dstephe9

Actually, according to http://dw.jonstoddart.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning%20Rod&day=2018-04-15, the ride ran for one hour each day (except) yesterday and then went down for the rest of the day. Not looking good..... That was last month. Also have you seen the weather we are having right now? Nothing wrong with the weather at all.. I have been in the Dollywood area three days this week..spotty storms yes but they come and go very quickly and the Dollywood area has only had one while I have been up there Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

We assume that's why it's down but not a guarantee. The new hoods also showed up a day after they were closed. I wouldn't imagine it takes days to change a hood only but it is very possible other modifications are being made to the trains that don't involve themeing and that's causing the extended downtime. Hood only change could probably be done on Tuesday while they were closed, assuming the hoods were on property at the time. I mean, it's not been smooth sailing for LR this year.. yeah it has been running decent but during the heart of Spring Break it was down for quite a bit Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

It's had a little down time this week but the park starts week long operations next week so it's very possible they have been trying to get the ride 100% ready for summer. It was closed most of the day yesterday and has been closed for the day today.. it's listed as closed for the day so it shouldn't open. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Ride wise, Dollywood is more like Universal. Both parks want to be kid friendly but both parks do have grown up rides. And actually in an old interview early during the 300 million dollar upgrade, Dollywood mentioned wanting to be more like Universal.. but in a more recent interview Dolly mentioned "give Disney a run for their money" I'd imagine Dollywood is in the middle of Disney and Universal in their hopes and dreams but that's probably a great thing! A kid and family friendly park with grown up rides. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

I frequent both parks.. Disney does a lot better job on maintenance and upkeep of their rides than Dollywood but if imagine they have a larger budget for it..I mean a lot of Dollywood looks ran down.. their parking lot is in horrible shape and some of their old paths are ugly asphalt.. Disney is also layed out much better to allow tons more guest.. on a slow day Disney has 30+ thousand.. on a record breaking day for Dollywood they have around 30 thousand.. you can move and really enjoy a day at Disney with that amount of people but not so much at Dollywood.. Dollywood is getting better and expanding their pathways.. Also Dollywood is making small improvements here in there to handle the crowds.. it think they listened when some of us were posting bad reviews on here.. they now have signs on trams not being used saying "training" or something like that.. they also had trams lined up my last visit ready to pick up leaving guest.. they also had both sets of ticket windows open on my last few visits.. As for rides, Disney spends a lot more on them and you can tell but Dollywood does a great job on theirs as well!! A lot of the price Disney spends on their rides is due to them being inside.. a lot of the cost of Dollywood rides is due to them litterly having to move a mountain to build them! Dollywood wants to give Disney a run for their money and they may one day.. they are a long way away from that but still they are growing.. in my opinion, before they grow much more, they need to figure out how to manage the guest better.. like you said, Disney is smaller but much better St managing those guest (but Disney is also flat! No mountains in their way) Being a fan of Disney I can say that sometimes Dollywood feels like a low budget Disney.. it really does but they still do a great job with their rides, themeing and so on Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

I know from a lot of past interviews, a lot of the original issues had to do with various sensors and items on the trains. Pete mentioned during the first off season they rewired the trains and had planned on putting the trunks back on the trains last season (Trunks have yet to be replaced). I'm sure these new hoods, are the results from all the tweaks they made to the train over the last year or so. I'd also be willing to bet that we might have new trunks headed our way as well. I bet it's safe to say, the trains are probably working as expected now that they are spending money to add themes back to them or at least repair the themes they took away. or better yet, I bet RMC is covering the retheming of the trains under warranty if the issue was something on their end

I'm not sure they will replace festival of nation's but they do have several weeks during the spring with not festival going on.. I'm sure they can fill that with something.. I'd personally like to see them revamp festival of nation's again! It used to be full of vendors and all that fun stuff, but not so much anymore. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

It's a local parade and during my experience it doesn't seem to make any difference in crowds.. if it's a pretty day it's going to be busy. The parade might keep some of the locals away Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

During spring break it was very up and down with full day closures.. haven't been in a few weeks so I'm not sure. I check the app periodically and I have seen several TC (temporary close) but no CD (closed for the day) Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

