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I also read somewhere that the crew for LR has been assigned to different rides and the post said it looked like the downtime might be for an extended amount of time, but didn't list the length of time.. it is a bummer but the more info that leaks out, it is very possible the downtime will be extended Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

See I didn't have any huge issues with the pothole on any of my rides.. yeah I could feel it at times but it wasn't nothing compared to the original pothole feeling.. I guess it's just me though lol Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

Are you going during the week or on a weekend? Dollywood has been dead my several visits recently during the week. My last visit when LR was open, it's wait was under 10 minutes.. parking lot was only in c, and half of C at that. Basically, I wouldn't buy it beforehand! If you are visiting on the weekend, the park will probably be fairly busy.. One trend I have noticed this year, and it's probably due to the water park add on the now offer, is that on hot days, splash will be packed until it cools down in the evening. Even during the week.. as it cools down, folks migrate to Dollywood so the evening hours might be more crowded than others As others have said, I believe parking is $15.. I visit 20+ times a year but don't pay parking because I have a gold pass, but I do believe it's $15. If you end up going to splash, you can just drive back down to Dollywood and not have to repay for parking.. nice part of them sharing the same tolls. I feel like Splahs Country has been having record crowd's, but again, I think this is due the the new water park add on they offer for tickets. It's very hot around here this time of year with days easily hitting 95+ degrees with it feeling like 100+ As for LR having the longest line, during my visits during the week, I don't always find that true. Normally fire chaser or mystery mine have longer lines. I have seen those two at 30 mins while LR is a walk-on. Especially if Mystery Mine is only running 2 or 3 cars like it does on slow days. So basically, it really depends on how busy the park is, how hot it is, and several other factors Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

I'm pretty sure they just released their attendance numbers on their corporate site a few weeks or so ago. I might be wrong but I thought I read them somewhere. Last year, I know they were stagnant but I'd imagine attendance would be a little up this year EDIT: Found it. They don't report numbers aside from being down 300,000 guest but it looks down overall at most of their parks. It says resorts are up so that should be a good sign for CP and Knotts (Their two main resort parks). Yeah, their other parks have campgrounds but I'd imagine most of their resort revenue is up from CP and Knotts, both with big new rides meaning attendance at those parks is probably up http://ir.cedarfair.com/newsroom/press-releases/news-release-details/2018/Cedar-Fair-Reports-Revenues-Through-July-4th-Holiday-Weekend/default.aspx EDIT 2: On a side note, my trip was last minute and I started planning it two weeks ago.. Breakers was booked up until mid last week for this past weekend. I was able to get rooms, right before the cancellation period expired for the weekend so if they are filling the hotels in advance, that's a good sign. Express was never fully booked as far as I could tell, but breakers was. My wife and I always wait until last minute to plan trips! Our last trip to Disney in October we booked 2 days before we left. The perks of not having any kids and having jobs that give us a schedule far enough out. Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

She also mentions staffing as being an issue at all their parks. I think, eventually, Dollywood is going to need staff housing and will need to breakdown and build some. Right now they rent hotels for their summer program but they can't bring in all the staff they need just by renting hotels. We all know parks that have staff housing, charge for it, so Dollywood can do the same. It might even help them bring in some international staff so they can help keep the park open longer and possibly year round. Work campers only go so far, I think they will need to do something to bring in the younger staffers. Investing in staff is a sure way to help capacity, especially since a lot of Dollywood's capacity issues are rumored to be staffing issues There are always hotels being sold in the area, buy one that's not on the strip and convert it.

I'm assuming most of these plans are after the 10 year plan. She said they are looking at the next 5 year plan. They announced their 10 year plan, 8 years ago she says. While one big addition could be the area they are working on now, I'm still a believer that this is only the start of the expanded areas and they will continue to expand up and around the mountain At the start of the 10 year expansion they said they would start working their way up the train loop at the end of the 10 years. How far up? No one knows but they can continue to move mountains and on up Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

It seemed fairly accurate. I used it to help plan my trip to CP this weekend (Can't see wait times in the app unless at the park). From what I had been watching the trends held true and it really helped me plan my time in the park this weekend. The big hitters where accurate so I knew when I needed to be in the park to minimize my wait on those rides. Not sure when they went live on the site but I started watching wed, thurs, & Friday because my trip was Sat - Monday

Not sure if anyone has posted this but its a neat article! It talks about Dollywood starting the "Next 5 Year" and talks about the need to grow capacity. It also says they have been happy with lodging so they are looking into expanding that portion! There is a whole section about Dollywood and their planned expansions at the bottom. A lot of information in this, even though they didn't leak anything out. "a COUPLE big additions", "Expanding Lodging", lots of info https://blooloop.com/features/jane-cooper-herschend-family-entertainment/

Water snakes are common here. Used to be my biggest fear swimming in the lake! Not so much anymore Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

