Canobie Coaster

Great start. I actually like Wendy's so unless that was a rouge location, let's agree to disagree. I've only been to Philadelphia once and that was during the pope visit. I believe we arrived at the 30th Street Station since I remember walking by the Porch. That's the station by Drexel, right?

Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg Mountain Coasters The Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area is arguably the world's capital for mountain coasters. I had the opportunity to ride the 5 operating mountain coasters during my visit, including the one at Rowdy Bear Mountain on its inaugural day. And the mountain coasters don't stop here as the under-construction Anakeesta is opening a single rail version later this year which will be unique to the region. When I passed Anakeesta, it looked like they still had a significant amount of work to do but hopefully it will be open by the time I make my next visit. I will admit to being a mountain coaster fan and just wish they weren't quite as expensive. However, I would much prefer to pay to ride these than to whore out a kiddie coaster so it's all in perspective I guess. I would rate the 5 mountain coasters I rode as follows: 1) Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster- 8 out of 10 2) Goat Coaster- 8 out of 10 3) Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster- 7 out of 10 4) Ski Mountain Coaster (Ober Gatlinburg)- 6 out of 10 5) Rowdy Bear Coaster- 6 out of 10 Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster It may be the first in the area, but it's my personal favorite, just edging out the Goat Coaster. This seems to be a common opinion among both coaster enthusiasts and the GP. I tried to hit this at night, but was greeted with a line spilling out the queue and a full parking lot. I returned a few days later and got a walk-on during the day. That's a much better situation since I didn't have to worry about anyone ahead of me, which meant I could go full tilt down the track. The ride's strength is its length as it's by far the longest one in the area. The turns give some strong laterals and the final few turns tower above the roadway. There are a few tiny drops along the way, but they weren't able to give pops of air like the Aquatic models I've been on. If you only have the chance to ride one mountain coaster in Pigeon Forge, this is the one I recommend. This is a situation where the first is still the best. Great setting? Check. Long ride? Check. Good speed? Check. It does everything a mountain coaster should. Goats on the Roof The Goat Coaster isn't too far behind the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. While shorter, the Goat Coaster's turns are considerably more intense and provide some really powerful laterals. Unfortunately there are no mini drops like you see on other alpine coasters, but that's not what the coaster focused on. The other benefit with this mountain coaster is the night rides. While the other mountain coasters in the region also offer night rides, they illuminate the course with multicolored lights. Goats on the Roof takes an entirely different approach and gives pitch black rides. I found the latter much more intense as you couldn't see the turns coming until the last minute. Thankfully the park spaced the cars out especially far for these rides so you didn't have to worry about the cars up ahead. But the real reason I'm here is for the coaster. Fun by day... Better at night. Other than the ending, the entire ride is pitch black. Goats on the Roof also has (you guessed it) goats on the roof. The attraction is so weird that it just has to be experienced to appreciate its greatness. Feeding the goats with the dilapidated bicycle is one of life's greatest pleasures and the gift shop is littered with goat paraphernalia. While the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster is the best mountain coaster in the area, I think Goats on the Roof is the better overall attraction thanks to the goats and an almost as good coaster. Goats on the Roof is everything that's right with tourist traps. If you want to make a new best friend, you can place food in this cup and get some exercise by pedaling this unergonomic bike to deliver it to the goats. Or you can deliver it by hand if that's more your thing. It was impossible to visit Goats on the Roof and not buy a shirt. This place is so weird that it's amazing. Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster This one was a really fun ride as well. It had a heavily wooded setting and absolutely flew down the course. There were also 1-2 small drops that gave tiny pops of air. So why was it not as good as the two in Pigeon Forge? The length. This one felt half as long as the Goat Coaster. This is a situation where the first is still the best. The Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster had an outstanding setting and the track that was there was good, but it was the shortest mountain coaster I had been on...to that point. More on that later. Ober Gatlinburg While I visited primarily for the mountain coaster, Ober Gatlinburg is definitely the most established of the mountain coaster locations. The experience at Ober begins with an awesome aerial tram up the mountain. The journey takes about 10 minutes. The ride gives fantastic views of the Smoky Mountains as you would expect, but you can also see some quirky houses on the mountain such as a full-scale replica of the Barbie Dreamhouse and a weird house hanging over the edge of a hill. Enter on street level, ride up to the mountains. The aerial tramway is not only an efficient mode of transit, but it also provides breathtaking views. But onto the real reason you're reading this report, the mountain coaster. The Ski Mountain Coaster was a mixed bag. It's setting and ride time were both excellent. The turns were quite fast and there were a few tiny drops that almost gave pops of air. Where this coaster suffered was in the comfort department. All of the other mountain coasters I have been on have provided smooth and comfortable rides. For whatever reason, this one is pretty bumpy the whole way down. I thought I maybe got a bad cart, but this opinion was shared by my family after they rode. It's really a shame since a smoother ride would really make this one of the better mountain coasters. This way to the mountain coaster. It's a long journey from the street to the ride. The layout and setting are great; however, the ride's bumpiness was not so great. All of the other mountain coasters have been extremely smooth, but not this one. Up the mountain they go. Through the trees! Ober also had several other attractions such as a carousel, water slide, alpine slide, chairlift, ice skating rink, arcade, and some kiddie rides. I skipped these attractions, but the alpine slide was tempting. I just know I'd do a bad job regulating my speed on the way down which could result in a dangerous ride. One of the highest elevation carousels in the world. Ice skating in Tennessee just sounds so wrong, but it seemed popular. They even have a water slide. The alpine slide looked tempting, but I know the speed demon in me would make an overly thrilling ride. Because Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg doesn't already have enough mini golf courses. Rowdy Bear Mountain The newest mountain coaster was unfortunately the worst I've been on. Rowdy Bear Mountain was clearly unfinished on the coaster's inaugrual day. The inside of the building was unfinished and the zipline coaster was still under construction. As for the coaster, it was by far the shortest alpine coaster I have been on and that includes the Gatlinburg one. The ride does reach a good speed and the double helix ending is nice, but the ride is over way too quickly to justify me spending $15 to ride it again on a future visit. I wasn't able to get a really good photo of the coaster since much of the facility was still under construction, but I'm sure it will look nicer by the end of the year. I was far too lazy to walk back down and take a photo of the sign. Thank goodness for camera zoom.

