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^ granted, this is a pic I took at Cedar Point. . but yeah. . disagree that "nothing looks more tacky than a broken TV" LOL

It’s valley, not alley, and different areas of the park already do have different styles of music. I’d suggest you do some research before you “theorize” about someplace you seem to know little about. The “older crowd” spends heavy on food and merchandise, the areas where the profit margin is (unlike rides which generate no ROI directly) so the park will always cater to them. Since you “don’t know anybody that goes there for the music” you and your peer group are clearly not their target demographic.

This discussion is dumb, there are a lot of people, a LOT, that go to Dollywood for the country/gospel/bluegrass music (and the shows and the crafts and the food) only, not the rides. You're trying to fix something that aint broken here.

Mine don’t, but they love to go for rides, food and the overall experience. My parents don’t ride rides, but they love to go to the shows, food, shopping and overall experience. Thanks for pointing out that they have successfully established that hard to achieve pinnacle of appealing to different ages and demographics.

This thread went from being grateful for changes to Batman's queue and adding a new sign, to suggesting spending tens of millions of dollars on removing and replacing one of the top attractions. I'll take expected hiccups with Mr. Freeze over going full blown Volcano.

^Dippin' Dots Guy is more reliable than the leads!

It was a fun ride. The first half felt very Maverick-y with the quick transitions between elements. All the theming REALLY adds to the overall feel of being chased by raptors. The 2nd half.....WOW! LOVE the launch and all of the air time especially on the top hat. Really comfortable trains. The queue is great and the two-sided lockers are BRILLIANT! Really hope they implement this system everywhere!

I think it's useful and entertaining to discuss topics like LIMS. I'm thankful for your knowledge and I think it's relevant. Keep it coming, as far as I'm concerned. I just don't want to discourage the employees from participating in our conversations. It may sound like I'm shit talking some of the posters, but I'm trying not to. RIP, HWFan used to provide us with extensive information 5-10'ish years ago, including direct input from the park president (Dave). He was an incredible person, but he stopped providing us with information after that, because he got discouraged from the constant suggestions and negativity. I was partially to blame at that time, despite eventually meeting him and texting/snapping with him frequently, which I truly miss. I don't think we're to that level of scaring employees off yet, but I like our employee base on this thread. Seriously, thank you, to all the SF employees who provide us insight. Sorry for getting off topic.

Fresh new onride of Kondaa! Kondaa will be open on the 8th of May, the moment Belgian themeparks finally reopen for public!

Sad news, the park is reopening soon. (May 22nd)

New for La Ronde in 2023...

Oh for goodness' sake. Herschend is not going to change anything about the freaking music because family / gospel stuff is their brand. Dollywood especially has successfully toed the line in making their religious values known, but not so in-your-face that it is alienating. I really don't see that changing, especially considering that mindset is anchored in tradition.

the Raptors eat the sleeves off half the riders! kewl great pics!

Employee insight within what they're allowed to share is always great and appreciated My speculation isn't necessarily making requests either. The only time I've ever made a request, even jokingly, was when a park manager took my order at Fowl Ball and when they asked what I wanted I said "a hyper would be nice". I really do genuinely wonder if such an upgrade supported by the manufacturer is remotely viable. I'm not using the word possible here because anything is possible even if it might require new rolling stock. But if it costs $5 million that wouldn't be viable, even for relocations of a LIM coaster (where you'd have to reinstall everything all over again so labor cost wouldn't really impact an upgrade). I think I'd be fine with Titan Track in high wear areas of Eagle to keep her young longer. Though I'm not aware of any particularly high-wear locations. Reviews suggest Titan Track doesn't feel significantly different the way RMC track does.

^ For other parks in the chain, you can reserve as many days as you want. I would expect BGW to be the same. Each reservation is given a separate order number within the confirmation email, so it's definitely possible to have multiple simultaneously. This also makes it easy to cancel if you need to. As for #2, I'm not a local so I'm not as familiar with capacity limitations, but their FAQ page does say that they will modify protocols based on evolving conditions, so loosening restrictions between now and July doesn't seem totally out of the question IMO.

I mean let's be real. It's pointless for us too

The old fin-based LIMs HAVE to be on straight track, and to be compatible with the existing power delivery and control systems it's not super likely the guts of the fin LIMs are significantly different now than 20 years ago. You can see the newer LSMs mounted on hills (as well as magnetic brakes) in this Ice Breaker photo. And yes I realize this is a pointless discussion

Considering that Batman has now been painted twice since Tatsu opened, I wouldn't count on it... sigh. I imagine Tatsu is a very challenging ride to repaint though. Batman is small and tucked away in a corner near access roads. It was probably a cakewalk, hence why they completed it so quickly. I have a personal wager about whether Tatsu or Xcelerator will get repainted first. One day...

It's been pretty interesting to watch how Universal has approached the opening of Velocicoaster compared to some other attractions in the past, at both Universal and Disney. I mean cast member and media/pass holder previews have only been going on for what 2 weeks now (?) and I feel like there are so many more reviews/posts etc. about this thing out there compared to anything previously. Seems like just about everyone who is local has already been on this thing by now, and there's another month until the opening. And as far as all of the reviews/pics/videos being out there I guess it's just a giant roller coaster where you can see every inch of track from existing guest areas so there weren't really any "surprises" to keep secret like on Hagrid or Galaxy's Edge, but still it's kind of interesting how Universal seemingly has embraced the opening and let all of that information flow this early. I know theme park social media is kind of a weird space these days, but feels like Universal has taken a really good approach to the opening of this attraction so far. I don't know when I'll get down there to ride this thing but it looks awesome, has everything I love in an attraction so I can't wait. Maybe my youngest will be 51" by the end of the summer and I'll finally have an excuse to make the trip!

