molemaster43

While it isn't very pretty to look at, Beech Bend has a pretty solid collection of rides and I didn't have any trouble having a fun time there.

The POV looks and sounds great. I rode Storm Chaser six times when I was at KK last month, and while I do prefer Lightning Run, Storm Chaser is unbelievably fun. The ride was aggressive and pretty much every airtime hill destroys you with ejector. The ending, while a bit sluggish, actually provides a decent pop of floater and laterals in the hill and turn before the brakes. Still excited to see how the park grows, especially with the Top Eliminator pad seemingly in line for construction. Storm Chaser's pacing definitely improves as the day goes on (afternoon rides were definitely better) and it seemed to have settled in nicely when I visited.

Water park wasn't in the plan books so I dont have to worry about that. We won't be there at rope drop, if that changes anything, but can be there up to an hour or two before closing. Thank you for the advice!

Going to the park for the first time on Thursday...how are lines usually for the rides? Any notable lines for the major rides or anything to be concerned about?

When you say Purple Hills, you certainly mean it. However, it all works. Nothing feels out of place and it never feels like an overabundance of purple. Great work. I especially love the terrain that the coaster sits on. Great work!

The park is very...brown. The entrance area is a solid start, but a good chunk of the park has the similar brown tone to it, not just in the architecture, but in the rides. More variety in color can definitely help this park feel more lively and vibrant, and overall be more pleasant to look at. Also, I always stress variation in the types of foliage used. I'd recommend adding in a lot more trees of different colors and sizes, along with shrubs to help give the park more life. While it is Grizzly Woods, only one color or type of tree isn't the most interesting thing to look at. Some of the color choices for rides are a little odd to me, such as the Mine Strike's gray/yellow and Pioneer Pointe's brown/gray, with the latter being a color combination that never really looks right. There are a number of smaller details that could use a little touching up, such as incomplete fencing along pathways, and some buildings having walls where the edges are open because of the way the walls were placed in (Food Pavilion (misspelled)). The wooden coaster is also a little overdone, if I have to be honest. It's usually not a good sign when you need to put a piece of chain lift at the top of the hill in order for it to go up such as the third hill. There's some work that can be done to really make this park shine, but I definitely see some potential in it.

I dig it. You have quite the eye for scenery and architecture. The color choices work very well and everything complements each other quite nicely. The one part that seems a little offputting is the golden brown/yellow spiral slide and the golden brown roofed "Forest Chicken." The golden brown and yellow don't really seem to mesh very well with the look and feel of the area, so perhaps something a bit more mellow might work out better. Other than that, you've done some great work here! Excited to see the rest of the park.

Nah we hit Thunderhead once more and left. Don't worry it was worth the wait

Got a ride on tonight...was on the first train after reopening! They only had one running at reopening at around 7. After riding this was crazy. The energy of everyone riding was beyond amazing and surreal. I cannot believe I was blessed enough to get a ride on the last night of my trip. That was one of the best rides I've ever ridden. Ladies and gentlemen, Lightning Rod is back

Was at the park today aND talked with the person outside. She said that there were shipping issues with the replacement parts and they got them on yesterday. It was closed today so they could let it run and look for any errors. She did say there was some sort of possibility it could open the next couple days but that if it didn't open with the park it probably wouldn't open that day.

^Yes I'm aware of that but I was wondering more on any word from employees or something

Just got to Pigeon Forge and saw Rod launch from my cabin; any update from anyone at the park about it?

I think this is the one they are referring to, posted four hours ago

Overall, the park seems very cluttered and all over the place. Use more variety in the trees. While you are using different types of trees, all of them are the same color and it does not look very nice. Also use more than just trees. Shrubs are extremely useful for adding some detail and making everything look nicer. Woodpecker's color choices seem off, mostly in the look of the station and signage. The use of the jungle post fencing for the supports of the red coaster simply doesn't fit with the coaster type. For supports, perhaps using the standard wooden supporting. Also, in the last picture, I notice that the terrain doesn't flow and it cuts off. I understand that this is from a pre-made scenario, but to get the most out of it, small terrain work like that can make a decent difference. I also noticed that the swinging inverter ship is sitting on the water, but with no fencing or anything surround it. An addition of a fencing or wooden pad for it to sit on is a minute detail, sure, but little things like that can really go a long way in the long run. I see potential here, but its a bit of a visual mess. There's a good park here, but it just needs some work. That being said, I do like the "Dirt Dobber" (even though I don't even know what a dobber is). Maybe the jungle or mine roofing would work better for the lift hill, especially considering that you have a jungle brake house. From a distance, the white wooden coaster looks quite nice, but the American flag seems a little out of place. Keep up the work. Eager to see another update.

Just triple featured "The Conjuring 2," "Warcraft," and "Finding Dory." "The Conjuring 2" is one of the best horror films I've seen in a long time. Top 5 film of the year so far for me and definitely worthy of a trip to the theater, just for the perfect atmosphere. "Warcraft" was abysmal in pretty much every aspect aside from its decent visuals. "Finding Dory" was a lot of fun. It's not top tier Pixar, but it's an extremely enjoyable film with lots of fun to be had.

Quick question, does the park still do the staggered opening of the countries of each country at a 30 minute interval or so, or does the entire park open at once now?

After hearing the recall news I was doubting a ride next week but this is just icing on that cake of disappointment. Oh well I suppose but don't know when I'll be able to get back to Dollywood. Hopefully I can just have a good time over the three days I'll be there (had great time in 06 and 07 so I don't doubt it).

Are they fine with doing requests, such as requesting for front row on LR?

After riding Kennywood and Knoebels whips, Kennywood's was far superior, IMO. Knoebels moved slow and, as great as long flat cycles are, the slow whip and long cycle led to a really boring ride. Kennywood Whip has a good whip effect and perfect cycle so it never gets boring. The only plus from Knoebels is the roof.

I found that starting a Phantom's Revenge and getting a front row ride quickly before moving to Exterminator worked really well. Don't have to deal with the longer lines for front row and get to face minimal wait for Exterminator. From my experience, this is a very solid plan as well! I haven't been there since Black Widow was added, but I would wager a guess, from what I've heard regarding lines for it, that hitting that third would then be wise. Don't forget to grab a second ride on PR on your way back through, in the very back, as that beast is one awesome coaster! Yeah, we did Phantom, then Exterminator, then Whip since we were already there and Black Widow after. Then Thunderbolt, Noah's Ark and Ghostwood since those latter two were just opening up for the day around then. Then eventually made your way around the park on a busier Friday. It took us about 4 hours or so to get through everything we were interested in at the park at least once, and that left a good amount of time for rerides.

I found that starting a Phantom's Revenge and getting a front row ride quickly before moving to Exterminator worked really well. Don't have to deal with the longer lines for front row and get to face minimal wait for Exterminator.

I just saw Star Wars again, along with seeing The Hateful Eight afterwards. Here is how my Top 20 is shaping up at the moment (there's still plenty out there I want to check out).

The ride's loading process is quite annoying as they can only load two rafts at a time and they dispatch them separately, then they move two rafts from the unloading up and have multiple boats usually sitting at the bottom of the unloading waiting to be unloaded and go up. There's a point on the ride where you can watch the raft go down a straightaway and there were multiple three minute intervals where there was no raft at all. Horribly inefficient. I waited about 45 minutes for it on a Monday, but I really enjoyed the ride. It doesn't get you too soaked but the setting is nice and the rapids aren't bad at all.

So weird to think that a week and a half ago, the whole ride was pretty much intact when I was there. Still sucks I didn't get to ride it in either of my Carowinds visits (2007, 2015)