It seems Wildcat's opening keeps getting pushed back further and further, but I definitely have a return visit planned when it reopens. I hope GCI can work their magic with this coaster like they did with GhostRider. I'm not expecting a top flight ride. I just want something that can be ridden a few times in a visit without leaving me in pain. That's a shame the front seat of Boulder Dash was closed off as that's easily the best seat on that ride.

Great report as always! I do love mountain coasters, but have yet to try an alpine slide. I know I'd want to go full tilt all the way down, but also don't want to badly injure myself. My dad has scars from overturning his sled back at Attitash years ago. That is interesting that you note that ski lift has no restraints after the events that happened at Great Escape this weekend. The ski lift looks considerably higher here as well.

Or you can just drive 1.5 hours to Knoebels and get equally as good pizza with far superior rides. No knock against DelGrosso's since it is a nice park, but it's no Knoebels.

Great photos! A knockoff Chinese drop track sounds absolutely terrifying. I wouldn't be able to tell whether or not the track was dropping as intended or if I was plunging to my death.

why For perceived safety by non-enthusiasts/GP who don't know or understand that these rides are perfectly safe without them. Oh and I'm sure there is a nice discount on the insurance too. I know they are perfectly safe, otherwise they wouldn't be allowed to operate, but those Timberliner restraints seem a little... sketchy... to me, at least when I first saw them. I have seen the bars barely cover both thighs on some larger people, with the restraint almost protruding out from the train as if it's only half down. Obviously the ride is safe, but maybe the seatbelts are there for a little extra reassurance, plus the discount on insurance like you mentioned. It's better safe than sorry anyway, especially when a park like Fun Spot doesn't need a super high throughput. Nonetheless, this seems like a win for Fun Spot. It's popping up everywhere on my social media and Youtube. I absolutely love Timberliners. I'd take them over PTCs (unless they have buzz bars) or Millennium Flyers. They are incredibly comfortable.

