gotdane

EXACTLY!!! This has been my take on Dollywood for quite some time now. --Robb Yeah, I couldn't get it out of my head all day. There are so many similarities between the two. Apparently it was a Silver Dollar City which I didn't know. They're just contrasting examples of the good or bad that can happen when a bigger owner steps in. All the Christmas lights around the park had me excited for the Smoky Mtn. Xmas, too! I'm going on the 22nd if you want to meet up! And I'm always forgetting I'm as close to Rumbler as I am! Whenever you go you'll have to let me know! I know! I saw so many delicious things I'm going to have to try the next time I'm there! Those swirly chip things looked amazing. Thanks for reading, everyone!

This is a horrible thread! It must be locked stat!

Let me start by saying sorry for the lack of pictures. I didn't care to carry around a camera on my first visit and just wanted to enjoy myself so, no pictures! Moving to Tennessee from Southern California has had some positive aspects so far and one of those was being close to Dollywood! I quickly made friends with a former Dollywood Host to give me the tour of the park. The comp tickets were nice, too. We parked about an hour after the park had opened and were excited to see that there was hardly anyone there. We hopped on one of the trams and made our way for the entrance. I already knew I would love the park setting. It's absolutely beautiful this time of year with the multi-colored leaves in all of the trees. We entered the park and I immediately noticed the well-kept buildings. I couldn't help but let it remind me of Main Street, USA with its architecture and Emporium store. We made our way up towards Thunderhead, a coaster I was very excited to ride. We walked up to the station and joined the 12 or so people that were waiting for the next train. 6 of the people were waiting for the front, 4 for the back and 2 for some random row. I loved the Better-Than-ERT attendance level, haha! I was so excited to ride I just had to get on as soon as possible so we jumped on the train in the 3rd seat. What a fun coaster! I feel like I rode Kentucky Rumbler so I can't really say if I liked it better or not, but it was fast, furious, and tons of fun. Nothing beats the crazy track articulation of a GCII coaster. I loved it! We rode again in the front and had an even better ride. Next we figured we'd head up to Mystery Mine. We walked right into the vehicle, they were waiting for people themselves. It's always nice when a ride is waiting for you and not the other way around. This was my first EuroFighter so I was looking forward to it. The little dip out of the station and the finale of the ride were definitely my favorite parts. The mid section after the first lift wasn't anything special and you seemed to just meander through it. But, because of the fire and big drop, it made for an experience I wanted to get back in line and do again! We made our way up the new path towards Tennessee Tornado. I didn't expect ANYTHING from this coaster and I was very surprised by the ride it delivered. We rode in the back and the drop in the tunnel caught me completely off guard. It was fast and gave some good air. And the LOOPS! They aren't normal loops! I almost thought the track was warping and falling apart because of the maneuvers it does mid-loop. I actually screamed in terror. Very short but very fun and forceful coaster! Next was Blazing Fury...Wow...I didn't know what was going on half the time. I laughed at the woman chasing the man through the burning building scened. I didn't understand the need to blow us up at the end. And the drops were kind of rough. But it's definitely something fun to ride and laugh at after. We then explored the rest of the park walking through all the different sections. Most of the appealing shows had been shuttered for the season as they were preparing for the Christmas festivities. It was kind of chilly so I didn't care to do the flume or rapids. Didn't care to do any of the Fair section rides. I wanted to ride the Dollywood Express train but it was just departing so we made another loop of the park, riding the back of Thunderhead, stopped for chicken strips with the best sauce ever (Raspberry Chipotle!), Topple Tower, Mystery Mine again, and another run of Tennessee Tornado before heading back to wait for the next train. The train ride itself was very nice. I enjoyed the 5 mile ride out into the Smoky Mountains and back. While I felt inclined to check out Dolly's Closet I passed this time around. LOL. Maybe next time. Overall I loved the park. Without doing any of the shows, it's a really nice half day park. (Unless the park is packed, then you can fill your day with waiting, but we didn't have to!) The staff was very friendly and for the most part, old. But that was cool! It was like visiting your grandparent's theme park! LOL. It reminded me a lot of what Knott's would be today if it hadn't been raped like it was. Can't wait to go again in a couple weeks!

I haven't seen many wide shots of the lift hill, but in the one posted above I can see the supports avoiding the buildings so that makes sense. *Waits patiently for the usual post-weekend photos*

Yay...and I think I just figured out why the tops of the supports are slanted like they are. It's for the chain. Duh.

^Yeah, track is flying up. Pun intended. We get closer to figuring out the layout day by day.

The area is really in a sad state right now. And like hydra brought up, it will be VERY interesting to see how they cover up the show building from the Jurrasic Park area. It was all very much in the open when I was there a couple weeks ago. Hopefully they're replacing the former beautiful area with a better looking area. I'm a fan of the Harry Potter books and movies and am looking forward to this, but it was kind of depressing to see what used to be a beautiful original land all torn up.

I hope this coaster lives up to how awesome it looks. I can't wait to ride it.

Mike! It was awesome getting to meet you! I didn't realize you were going to be in the park so I was totally surprised when you seemed to show up out of nowhere. The yellow shirt caught my eye! Haha. Glad you were able to take a couple spins on Mania!

