why do you smile Chuck?

Blue Train.

Red Train.

So what did these water dumies do in a past life to deserve to be here?

What were these footers for?

It is still at the bottom of my wooden list.

Why am I going to ride this?

Oh no!

We are next to ride.

Someone looks happy to be riding.

Station photo.

While its a great mine train, they seemed to have the final theming area turned off. (If you ridden it you know what I am talking about).

Both sides were running, and they were racing as well.

ACE seems to like it.

Racer was fun today.

[Erik Johnson]

I was feeling quite ill last night which prevented me from finishing this up. So I am back again.

 

KI Part 4.

This photo represents how awesome our night rides on Beast and Diamondback were.

Since I do not like Top Spins, I passed on this.

Any idea how to say this?

The rapids ride is REALLY buried in the park. Good luck in finding it.

Not too sure what that is.

Fort Kinzel?

The train ride had all kinds of theming.

Guy must have filmed about 15 hours of footage that day.

The train is stull stuck up there.

In fact, the train runs right under Diamondback.

Look it is Diamondback.

I discovered that KI has a train!!

This is certainly the best of these rides I have been on. Scooby Doo shooting dark rides that is.

Backlot Stunt Coaster.

Those poor people.

Son of Beast.

Adventure Express.

The only drop tower that makes my ears pop.

KI is really a nice park. The park was very clean and had great operations that day.

No catch car slipping on Invertigo this time.

Racer doing its thing.

We skipped Firehawk today, the line was just way too long.

Odd Coaster.

Here is the kid's area.

Diamondback went down for about 3 hours, but they got it back up an hour before park closing.

Looks like a train got stuck on the mid brake run.

Things do not look right in the station, that train has been there a while.

Lets go to the top, shall we?

Drop Tower kicked all kinds of butt today.

Andrew and Zack's second ride.

Andrew and Zack's first ride.

Invertigo was my missed credit from my last visit, thanks to Casey breaking it.

[PKI Jizzman]

Hmm...seems the energy/happyness fades between ride one and ride two! Haha, naww..I like Invertigo...aside from a bit of head banging, it's a forcefull ride.

 

Glad to hear you liked Drop Tower that much! Before Diamondback....that's all I had for airtime!

 

Can't wait to see how HW went.

-JZ

[Erik Johnson]

Lets head on over to Holiday World. We had an awesome visit to the park. The coasters were really running great. Raven was running just as good as always. Voyage really surprised me on this visit. I rode it back in 2007 and I honestly thought that the coaster was way over-hyped after riding it a few times. It just was too intense with all the jackhammering that occurred that year. I understand that it is now running very close on how it did during its opening year. Plus the mid brake run was turned off as well. Other than one pot-hole moment heading up on the third hill, I found the ride to be very re-rideable. Which was something I could not say two years ago. Legend was running good as well. It too seemed to be running much better this year.

 

Crowds were very light this day due to the news channels reporting that there was an above 70% chance of rain/thunderstorms for the day. Well, that was pretty much proven wrong. It rained lightly for about 10 minutes.

 

We had a really nice conversation with Pat Koch for about 10 minutes while were we eating lunch. She came over and said hello and asked us how our day was going. How many other parks can you say that the owner/director of the park comes over and greets guests in this manner?

 

As for Pilgrim's Plunge, I enjoyed quite a bit. I think it is a solid ride for families. I will go into more detail with this in my photos.

 

Holiday World Part 1

Everyone loves Holidog!

Cha-Ching!

Ha ha ha!

There is still one more credit to get.

A little shout out to Gainesville.

Even Death likes to ride coasters.

"Voyage Hair"

I really enjoyed my front row ride as well.

Voyage was running GREAT that day. It is now in my top 10.

It was time to move on since some people needed a credit.

Legend was running really well too. It certainly moved up my list.

I am sure there is already one of these in the index. But it is here just in case.

I needed a photo of this.

Don't you guys agree?

Raven is so awesome.

Santa Claus is really cool. Plus he likes to ride coasters. Make sure you go talk to him.

Candy Christmas Tree.

This was Andrew's and Chuck's first visit to Holiday World.

This is the new area.

Here is a closer look.

Andrew presents us with this year's map.

Raven is still my favorite coaster in the park. Its in my top 5.

We were pretty much the first people at the park that morning.

The iconic Holiday World watertower.

We will be riding it soon.

You really get a good look at Pilgrim's Plunge as you approach the park.

We see you Holiday World.

[spaceace12]

What day were you at Holiday World?

[SFOGdude25]

Hey! You caught me! I'm on the far left in the blue shirt. You may have seen me talking to Zach.

I agree. The park was running well that day. Diamondback is now my favorite B&M hyper!

Nice photos!

[Erik Johnson]

Oh let us head on over to Pilgrim's Plunge, shall we?

 

 

As for the ride itself, we thought it was fun. It is a solid ride for the family. The ride just opened a couple of days ago and it is quite amazing how fast that they were able to get it built. They did have it open for opening day, which was promised. This area was originally a basic field, so that is why there isn't any trees or foliage in the area yet. I think they will add some landscaping around the first section of the ride when the time comes. I think its better not to have a tunnel in the first section because everyone will be wanting to watch the lift. The drop is not too intense because its not as steep as some other water rides. The splash may not be huge when compared to other splashdown rides, but I think its is larger than a standard long flume. Well, it is certainly bigger when compared to Splash Mountain at the Magic Kingdom. If I was to build a tunnel for the ride, I would do it around the final bend back into the station because that section does move at a very slow speed. Maybe have some Pilgrims in the tunnel welcome you back from your journey.