The inside theming was cool, but the amount of braking on that one killed all of the spinning. I preferred the one I rode a few days later at Waldameer much more. And I had a car to myself at Hershey which should have caused the car to be off-balanced and spin pretty wildly.

The intimidating Roller Coaster at Huck Finn's Playland.

Dollywood's Splash Country With a week down in Pigeon Forge and a season pass valid at both parks, I also made time to visit Dollywood's Splash Country. Until ytterbiumanalyst's report, which included a snake capture, I hadn't seen any coverage on this park. Thankfully my day didn't include any snakes and was instead filled with minimal lines and several great slides. What also really stood out was the park's setting. Like Dollywood, the park is nestled in the woods. This has a few benefits such as concealing the slides and also preventing the water park problem of walking on hot asphalt. The water park did have a very strange layout because of the setting and there were quite a few dead ends, but that's more of a minor comment. After visiting the park for parts of two days, I can confidently say that this is the best water park I've been to outside of Splashin' Safari and the Disney water parks. Welcome to Dollywood's Splash Country, one of the best water parks I've visited. Many of the slides have great settings in the woods or along hills. The crown jewel of the park is RiverRush, the park's water coaster. While I have always heard everyone rave about Splashin' Safaris water slides, I hadn't heard much of anything about RiverRush. I found RiverRush to be a shorter more intense version of Wildebeast. Three of RiverRush's drops had amazing airtime, even surpassing the air on the shed drop on Wildebeast. I think I still prefer Wildebeast because it's twice as long, but RiverRush does more with what it has. I had to wait about 30 minutes for each ride while many of the other slides were 5 minute waits, but RiverRush was definitely worth it. 10 out of 10 Why I haven't heard more about RiverRush baffles me. It's an amazing slide. It may be shorter, but I found it more intense than Wildebeast. 3 of the drops give major airtime. There is absolutely no way their butts are currently touching the raft. RiverRush alone is enough of a reason to visit Splash Country. After RiverRush, Big Bear Plunge is the other standout attraction. While at first it may look like another family raft slide, Big Bear Plunge has a major difference. Instead of slowly meandering along, Big Bear Plunge instead has a shorter more action-packed layout with 2-3 large drops. You absolutely fly down the slide and a few well placed waterfalls conceal the upcoming drops. 8 out of 10 Most raft slides are long and drawn out. Big Bear Plunge cuts right to the chase and features 2-3 really large drops. The ride's pacing is really impressive. This along with RiverRush shouldn't be missed. The park has a very strong collection of body slides. Fire Tower Falls is the tallest. Like all of these vertical drop water slides, it's always a bit unnerving going over the edge but it was a lot of fun. Most impressively, this one was very easy on the back, which is something many of these slides struggle with. 8 out of 10 Fire Tower Falls is the park's most thrilling slide and is thankfully really smooth on the back. I honestly preferred Mountain Scream the best of Dollywood's speed slides. While older than Fire Tower Falls, the enclosed green slides pick up some major speed and you absolutely fly down the slide. Like Fire Tower Falls, it's also very smooth on the back. I didn't get a chance to try the middle slide, but got a few rides in on the green ones. 8 out of 10 These were the best of the park's body slides. The green ones were very fast and had some really intense turns towards the end. There's also the picturesque Butterfly slide. While short, the slide does have a decently steep drop and you fittingly end in a butterfly shaped pool. The ride's placement in the front of the park is great and it's definitely worth riding since it never had a line, but it's only good for one ride due to its length. 5 out of 10 Something tells me this is Dolly's favorite slide. The park also has several of the mat slides. The best of the bunch was the Mountain Twist, which had a custom, twisting layout down a hill 8 out of 10. The park also had two mat racing slides. The first, Slick Rock Racer, is one of the standard 3 hump ones 7 out of 10. The second is TailSpin Racer, the new for 2017 attraction. Slick Rock Racer was pretty good, but I wasn't a big fan of TailSpin Racer. The enclosed section blinded me with chlorinated water which was something I haven't had happen on any other mat racing slide. TailSpin Racer was definitely fast, but without goggles I wasn't able to enjoy it as much as I should have 4 out of 10. It looks like I actually forgot to grab a photo of TailSpin Racer but that's partially due to the ride's placement. As mentioned, the park has a weird layout and TailSpin Racer is off in its own area. There isn't another slide anywhere near it. Mountain Twist was the best of the mat slides. There were a few small drops along the course that gave good speed around the turns. I liked how Slick Rock Racer was built on a hill, but it was no different than the other 3 hump racing slides. The park also has one of those toilet bowl slides, but I skipped it due to the line. I've ridden the same slide at several other water parks and decided to wait for an extra ride on the much more unique RiverRush. Overall Dollywood's Splash Country is well worth a visit if you are in the Pigeon Forge area for a few days. The water park has an excellent setting and the slide lineup is excellent, anchored by RiverRush.

