DILinator

I get that they're going with a devil/hell theme, but would it have killed them to put some covering over those switchbacks to keep the blistering heat off what should often be a long line of poor souls???

^Wow! That looks yummy! We'll definitely make sure to swing by there as well! Thanks!

Thanks to everybody who replied with advice! So much good advice! It also sounds like, unless things pick up, a Wednesday evening in July for the Sundown hours may not be too bad for lines. I'll definitely try to get the kids on the Haunted Mansion! I'm sure my 14 year old daughter will do it. I enjoy those old school ride through dark rides! I also definitely want to try the legendary pierogies, if they're open! And yes, the image of power surge in the background is burned into my mind, so I should be able to find them, thanks to Bill! Lol

^Thanks for the reply, and all the great information! I'll take a pic of it, and refer back to it on our trip! I'm sure we'll still hit Impulse, just because it's a coaster, and a type we actually haven't ridden much elsewhere, but if the line is crazy it's good to know it's expendable. As for the Haunted Mansion, I believe it's an upcharge attraction, for one, and more importantly, my kids aren't the kind to go for scary, haunted house attractions. Maybe my daughter would do it with me. So that's a possibility. I noticed a bunch of rides are listed as "CLOSED" on the website currently, including a handful of the flats you mentioned, and another flat that I personally like, Power Surge. You may not know the answer to this, but I wonder if those are those temporary closures, staffing related closures, or longer closures. I'll be going to the park a month from yesterday, so hopefully at least some of them are back up and running by then. Thanks again for your detailed reply!

I too am going to be heading through PA on a trip with my kids to visit relatives in Jersey next month, am planning on hitting Knoebels for the Sundown hours, and was wondering the same regarding typical lines and wait times on a weekday (wednesday) in July. That didn't really get addressed in the last two posts, so I thought I'd mention it again, just to get an idea. I get that a full day at Knoebels is better than a half day (none of us have been before), but that's just not in the cards for this trip, and I just wanted to at least finally get a taste of this legendary park. Any input on what the can't-miss rides or things to do there in 4 hours of time, certainly are appreciated as well! We're obviously going to do all the major coasters (that are open), and we're not going to do the Haunted Mansion, or any water attractions. Thanks in advance!

^,^^ Nice! Good to know! As it stands, I think 2022 will be the year I finally make it overseas, as my son wants to go to Germany to ride coasters for his Graduation trip!

Yesh and if you go to https://m.sixflags.com/overgeorgia/attractions/mind-bender it has it marked as closed for the season. booo. I was on the fence about making the long trek down to Georgia with the kids this year, as originally planned, but this news seals the deal. My first trip to SFoG will have to wait until 2021! It's not a park I'd regularly go to (I mean, a lifetime of being a coaster enthusiast, and I still haven't been there!), and I don't want to miss out on the classic Mindbender coaster. One less thing to save money for this year. Disappointing to delay yet another year, but not altogether a bad thing for me.

1) I already have visited a park, Mt. Olympus, a little over a week ago! It was amazing to get back out and enjoy coasters again! The way Mt. O is handling safety precautions is reasonable too, and really contributed to it being a great day! Next up is Indiana Beach for their re-opening VIP event in a couple weeks, and I'm expecting that to be a similarly fun experience! 2) Much like Mike240SX earlier, I'm not going to get into all of the reasons, as it's simply not the reason for this site, and people get triggered so easily about the things I'd say. Suffice it to say though, that I accept that viruses are a part of life, even sometimes particularly bad ones like we're experiencing now, and you can't just stop living because of them. So I was more than ready to go out a couple of weeks ago, and will not hesitate to go to as many parks this year as I can, that don't implement overly restrictive "safety" procedures. 3) I suppose if a nuclear holocaust took out the park, that'd probably dissuade me from going... (I mean, the way 2020 is going... )

Here's the thing... It's private property. Dive bars can mandate that you don't wear a hat (been to a few of those, lol), bowling areas can mandate that you have to wear bowling shoes, restaurants can mandate a formal dress code, 7-11 can mandate that you wear a shirt and shoes. That's all that I care about. It's their property and those are the rules so I will respect them. Any discussion of masks as they pertain to Dollywood beyond that is irrelevant because it's their private property. Yes, I completely agree that it's a private establishment's right to set their own rules. And people then have the right to either patronize, or not patronize those establishments. However, that certainly doesn't change the fact that there's a lot of nuance in the mask conversation, and a lot of nuance that establishments should be considering before making their policies. I don't think it's unfair or irrelevant to question whether a particular establishment is making the best, most informed, and logical decisions, rather than just following the heard mentality. Any questioning or discussing of it should be done respectfully though, and either in a discussion forum like this, or through proper channels at the company. Respecting Dollywood, or any other park's rules, is first and foremost, what an individual needs to do. Don't be a jerk to them on social media, over the phone, or rude to the park workers. I think that's the key thing. Well, I see your anecdotal stories, and raise you my own. I cannot wear a mask, while active, for more than about 5, maybe 10 minutes tops, before I get overheated, and start hyperventilating. There are others I know for whom this type of thing is true as well. For us, it IS a literal health hazard, and no, it has nothing to do with being entitled (the most frequently used word by coaster enthusiasts, and by far the most misused word by coaster enthusiasts.) Numerous medical professionals, and scientists have also written of the danger of wearing masks for prolonged periods of time, so this isn't an absurd or laughable notion at all. I've read plenty of their articles, and done plenty of research on the subject personally. Thankfully I have a profession that doesn't typically require me to be active while in contact with others for extended periods of time. But going to an amusement park all day and walking around in the heat? That's going to be pushing things, and while I haven't ruled anything out, I'm certainly leaning towards not going to parks requiring masks, unless they allow medical accommodation, because I simply can't breathe long term in them. That's just a fact of my physiological composition. I'm sorry if you find that laughable, but I certainly don't...

FWIW, we stayed in the "Value Room", the cheapest they had, which was just a basic hotel room, with few frills, and found it perfectly acceptable. None of us are super picky about hotels, and I love to save money, but it was nicer than the Red Roof Inn we stayed at later in the trip, and I thought it was a steal for the price, and getting admission to the park included. Tempting... Very tempting... What better excuse will you ever have to check out mt Olympus Well, I just went a couple weekends ago (I actually wrote a mini-TR here about it), but yeah, I really liked it, so I'd consider going again!

That's what I'm doing with my kids! Can't wait to take them to both parks, HW for their first time, and KK for the first time for the younger two.

I think the mask conversation should be filled with a lot of nuance, and understanding of multiple viewpoints, but alas, it rarely is. It tends to devolve quickly into name calling, and the fact that not even all medical professionals agree on either the efficacy of masks, or whether they're safe to wear for extended periods of time, should show the issue is not as cut and dried as some seem to think. Regardless of what side of the issue you come down on, shaming, or insulting others shouldn't be something applauded, and I think it's a shame that society has gotten to the point, especially this year, where it's almost encouraged to be a jerk to people if they don't share a particular point of view. Civility definitely seems to be one of the many casualties of 2020... As for Dollywood, it's a bit surprising they went this route, given the state they're in. But I suspect it was more of a Herschend corporate decision, since SDC did the same thing, and also, the older population of workers means it makes more sense as well. They ARE, by far, the most vulnerable to this virus. Ultimately, I think accommodations should be made by every park requiring masks for health reasons, as some people simply cannot physically wear masks for lengthy periods of time due to breathing issues, and other health matters. There are also a lot of valid reasons to think wearing masks in the heat could lead to a spike in heatstroke, and fainting at parks, as well as some other issues if they are being worn on rides. I suspect that after a month or two of this policy, parks will have a lot of unintended consequences on their hands, and most will be re-evaluating the wisdom of this route of mitigation, and will alter the requirement. The most important mitigation strategies that should be employed, are distancing, frequent sanitization of rides, plenty of hand sanitizer stations, and of course, people washing hands frequently. I saw all of those policies in effect firsthand at Mt. Olympus the other day, and they seemed to work very well, and provided a good measure of proactive protection, while still allowing people to feel like they're enjoying a day at the park in relatively normal comfort. I applaud Mt. O for their handling of it, and I suspect when all is said and done, many other parks will move toward that model over time. Again, if you disagree with me, so be it. You're entitled to. But please be kind, and please don't insult me, or my intelligence. I'm certainly no idiot, and have 22 years of experience in mental health, which is a health related field, and have done extensive investigation into this matter, beyond just what the mainstream sources are saying. (And as a former worker at a TV News station, I can assure you: their #1 goal is to keep you in fear, and keep you glued to your TV. That's how they "win", or make a profit. So take in everything they say with that in mind...) I just hate seeing all the divisiveness in the world today, and I especially hate to see it seep into my favorite hobby, of coaster enthusiasm. So this is my plea for harmony, and unity of spirit among us here, even if we can't always have it among ideals.