See, in Tennessee, we actually have the brain eating amoeba, but luckily, it's not a normal occurrence and normally happens in late August. And maybe only one case every few years. As for the slides, we did visit the outdoor park once but it was so packed, it want any fun so we scratched that idea fairly quickly. (Glad the tickets were free with the room) On a side note, I did find it odd that the CP raft ride seemed to be lake fed! But it was one of the best raft rides I have ever been on and boy do you get soaked! That doesn't happen on many raft rides now days Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

I have only been on one with topper track and that's LR but I have been on two RMCs with full Steel and those are smoother than LR. Again, not an accurate test because LR is my only topper but I do know from my second coaster with full Steel (Steel Vengeance) and it is much smoother than LR. I should be hitting up twisted cyclone soon so we will see if the full Steel holds up to being smoother. As for thunderhead, I agree, it is rough and only getting worse, but it's nothing worse than most traditional Woodies. Ride some of those coasters that are 50 years old and you will see rough Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

Haha I grew up on a nasty lake so none of that bothers me. Quick shower after a swim and I'm good to go. No brain eating parasites yet *knock on wood* Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

I wanted to stay at castaway bay but my wife was like, who needs a water park when the great lake is right outside. Maybe next time we will stay at castaway bay because it was a little less expensive plus I think it would be nice. Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

It's themed after a mine car, I have always thought that had to do with the funky layout and the roughness at time. I see nothing wrong with it Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

My wife and I just got back from a weekend trip here and we stayed at Breakers. It's pricey, but nice being able to enter the park from essentially the back door of the hotel. We spent three days here and had three days worth of park tickets. Much less expensive than a one day ticket plus flash pass plus! We were able to ride nearly all their coasters first day due to the midnight hours.. the "big" coasters all had thirty minutes or less wait asside from Maverick and Steel Vengeance. We rode both of those on our second day using our early ride times and got both of those ridden before 10:00am.. Spent most of that day on the lake actually! Very nice having a lake beside the park and the beach is wonderful with all the activities they had! On our third day we rode mostly flats and just hung out before leaving early afternoon to come home.. Ride ops were great! It's nice not having to slam a huge park like that into one day. Breakers is a very nice hotel, Bright and modern. We loved Steel Vengeance and I think my wife like Wiked Twister the best along with Valravn. I think my favorite was probably Maverick. Overall great trip and nice park! We have been planning to visit this park for years but never have. Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

What comes to my mind is this is just the beginning of the expansion with more to be announced when this area is complete As for LR, my wife and I just got back from Cedar Point, and after riding Steel Vengeance, she said LR was defective from the beginning! I explained the track difference but she still thinks LR has never ran correctly after seeing how smooth Steel Vengeance was compared to LR. One day I wore a Dollywood shirt and several people stopped me and said they would visit Dollywood when LR is fixed, lol. I'm excited for the expansion and hope it only continues! Dollywood needs to get that pop back in their attendance! Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

No your right, I still stayed in line the first show! Just because it was raining and the line was covered but they had two folks handing out tickets and there was actually never a line for the actual tickets lol Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

I was just mentioning that so people would know they don't always have to wait in line for shows. Most theaters have a couple rows blocked off in the front for the timesaver seats (some theaters have the timesaver seats on the side rows up front), but it's not necessary to wait in line for some of the shows now without timesaver.. Not sure if it's something they are simply testing, something to keep guest happy due to some of their shows being kind of big this summer, or what, but I hope they keep the ticket thing going. It's nice being able to pick up your ticket then go get a fresh soda in your mug or something (so you don't have to buy expensive 20ounce sodas) and then come back to your theater and find a seat! Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

They have actually been giving tickets out for shows now so you don't wait in line, if the show is popular.. I have now received a ticket for two shows now. When you come back you just go in the main door and someone takes the ticket Hopefully they will do this for SMC Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Lightening Rod will actually run colder than most coasters though. I have been there when it and wild eagle were the only two left running. I guess when it gets going, it's fine even during colder temps Tennessee Tornado is normally the first to close during the winter.. Most coasters though, do end up opening until late December.. you might have a day or two where they never open but normally they will open in Nov and early December Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Thanksgiving here is iffy.. it could very well be in the 60s and if so the weekend of Thanksgiving might have 30,000+ people at the park (it did a few years ago).. on the other side, it might be freezing! Most coasters open when it reaches right above 40 and will remain open until it gets down about 35 - 38. Wild Eagle is the exception and will run until it gets "under speed".. meaning it is normally the last coaster to close. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

In all honesty, it's never ran well in the heat and this is the first time this season we have had 90+ temps consistently.. it was 97 when I was there earlier this week. I could see the heat playing a major role in the downtime Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Dollywood has horrible customer service via the Internet.. that includes Facebook, Twitter, their email and everything.. I have sent numerous emails and never heard back. You will need to give them a call, normally wait times aren't that bad. I can't imagine the number of guests they lose or upset because they don't reply emails lol. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

My last two visits (Sunday and Monday of this week) they were only running one train while I was there. Sudnay was dead though, Monday was a little busier Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Just dirt. They are building a new small path around the graveyard area, I assume to help the congestion during luminights. The current path goes around the front so they are building one going around the back as well Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk