Dollywoodlover20

Mountain Slidewinder has also been removed from the list of rides and attractions on dollywood.com! It's still listed in the app, but may not have been updated yet. Would hate to see it go. Slidewinder closed on September 3rd for the season. I’m not sure why it always closes in early September when all the other water rides close Nov 3rd, but yea. I don’t think it’ll be going anywhere haha.Its one of those rides you just don’t take out, simply for the fact people who’ve came to the park since it opened have ridden Slidewinder. Same with Blazing Fury.

I wouldn’t totally bank on it being open. I mean it could open by then, but I wouldn’t put my money on it. The park is closed Tues/Thurs atm so they’re putting all focus into Luminights and doubling its size. Not sure how much focus is being put into LR right now. It just seems to be sitting there with lights off, and all doors shut. Has been since July 5th.

When you think of resorts think of this. A resort will take around 2 years to build. DreamMore was announced August 2013, and opened in 2015. The new proposed plan spans over 5 years. The last was 10 years and Wildwood Grove was the final touch of that 10 year. I feel like the park needs to expand just a little bit more before a resort is put in park. Give more room to move around. If you ride the train, as you pass the end of the clearing look to your right. They’re already clearing down the mountain. Which makes me wonder how far they’re actually going to expand?

Exactly, I’m thinking Dollywood will go the Mack route. They could do some amazing heavy theming with it. Imaginge something like Taron meets Copperhead Strike. Also, I don’t really consider Dragonflyer their “next big coaster” addition. It just seems as something to keep the older guests/coaster enthusiasts entertained as Wildwood Grove is more tame for 2019.

Two things; 1. I heard a rumor that Lightning Rod is supposed to open back up on Labor Day. That the coaster has been fixed for a few weeks, that they have just been waiting for the all clear from RMC. 2. Carowinds Copperhead Strike? I would LOVE if Dollywood got something like this for 2020! Give it a dark ride portion like Mystery Mine, some twists and turns, with a Smoky Mountain twist. Plus have you seen how much land is left to develop for Phase 2 of this expansion? I feel the next big coaster will go there. In total it’s like a 13/14 acre expansion. Wildwood Grove is 5 acres.

Any news about LR? Two weeks until September. For some reason I feel if it’s not open by mid September/October they’ll close it for the remainder of the season.

Pete said in an interview today that the 2019 addition is just Phase One. He said Phase One and Two put together are around 15 acres. Which is so huge haha. So we are just now dipping into this expansion. He also said that LR WILL NOT be getting a chain lift, that they are waiting to do some safety check offs and get it to their liking. They’re working on something that they want to work over a long period. There’s the interview

You can kinda see what direction they’re going next in the artwork of the tree. In the left hand corner, there’s a tunnel. Then if you look back on blueprints a path has been made, with lines showing the path is covered. Very interesting. Makes me wonder for all the possibilities!

I love the area!!! Plus the good thing about this is, it satisfies those that always say the kids need something to do with families. Well this is just that. There’s a family coaster for every one, with kid flats in the area. I’ll be focused on the family coaster of course and the theming. I love looking at theming and detail. Another great thing I was thinking about is, now that they’re ticking off the “kid focused area” next year, 2020 could be the next big coaster? That’s exciting.

Thing about the employee entrance is, it used to be the old main entrance to Dollywood before they rerouted everything ( I think was a few years after splash country) but I remember going through that entrance as a kid with its shaded/tunnel like feel and trying to see beyond the fences as I heard the train and screams from river rampage. Ahhh...memories haha I’ve actually been back that way to watch Lightning Rod myself. You can get some good photo op moments back there.

I’ve heard that track has been removed from Lightning Rod where the pothole was? Anyone been at the park lately?

The bay doors on the station are all closed, so I’m honestly not sure if it’ll open soon, if it will open before the winter season. Fall/Luminights starts in September. That’s a very busy time for them coming up.

If you’re talking about the red seatbelts that provided a bit of extra slack, they’re still in row 4 only I’m pretty sure. The rest of the seatbelts are standard B&M Wing seatbelts.

At first “Wildwood Grove” took me by a shock but I like the name honestly. It’s refreshing, plus a grove is usually a flat plot of land with trees and well...that’s what this is (minus the tree part lol). I myself hope they don’t go the fairytale tree route just because, it would honestly be a sore thumb. You have this rustic look all up in Timber Canyon, then right across from Thunderhead in plain sight is a neon green sparkly tree? Nah. Haha I hope they keep the flow of rustic going. When I think of the words “Explore” and “Wildwood” I think of Dreamland Forest. I can’t help but not go back to thinking of that area of Dollywood. Speaking of the new railroad crossing up there, the route it’s going seems to go down hill a bit, then curve around with the train. I think it will be a way for expansion. If it was a backstage road I wouldn’t think they’d put up a literal crossing sign for it, and the sign is up right now.

Did WBIR say something they shouldn’t have?

What are you talking about? I almost flew out myself. If it had not been for the seat belt and the lap bar I would have flown out. Good thing I decided to use the seat belt and lap bar. While I suspect get was tongue in cheek... The belt in LR us just a back up. Normally it does nothing. But the whole point of the primary restraint is to keep you in. But with it you never "almost" anything. With me I never realize LR’s seatbelt is there until around the quad down. Then I’m thinking “this thing is trying to perform a vasectomy on me right now” haha Some people complain about the RMC restraints but for me, I don’t have a problem with them. The seats are snug yes, but I feel “safe” and I don’t get slung from side to side. I am a mildly bigger guy (6ft 2, broad shoulders, 265) and I have the most discomfort on Wild Eagle. How’d I end up here? Haha Anyway, yes guests think that airtime is them getting thrown to their deaths (giggles to self) but have you ever heard them say they feared for their life on Thunderhead? Is the airtime as strong as LR, no but TH does have some good moments. I feel like the GP see *LR Closed* and run in terror like they’ve seen Godzilla or something. There was one woman fell out of Rockin Roadway facefirst and said it was an unsafe ride and needed shutdown. *facepalm* If you can’t step out of a child’s car ride properly, I don’t think theme parks are your calling.

