TEDodd

Checking really seemed to restart in October. But 2 weeks out I had no issue reserving Wed, Fri, and Sat the week of Thanksgiving. Finding a place to stay with dogs was harder. Earlier this week someone complained so I looked and only the weekend of the 18th was full. Every other day left in Dec was green.

I think it's just how short the ride is also with how slow it is to unload/load. I've usually sat just outside the platform, not on the brake run. A separate unloading platform would help, but add a lot of cost both construction and personnel. The last time I rode with 2 train ops (Nov 2019) it was moving pretty good and they lines weren't very long.

Last Wed would have been a good day to be there.

Elsewhere it was posted that management still expects to open the ride in May.

I just didn't see the wait times that long on the 10th. 15-20 min after 6, but earlier it was only 40-45 min. And ran 3-10, practically all day. Sunday, the 14th, again wasn't bad (not great, but not bad). Bad start, down 2 hrs from 1 til 3, but then ran 3-6 and again 7-9 so down an hour. Up 5.5 hours, down 3hours. Running more than not, and certainly not "most of the day" https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-14 Or are the reported times/closures not accurate now? Now yesterday was horrendous. 150-180 min wait around noon, 90 min around 5, and still and hour from 6-8:30. Even 25 min just before close. https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-21

Bad day? Dollywoodwaittimes.com Doesn't show it being that bad lately. Wed the 17th? https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-17 Or the the 10th? https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-10

Or not. I hope the queue theming is done well and maintained.

Looks like the image on Google maps

Oh, I thought it had been.

Nevermind.

That looks like a lot of track.

Well the latest closure followed an incident where a train rolled back into the other. A bit different than the more common causes of down time. And it was expected by many to be closed the rest of the season because of that.

Just saw post on FB that LR is running today and came to mention it.

Follow up. Had my son test this using Edge. And on the desktop it tries to open store/tickets then redirects to store/tickets-now which shows all the season passes.

Interesting. And that brings up a different page too. Desktop the tickets link goes to store/tickets On the phone it goes to store/tickets-buy The earlier links were store/tickets-pick And I tried the other two parks and tickets-buy worked. But neither went there from the main tickets link on the page like it does for SFOT. And SFOG both -buy and -pick give a not found page. I tried to look at the page source but couldn't make head nor tails of the mess. If it's a rollout it's botched.

I hope it does, but it's interesting that for the 2 parks linked above it looks like the old pass hierarchy. Just returning to what they had been doing. Also noteworthy that the pages aren't readily accessible yet. The normal tickets & passes link only shows the single park pass w/ parking ($70) priced between the basic pass ($60) and the gold plus ($80). So not clear how much of a rollout it is yet.

Yet to be seen. Certainly not all US parks yet.

https://www.sixflags.com/greatadventure/store/tickets-pick https://www.sixflags.com/fiestatexas/store/tickets-pick Sadly doesn't yet work for overgeorgia yet.

New pass prices up (not renewal). https://www.dollywood.com/Tickets/Season-Passes https://store.dollywood.com/product/multi/pass/tag/2park/newpass Silver = $139 ( Super + $55= $194 ) Gold = $194 (Super + $55 = $249) Diamond = $304 $40 for water park dining. Renewals page updated too (8 payments instead of 10) total price the same. https://www.dollywood.com/Tickets/Season-Passes/Current-Passholders/Renewals Silver = $129 Gold = $184 Diamond = $294 So a whopping $10 discount for renewals.

15% vs 20% is minimal to some, but it adds if you buy a lot of food and merch. Still a reduction in benefits, just like the change on parking upgrades a few years ago. Was your 2021 pass new or a renewal of the 2020 pass? The renewal for a few extra months was a lot cheaper than a new pass for all of 2021. ($164 Gold, $80 regular vs the full price of $229 and $144) I did try a few times to call and message. Finally got a call back yesterday. And of course the reps there aren't authorized to do anything. Took down info and passed it up the chain. Extending though 2022 would be great (as I paid a lot less for part 2021) but I'd be fine with the 2021 money back or as a discount/coupon. I know it's late, but I kept hoping to make the trip all summer/fall but things just never worked out. Hoping they will see they weren't used in 2020 or 2021 and make accommodation. I know 4-5 years ago they would have, but who knows with all the changes in recent years.

No one has a clue what things will be like in March. They have contingency plans, but until then no point discussing them publicly.

Yes the 2022 passes are good for the rest of the season. That'[s clearly stated on the site. See also u4icmusic's post above. The passes include a BaF pass for Christmas 2021 and the 50% discount keytag probably works as soon as you get it (might need to pick it up before you can use it). Not sure what they will offer to new pass holders once the renewal sale ends. Not really. The new passes go on sale in Nov and that's about it.

Guess it depends on the people as to how much the hill matters. A little steep after a long day but it's short and beats a 30-45 minute tram wait. It used to only be $10 more with Gold Pass and I used it a lot. Then they raised the price and I've used it less. Valet was nice too, buy even when it was only $20 extra I didn't think it was worth it. I don't think I've ever seen the new cups in October. They usually have them in November. This year, with the supply issues It might be March before they get many. As far as I've heard (and even was stated somewhere) LR is closed for the rest of the season following the safety incident (when the train rolled back into the other train. It should never do that.) See you comments about staffing. If they can't get ride ops and food service they probably can't get many backups/understudies. I know in the past they did have backups/understudies. Remember this is an extension of the harvest fest. I don't think there will ever be anything scary. I would like to see it expand though. But they only have a week to take it all down and setup for Christmas. How many won't go at all (or less) when ticket prices and food prices rise to cover those higher wages? They already reduced the Gold pass discount (while raising prices) and the Platinum pass is expensive for those that don't go to the water park. If I can't get a refund on my as yet unused 2021 passes I won't be getting 2022 passes due to the changes/increases.

I think the last time I looked at it (2018?) it was about $45 more for both parks, the SuperPass. And that was around the price of a single day ticket to the waterpark. I'm sure the old numbers are in this thread if someone wants to search for them. I still want a Diamond pass w/o water park option. At least more like the old Gold pass.

Tough call when they can't get employees, even with much higher wages. Already seeing big price increases and reduced benefits on season passes. How much of a price increases would people be willing to pay to cover wages high enough to fill the vacancies? 50%, 75%, 100%?