JJLehto

Or not go when it's spring break! Now that it (I assume) will be running 2 trains I think all will be fine going forward. If not well yeah thats what TimeSaver is for!

Nice! Wasn't a bad ride, ya know going in w realistic expectations, and gotta love just being able to say "Lagoon's Roller Coaster"

Pantheon has started testing! https://www.instagram.com/p/CMnNhx3hqFQ/?igshid=c7c0z9a0zq8a

Oh I know the non wheel seat secret, what kind of enthusiast would I be? XD Ah this was not last year as you two are referencing, this was 2018, perhaps was running worse then and ya know could've been a bad ride, this more age woodens are temperamental! Don't really matter, glad it's been touched up some more!

Oh is it being retracked! I wanted to love Racer, I got a thing for that style, but even for me that thing was rough to near intolerable limits.

Yeah....the moment I said people could be idiots and do that, I realized that means its 100% going to happen XD People will take an hour, where every great coaster IS open, and wait on a line they know wont move the entire damn time.... (or some wont know and go complain "Its not open!!!" LOL) it's quite annoying bc assuming the ops move as slow as they used to (I actually thought it was 1 train ops this one day....and they were running THREE!) thats gunna gunk up the line all day. Cant even time it to get there right at 10 bc that line wont move quick. People...... This is why I'm extra glad Im going for the event, screw that nonsense! Not even gunna worry until tis ERT

Thanks! And I was referring to the gold access as the "uninspiring" not the "full" access, but I didn't specify so fair, that does look bad haha Needless to say the full access is beautiful! Everything we could want and frankly....half the times I go TTD is down for some degree (or all) of early access so it's exclusion doesn't even bother me. Funny, I'm pretty OK that SV wont be either for weekdays. Bill nailed it, I only ever got 1 ride on SV during early access. It's almost better imo to enjoy that hour on other things, and then just head to SV and try to beat the crowds. OR people will be idiots and ****ing wait there for the whole hour while it's closed and squander the time but still, can beat the masses at least.

Yeah I totally didn't even think of spring break. I'm not too worried, I mean I'm planning on May only bc I asked in the past how DW generally is that time, for a weekday, and people were pretty strongly in agreement it should be slow, and if its not slow enough to ones liking that timesaver should be all you need. But yeah between what others have said and my own experiences, that sweet spot of between SB and school finishing should be fine. Perhaps parks will be more crowded than last year, I imagine those who would've gone last year would have 2021 anyway...so not sure it'll be a big difference/surely some will still be wary. That said, I do avoid weekends and summer like the plague anyway haha And I always arrive at gate before opening! What type of enthusiast would do otherwise??

Good to know! This makes me more glad I'm going for Coastermania now. I only go here on weekday's (when I can) so deff the normal early access is not much help to me without SV. Which is fine! Now that we know, can plan around it. The event will be a much better use of my day than a normal visit. Forgive my smooth brain but: New ride? What is this? For real, I had no idea anything was being added (I am assuming it's lackluster) What is this gold thing? I got a CF platinum pass sooo does that cover "gold access" as well? I mean not that it matters, that is a fairly uninspiring list lol and again if its like past Coastermania's I can knock most of those out in the ERT anyway.

OH spring break! Wow....talk about something not remotely in my mind, I never would've thought about that going on right now. Makes sense!

lol can't wait. Though I do hope they get that LRod 2nd train thing figured out. The point of an early season weekday was park would be dead (even w limited capacity) but already place is slammed....may have to still buy the Dollywood fast pass! I loathe to do so and thus avoid peak times but aint waiting 2 hours on some Tuesday in May XD

lol oh can't wait. Though speaking of, near 2 hour wait??? Yikes...but I hear the waits are always horrendous for MM. Don't seem remotely worth it or maybe the ops are just that bad?

Im terrible with offseason/testing stuff so just my pure speculation, but agreed? We just stopped hearing about the ride progress, like I can't find even a sliver of anything anywhere...I get some rides are behind others but seems we haven't heard/seen anything in a while. I did wonder if something went wrong, though not sure what I dont think this even got to testing right?