I have been there several times in rain and coasters run no issue at sfog. Even very hard rain later fright fest and coasters were running Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Last year duing rod run though, I couldn't even get to veterans! The main road was backed up pretty much to about Smoky Mountain Knife Works. That's not far from the interstate Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Ehh that wasn't written by Dollywood.. it was written by one of their influencers I believe but it is very interesting timing. I'm sure they assigned the topic though lol Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Six Flags Fiesta Texas did away w/ the Season Pass processing center years ago too (not sure if that's true of all Six Flags parks). what they do now, is they give you your pass when you enter the park the 1st time (you scan your index finger, the gate attendant pulls out a card, scans it to tie it to your fingerprint, and then writes your name on it with Sharpie). We did not wait in any ticket booth lines, just walked up to the entrance gates, with the printout from online showing we bought the passes. tacky? yep. . but took seconds. (and if you want to link it to an online app, you don't even need to bring the card each time). the only wait we had was to activate the season dining pass, that was a line in a separate location. but to get the pass? took seconds during initial entry. maybe Dollywood would move to something like this? but as others said, at the end of the day, you're at a theme park. So I don't get the complaining, and tend not to. Yup six flags over GA went to the same method..guess who else just writes your name on a card? It is a very good solution in my mind if they want to keep the processing center closed. While Disney makes you get your card at a ticket Window, SFOG does theirs the same way as the Six Flags you posted.. very fast! And I also have my six flags card linked to my phone and the six flags app. I'm sure the writing of the name speed everything up Glad the bird is back! Is he talking?!? Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

When dollywood had a season pass processing center, the lines were fairly short. Now that building sits closed.. This is it's second or third year closed now? I guess what it comes down to is Dollywood is trying to do more with fewer windows and staff.. I don't think it's a staffing issue but a cost cutting issue. Even when the park is fully staffed they no longer have a processing center for season passes and keep that building closed.. if it is opened, it's just selling tickets and the other ticket building is closed. Same with guest services (which is now just another ticket line with a fancy name) and VIP window is gone. And when I was there the upgrade center was open but it sounds like they didn't keep it open all week. With that being said, Disney processes season passes at regular ticket windows (but they normally have all open, even in their slower parks on slower days). Plus if you don't want the yellow card, the magic bands, at least mine were, already activated when they arrived at my home. I didn't get my card for 2 days, and only got it for my discounts. Six flags no longer has season pass windows but their passes don't require processing unless you need to add a feature to them and a lot of those features can be added online. Blank card with a barcode and they use biometric. Maybe that's a solution. Go away from photo cards and go to NFC with biometric. Or just a blank card with barcode and you activate it yourself using an app. Then have the upgrade center available for those who can't activate it. Seems to be working fine for six flags now plus it pushes people to your app. Even if Dollywood wants to activate it at the ticket window at least you save 2 - 3 minutes per person not needing your photo or the card to print.. I'm sure there are reasons Disney never went to photo cards. I wonder how many folks gave up on Thursday and just decided not to upgrade their passes because the upgrade center inside the park was closed? There are simple solutions, other parks use these solutions.. If they simply can't get the staff or if it's cost cutting, there are solutions out there. Dollywood at times just seems stuck in their ways and as the park gets more crowded they need to learn how to handle those crowds or change some of their policies and ways. We can clearly see that their ways currently aren't working very well and if they continue to grow it's just going to get worse. A pro tip though, you can also process your season pass in the old yellow information building on the parkway! I have never done it but do have a friend who did that for their family. Not sure when it's open. And your results might be different Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

