hagwar

Heading to the park tomorrow. Am I able to pay for parking with a credit card? Just want to make sure or I'll stop by a ATM on the way up. Thanks

Anybody at the park now or that has gone the past few Sunday evenings and could tell me what the crowds might be like from 8-10 tonight? I will be sticking to rides and not the haunted houses. I live about a hour away so thought I'd ask before blindly driving out there. Thanks so much

Anyone at the park yet for College Football night? I am thinking of going but it's about a hour drive for me so was going to see what the crowds where like please. Not sure how they will be on a one off night like this. Coaster Queue hasn't been updated yet either. Exited to do some late night rides. Thanks everyone.

How long does it take to construct a Free Spin? If I remember correctly in the SFOT forum their Free Spin went up pretty fast. Why would they close GC so early for a Free Spin that could be built when closed between January and March.

I'll try to help out a bit too. 1. As Zeus pointed out, Wednesday is a Bring A Friend For Free Day which is usually a zoo, so I'd avoid Wednesday and go Thursday. 2. I'd hit the coasters in this order. Go right at opening and when you enter the park and you see the water fountains straight ahead go up the hill on the left of that straight to Dare Devil Dive first. After that exit DDD and turn left and go to the back of the park and knock out Justice League and Superman. Resist the urge to ride Goliath as you'll walk right by it If you want the credit, I'd probably hit the Joker Funhouse Coaster in the middle of the park next. It's a kiddie coaster but a fun one especially in the back row. This has horrible dispatch times due to little kids taking forever and only a single train so it has long waits. After that, Goliath, Georgia Scorcher, Mind Bender, Batman, Mine Train Blue Hawk, GASM and Georgia Cyclone in no particular order. One thing to note, Georgia Cyclone used to be a walk on ride but since they announced it closing I've seen a 120 minute waits which is crazy, so you may want to knock out that one fairly early too before the park gets crowded. 3. Wait times are usually walk-on or station waits until lunch time so use that to your advantage. 4. Water park will probably be best the last hour before it closes. It will be extremely crowded during the heat of the day. 5. There are lockers right in the front by Georgia Scorcher and in the back by Superman, not sure what the rate is or if they accept cards or are cash only. 6. The food is pretty bad there so I'd probably just wait and eat at the park. 7. Not sure about parking as I have a Gold pass which includes it but there are some hotels around that offer reduced parking and I think there is a lot just before the main entrance on the right that is $10 but don't quote me on that. 8. No kiosks but I believe the app will show your wait times once your in the park. Not sure how that works if your not a season pass holder. 9. If you've never been, Monster Mansion it's a fun dark ride and a nice way to cool off. The river ride is a great one too. 10. Talluhah is on the way to Dollywood, resist the urge 11. Not really sure.

I've only ridden Thunderhead twice, once last fall and again about 2 weeks ago and thought it was a lot rougher this year. Not painful but noticeable.

^ Went last Wednesday and was in line for the second train of the day so right on the platform just before the final stairs up to the station. It was TC and they where working on the brake run cycling the fins probably 20+ times and spraying which I assumed was a lubricant from a can on them when they cycled. Several empty trains where dispatched and then a few with a ride op then it was operational for the rest of the day with 2 trains running. It was my first ride on it and WOW it was crazy. I remember slamming into the brake run asking myself WTF just happened. I must of watched the POV video 50+ times so the launch, false drop and drop into over banked turn I was fresh but the middle part of the coaster was all over the place and I kinda picked up where I was again on the quad down and final over banked turn. I knew enough to get my hands in the air for the pic but to be honest I was holding on for dear life up until then. 10/10 worth the wait!

Hey y'all we're headed up Wednesday from Atlanta and I know the park opens at 10 but do they let you through the gate or rope drop earlier to line up for the rides? Also am I able to drive to the front area to drop off my parents and double back to the parking lot? Here's hoping LR is running! Thanks, H

Thank you! Any pass that will get you in the on a normal operating day. Regular pass or gold pass, Dollywood or Super Pass. Never been very crowded when I was there. I don't recall any special hours, just regular Friday hours. Maybe someone who got a notice about it has the hours specifically. Edit: yep, regular hours,10-7. http://www.dollywood.com/themepark/Guest-Services/Passholder-Page

Hey y'all saw a few pages back about a season passholder day this Friday the 17th. I didn't get the newsletter. Is this open to regular (not gold) passholders and in your experience what are the crowds like on this day please? Also, not sure what the hours of the event are. I'd be driving up from Atlanta so I want to make sure I can even get in and that it wont be too slammed. Thanks!

I could be wrong but I think the operator when boarding and before dispatch mention 70 mph number over the microphone. I may have heard it wrong, anyone else here them say it before? Your right though the mph is all over the place on different sites. RCDB say 128ft drop and still has the original 63MPH. https://rcdb.com/534.htm Need a speed gun to actually measure. I'd like a similar measurement done for LR, WE, and TH too. Regardless of the actual drop or speed, it still a fun ride. And I don't think there were ever real plans for it to be longer or have more elements. Maybe in the initial planning more was considered, but by the time they were serious in the engineering it

I was the one that asked about the height of the drop up thread, looking at Wikipedia, it show the first drop (excluding fake drop and right 180) as 126 feet. That's pretty amazing it's able to get up to 70 with that short of drop. Only got to ride TT once and it's fantastic, I live in Atlanta and even with the new trains and track work of Ninja/Bluehawk, this is still smoother by a mile IMO.

While we're on TT does anyone know how they measure the height. Is part of the 162 feet include the initial drop and right 180 toward the tunnel or is it measured from the drop into the tunnel. Thanks!

Talking about spring break, I live in Atlanta and was thinking of coming up for a few days in April. Looking at hotels, it looks like a pretty busy time, are the lines ridiculous during the week of April 10-14 which is Atlanta plus a bunch of suburbs spring break. Looks like Knox is earlier, not sure about other districts. Thanks

Thanks for the reply.

Hey y'all, happy new years! Quick question please, I'm in very early stages of planning a Spring Break trip for the family up to KI and possibly Kentucky Kingdom and after looking on the KI website the 2017 dates/hours isn't posted yet? Can anyone tell me if historically KI has been open the week of April 10-14 or on either side of the weekend. Thanks so much, will be our first time there, really looking forward to it.

Thinking of heading to the park tonight but wont be able to leave until 7 so will be at the park around 8. If anyone is heading to the park tonight could you please give a very quick crowd update please. I'll keep my eye out too on coasterqueue. Was anyone at the park yesterday, would probably be a decent indicator on how crowded it may be tonight. Thanks so much for your help! H

Thinking way in the future but with HITP next year I wonder if they'll open the back area for operations. Would be a great winter ride with it being indoors and I'm sure they'll want to show off their new toy as much as possible.

1) Yes, if you buy a 2017 season pass, you get the rest of 2016 free. 2) Season pass processing opens a little earlier than the park, (someone correct me if I'm wrong) but I think you can get this done either in the park or at the front gate. There is one office next to the ticket booths and there is another office inside the park in Adventures in Imagination (just look for the huge picture of Dolly, you can't miss it). You can also get this done at the Pigeon Forge information center at traffic light #8. They open at 9 am I believe. May thanks for the reply!

If I buy a 2017 season pass now can I use it for admission for the rest of 2016? We're headed up tomorrow and the season pass page doesn't mention it. Also what's the process for converting the printed confirmation to the actual passes? Do we do this before the gate or do you go through with your printed pass and get your passes in the park? If it's before does the pass office open a bit early so we can run to LR at rope drop. Fingers and toes crossed that LR will be up and running tomorrow! Thanks y'all!

Thanks for the notes. I'm planning on driving up from Atlanta on Friday, does anyone have any inside info why LR was down today? Tomorrow regardless if its fixed or not I don't think it will operate with highs in the low 30's . My entire goal for the trip is to ride it so I guess it's always a bit of a gamble if it will be open or not. I drove up about a month ago and it was closed. It was during that 2 week period where people speculated it was sensor issues and I think there was a unconfirmed DW tech who updated and said some of the same. TIA

Happy to report that DDD is not running VR during HITP. I think the only SF that is doing the Santa VR is MM. Ride op's are drastically faster but still the slowest loading in the park so run to it first when the rope drops.

Hey Dollywood Peeps, posted a few days ago but had to delay our trip due to rain. With Dollywood being open this week I was thinking of taking my son up tomorrow (Monday 10/24), anyone know what the crowds might be like tomorrow or any major fall breaks that may make it more crowded. Reading everyone's posts from last week that it was basically a walk up and ride type of week, hoping for more of the same this week! TIA!

Thank you both for your input! Think we're going to go for it. H

Hey Dollywood Peeps, I'm down in Atlanta and my son has a rare day off from school and was thinking of heading up tomorrow to take advantage of the cooler weather and low crowds. I just saw above that STDog heard that LR might be down the rest of the week and saw on the app the LR was down again today, was anybody there today or have any insider info to know if it will be will be possibly be operating tomorrow. TIA