bachir

I'm assuming we've seen the last of Boomerang? BTW, I know everyone here hates that ride, but its very popular with kids, so its exclusion in the lineup is a big loss.

I rode LR a week ago today. The rumor then among folks waiting in line was a 'sensor' issue. Computers and sensors weren't aligned. I'm not passing along as fact, and have no idea if that even makes sense - but just providing some color on all of the speculation. This is what happens when the park remains quiet. Everyone starts throwing out theories and rumors. If its not running this weekend I think Dollywood has to come out and make a statement.

We're trying to plan our next trip. Is there an unofficial ETA for all of the new attractions (because I know Universal isn't saying anything)? Fallon, Fast/Furious, waterpark?

We were at the park today and just left. We got in line for LR right around 10am (in the rain) with about 100 other people. The employees were very nice in saying we could stay there in line but there were no guarantees the ride would open for rehearsals. We checked throughout the day and never saw it running. Our last check was around 4:30pm - no line and no activity. Completely shut down. For the Park's sake I hope it opens for Memorial Day weekend. There are an awful lot of billboards, commercials, toys and even ice cream advertising Lightning Rod. This has got to be killing them. The complete lack of activity today seems to be a bad sign.

BAHAHAHAHAHAHA Coaster is even officially open and they're already sneaking cameras on. Was it on the launch yet? No it just left the station. People are cheering at the end of each ride. Funny. RMC folks still hanging out in the loading area.

Just rode it. Incredible. Waited about an hour in line but worth the wait. The ride looks open to me. They are only running one train, and only letting one trains worth of people in at a time. So everyone else is waiting outside the building. Makes for a long line outside in the heat. Btw, someone tried to sneak a camera on. They stopped the train and brought it back.

Manager says real opening on Thursday if all goes well.

At park now and in line for LR. Not sure if it's open but the line is around 200

Seriously, it's almost like they're messing with us now. Might be risky to open over Memorial Day Weekend. Huge crowds, and if something goes wrong, there will be quite a bit of backlash.

I wonder what the repairs was all about. I do think its interesting that they would let a 'civilian' ride the coaster. I say civilian, as opposed to a ride engineer, park employee, etc. To me, this tells me that safety is not a question. Maybe they're just concerned about ride consistency? Just an uninformed question.

Oh for f**k's sake. If you go to the website there's a HUGE orange bar across the top of EVERY SINGLE PAGE ON THE ENTIRE WEBSITE that says " Lightning Rod will not be open to the general public at this time due to extended ride commissioning. Learn More" and then when you click on "Learn More" while you're b**ching about how they're obligated to make a statement you'll see the statement that they made and it says... "Lightning Rod will not be open to the general public at this time due to extended ride commissioning. Lightning Rod is an innovative ride featuring new technology never before used on a wooden coaster. The ride manufacturer asked for additional time to commission the ride. Keep watching Dollywood.com for future updates." Oooh it's a conspiracy. They're "remaining quiet" except for on every single page of the website. What do you want them to do exactly? Mail you a puppy and hand-written letter that says "Dear entitled enthusiast. Please have mercy on us and try to forgive us for the fact that you assumed an innovative new coaster that's completely unique would absolutely, 100% be open on time and booked a trip for opening day. I completely understand how one ride being closed would be enough to make you cancel your trip to one of the best parks in America even though a year ago when this ride wasn't here you'd have absolutely loved all of our other offerings which we still have. Please send all bills for therapy and tissues to Dolly directly and we'll be sure to reimburse you. We're really sorry we tried to trick you by not making a statement (except for all over social media and on every singe page of the website). Next time we'll send you smoke signals and hire a sky writer. Well - we took our HIGH AND MIGHTY pills today didn't we? Did anyone ask for a puppy - nice extra prize though - Did this person say they booked a trip on opening day - NOPE. The park hyped the heck out of the ride - theres no way with a two month delay they had any plans that it would be open on March 18 and while not exactly a "conspiracy theory" I do think they are trying to not make a "big deal" about an extended delay. So if social media posts everywhere and a huge obnoxious banner on every page of the website isn't enough then what exactly would you like them to do? Pay for TV ads everywhere in the country saying that Lightning Rod isn't open yet in case someone from there was planning on booking a hotel room? Should they have Dolly go door to door? What would you like them to do that they're not doing? But you're right... I'm the "high and mighty" one. Not the people who feel like the park owes them some kind of statement even though they already made one and posted it everywhere. On April 25 Dollywood's PR guy said it would be open in a few weeks. Two weeks came and went, and now its crickets. Again, I can understand that Dollywood is in a tough spot, but if they are going to start marketing the park as a destination park (like they have been) then they need to, at the very least, give some sort of update. Sure, the banner on the website is nice, but it tells me nothing. They should be thinking about those who are traveling, the same ones they are marketing to with the 3 day passes, DreamMore resort, the water park, etc.

