Thursday, October 13, 2011

Knoebels Opens the Black Diamond



Better late than never couldn't be any more true for the debut of the Black Diamond at Knoebels, which quietly opened to the public for the first time this past weekend.

The ride has been under construction all Summer, and in true Knoebel's fashion the park opened the ride only when they felt it was perfectly ready.  Initial reviews are that the ride is a lot of fun, though that's not very surprising.  We've seen a lot of the theming that J.M.M. Studios created for the ride, all of which is very detailed and looks like a nice mix of both scary and fun.

The coaster itself was saved by Knoebels when it was standing idle in Wildwood, NJ, as the Golden Nugget.  Designed by John Allen and built by PTC, the ride is truly a one-of-a-kind attraction, one that I personally cannot wait to try out!

If you want a peek at the theming inside the ride, check out this gallery that IRM posted from a tour they took this past Summer - but only if you don't want to be surprised!


2 comments:

gator said...

Black Diamond totally ROCKS as a dark ride....they'll get the timing (stunts vs. train location) down and it will improve quite a bit as a coaster. The ride just has a perfect vibe for Knoebels, themed perfectly in a way that could easily feel "contrived" anywhere else. I was impressed with how it seemed there couldn't possibly be enough space in the building for all that trackage and all those scenes. As I said on KG's Facebook page, "a total win for Knoebels and JMM Studios."

P.S. Great meeting you at Dorney on Sunday, Mike.

NewsPlusNotes said...

I can't wait to give Black Diamond a spin, naturally it works out that the last weekends the park is open for the years I have plans! Such is life.

Nice to meet you, too!