Get ready folks, you’re about to get the most massive blog post ever attemped by the Theme Park Engineering Group.

Last weekend we took a trip to Kings Island for a VERY special opportunity. We were offered a private tour of Diamondback’s most inner workings, as well as a couple VIP rides on this monster! The group from Toledo came down and the Coaster Cats from Cincinnati came up. Pictures were taken. Lots of them. If you’re a coaster or engineering nerd, here is some candy:

Everyone Arriving at the park:

<— The whole group!

Walking back to Diamondback! Excitement builds as the first train is run through the track…

Now we all pile in. Lucky we could all fit on one train!

Next, we got to go up into the shed and get a hands-on view of the trains. Notice how the wheel has a ‘Best if used AFTER’ sticker on it. Never seen that before! This stuff is just pure candy for the mechanical engineers.

A throne:

Finally, we got to go back into the woods to see the the parts of the ride we couldn’t quite notice going 75mph.

And this wouldnt be a TPEG blog without a shameless promotion for The Ohio State:

This was a truly incredible experience for everyone involved. We would like to thank Brian fom Kings Island for allowing us to do this and giving a great tour. The kind of stuff is really what makes TPEG such a unique and exciting group!

Some fun videos for you to watch:

Splashdown (And me making a goofy face).

Diamondback transfering to the shed while Brian explains how it works.