I do think Dollywood has an obligation to make some sort of statement. They've hyped the heck out of this rollercoaster for quite some time. If they truly want to be a destination park (they're advertising in S Illinois) then they need to be thinking of those people who plan (or have booked) trips to see this coaster. I cancelled my trip, but heck, I don't even know when to reschedule it for. Its quite obvious to me that they knew full well that LR wouldn't be ready in time. But an announcement of a delay would have hurt their bottom line, so they stayed quiet. And they are remaining quiet, hoping people don't cancel trips already scheduled to see their 'innovative ride featuring new technology never before used on a wooden coaster'. Pretty poor form by park if you ask me.

We (family of 5) had a trip scheduled next week. I cancelled last night. One of the main reasons why we were checking out Dollywood (for the first time) was Lightning Rod. Hopefully we can reschedule the trip for late summer. We're driving 10 hours. I'd hate to make that kind of investment in time and money and not even ride the coaster that brought us there. I can't help but wonder how many other people are deciding the same thing. Not complaining, just stating the facts.

So I have to ask - Is it possible for a rollercoaster to stop while upside down?

Ok seriously, when is LR going to open? If they have a press day, they usually announce that ahead of time, not the day of (or before) The comment from Screamscape of 'couple weeks' on April 21 should put the opening right around this weekend. I'm surprised at the lack of leaks. DW is doing a pretty good job of controlling this.

Pretty good prediction from April 18.

SFO, thanks for posting the great video. All, Taking the family to Dollywood in late May (first time). Will we be fighting crowds if we hit the park during the week? IF we are fighting crowds, any advice on the best route to take when entering the park? We plan on arriving right when it opens. Trying to figure out if investing in a Timesaver Pass is worth it or if its not needed since we are avoiding the weekend.

Anyone seen a sign yet on height requirements?

Perhaps late April, as reported in USA Today, is accurate.

This is big news, and I'm surprised its not getting more traffic. USA Today isn't some rag or blog, its USA Today, a national publication. If someone from the park (I assume someone high in the pecking order) is saying late April, this should be taken seriously. Very good news. And if its not true, I would suspect someone from Dollywood would shoot this down very quickly (like today).

I'm surprised at the lack of rumors or speculation around Lightning Rod openeing. Someone is keeping this pretty close to the vest.

At the park now, have been told Justice League is closed for the day. Fair or not, this ride officially has a bad reputation.

Its not just you. I went last week and noticed the same thing. It takes away from the theme. Also, are you supposed to be able to hear Cyborg? Last week there was no sound coming from the animatronic. Starbucks cup, binder, papers, phone and no sound coming from Cyborg

Actually, this is my biggest gripe about SFStL: the park theming, such as it is, ranges from inconsistent to random to totally nonexistent, and it really detracts from the experience. I know that it's because it's an old park that grew organically and without any long range planning, and with no budget available to renovate and make things consistent from place to place in the park, but it still bugs me. I went to Universal Orlando two months ago and while the rides are way more big budget than SFStL, the thing that really made the experience was the overall theming. Wherever you went, the part of the park you were in made sense with regard to the ride, store, or restaurant in front of you. None of that "Pandemonium in the middle of the English section of the park" (and really, what makes that part of the park "English"? The wooden buildings?) Six Flags has individually themed rides, but nothing about the placement of anything is done to create a cohesive experience. For instance, you've got Ninja right across from the two Batman-themed rides, along with a Chinese restaurant, a hamburger place (Johnny Rockets) and a giant basketball game. Absolutely none of these things have anything to do with each other. And then there's that mysterious "Studio Backlot" sign on the train bridge leading to the aforementioned area, even though there is no "Movie Studio" theming whatsoever to be seen anywhere other than that one sign and two stores that have "studio" in the name. Why is that sign even there? At least with JLBFM opening, there will be two rides across from each other that bear some relationship to each other, since before, Mr. Freeze and Scooby Doo certainly didn't. This doesn't mean that the rides are any less fun, but there is absolutely nothing about SFStL that says "here I am at a theme park!" This is because there is no theme. It's mostly a random collection of rides, and I'm not knocking the rides, because they actually are lots of fun for a lower-budget park, and I am certainly hoping that JLBFM will live up to Six Flags' selling it as a Universal/Disney quality ride (I still find it hard to believe that Six Flags spent the money to live up to what I saw at Universal Orlando, but I'm definitely willing to reserve judgment.) But even with this hopefully fantastic new ride, it's just one more individual experience that is not part of a cohesive whole. And frankly, I don't know how this problem could be fixed. I think you answered your own question when you referred to Six Flags as a lower budget park. Its just that, a lower budget park, so expectations need to be set accordingly. We've been to Universal two years in a row and thinking about going back next year (King Kong!). Its very expensive no doubt, but we feel like we get value, because its more than just the rides. The overall presentation and the park theming adds to the whole experience. We just don't have that expectation when we go to Six Flags, never will, but that's fine. And as a Universal 'veteran' I too will be curious if JLBFM can even play in the same ballpark as Spiderman or Transformers. I doubt it will, but I would love to be wrong.

So Justice League will be comparable to the Spider Man ride at Universal Islands of Adventure? If that's the case, big win for Six Flags. We've been to Universal two years in a row now, what they have been able to do with Transformers and Spiderman is something else. Amazing effects.