 

I am going to do one final update later, but feel free to add comments now.

More riders, including myself.

Opening soon.

Back into the station they go.

You guys have fun?

I think I counted 5 boats on the ride.

The slow return sail back to the station begins here.

With a full boat of people, everyone gets quite wet.

They are off!

They are now getting ready for the plunge.

They are now passing by the other lift.

The lift is really cool.

The boat is now locking in the elevator.

I think its better not to have a tunnel here so you can see the tower. I am sure they will add some plants at a later date. The boats move quite fast in this area.

Off they go!

The boats continue to move while you board.

Looks like a full boat of riders.

Here is a closer look.

See how big it is?

We were all very impressed with the size of this fan.

I am sure this will be full of park guests in the months to come.

How many rides are you able to ride barefoot?

Ride Rules.

Let us check out the queue building.

They also get to use this tunnel while walking over to the ride.

This is the walkway over to the waterpark. Which is seperated from the rest of the area.

You can enter the ride from either Splashin' Safari or Holiday World.

Just a few days before our visit this was not finished yet. It is looking good so far.

The splash is actually bigger than you think, especially since these are smaller boats.

While it is tall, the actual drop is not too intense, which is perfect for a family ride.

They really built this area up really quickly.

We are walking over to the new area.

Pilgrim's Plunge, the new ride at Holiday World just opened up.

Without a poncho, you can get really wet on the ride.

[Hattuchili]

Great Photo TR, Erik. I am not a huge fan of water rides, but Pilgrim's Plunge looks really impressive. How high is the tower?

 

--Soren

[Erik Johnson]

Great Photo TR, Erik. I am not a huge fan of water rides, but Pilgrim's Plunge looks really impressive. How high is the tower?

 

--Soren

 

The drop is 131 feet.

[WFChris]

Does the tilt on the lift add to the ride experience?

 

Chris

[angryemobeaver]

Nice photos, You seemed to like KI alot! I think it's really under-appreciated on TPR... Can't wait to see more HW photos.

[jamesdillaman]

Nice meeting you this weekend, Jiggety Johnson! Had a blast. I'm really glad Diamondback opened back up Saturday night. Weird how it was closed the time that I wasn't there.... (looks around nervously). Anyway, glad to hear PP is a fun ride. I know lots of people on here have been dissing it, but they haven't even been on it... Great photos as always. Feel free to hit me up anytime you come back to the midwest!

 

-James Dillaman

[Guy T. Koepp]

^The lift is probably the most intimidating part of the ride. You really feel exposed. IMHO I loved Pilgrunge. It is a super fun water ride. They desprately need play and spray water cannons, which I'm told they are adding this week. Woo Hoo! If'n ya ain't wet yet! Ya will be!

 

Excellent TR Erik! I had an awesome time with you guys over the weekend. I'm so glad I could make it. Tell tha tall kid I said Hi!

 

Guy "Oh my god I look ultra mo in that first picture!" Koepp

[AllenA07]

Great pictures. It's interesting that it appears that they really rushed to get Pilgrim's Plunge open on time. I'm curious to see what the area is going to look like after they've had time to put in some landscaping and such. Overall though it looks like a decent water ride. It clearly doesn't look anywhere near soaking as say Perilous Plunge, but it still looks like you get decently wet.

[JimmyBo]

Glad to see Guy's sexiness is back. Great report as always Erik. Your pictures are always awesome and you really bring out the atmosphere in the parks. I'm glad you had an experience on Voyage like its opening year. That truly was when the ride was the best.

[Electerik]

It does look like they threw everything else out the window to get the ride open on time. That's pretty much what they did for the opening of Thanksgiving and The Voyage, too. And I would expect nothing less from Holiday World. They said it would be open, and it is.

 

Having said that, I may wait to see what else they do to improve the area before I make a special trip.

 

Anyway, thanks for the TR!

[ParkTrips]

As much as I think its a really cool piece of engineering, why, WHY did Holiday World get it? I mean seriously, how many families can enjoy that? Seems more of a thrillseeker niche ride with its intimidating height and drop

[Guy T. Koepp]

^^There were groundsworkers there all day working on stuff. I imagine the whole area will look very different in only a matter of weeks.

 

^Not at all Jow. As empty as the park was, it was mostly kids that were pulling their parents begrudgingly onto the ride. I think the angle of descent really helps make this a much more family friendly ride. All I can say is that I enjoyed it, and my kids are salivating over the chance to go on it in as soon as possible.

[ParkTrips]

^ Cool deal then!

[shepp]

I think the angle of descent really helps make this a much more family friendly ride.

 

Yeah...despite the added height, it sure doesn't look as intense as KBF's Perilous Plunge.

[mcjaco]

I could be wrong, but wasn't the original date for completion supposed to be in June?

[spaceace12]

I could be wrong, but wasn't the original date for completion supposed to be in June?

 

Holiday World is pretty good about things being ready on opening day, so I doubt that. I do know that a June date is being tossed around for the holliwatch program which still isn't even anywhere on the grounds in public view.