Oh man, that's an entire Bingo card right there!

This exactly. Why do you think Dollywood has so many crafty type shops? Home goods type shops? The older crowd spends tons of money on this stuff. Just watch the package pick-up guy pushing everything to the front.

Was it ever really an “operating” attraction? That seems a bit generous.

^Let's see how it works with the GP first!

Valleyfair has finally announced they are taking reservations to visit the park with the guidelines also listed out. https://www.valleyfair.com/welcoming-you-back

WHOO YEAH!!! Track work on Stunt Pilot is officially done!!! (As of yesterday according to the park's socials) Couple interesting bits: The reprofiling has continued, as it seems that they "mostly" eliminated the "pre-drop" off the lift. This is probably to accommodate the longer trains, but I find it to be an interesting change. It also seems that they mostly got rid of the straight section exiting the the s-bend and the drop into the second half. This too me has to be the biggest plus of the profile changes because I always thought that that was the weakest part of the layouts on the original prototype raptors. It appears that it will feature the extra walkway on the first turn like Railblazer. Not sure if that's for better or worse, but I don't mind it. Also...opening weekend was this last weekend! I wasn't able to go, but I've hears good things! People say Stunt Pilot looks great in its spot, and it's gonna be an excellent addition. The park is open weekends till Memorial Day, then daily from then until Labor Day. It also seems like they are planning on the return of Scarywood since they have it scheduled on their website under October. As far as COVID stuff goes...apparently the park is doing what they did last year, "limiting capacity" and they are still cashless (for the most part), but I heard that only about 30% of the guests were wearing masks. No word on if the employees are wearing masks, spacing people out on rides, or cleaning in between cycles. Word on the street is that with the re-tracking Tremors is running better than ever!! I hope that's true as it seems to have not been at its fullest the last few seasons. Did anybody here make it out for opening weekend, I would be curious to know what your thoughts are? Lastly...ONLY 25 MORE DAYS till Stunt Pilot opens!!!! Here's to Silverwood's best season yet!

^Correct. And their placement right before the station means riders will only have to be without their beloved instagram for <10 minutes, ride time included. I thought it was a great idea, too.

The two-sided locker system seems fantastic. What a great compromise to allow guests their phones in line without risking carrying it on the ride. I suppose the only thing you need to carry with you on the ride is your season pass/ticket, correct? To open your locker afterwards?

Typically twice a year. Once in the spring and once at Christmas. Not sure what you mean by appealing to an older crowd. Me in my 40s? Or my son in his 20s or my teen who loves Dolly. I have a lot more disposable income to spend at DW now than I could have in my 20s.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on that. Craftsman's Valley is only one section of the theme park. There are eleven themed areas. Each area could have different music, stages and theaters with different music options. I don't know anybody that goes there for the music and the music typically appeals to the older crowd that doesn't spend any money in the park. Bringing in new music, I think, would bring in new guests. How many times can someone go see the Kingdom Heirs?

Yeah, it’s been closed for budget since the park reopened last year. I mean “because of Covid” as they say. They run the one at their San Diego park but though so I guess they just don’t care if their west coast guests die of covid by riding the best ride for social distancing ever invented.

For every one like you there are a dozen that are the opposite. Changing the music (which fits the craftsman/country life vibe) would cause a lot to not come back. I suspect a lot more than would suddenly show up.

Mini-TR 5/1: My buddy Ian and I made the trek up to Knoebels yesterday for a combination birthday trip, both of ours which we were prevented from celebrating properly by COVID. Most everything was running, except notably the Flyers (still disassembled), Tornado (completely missing), Flying Turns (though it does look like they've finished the rebuild), and all of the other rides indicated as Closed on their website. Got my first ride ever on Looper (my first time going to the park with someone LOL), which was quite awesome, and it was great introducing Ian to the magical experiences that are Phoenix, Stratosphere, the Scooters, and Cosmotron. We skipped a lot of rides because it was Scout Day and beautiful weather and lines ranged from just barely tolerable to terrible (especially the motor boats). Ride counts: Phoenix x2 Twister x1 Impulse x1 Scooters x1 Looper x1 Skywayx1 Black Diamond x1 Whipper x1 Stratosphere x1 Grand Carosel x1 (got 10 rings!) Haunted Mansion x1 Poor sad Flyers...I stand corrected on my assertion that they would be reassembled in a week. All in all, a great day.

My thoughts exactly. Dollywood is very recognizable and is almost certainly the most well known non-chain-branded park when it comes to the non-enthusiast people I know, at least for being halfway across the country from it. The name in itself is a draw with Dolly's popularity nation-wide, and it'd be unfortunate to lose that.

I have definitely, absolutely, never seen a spinning mini-golf hole before. Now I have.

that mini-golf is horrifyingly awesome! love it!

This place is what dreams are made of, or nightmares I guess, either way it looks awesome!

Great report! I love little out of the way places like this.

Oh man, I have a LOT of questions, but I also think I will have more after I sleep tonight and have nightmares about this place so I will wait.

That place looks awesome!

It's a "Taronasaurus Rex."

I really hope so! It looks...epic. I'll see myself out.

This is different. Hagrid is a caretaker for creatures. He should be able to keep the bees under control. He teaches care of MAGICAL creatures. This type of muggle bullshit is not a part of his job description.