I think the most telling thing is that the other rider with her, who was smaller, was unharmed and inside the gondola at all times. If it truly was the ride's fault, you think both would have been in her situation. Of the Six Flags parks, I find Great Escape has a much more family-heavy crowd. That's partially because of their ride selection and the park's location. The clientel is similar to what was at Great Adventure's Holiday in the Park.

I always thought the old top spin in Fireball's spot smelled terrible and thought it was the ride. Sounds like it likely was the dumpster instead. I hardly ever go in Fireball's plaza since those rides can make me queasy.

I don't mind metaphorical sweets, it's just the actual ones I hate . Dollywood was a must visit even without Lightning Rod, but that ride looks like it elevates the park to an entirely different level. Hopefully by the time you visit the ride doesn't have the downtime it has over the past year and a half. It has been frustrating to say the least to see the entrance closed off and have a sexy RMC basically mocking you.

I want to make it back at some point this year to try Reverse Time. I'll just need to remember to bring Dramamine since if they run a crazy long cycle like they did on Frantic, I could start to get queasy. I really love how Quassy has been expanding in the past few years.

Dollywood I'm trying a new format for this report. If you guys think having the photos near the text is easier, please let me know. I figured this may be better than having the mass of photos at the end. Dollywood! After missing out on Lightning Rod in 2016 and hearing that the ride was running consistently in March-April, we eagerly booked a family vacation to Pigeon Forge for early June. The highlight of my trip was to be Lightning Rod. I absolutely loved Dollywood in 2016 and thought the only thing missing was that world-class coaster and Lightning Rod would fill that void. Well come May, Lightning Rod started having some operational issues but was open nonetheless. Then the coaster was shut down in late May and stayed closed for the entirety of my visit. As the park's staff put it, "The ride works but wasn't up to Dolly's high standards." Seeing Lightning Rod testing consistently the first day was a real sausage tease. The way the coaster flew down that quad down and into the brake run was unbelievable. But it just wasn't met to be. While painful to see the "CD" on the app, I did appreciate the park being open that the ride would be down so I could spend my day elsewhere in the park. Not going to lie, it sucked seeing Lightning Rod down. The ride seems to be a giant joke among both employees and park goers. My dad bought a Lightning Rod hat and the employee jokingly asked him if he was the first or last person to ever ride Lightning Rod, which I think best sums up everyone's attitude towards the ride. I know I'll return to the park again someday and just hope the ride is running consistently by then. What a beautiful lawn ornament. Holy Schilke it's a train! Unfortunately this was the most Lightning Rod action I got during my visit. Hopefully Sausage Tease the Ride is open by my return visit. Later that week, Lightning Rod reopened. Saw them walking the lift on my second to last day there. However, I was able to get on a new coaster. Instead of riding a sexy RMC with a launch and crazy quad down, I instead got an over-cloned Zamperla kiddie coaster. Though to the park's credit, Whistle Punk Chaser fits into the area well and looks really nice. The final turn is also quite smooth which I have found can be a problem on this particular model. Being a credit whore, the allure of this coaster was too much to pass up. 2 out of 10 I really do love the ride's placement in the center of Thunderhead. I wasn't going to leave Dollywood without a new credit. Drop Line was the much more impressive new attraction. I never went to the park while Timber Tower was there, but Drop Line's placement is excellent. As noted in the early reviews, the views atop the tower are simply amazing. Thanks to the 360 degree rotation you get breathtaking views of the Smoky Mountains and Dollywood. The tower also felt extremely tall as you reached the top. I hadn't heard much about the drop, but I thought it was really good as well. It's definitely much better than an S&S tower, but not quite on the level of a Larson/ARM tower. I'd say the drop's intensity is just a notch below that of an Intamin model. The only thing I wasn't a fan of was the restraints. The way the molded piece rested on my thighs made it impossible to comfortably ride with my phone or wallet in my cargo short pockets. 