^I agree with you. Sometimes we are left in the dark but we he is good to us. I have a season pass, live 2 hours away, so when it opens back up luckily I’m good to go. Problem is, you have the GP guests that come to Dollywood, sometimes not knowing anything. Some of them don’t know about the app. They come, see Lightning Rod (because it sticks out and is a go to, especially as you first walk in) go to it and see it closed. Those who have been before may get upset at why it’s closed again. I’ve read on Facebook (while having many laughs on the side) of guests who have asked about the coaster with no response. Some have been told it’s down for retracking, then get scared to get on it? LOL moment. Some have heard the launch rumor. One lady said her child almost flew out and she didn’t feel safe. Lmao. That’s when I rolled laughing. My point is these guests are left in the dark with “Lightning Rod is closed for repair”. One man here where I live said “Went down and phone said closed for repair. They’ve been fixing it since it opened”.

A new railroad crossing is being made at the other end of the new land, where the train loops. Could 2020 expand to the end of the land, then 2021 go further? I was looking and could easily see this route eventually leading around to the upper loop IF they ever do. Which I really don’t see them doing because it gives such a great view of the smokies. Plus it’s really the only “untouched” area left on the train. Thoughts?

I do know that with the employees on LR that they’ll spread them out and rotate them where needed. I think they put them into a thing called “Helping Hands” until the coaster is back running 100%. That’s what they done last time it was down like this. If they’re retracking the pothole area, the track has to arrive from the RMC factory it’s self. From what I recall the coaster went down for maintenance, opened back up, closed back down as TC then CD and stayed that way. This happened on the 4th of July oddly. So is the track the problem, launch, or both? Premier does LSM’s though don’t they? Couldn’t they replace them if needed? So I’ve been thinking about 2019. If we do get the Orkanen style coaster, that’s a family coaster such as Firechaser. Along with some kid rides. I’ve heard the area is being geared towards small kids/families. So could 2020 be the year of the next big coaster??

TH has the typical GCI wooden coaster “rumble” or “shake”. The back is more violent of course, just like any other coaster. In all honestly, LR’s pothole ordeal was tougher than any part of TH. Not sure if it was where you were going 73mph and slammed on it or what. I seem to get a wheel seat every time and get the impact haha. I really hope this repair fixes it. Does anyone have any pics, updates? I’ve heard anything from Velocity being not in business anymore to the LSM’s being replaced by Premeir or Intamin?

Your big additions that I assume their talking about are next year’s addition and possibly 2020, which I would assume is their next big coaster. If they are wanting to expand Dollywood’s footprint, I’m curious as to how big it’ll possibly get? Could we possibly see an area in the future go behind TT? I mean I never thought we would end up behind Thunderhead and here we are. That used to be a valley/mountain and now it’s flat.

I was looking around to find info on the LR situation. Besides what we’ve heard about retracking (MUCH NEEDED at the drop), and padding added to the seats (I thought the seats themselves are fine?), I’ve also seen that Velocity Magnetics has shut down? Anyone know if this is true or false? So let’s talk about Dollywood’s hint. “Planting the seeds for something BIG” with colorful vines and leaves. The first thing that pops into my head is the old Dreamland Forest. Could we see a revamped version of that make a comeback? Could this be an intire forest land? Which...wouldn’t totally fit when you think. Yes it’s in the mountains, but they’ve made a feild into it really. Looks like a piece of land towards Cades Cove.

The forecast in the smokies can honestly change by the hour. More so in the summer time than the fall. For example it can say “Sunny and 90’s” all week long. The day of your trip the forecast changes to rain all week. Then once you get there only a couple days of rain with small chances. We usually go to the park and play it by the hour. Meaning if it’s a quick weekend trip down we’ll go down Friday evening, watch the forecast all night. If rain is in the forecast and includes lightning (and doesn’t change) we’ll change to Sunday if it looks better. So regarding thanksgiving your main concern will be rain, snow possibilities, and cold temps. I’d honestly just watch it every single day because it’ll change. Look at a 14 day forecast as well. Another example is below. Those days I have circled will more than likely change. I don’t look for tomorrow to change so I wouldn’t go tomorrow if I was anyone. It’ll be a wet, stormy day.

Yea lightning Rod for some reason has never handled heat well. Last July I went with family and it got up to like 93. It was closed and didn’t open til oddly 7pm. Not sure if extreme heat messes with the system or what. Isn’t there a sign that says “Lightning Rod may not operate in extreme heat”? On the 4th, here in the south, it honestly felt like I was going to catch on fire. Temperatures were unbearable. It was 98 here in Kentucky with heat indexes of 110, and it’s always hotter in Tennessee. I checked the app and Mystery Mine was CD, Wild Eagle was CD, LR was CD, as was TT. Only one that didn’t open back up was LR.

Possibly fixing the pothole and the bottom of the drop. Like I said when I went on Father’s Day weekend it jolted me bad haha. I’ve felt it before lightly and ignored it but this time it was where it distracted you from the whole ride experience and you were concerned on what just happened. That’s the only kind of repairs I can think of them doing. Launch was running fine, as were sensors. Kids kept wanting to hang on the gates (which I don’t understand l).