LukeFlynn

Were the station bay doors closed out of curiosity? If so, that means they probably don't intend on testing.

Tennessee Tornado is easily one of my favorite coasters period, LR tops it when it's open.. but just barely. It's got a very slight rattle if you staple yourself in the back, but it's not noticeable anywhere else for me. Even so, the rattle is very very slight, it's most noticeable in train #2 for me. Again, it doesn't stop me from riding it at least 10 times a visit. This thing has no traits of other Arrow loopers.

You're comparing a ride that has been open for 13+ seasons to a ride that has been open 1.5. That's a pretty uneven comparison. The Vertigo they are talking about this: Vertigo @ Walabi Belgium Not the Vekoma inverted boomerang Pretty sure they are referring to TTD.

A lot of people around LR the other day kept wondering why they were testing constantly yet not letting people on. Prior to it going down for this long stretch, it had been suffering from really long delays and frequent breakdowns. It was rare for them to run it more than 45 mins at a time, after that it would often go down for 2+ hours. They're probably testing it so much right now with dummies simply because people are probably going to be LESS frustrated not getting the chance to ride at ALL versus waiting an hour or two in the queue only for it to shut down when they are two trains away. Lightning Rod being closed doesn't bother me much, but it is downright annoying to be denied a ride when you're minutes away from stepping into the train. From what it appears.. they're testing for a few days, taking a day break, then testing again... if the last few days are anything to go by anyways.

Smoky Mountain Christmas is the best time to get night rides.

Yeah, yesterday and the day before it was half.

Tennessee Tornado and Lightning Rod get my nomination, they are pretty much pitch black... especially LR. 2 full trains of dummies?

When I left the park half an hour ago LR was still testing.

LR is testing all day. One train with dummies, one without.

I haven't checked on LR since I got here, last I saw the transfer track was down and they were working on trains. Tornado is getting upgraded to two trains as I type this. It's a busy day.

It was asian about 4 weeks ago but now that BBQ festival is actually over (I didn't realize it ended this weekend) it probably is back to asian Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk Darn! I thought it was next weekend for some reason, was looking forward to seeing that. Oh well.

I believe the subpar Asian-inspired food is still there even after FON. Don't eat it. Avoid it like the plague. Other places I suggest avoiding: * Lumberjack's (such a shame) * Red's (okayish) * Anywhere in the county fair area

I really like Miss Lillian's all you care to eat, the fried chicken is much better than I expected. Never tried Aunt Granny's but have heard it's inferior. I'm heading off to the park soon, at the very least I'll see what the testing status of LR is and post here with any interesting updates.

They're probably just trying to simulate peak capacity to get it running consistently. The fact that they're testing both with and without dummies suggests (to me anyways) that they are trying to test a large combination of weight differences, etc.

Sounds great! They couldn't keep it up for more than 45 mins at a time a few weeks back, so if they've been going non-stop with dummies that is definitely a good sign.

Yup, I've seen a few of the failed launches before. I've only seen one true rollback, it was maybe 50ft from cresting before it just stopped and started rolling back to the bottom. They evaced everyone off, and re-launched a few times.. the ride then opened back up for the rest of the day. Theoretically, in the event of a "true" rollback, they attempt relaunching the train before evacing (similar to TTD). This is what a ride op has told me anyways, I believe the one exception is if it's the first public riders of the day, etc.

So where do they keep the huge mixers for all that capacity? It's definitely fresh baked, but the bread tastes like frozen bread loafs you can buy at any grocery store. It's still great once you load it up with cinnamon, butter, and sugar though.

Please keep us updated on testing! I'm considering going tomorrow, doubtful LR will be open.. but still interested nonetheless. I'm gonna get hate for this.. but I just don't find the cinnamon bread as amazing as a lot of folks here. I mean, it's good (and I love it with apple butter!), don't get me wrong.. but it's just frozen bread with some butter and cinnamon.

I had witnessed a real rollback earlier this season, that said, they got it back up in under half an hour.

I agree with this, though not for the given reason. If they were to do something as drastic as replacing the launch hardware, I'd expect an LSM system by someone well established. LSM technology works just fine. Agreed. Look at something like Maverick, or any of the other LSM coasters that have been operating for the past decade or two. I doubt it's even the launch anymore. RMC has never designed trains for launches before, so maybe it really is the trains.. but honestly, none of us like blaming RMC because most of us all love their coasters.

Lightning Rod is never going to have a chain lift hill. They've already spent too much on having the world's fastest and only launched wood coaster to do anything that drastic to the ride experience IMHO.

I assure you there are people working on the coaster. Just because you may not be able to see them when you walk by, does not mean that they are no there. Dollywood is not going to leave this coaster just sitting there SBNO. They are actively trying to get it up and running. The park doesn't like having the ride closed any more than we like the ride being closed. +1 Who knows if the issues even require people to be there physically.

I dig Mystery Mine in the back row of each car. the front bangs my neck up for some reason. They're only two rows so I don't know why I only have that issue in the front.