Knotts will close early on a Thursday for Haunt...so just be aware of operating hours. Whether you go to Knott's or Disneyland it will be at least an hour to an hour and a half after you leave LAX before you're actually in line for a ride at either of the parks.

That hill definitely looks interesting. I wonder what the vehicles will end up looking like.

Went to Haunt last night and actually had an AMAZING time...That's way better than years past. It helped that the park was pretty dead, too (pun intended)... Got to the park at 7pm. It was still kind of light out so instead of hitting the first maze we saw (Slaughterhouse) we decided to ride Silver Bullet first. (2 trains, no wait) I don't ever remember riding in the back row but it kicked butt. Silver Bullet grows on me more and more every time I ride it. So much fun. We hit up Black Widows Cavern next, while waiting for it to get dark since its basically all inside. The best part was when you kind of picked up speed before heading outside for the first time. There were lots of scares in quick succession all along the train which was great. Next was Pyromaniax. All this is missing is actual fire. Its lots of fun with some great scares. I just wish they could pull off some real fire SOMEWHERE in the ride. With it now being completely dark we headed back towards Killer Clown Kollege. I don't remember any great scares going thru this maze but I like it just cause of all the silly humor. Xcelerator was down for the night so we hit up Supreme Scream next. 2 towers, no wait. Quarantine was up next. It was ok. Some good sets and I liked the first room but the timing wasn't so great and no one really got the scare. Weren't really any monsters, just people who actually looked almost normal. Way too short also. Corn Stalkers was next. Great maze. I didn't get any real scares myself but there was great potential everywhere. Loved some of the costumes. Montezooma's Revenge was great as always. No wait. Next we walked around to The Labyrinth. No scares for us thru the whole maze. Just a cool soundtrack. The rock monster thing was pretty neat though. We hit up Sierra Sidewinder next. 2 trains, no wait. The Slaughterhouse was next. I don't really remember much of this maze other than the girls whining for you to help them escape. After doing half the mazes and a couple rides in the first hour and a half, we decided to walk back to Ghoul Time Theater for the 8:30 showing of FANGS. Interesting show. Wasn't really fully fleshed out story wise and randomly broke out into some songs. Hot vampire dancing babes though. And some explosions, so it was worth my time. Lost Vegas was next...Nothing exciting here. 13 Axe Murder Manor was good throughout the house...then it was like a walk to the exit after you left the manor with not much happening. The Doll Factory was creepy and fun and had some cool sets. It was now time for the 9:30 Hanging. I thought the choice was interesting and the joke about not driving to HHN was good. Better than the last few I remember. The Asylum and Club Blood were next. Both up towards the top of the list for this years mazes. We hit up Ghostrider next. 2 trains, no wait. I have to say, this was the highlight of my night. No joke, our front seat ride was AMAZING. I loved it. I felt like good Ghostrider was back. I was a happy camper. We hit up Silver Bullet in the back row again. Rode Jaguar, just cause we had done everything else. Then caught Dr. Cleaver which was ridiculous. Then rounded out the night with two more rides on Ghostrider. In the front and in the back. The backseat ride was slightly brutal, but I didn't get off in pain, so that was good. Had a great time at Haunt! Looking forward to HHN Orlando in a couple weeks!

I really like the way the Silly Symphony Swings looks in this concept art. It looks like there will be a sitting area or something underneath the swings and you can see the elevator tower to give you an idea of what you're looking at. Ariel's building looks beautiful. Also, there was some updated concept art online for Goofy's Sky School. Looks good, too.

Matterhorn is definitely 2 credits. Two completely different layouts and tracks.

They're talking about Splash Mountain.

Track seems to be going up quickly for this...I just remember construction of coasters like Xcelerator where we stared at footers for a month or so before track went up. Maybe I missed that with this coaster.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm excited to see the construction of this coaster...It looks like a lot of fun!

^Bingo!

whoops...

I definitely felt it! At first it just sounded like a truck was driving down the street...Then the rumbling noise turning into the house actually shaking. I grabbed the puppy and ran out the front door! Lol. It freaked me out cause it just kept getting worse and I had no idea how bad it was going to get... Nothing even fell over, but it shook a lot!

As much as I'd love to think we we're seeing SFMM's new coaster, I don't think it is. Do to the elevation changes in the supports themselves and the coasters rumored location...I don't think this is it. It wouldn't fit. At least as far as I can tell. Looks fun, though!

California Screamin'...and don't forget to say hi!

Currently: Raging Waters - 6 Miles DL/DCA - 29 Miles Scandia - 31 Miles Knott's - 32 Miles SFMM - 50 Miles As of Next Week: Knott's - 6 Miles DL/DCA - 7 Miles Scandia - 50 Miles SFMM - 61 Miles As of the End of this Year: Dollywood - 80 Miles Carowinds/Busch Euro - 345 Miles

RCDB=FACT. Sure they have GREAT information. But who declared them the authority on upcoming coasters? Aren't they just guessing like everybody else?

^Very easily. There are a lot of people out here. I haven't seen any billboards but I've seen commercials and those aren't going to reach a majority of the people in SoCal.