LOL this ride is the truly the god of memes. But for real it'll be fine. If it isn't then well we just gotta accept the ride is cursed, perhaps it was built on some ancient burial ground or some rivalrous country star hired someone put a hex on it. In which case I'd say DW just up the launch speed and run the ride until it falls apart in 2 years bc its doomed anyway XD

XD I mean I didnt expect it to be with park opening (erm..."real" park opening) but yeah not feeling so good about 2 months from now. Shame bc nothing against the park, would love to go again it's been god...20 years (Im old lol) but if it's not open by then I am almost surely gunna skip this for either Carowinds or KD so I can get another use out of CF pass. Also "less out of the way" for me, with limited time/$ I was only looking to stop here for the new coaster for this trip.

Unfortunate, though I reckon you know there's some degree of risk with these out of season (esp when its cold still!) events, but that's fair you'd think they would charge less. That said I accidentally went to one of these food & wine days at BGT, (bc I had no idea it was happening when I went) and it is quite lovely. All I wanna know is....do we have aaaaany idea on Pantheon/should I kill any hope it'll be open by late May?

See? It's settled. DW has gone to crap! It's all over enthusiasts lol jk jk It is a bit of a shame, I reckon it'll take away a bit from the experience just bc who doesn't love trees? And ya know that did seems to be part of the feel of Dollywood. I mean no big deal but is a little unfortunate. I heard there were supposedly bad storms but seems like they cleared huge swaths! If they aren't gunna expand the park in the future, hope they pay to move in new trees. Sounds silly when they can regrow for free but like....that can take decades, and it'd be sad to see so much of the park cleared out for so long.

Oh, I also hear that Thunderhead, which was already well regarded, feels as fast and good as ever, so I'm pretty excited about that! LRod excitement aside I am stoked to finally visit here.

For real, I'm so glad I found this...... https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-03-15 We really don't need to wonder.... just check this. You can go back far as you want, so you can see if it was up/how much it was up every day for weeks/months if ya want. Eliminates any question. I'd just check this in a few weeks. If it looks like it's been running all day every day for a few weeks, then all's good : D BTW elsewhere I saw another person confirm that it felt exactly the same as before, and if anything the Quad down feels faster. This person also got to talk to the ride op and they said 1: they HAVE tested LRod with 2016 launch speeds, and it was "life changing" but no idea if they will ever go back to that. "Possibly" but ya know....let's not bank on it. They also mentioned all the trees were removed partly due to access like was discussed but also bad storms over the winter downed/weakened a lot of trees. So yeah, I'm pretty stoked. It seems they are running 1 train ops right now but I assume this will end as the season progresses.

OK OK I know this ride is a meme, and it's not helping its own legend by being down twice in its first 2 days, but maybe the "obvs failure, shoulda scrapped it, this is gunna wreck the parks image" seems a tad much? Esp bc it operated all day today https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-03-14

I mean....this happens. It is what it is, and that seems a little....much? Esp since as you say the changes should have 0 impact on the launch then why would you thus consider a lawsuit? Unless its for a general "You gave us this problematic ride!" but I mean....no one wants to be Six Flags lol Did Cedar Fair sue Intamin for TTD? And talk about the quickest way to totally wreck your sterling reputation with the coaster community....sue the most beloved manufacturer of our time lol

eh, more like a failure of the launch system. I was expecting it to get near the top and just fail to make it over.

I mean yeah, that's the problem lol it was ridiculous, and very annoying to plan for (which for me was basically what you say, watching forums and seeing when it was running generally well, plan a trip and hope) its why Im glad that will no longer be the case. And yeah tndank I know this ride is a meme by this point but all jokes aside not too worried. Any change is gunna have some kinks to work out, and I generally avoid open of season for this reason. I've had bad experiences at parks in the past not being "up to speed"/well functioning like right at opening, I like to give em at least a couple of weeks.

I know anything thats new will need some time to iron out, and early season in general always needs some adjustment time, but yeah....... not a sterling beginning to the new reliable LRod XD

Yeah...I mean I pulled the trigger and still made plans but I always made sure I had it "open ended" like I had several days planned for the area just to maximize the chance it'd be open. It will be nice to think I can plan for a single day (which makes my overall trip much easier to plan) and assume it'll be open. And yup, despite the original concern I had people have already confirmed it doesn't feel any different so yup, we got the same LRod BUT actually reliable! Only "issue" now will be the debate about is it wood, steel, or hybrid and I have seen some intense debate already. I'm a huge nerd, but even I don't care enough to get into that one XD