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^I agreee. A dark ride in Wildwood Grove would go perfectly with the new indoor play building in the colder months the park is open.

I finally got my drop tower in front of Thunderhead, could I finally be getting my wish for a shooting dark ride as well?!?!

After riding 5 of these crazy contraptions, I prefer the Lightning Rod/Outlaw Run versions. I could easily just say I like them all equally but for the sake of this thread... 1. Lightning Rod - I've been able to ride this one the most due to proximity. I've experienced the quadruple down while the summer fireworks were going on. This one gets home field advantage but hopefully most of you will get to enjoy it if you haven't yet. 2. Outlaw Run - This one blew my mind when I first rode it. Lightning Rod gets the 1up due to being slightly longer and have the same intensity throughout. I honestly wouldn't mind having this one interchangeable with Lightning Rod if it was at my home park. 3. Steel Vengeance - Pure insanity. I struggled doing the marathon on this one because the forces were so extreme that it left bruises. I'm also getting old and have scoliosis so the RMC trains are not my friends. 4. Storm Chaser - This was perfect for its size and forces. I laughed in amazement during all of my rides. 5. Twisted Colossus - Amazing during ERT when they made sure we were dueling. Just like any other Racer coaster. If it isn't racing than there is a ton of dead space.

Wilderness is open to the public (~$45/day). You don't have to be staying at the resort. Resort guests get the old water parks free, but have to pay for the Adventure park. The article says resort guests "are expected to get preferred admission pricing." Odd that it's just now hitting the site/news. Announced July 8, https://www.wildernessatthesmokies.com/blog/coming-soon-soaky-mountain-waterpark/ Ground breaking was Aug 6 https://www.wildernessatthesmokies.com/blog/soaky-mountain-waterpark-coming-summer-2020/ Fox13 didn't cover it until a week later? Knoxnew covered it in July though. https://www.knoxnews.com/story/entertainment/2019/07/08/wilderness-smokies-announces-new-soaky-mountain-waterpark/1673362001/ Video from groundbreaking here. https://www.aquaticgroup.com/featured/brand-new-50-acre-soaky-mountain-waterpark-designed-built-by-adg-coming-to-sevierville-tn-summer-2020/?fbclid=IwAR2nItmDVktz_arar8Bjw9YvXtkVtBDbzqTDTIMvKguc6wdaV8Vl20fWfko I just posted what I had seen to get the discussion started. Looks like you contributed by adding additional info. Thanks.

Question for the locals. Would you all be willing to contribute to a thread dedicated to all of the attractions outside of Dollywood in the area? My kids are at the right age to start doing all of these crazy attractions that are popping up left and right so I am going to start posting trip reports to the ones we go to. My thought was to take the Soaky Mountain thread I created and modify it to include other attractions. I know we get questions in this thread all the time about what to do in the area when members visit Dollywood, so a universal thread would seem to be warranted. I really can't think of many other areas in the United States outside of Florida and California that is about to have (or is having) the level of development in the attraction industry that this area is moving towards.

Agreed. Looking forward to my all-time favorites in the amazing combo of Choup and Wild Mushroom Filet and trying the new hotness that is Raclette!

https://fox17.com/news/local/50-acre-90-million-soaky-mountain-waterpark-breaks-ground-in-tennessee 50-acre, $90 million Soaky Mountain Waterpark breaks ground in Tennessee SEVIERVILLE, Tenn.--A new 50-acre water park in Tennessee broke ground last week and its expected to draw 400,000 visitors each year. Soaky Mountain Waterpark will be located on Gists Creek Road in Sevierville, Tennessee. The park will cost $90 million to construct and feature a 35,000 square foot wave pool capable of generating waves up to 6 feet high. There will also be a 24,000 square foot winding wave river, slides for kids, a Flow Rider for surfers, and multiple towering slides for adults. Also, developers say there will be a one-of-a-kind water coaster, a family raft ride tower, a tubing tower with five flumes, and a head-first mat racing challenge. The park is expected to open in summer 2020. Once operations are in full swing, it is expected to stay open from mid-May through August with a few days added in September. Wilderness at the Smokies guests are expected to get preferred admission pricing.

They could have literally just placed a children's slide and given you a trash can to go down it in and it would of been better than that piece of crap ride that used to be there. So, yeah, I'm excited for this!

Revolution had a sister ride in Opryland called Chaos. The ride was pretty crap by the end with all of the effects broken but seeing Revolution brings back fond memories of my childhood. Great report so far Chuck!

^The night time rides on it during the 2008 TPR trip were amazing. They had also just completed the GCI retracking so the ride was smooth and hauling ass all the way through.

The Flooded Mine was actually where Daredevil Falls is now. The tunnel used to have an attraction on top of it that was similar to Grandfather's Mansion at Silver Dollar City. I think it was called like Inventer's Mansion or something but it closed several years ago. It also housed the original location of Dolly's Rag to Riches Museum. Inside the tunnel, they used to have the gem mining shop and then an arcade. The building was in bad shape and pretty sure they recently tore it down.

Can you be more specific on what type of things you are looking to do? The amount of attractions in the area can be overwhelming so it is hard to make a recommendation without knowing more.

There is a fishing pier by the camper village and cabins. Saw it when we stayed there last August.

I assume you are showing your starting point? From that location, SR 68 will be fine. It isn't on the same planet as going through the national park. Your only risks are that it is two lanes and you are at the mercy of the vehicle in front of you. If a scenic drive is your thing, definitely recommend that route. If you are in a time crunch, use the interstate.

^I was wondering the same thing and all I can tell is that its current use is for one of the houses during the halloween event.

^Add two more tracks to it and they could bring back the retro Wacky Soap Box Racers that used to be at Knotts!

^This may be the third or forth time the snake story has circulated on this forum. It was very simple. The log flume was retired and the maintenance on the flooded mine was too much. They wanted a new water ride. I get deja vu every time I see the urban legend someone was bitten by a snake on the ride.

I'm thinking something like the gondolier style lift (on the left in the photo below) that Annakeesta in Gatlinburg has will work.

^ I agree, it could definitely drop people off and work as part of a combined transportation system.

I could be wrong but I don't think the Dollywood trains could be used like other theme parks that use theirs as a transportation loop system. Since it is steam engine, it needs the extra time between trips to prepare the next run (adding coal to the engine and whatnot). That's why when you see the schedule, the train runs about every 50-60 minutes. That wouldn't be a very efficient transportation system.

I really need to make it down to Disney for the Christmas season. Looks like a great event!

Yes, you can just tell them you are being dropped off and they will give you directions.

A couple of more photos and follow the link below to TPR's livestream of IAAPA coverage! Robb is Live right now! Vekoma is showing off great pics of some attractions they have done for Disney Parks! An overview of all the awesome stuff to see at IAAPA 2017. Join us LIVE on Facebook now!

More photos! Just got a sneak peak at the new for 2018 Infinity Falls raft coming to Sea World! Yay for giant snakes! And yay for more Intamin Rides! Brian Morrow speaks about the new ride. We've made our way over to the Gravity Group booth for the unveiling of the new Oscar's Wacky Taxi wood coaster coming to Sesame Place in 2018. And Oscar made an appearance! More to come!

Love the photo of Jack on the SkyLoop!