Jccoasterfan

The only differences I see are those gray "boxes" or whatever that appeared to have been installed adjacent to the LSM fin. Not sure what they will be used for, maybe something anti-rollback related?

I found this picture on instagram. It's actually a video, but there apppears to be a crane at the top of the hill, next to the coaster.

Good to hear. My trip to Dollywood isn't until late May, so if "going to open the coaster in a couple of weeks" is true, then I should be fine. It's a shame that all of these of delays have happened, but I guess it's better than opening it as is and having it be another Top Thrill Dragster (closed half of the time). It's sad to say that may still be a gamble, but be optimistic. I'm still not putting my money into what that publicist said. My current thinking is that LR won't be open until AT LEAST the middle of next month. I mean, we still don't know what the exact problem really is regarding the launch, and I am hoping that the issue isn't anything major.

I was just listening to our local news station outside of Atlanta, GA. They were interviewing with a Dollywood publicist and discussing stuff about the park and also Lightning Rod. She said they are "going to open the coaster in a couple of weeks". She wasn't specific, however. I'm not totally buying this YET. Thank goodness my family has season passes, we can return anytime this year and will try to make it to the park as soon as it opens.

What a bummer. Oh well, we will still be up there this weekend to enjoy the rest of the park. Plus, we have season passes so there is no issue for us!

We were at the park today. Here are some pictures I snapped earlier of Ninja. As mentioned already, there appeared to be some welding that was taking place on one section of the track.