They had a song from Moana (one of Dwayne Johnson's songs) when I was there and yes Coco's remember me.. they also had a song that was very similar to a song from Indiana Jones. Not sure if it was a real Indiana Jones song or not but I'm sure that's what they were going for. my wife was making fun of it.. Kids loved it.. My wife thought she heard frozen as well but I didn't.. I heard Moana and Coco very loud and clear though Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Also like I said they did away with the season pass processing center a few years ago. A few times last year they had windows just for processing season passes but I have yet to notice them this year (doesn't mean they haven't had them on days I wasn't there). I know the day I processed my wife's we had to wait in the regular ticket line. Hers was purchased online. Also last Saturday they were pointing people to the regular ticket line to process. You can process in park at the upgrade center but it's line is just as long So basically, even if you buy online, if it's a season pass you still wait. My wife's sister gets those local VIP tickets as well and I do remember her last year having her own line. Overall I am sure Dollywood will get things worked out but playing Disney music isn't going to give Disney a run for their money until they figure out the crowds and how to manage them. I'm sure they can do it! Heck Dollywood is larger than the magic Kingdom anyways they just don't have the infrastructure to support those large crowds and the mountains are in the way [emoji14] Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Actually I go to Disney World every year for New Year's Eve and they handle the crowds very very well and lines move very quickly for food. That's probably their busiest day. We even book fill service restaurants while in the park that night.. just gotta keep checking the app is all..I stay on site so no idea about the TTC.. never experienced that. I thought Dollywoods food lines were fine during my visits. Yeah, I couldn't eat aunt grannies without an hour wait but most food lines moved quickly for me when I was there. Funnel cakes at Dollywood are always slow but that's because they are made to order and can kill you with sugar but it would be a great way to die. Yeah I will admit Dollywood was out of food at a lot of places.. Dollywood parking lot really doesn't hold that much though, that's why previous seasons it wasn't uncommon for them to open the splash country lot for Dollywood guest. Heck, that was the whole reason they up the crossing lights up. They are for the trams I have a season pass so I wasn't in the long lines.. that was posted by ASE who I'm sure also has a season pass. Us on this site aren't the common folks that visit these parks.. it seems like a lot of people still like doing the transactions in person vs online. Maybe it's because folks don't plan on visiting Dollywood and are in the area for vacation. Maybe they just pass the billboards and say hey let's stop. Maybe we are all Country Hicks and don't own internet Another thing to keep in mind though, Dollywood doesn't have a season pass processing center anymore.. I'm sure that builds up the line. if you buy your season pass online, you have to wait in the ticket line to process them. They might, very rarely though, have a processing only window or two but I haven't seen that yet this year. I saw it a few times last year on busy days and that was it. You can enter once without it being processed and then process it before you leave but I know a lot of people are afraid of losing their paper ticket. (I'm sure they can look it up though) Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Today though, everyone should be able to go to Dollywood with now waits! But rain/snow might be keeping some of the coasters and rides closed Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Actually the bottom part of your statement isn't completely true.. I work for a retailer that was probably one of the most successful in malls last year.. it's a very young retailer and we ignore most opinions aside from those of our guest.. we are doing 20 - 30% comp every year.. our stores are growing, we are profitable, we are donating millions a year but the majority of the feedback we take to heart is from our guest.. We feel our guest experience is why we are so successful when other mall retailers are just the norm and struggling.. we aren't cheap either, our clothes are expensive, our decor is expensive. Our stores are built around and for our guest and not the experts. I'm not trying to argue that online reviews are good, I see plenty that are bad and are just folks complaining but I did want to clear up that companies don't take advice from then because we take a lot of advice from them and it's working for us, at least our leaders feel like it is.. all I know is something is working for my company while other brick and mortar retail is struggling.. we do have a huge online presence but a very small ecomm presence. Do we base every business decision off those reviews.. heck no, well we may idk that's way above my pay grade but I do know they listen to everything comment and use those to better our business and how we treat our guest But when the same complaints are popping up in reviews, aside from ride lines if the park is running all rides at full capacity, the park should look at those and see how they can improve.. if tram waits are long the park should look and see why if that comment keeps popping up. Cold food? I saw that in two reviews (my food was great) but that's something the park should research.. if they commented and asked where the cold food was at, maybe they have a training issue in a single restaurant that can be corrected. it's not always complaining in reviews.. it's a good way to see how your business looks to normal everyday people. Experts are great and all but they are being paid by the companies and aren't paying the companies to be there like guest are. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

I don't think they should open preferred parking vs Splash first.. last year on busy days they opened splash country parking for Dollywood guest. The only reason I mentioned that was due to Dollywood remodeling their parking a few years ago resulting in less spots.. they claimed if the lot would fill up they would use preferred and splash to help with parking. My opening trip to Dollywood was fine aside from my pass not working.. it was my third or fourth trip this year where things started going downhill as the crowds picked up.. Dollywood was having a lot of ride issues that day, mostly special effects weren't working on most rides but the rides were running. Here's the thing, Dollywood cross trains everywhere, that's why you see lightening rod ops running shops (or other ride ops running shops).. During late summer you will see Dollywood employees working Splash Country and vice versa.. they might be cross training the wrong areas but the systems they use are the same in most areas. When I applied they where using pronto pos for pretty much all transactions and pos systems by micros.. it wouldn't be hard to cross train as the systems would be the same and transactions would be very similar. policies would really be the only training involved Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Exactly, now I can't confirm what other roles at Dollywood pay but their IT roles, are under the average for this area anyways. It might be better now though, especially if they are hurting bfor employees Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