^Yeah, I saw that just now! Funny thing is, I don't think that option was there last week. But I could be wrong. They had a pay now, or pay later option when I made the reservation, and I got the discount by paying in advance. Still, it looks like they've jumped prices up considerably since then, so I'm glad I decided to go early. Still, the price you pay is all inclusive, including parking, so in the end, it still seems like a pretty good deal, especially if you're bringing a group. Tempting... Very tempting...

Sorry for the double-post, but I just wanted to address this. Here's the proof! No misprint!

KI's BSC has always had the effeccts working for me as well, so you must have just had bad luck with it. KD's, on the other hand, was very vanilla when I went back in 2018.

^^Yup, DBru! That's exactly what I'm saying! And if I'd have acted quicker, instead of dragging my feet waiting to see how reviews of the first weekend it was open went, I had an opportunity to stay in one of their nicer themed rooms, for two nights, with admission covering everybody up to three days, for around $150 total. But the price for the themed rooms had gone up by the time I booked after Opening Weekend. Our room was one of their more standard hotel rooms, one of their cheapest offerings. And the way admission works, you get admission free the day you're scheduled to check in, AND the day you're scheduled to check out. So, one night stay is two days at the park, two nights is three days, etc... Now, we didn't even stay the whole day, the day we checked out (we got to the hotel just after the park closed the day we arrived), so that may or may not be super useful. But yeah, it was an amazing deal, and one I certainly couldn't pass up! Glad you liked the TR! And yes, I agree that crowd size was definitely a contributing factor in our enjoyment of it. It was a perfect size crowd, for the size of the park. Any more crowded, and I think the luster would have worn off of it, especially waiting for coasters that second time around, after more people had entered the park. As it was, Hades was over a half hour wait the second time, including a shut-down for what I believe was a protein spill. Both Zeus and Cyclops were around 10-15 minute waits the second time around. If the park had been packed with people, I could definitely see feeling like it wasn't worth it. As for Cyclops, I can't believe it never killed anybody either, especially as it was previously! But I was super impressed with it, and normally I dock a coaster for being super short, but with that one, it packed such a tremendous punch into its diminutive layout, I didn't even care!

^I haven't been on Kentucky Rumbler yet, but Mine Blower is a good example of a coaster that seemed rough pretty much out of the gate. So perhaps it is primarily a Timberliner issue. I'm glad you liked the report! Hopefully you get a chance to make it up there and check it out. I definitely think the coasters are more than worth going out of the way for, in spite of any roughness, and the park just seemed like a "fun" place to me, in spite of how much is there, much like Fun Spot or Indiana Beach.

That's too bad they closed it off. Nice to see it once was in use though, rather than all just window dressing. On a semi-unrelated note, I wish we'd tried the first Go-Kart track you come to, near Hades. It looked like it was just a flat track when walking by, but I missed the giant elevated structure in the back. Oh well... We'll be going again, that's for sure! We loved the whole Wisconsin Dells area as a whole, as well!

