Firechaser

I was at the park today and can confirm that it was slammed today. Cars were parked in the Splash Country lot, and it looked pretty full there when we left. I’ve never been on such a busy day before!

The only thing that keeps me from thinking that the park would build a hotel right at the park is that the road which leads to DreamMore is called Dollywood Resorts Blvd. So it seems like Dollywood's plans for building more hotels is in the area near DreamMore.

I wonder why they would remove it? I can't think of much else that could fit in that ride spot, but I hate to see it go.

While on the topic of land clearing, the only rumor that I heard at the park while there this past weekend was that the new area will be focused on children and families. This seems plausible enough to me, but the actual theme of the area seems to be the most interesting topic of discussion. While a year-round snow resort idea would be neat, I don't know how practical it would be for the park as they use the off season to do large maintenance jobs that would be harder to accomplish if the park was open.

I am pretty sure that this is going in the spot of the now former River Battle. It also looks like the building in the concept art is the former ride station.

While heavy crowds can be an annoyance, it is great to see that Luminights has increased the attendance numbers that seemed to be lagging earlier in the season! The high crowd levels will hopefully lead to even more unique festivals...

The only reason I can think of for the removal of the newer rides in Wilderness Pass is that the recession caused them to change course. Before the recession hit, they had just added River Battle and had plans for a hotel and Adventure Mountain. After it hit, all their plans got put on hold. Since then, the course that they originally planned has been replaced by the 10-year plan that is in action today. I think the removals of River Battle and Adventure Mountain are the result of a change in plans that wasn't expected when they were first installed.

I saw this and thought that it was a neat article. I am sure that anyone that has been through Chasing Rainbow's has met this very friendly lady. www.wbir.com/news/local/90-year-old-dollywood-worker-has-no-plans-on-retiring/436187002

Yeah, I love the historical aspect that the area provides. The trip would probably be part of a Williamsburg/D.C. trip with stops at as many interesting places as possible.

Are you planning more than one day at the park? If so a Fun Card would be your best option. If only one day then the one day ticket option would be better if you have children 9 and under. That's the thing, right now everything is theoretical. It would be 4 adult tickets. Though, it does look like the Fun Card is the safest bet.

Just a question for a possible June visit... I noticed that the online one day ticket price and the Fun card are the same price. Are there any other tickets out there that might be a good fit for a family that just wants to visit the theme park and not Water Country?

Does anyone have any insight as to why the Waltzing Swinger has been dismantled? It would be my guess that it is being sent off for restoration, but I know nothing on the subject.

I just hope that you guys didn't steal the troika from us down here at Carowinds!

Really? Every time that I've been to Dollywood (about 20 times in the last 6 years) operations have been very solid. They have never been the quickest, but they've never been slow.

I like both, number 1 and 2. I just don't like number 3 that much, it seems like Western themes have been overdone.

Lightning Rod was announced one year ago today. At least it is operating this weekend!

It seems like a fair punishment to me. I am sure that the park had put forth ground rules that were not to be broken. It seems like underage drinking and giving the park some bad press would probably be on that list. But that's just my 2 cents on the subject.

We just went down. I knew that if I was the first to report it, something would happen!

According to Danny Robbins on Instagram, Lightning Rod is back up!

It was. This page has some good information on Carowinds' old days. http://www.carowindsearlyyears.com/skyway1.html

The Raleigh area would be capable of supporting a decent sized amusement park as the Closest parks are Carowinds and Busch Gardens and both are at least 3 hours away.

Weird. When I was there in August I got assigned a seat on Mystery Mine even though the train had empty seats upon dispatch. That is strange. I've never been told to sit in a certain seat on any roller coaster at Dollywood.

As has been stated, assigned seating for rides at Dollywood is not common, Pretty sure EVERY train that leaves Mystery Mine is assigned seating. Maybe all Dollywood host don't know what they're talking about as proven again here. Well, Mystery Mine has to be assigned for capacity and practicality, but that is the only major coaster that has constant assigned seating as of now.

Completely assigned seating is temporary during the technical rehearsals. These rehearsals also give the hosts a much-needed sense of how the ride will operate normally when we have big crowds. As has been stated, assigned seating for rides at Dollywood is not common, and this is a practice run for many of the hosts. Once they get more accustomed to it, they will be able to take requests for front or back. That's good. I am glad to hear that there will be some more organization in the station than on other rides. While I like to pick my seat, I like to be able to stand comfortably in the station, which is sometimes a problem on the coasters already at the park.

I am going to assume that the assigned seating is temporary...