9 out of 10 Drop Line fits seamlessly into the Timber Canyon section of the park. And this new ride had 0 downtime while I was at the park. The views from the top are simply breathtaking. And the drop was just a notch below an Intamin tower in terms of intensity. Riding this at night was even better as I saw the sunset over the mountains. I highly recommend it if you can time it right. Tennessee Tornado is still my favorite coaster in the park (for now). It's really unbelievable how smooth this 20 year old Arrow is and I really think the company finally figured it out with this ride. The first drop through the mountain is among the best on any coaster and has some extremely powerful airtime. The first inversion has some weird and awesome hang-time. Then the next two inversions are all about powerful positive Gs. Yes it's a short ride, but it never built up any kind of line in my visit so I was able to reride it probably 20 or so times. I also loved how the operators took a jab at Lightning Rod by calling Tennessee Tornado the fastest operating coaster at Dollywood before several of my dispatches. 9 out of 10 Still my favorite ride in the park at the moment. Epic drop and 3 great inversions. Most of the layout is blocked by trees. I wish Arrow hadn't gone bankrupt since Tennessee Tornado is better than most B&M loopers out there. Wild Eagle is probably the most popular ride with the GP and it's a really fun coaster. I love the first drop and it gives fantastic air-time in the back. The vertical loop is actually pretty forceful and I love the hang-time in both the zero-G roll and corkscrew. While not as forceful as a Batman clone, Wild Eagle is a really good looper and the ride's placement on the hill makes it pretty imposing to look at. It's my 3rd favorite of the B&M wing coasters I've been on (behind GateKeeper and Thunderbird, ahead of X-Flight) and just a notch behind Tennessee Tornado in my book. 9 out of 10 The ride's placement on the hill is outstanding. It's certainly an imposing coaster to look at. Even the "forceless" B&Ms still have pretty good Gs in the vertical loops in my opinion. The pathway up to Mountainside Slidewinder is one of the best places to get photos of Wild Eagle. Fly like an eagle. Mystery Mine seemed to have caught a case of the TC and CD from Lightning Rod as it had a lot of trouble running during my visit to the park. In my first few rides, the fire effect before the final drop wasn't working. After a day being CD, the fire effect was back so maybe that was part of the reason for the shutdown? Anyway Mystery Mine is as good as I remember from last year. The first half seems like a drunk stumbling about but does include that crazy vertical drop with the ride's most powerful air. The second half is where Mystery Mine really shines. The drop is fantastic and the two inversions serve different purposes. The first twist absolutely whips you through it while the second is heavy on hang-time. Some of the tight maneuvers in the first half can lead to a little headbanging, but nothing that ruins the ride. 9 out of 10 Mystery Mine's theming is really impressive. I hope these riders are ready for insane ejector air. The finale is where the ride really shines. A great drop and two crazy inversions. Another look at the inversions. Firechaser Express may be the park's family coaster, but I am a huge fan of the ride. This coaster is really a jack-of-all-trades. It has two launches with more kick than you'd expect for a ride of this size. Several of the ride's hills give some pops of air, particularly in the back. Then there's the shed. Instead of playing random music and giving the park an excuse to stack trains, this shed is well-themed and contains the climactic backwards launch. The backwards section may be short, but the final drop and turn and pretty wild for a family coaster. Of the park's rides, this one pulled the longest wait and was usually 40-45 minutes in the middle of the day. 8 out of 10 Firechaser Express is one of the best family coasters anywhere. It has 2 launches. There are some nice drops. There's several pops of air. What's in the shed? Something better than Mystic Timbers. Just an overall great ride. Once the top wooden coaster in the world, Thunderhead isn't anywhere near there on my personal list. Thunderhead has a great layout. In the front, most of the hills give decent pops of air, but the air is considerably weaker than on a CCI, Gravity Group, or newer GCI coaster. I didn't get as much air in the back and it's also considerably bumpier, so I definitely prefer Thunderhead in the front. It's a good ride, but not a great one. 7 out of 10 Like any GCI, Thunderhead has lots of twists. I really like the coaster's layout. The station fly-by is a great way to get amped up for the ride. Most of the hills had nice pops of air in the front, but it wasn't quite as strong as the newer GCIs, CCIs, or Gravity Group woodies. Dollywood also has one other coaster (though debatable to some) in Blazing Fury. Yes it essentially is a giant, well-themed lift hill but the drops at the end actually have some punch to them unlike those on Black Diamond at Knoebels. The effects are old but they are well done and the coaster is good for a ride or two in a visit to the park. 7 out of 10 Dollywood's final major coaster is more of a dark ride, but the drops at the end do have some punch to them. Fire in the Hole! As an aside, I should yell that the next time I go to Taco Bell to see how many looks I get. Dollywood's water ride collection is also very strong. Daredevil Falls was new for me since it was closed in my visit last year. After riding it, Daredevil Falls rocketed near the top of my flume rankings and is probably my favorite outside of Disney and Universal. The ride has a great setting by the hill and the final drop is fantastic, tall and fast. Despite the ride's appearance, it also has the perfect amount of wetness as long as you do two things. 1) Lift up your feet after the boat disengages from the lift. 2) Beware crossing the exit bridge if a boat is heading down the drop. 10 out of 10 Daredevil Falls is one of the best non-Disney/Universal flumes out there. The drop is massive and quite thrilling. You also don't get as wet as you'd think which is a good thing. I know I've said it a lot this report, but this ride has a great setting like most of Dollywood's rides sans the County Fair area. Mountainside Slidewinder is one of those attractions I am glad Dollywood has kept around even as they've grown into a larger park. Basically one of those wet/dry water slides on steroids, the Slidewinder reaches much higher speeds. Several of the turns really send the raft flying up the trough and the final drop even gives a pop of air as your descend down it. The layout is also very well concealed by the park's trees. The only real downside is the long hike to reach the loading area, but on the bright side it gives some excellent shots of Wild Eagle. 10 out of 10 I love how the Slidewinder winds its way through the woods. The blurriness of this photo kind of tips you off how fast these rafts fly down the slide. You really slide up the sides of the walls. Take the tunnel. And the winner is...too close to call. Smoky Mountain River Rampage is a soaking river rapids ride and one of the better ones out there. On the first day to Dollywood, temperatures were in the upper 60s so it was reasonably cold by their standards. However, being from New England I thought it was still acceptable to ride the river rapids and just prayed I wouldn't get absolutely drenched. The rapids were splashing but not soaking and the ride has a great setting. Thankfully many of the effects from last year were off such as the unavoidable water fall and a few of the geysers; however, I was completely screwed over by the final waterfall. As we approached it, the waterfall turned off. Phew that was a close one. However, the rafts were backed up from returning to the station so in a few seconds the waterfall turned back on and there was no escaping the torrent of water. 8 out of 10 Smoky Mountain River Rampage is a very good rapids ride. Great setting and plenty of ways to get wet. Somebody clearly doesn't want to get hit with the waterfalls. On the last day, temperatures reached almost 90 degrees. With Smoky River Rampage boasting a long line, I found an alternative in River Battle. I pity the operators that have to listen to that music all day but the ride itself does one thing very well, getting you drenched. Cranking the gun got tiring after a while, but I loved how interactive some of the ride's many targets were. I wasn't expecting them to actually do anything, but a few set off massive geysers towards the onlookers who were manning the water cannons. I still prefer river rapids rides, but this is another fun attraction. 7 out of 10 If you want to stay dry, this is the wrong ride for you. Other than Drop Line, the only other major thrilling flat is Barnstormer. This easily has the best theming of the Screamin' Swings I've been on and that theming definitely makes it one of the stronger ones out there. The cycle is short like all of them, but the strong floater air on the full swings is as full as always. 8 out of 10 Barnstormer is a great screamin' swing thanks to the theming. It's the best one out there barn one (you see what I did there). I crack myself up. Speaking of crack, no trip to Dollywood would be complete without food. In my few days there, I sampled a wide variety of dishes. I should begin with a disclaimer. I did NOT have the cinnamon bread. I don't believe in drugs. Actually I just don't like sweets so I was able to resist the bread while my family gobbled several loaves down like they had an addiction. If I survived the pitch forks for this statement, my favorite items were the fried chicken cart near Dolly's museum, a cheesesteak from the skillet place, and the kettle chips near Daredevil Falls. I also went to Aunt Granny's Buffet and while the fried chicken is miles better than what I can get in the Northeast, it pales in comparison to the chicken I had at some of the local restaurants in Pigeon Forge. Though for theme park food it is very impressive. I did try the Lumberjack Pizza and was very disappointed. I remember hearing how good and large the pizza was, but instead I got an overpriced and cruddy personal pizza. I'll stick to Regina in the North End of Boston for my pizza fix. Step right in to get some crack. Since I lack a sweet tooth, I was able to resist the Cinnamon Bread. I was a big fan of the kettle chips. Fresh and great toppings. It also wouldn't be a Dollywood trip report without some Jesus. They had some nice new shirts that let you show your love for the man upstairs. Like last year, I had a fantastic time at Dollywood. With the season pass I purchased, I am strongly considering a return trip later this year to try and get on Lightning Rod provided it's operating reliably.

Goliath, Raging Bull, X-Flight, and Whizzer all had unique layouts so when combined with the clones (most of which are good ones), the park is still very much worth visiting as a seasoned enthusiast in my opinion. The only gripe I had heard about the park was bad operations, particularly on the last TPR trip there, but I had no problems there.

I just hope none of the random strangers that saved her got any bad injuries if the girl was in that position from misconduct.

^ I haven't used one of the food stands this year but chain wide the food service has never been fast. I don't think that's isolated to just SFNE.

^ Are you saying it was open if you didn't notice anything different? I would have thought they'd close it for a while.

I thought the Georgia Cyclone was really good as is when I rode it last year. The steep drops all gave fantastic air in the back. It was an aggressive ride but I didn't find it too rough. I'd prefer for a ground-up RMC but I can't deny the fact that a Cyclone makeover would result in a better overall ride.

Wow you guys really did get ERT on all of the Intamins then. Wilderness run looked like an above average kiddie coaster when I passed by.

Just catching up on this report now. It looks great. That's really cool how well-themed of a ferris wheel they had back for the fair. Then I couldn't believe that guy was actually named Jumbo Diaz when I saw him at Fenway earlier this year.

I agree something like that would be amazing over pathways, but I figure there'd have to be a net since I could see a lot of loose change falling out at that point.

^ It also helps with park planning since you can move at your own leisure and not worry about creating the optimal touring plan. I can usually tell when I pull in the lot if I'd need a Flash Pass. For example, when it took an hour to get into Six Flags Great Anerica and La Ronde, I knew a Flash Pass would be a lifesaver and it certainly was. Then it just becomes a game figuring out which rides aren't on the Flash Pass since those are the ones that need to be attacked first.

I think most of the hate comes from the parks operations, but I have noticed a significant improvement in that area this year. Glad you guys had a great day! So we know SFNE's Joker is better than GAdv's, but the real question is which looping coaster is better- Fireball or El Diablo.