So, you're saying that section that spirals down, after going through the upper part of the horse has been in use before? Because it certainly wasn't when we went, and it appeared that the entry to go up to it was cemented off, from what I could tell. I was really looking forward to that part, from having seen it before in pictures, so that was my only minor disappointment with the park. (EDIT: Looking at the Google Satellite image of it, you can even see where they've cemented off those parts of the track.)

I don't plan on ever riding T3 again. Ever. Sitting on that brake run, thinking my legs were about to be severed from my body is still very present on my mind. So while not having my head beat around was nice, ultimately, the coaster was still a disaster, from my standpoint. My oldest kid feels the same way. I've told my younger two kids that when we go this year (assuming we do), that they're on their own if they want to ride it to get the credit!

My kids and I love "Backlot Stunt Coaster" as well, particularly the KI version! I'd definitely say it's one of the more underrated coasters out there.

SFOG was one of the parks originally on my 2020 Coaster Extravaganza (RIP), so I am definitely interested in seeing how things go there, as we just might go on down, assuming that I keep my SF passes active this year, instead of just writing it off and waiting until next year. Still haven't ever been, and I'd love to check it out!

Regarding the Trojan Horse track, what was there was fine, but it didn't go up and around the horse. Does it normally? It didn't appear that was in use, and it didn't have any metal on the track, which seemed to indicate to me it never was. It did go underneath the horse, however. As for Hades, I thought it was great, and well within my tolerance levels for a wooden coaster, when leaning forward. I could tell that it can be rough though, especially if you lean back. Also, I only rode in the first and second rows, so I imagine it gets rougher, the further back you go.

I went to this park for the first time this past Saturday, and took my 3 oldest kids (my usual coaster riding companions) as well! We all had a great time! The horror stories about this park had us a little nervous, but we didn't run into any issues, and had a blast on everything we rode! The park is attractive, and the theming is consistent, and nice (even if it's cheap), and the coasters all ran reasonably smoothly. We rode each of the three major coasters twice. and three of us liked Hades the best. What an amazing coaster! It definitely gave me The Voyage vibes, and while I still prefer The Voyage, Hades is going to be pretty high up there in my wooden coaster rankings once I sit down and figure all that out again! It appears whatever track devolution happened, they may have rectified, or maybe it's just because it's early in the season, because the roughness, and jackhammering was minimal on Hades. It was there, and to be fair, I leaned forward the whole ride. But compared to an absolutely awful wooden coaster like Wilde Beast, or SoB was, it was not bad at all. My daughter was the lone dissenting voice who preferred a different coaster to Hades (and her second ride on Hades, she did complain of neck pain afterward), and her favorite was Zeus. That was another really fun coaster, and you could tell they've put a lot of retracking work into it where it was notoriously rough before. It didn't seem very rough at all now, and was filled with airtime from start to finish. My other two sons considered this their second favorite coaster at the park, but I put it into third, just slightly, because... Cyclops. Holy heck!!! The airtime on the park's oldest coaster is INSANE! I can only imagine what it was like before the last drop was modified, the last car was removed, and the buzz bars were still there. Dangerous. That's what it would have been like! This barely edged Zeus for my second favorite coaster at the park, just on the strength of the experience sitting in the back, and going over the three main drops off the ride. Standing airtime, all of them! The coaster wasn't really rough at all, and appears to have aged very well. It definitely reminded me of another great CCI coaster, Cornball Express, in that the airtime was super strong, and borderline dangerous feeling. I still consider Shivering Timbers my favorite CCI, on the strength of the lengthy ride, and strong airtime throughout (Cyclops' biggest "flaw", is easily that it's over pretty much as soon as it starts), but with Cornball and Cyclops, the defunct manufacturer clearly has left some fantastic coasters behind! (I'm not a big Raven fan, haven't been on Boulder Dash, and actively dislike The Legend, for context.) As for the rest of the park, its lack of flat rides is pretty stunning, as the Manticore star flyer (or whatever make it is) was the only one I rode there, and they had a couple of other kiddie-looking rides. We did two of the Go-Kart tracks, and they were sufficiently fun. But Fun Spot's are WAY better, and I think have ruined typical Go-Karts for me. Plus, the fumes of the Karts really started getting to me, which is why we only ended up doing the two biggest tracks (and my biggest complaint about the whole park is that the track going up and around the Trojan Horse out front isn't even really used - false advertising! .) The food we had was good though - good as far as park food goes - and the merch selection was solid, if not leaving a little something to be desired (seriously, no fearsome foursome graphic tees Mt. Olympus, with the theme you have at your park???) We didn't do the water park, because some of us (read: my old butt, and my daughter) were pretty tired after being out in the hot sun, and climbing the park's stairs and hills all day. Oh yes, the terrain. I'd heard it was a workout, and boy, that's no joke! I'm WAY too far out of shape for this park, especially since every coaster has an elevated station you have to go up a bunch of stairs to get to. I'm really committing to my health in June (and, continuing beyond that, frankly), because I can't do parks like I could just a couple years ago, and it's because of my weight, which is the most it's ever been. Lockdown hasn't been kind to me in that regard. But this park would be a workout for anybody, as it's got some big hills, and the aforementioned stairs. So, hopefully before I revisit, I lose at least 50 pounds, and can last longer in the park. We ended up leaving the park a couple of hours before close, because we'd done everything we wanted to, had done each of the major coasters twice (yes, we did Pegasus, but it really isn't worth talking about much beyond this parenthetical bit here), and were hot and tired. I will say, I love the coasters, but I definitely get the feeling they're difficult to marathon, especially Hades. I've never had any issues marathoning The Voyage, but Hades is a good bit rougher, in my opinion (I know some people find The Voyage intolerably rough, which I don't, but it's clearly a thing.) All in all, it was a wonderful return to coaster-riding, as we got our first laps of the year in! Mt. Olympus was a surprisingly good park to us, and all the Big 3 woodies were very good! I feel like Mt. O had a very good return to operations plan in place, and between all of the hand sanitizer stations throughout the park (including at the exit to each ride, which is the most important place), and the spraying of disinfectant and wiping down of coasters being done between every train of passengers, I never felt the least bit sketchy about the COVID situation. Staff (mostly) worse face masks, but I appreciate that they leave the decision for the guests up to the guests, and I saw less than 10 masked guests the entire day. Social Distancing was encouraged by signage in every line, and my group tried to abide by that, though not everybody did, and sometimes the lines were more cramped than they probably should be. But on the whole, it felt like a normal park experience, just with some added necessary precautions, which in my opinion, is how every park chain and park should be treating this pandemic situation. I applaud Mt. Olympus for their handling of the re-opening, and for being so quick to reopen, and hope it ends up being a great Summer for them! The deal can't be beat, as I got a room for four, and admission for four to the park for around $90. Love it! I'll definitely be back at some point, probably next year, when I'm hopefully not as fat! Cyclops going down its legendary final drop! Sanitization of the Go-Karts in progress. I was able to snap this picture of all three of the big coasters on their lift hills at the same time! With one train ops, it seems like this would be a very rare occurrence! (Red-Hades, White-Zeus, Yellow-Cyclops) A freshly sanitized front-row ride on Hades awaits! I love the Trojan Horse that is the icon of Mt. Olympus! The Go-Kart track around it not actually being used? Not so much... The Star-Flyer flat, pretty much the only non-upcharge adult flat in the park, getting sanitized. We all thought the theming of this park was well done, even if it's done on the cheap! Still better than Cedar Fair!

Its funny to me that Europa Park didn't have a skip the line system, because as one of the most avid, and vocal opponents of the concept, who hates it here in America at the parks I visit, Europa Park is definitely one of the foreign parks I would be inclined to splurge and use it at if they had it!