It takes the park a little while to build up lines for coasters and yeah tornado being opened early means that entire area should be open to at least stand outside the rides.. I'd hit up firechaser (assuming it opens on time, lots of times it doesn't) after tornado Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Exactly but a lot of people do. That and Yelp, which I also hate. But that's not the point, the point is the negative reviews cover the same topics. And either Dollywood has no answer to those issues or they simply don't care. I posted about those topics here before the reviews started. And to the naked eye it looks like Dollywood isn't trying The tram issue is like going to a big restaurant with fifty empty tables but still waiting thirty minutes to be seated. Seeing those empty trams is like those empty tables. If they don't have the staff to fill those trams fine but move them! Don't leave the GP wondering why empty trams are sitting at the gate when the line to catch a tram is 45 mins. My how was your visit survey mentioned all that. I even gave Dollywood permission to contact me about the survey.. but no, they didn't contact.. they never do, they simply give the impression they don't care.. they have done this for years. I'm sure they do care but you would never know it. They took the food complaints seriously last year and fixed a lot of those. Food quality is back IMO so hopefully they read these and try I for one am avoiding Dollywood for the next few weeks however [emoji14] other places in the area will be getting my hard earned money haha, no matter how much I love it, until they get this crowd issue figured out I won't be back until spring break is over. I was there during busy days last year and it was much much easier to park, catch trams, and just enjoy other aspects of the park vs the rides. Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

A lot of folks at Dollywood I guess. Unless there is a discount online, I buy at ticket windows for parks I don't have passes to.. a lot of parks have processing fees online (I don't believe Dollywood does, at least for passes they don't). Also a lot of people in the area maynot plan to visit Dollywood.. they come for the Mountains and say hey let's visit Dollywood! Here's the thing, and Dollywood should take this to heart and try to improve vs taking them as complaints only.. going through the past week or so of Trip Advisor Reviews, they are about 50% negative with the same complaints 1.) Park caught off guard 2.) No parking help (I ran into this and posted it here) 3.) Empty preferred parking (again I saw this and they should of opened that lot) 4.) Long ticket windows (again, folks can buy online but it sounds like most people still don't)(even the ticket center at Disney is backed up but not for hours) 5.) Cold food.. I never ran into this but did get the "sorry we are out and trying to obtain more. It'll be about 45 minutes) 6.) Long lines for rides - Notice I never complained about this.. it's something I expect from parks and I felt Dollywood did a good job handling this.. it was one of the only perks I saw last Saturday) 7.) Long tram lines.. no mention if Dollywood had empty trams visible or not but I'm sure they did just like my visit. And why run the small short trams vs the long ones? My visit, they were. 8.) Disney pricing without the entertainment - This is true, they are only $20 away from a lot of single day promos ran on the Disney Website.. Regional parks are generally much less expensive than Dollywood I can vouch for most of those complaints, I experienced them myself.. My wife and I only stayed two hours and left (nice thing about season tickets) What's the solution!? I'm not sure but here are possible solutions 1.) Start your season a few weeks earlier?Six Flags has started doing this and their ops around spring break time are much better than the past. Even if they just open on the weekends.. 2.) Pay employees more? I applied for an IT job and they offered me $8.50/hour.. I laughed! This was a year round full time job. Similar jobs in the area are $15/hr+.. I'd hate to see what they pay their ops. Maybe pay more than Walmart? (This was two years ago so it might be better, idk)(looking at Glassdoor, it doesn't look like pay has improved) 3.) More show times to even out the crowds? Last Saturday most shows only had three showings. With two to three hours between some. Disney runs them every hour, even six flags does.. more show times could even out the crowds.. those theaters hold a lot and were always full 4.) Ride ops were good, they were running all trains so I see no solutions there. They were fine my visit 5.) If you have limited staff for trams run large trams vs the small trams.. that's a very simple fix and should be a no brainer! The short trams still stop at every lot.. they still wait on the few long trams that are running so they don't seem to save time. 6.) Retop the parking lot.. a lot of the parking nightmare I saw was people confused because they never covered up the old lines! They tried to put black tar on them but it didn't last..people parked incorrectly everywhere plus the parking lot looks bad in general 7.) Parking attendants actually helping vs standing around. 8.) As for food, I'm not sure.. they have tried making improvements here and there to help out food service. I guess I'd suggest maybe more snack buggies like Disney has.. folks getting snacks would cut down on the long food lines. Also, drink only windows 9.) Maybe spend a few days at the parks "they want to give a run for their money" see how they run things.. Dollywoods new Disney heavy music playlist (yeah they had a lot of Disney music playing last weekend) won't give Disney a run for their money Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk

Again, if staffing is an issue they can do small things that could at least help out.. hide unused trams, don't leave them emtpy at the front. Rearrange staffing so you have more than five ticket windows open.. I have never waited one hour to get a ticket at any park I have visited.. Never! Even visited Six Flags on memorial day, Disney on New Year's, and so on. You don't need 3 guys selling bottles at the front if only 5 ticket windows are open.. move those guys to ticket windows, show guest they are your priorities and not making money off empty bottles being sold from wagons that can't even be filled at the wagon! My point, they aren't doing a good job handling these guest and it's leaving locals not wanting to visit the park, making folks leave ask for refunds and so on Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk