throatytoast

Thanks a lot for that! It ended up being super quiet on Oct. 1 when we were there. We were walking right onto all the rides in the morning, so we got through the entire park by about 2 pm. I found Dollywood to be an above average theme park, but I was expecting more considering all the hype it gets. I don't like country music though, and the whole country theme was boring to me. It was scenic, but I've been to other parks that are way better for scenic beauty (Tokyo Disneysea, Busch Gardens Williamsburg). And I've seen pictures of places like Europa-Park and Phantasialand and they look way better too. I dunno why this place keeps winning the Golden Ticket award for most scenic. Also, a year ago it won best theme park which is just mind boggling to me. The people were really friendly though, and the food is pretty good for theme park standards, but still not much healthy stuff to eat (I don't like feeling like crap while I'm walking around all day). Lightning Rod was good, but a little short. It seemed like the layout had more focus on intensity, which isn't big for me. It was nice and smooth though. I've been on Steel Vengeance, which is like twice the length, so pretty hard to really appreciate Lightning Rod a lot. I liked Big Bear Mountain the best, even though it's classified as a family coaster. It was tons of fun and really long. Thunderhead was my #2 in the park. Good layout and pretty smooth too for a wooden coaster. Pretty long too. Wild Eagle was pretty lame. I've been on enough B&Ms that I don't get excited about them anymore. They all have those same elements. They're pretty good coasters though. Nice and smooth too. This one was disappointing because it didn't really make much use of the wing element. It had kinda a generic layout. Firechaser Express was pretty fun, but pretty slow for most of it and not really a ride worthy of repeat rides. The other rollercoasters were closed that day. Overall, this park was better than most Six Flags parks, but I wouldn't say it's worth making a trip there. I'm trying to figure out why people like it so much. Maybe if you have kids? Or if you really like country music? I'm not sure.

Hey everybody, I'm going to Dollywood for the first time (and possibly only time) on Tuesday next week. Just wondering what the best strategy would be for seeing everything in the 1 day. Should I go around the left side first and hit Big Bear Mountain, or should I go straight for Lightning Rod? Also, if anyone has any other tips that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Question - I'm planning a trip to Dollywood in September this year, and I'm wondering if they usually keep most of their rides running during the weekdays in September, or are they like Six Flags parks where half the rollercoasters are going to be closed. Does anyone know? I have the option of going there on the weekend too, but I'm leaning towards a Monday or Tuesday. Probably planning the last weekend in September. Thanks!

I've lived in Edmonton my whole life, so I've ridden this thing like 100 times. Over the years it's gotten really rough, and the weird shoulder restraints are that hard black foam stuff, so you walk off the ride feeling like you got punched in both ears and shoulders a bunch of times, especially on the back car or even the middle one. This is literally the only big rollercoaster anywhere in this whole half side of Canada, and I don't even like riding it anymore cause of how painful it is. I don't enjoy rough coasters though. I'm guessing it would have to be re-tracked to fix the roughness, and they don't wanna put the money into it. Galaxyland is a really small park with limited space, and it has 2 other rollercoasters packed in there already. They're family coasters, but I'd still rather ride them over the Mindbender. In summary, I wouldn't say we're losing a real gem here. Just my opinion though, don't crucify me for beaking a classic schwarzkopf haha

Ok thanks!

I'm planning my trip for June 5-11 and I'm trying to figure out which day of the week to go to the park. Does anyone know if Busch Gardens typically has all their coasters operating on weekdays at that time, or should I go on the weekend? Obviously it'll be busier on the weekend, so that's worse, or would Friday be good?

It seems like a decent coaster, but other than the first banked hill, there isn't anything too interesting about it, also considering that this park already has Diamondback, which is almost the same thing.

Noooooo!!! They’re gonna get rid of my favourite ride

As long as they're not simulator rides, I'm down

This compilation list is the best thing I've seen all day. Is that F.L.Y. at Phantasialand the same thing as this Rookburgh thing?

It's nice to see some new rollercoasters being built now that have a low to the ground layout that focuses on keeping speed throughout. Cheetah Hunt is one of my fav coasters and this reminds me of it!

This is my home park, so I'm pretty excited. I've always felt like this park is kinda weak, so maybe this will bring more money in and it'll improve a lot! The Mindbender is getting pretty rough and we need some new better flat rides.

Am I the only one that's starting to get worried about how many simulator rides Disney is doing now? The main Avatar ride and the Millenium Falcon ride are both pure simulation, and this one has quite a bit of simulation too. I really don't want Disney to go do the same path as Universal.