DerekRx Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 Dollywood is a park I loved since I first visited 3 years ago. I knew I had to go back, especially with Thunderhead supposedly being so great. With ACE scheduling a Spring Con there, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to go again. But being unhappy about the amount of ERT and the price, I opted for a season pass instead (knowing I'd be going to SDC later in the year). The main reason I chose this weekend was because I knew some friends would be down there. Now for some key notes: Dollywood has awesome atmosphere. Its like Knoebels, but themed. Its wooded, has awesome food, wonderful hospitality, and some great coasters. Thunderhead: Definitely my favority GCI. It seems out of control with its constant turning, ducking, weaving, and hopping. The GCI air pops thrust you into the lap bar. (of course, the lap bars are always on your lap) I love the layout, the speed, and the flythru. Its certainly in my A+ list. Blazin' Fury: A classic dark ride/coaster/water ride. I liked it so much, I rode it thrice. Fire in the Hole! Tennessee Tornado: Its a unique Arrow. Its also still an Arrow, getting rough in some spots compared to last time when it seemed smoother. Good thing its short and there wasn't a wait. VeggieTales Sideshow Spin: Not opened yet. Something about extending the coaster track?? Opening June 17. Looks the same as the one at Dreamland Margate. Dizzy Disk: A Zamperla Disk-O, also closed both days. Mountain Slidewinder: Tim, Greg, and I ended up riding this first thing Sunday morning. It was raining out, but we didn't care. Weight needed to ride 450 lbs. Our weight, 450 lbs. Good thing I ate those pancakes for breakfast and was soaked by the time we reached the station! Awesome ride, cold water though! Other key things: A baby duck was hatching at the front entrance planter. Momma duck was there to help it. Kinda cute. Miss Lillian asked me to cock-a-doodle-doo. When I did, she threw me a biscuit. Free food is good! The Train is a nice relaxing long ride. I got soot in my eye, hair, and all over my clothes. Good thing I was wearing black. How-Dee! Skillets: Everything is cooked in them. Miss Lillians BBQ pork sandwich and new whole potatoes was the best! Fajitas were good though impossible to hold, cheesesteak was good, but no Philly steak. This park has great hospitality. I needed to process my season pass. I asked a gentleman at the entrance where to go. Not only did he point the way, he also advised me against doing it that moment because the line was long. Then he proceeded to walk over there and determine that the line wouldn't be long because ALL TEN WINDOWS WERE OPENED FOR PICTURE TAKING!! Do you hear that Disneyland! 5 minutes later I had a season pass processed with my picture on it. Oh yeah! Daytona Draft at Nascar Speedpark: Whole park was closed, something about lightning hitting the coaster the day before. I will definitely be going back to Dollywood, hopefully this year at some point. And now for some pictures to sum up the weekend. Dollywood has awesome food. Like this skillet full of fajita fixin's More random cool scenery The train gets ready to leave the station The splash is just water cannons. It didn't phase this duck at all The drop on Daredevil Fall's won't get you too wet, except for your shoes! When not on TV with Ed McMahon, Alf apparently hangs out by Tennessee Tornado Some of Dollywood's pretty scenery This transition looks like it hurts and it does Arrow's biggest loop ever is still nowhere near as pretty as Talon's. Tennessee Tornado is at the very back of the park Grrrrrrr! I hate rain! ACER's Rule guy approves of Thunderhead. (either that, or the person he was looking at was wearing a Budweiser shirt) The fly-thru from inside the station. Its loud. Here's the station fly-thru Thunderhead's first drop. Ooooh, pretty Coaster Team poses by the entrance to Thunderhead and Thunderhead Gap Dollywood is celebrating 20 years as being Dollywood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted May 16, 2005 Author Share Posted May 16, 2005 more photos ACE storms thru the Emporium like locusts, leaving no Thunderhead pin unclaimed All is well again (until the next guest tries to get a towel off the rack) But with expert craftsmanship learned at the park.... After eating well at Dollywood, Derek doesn't know his own strength Its not an ACE Con until someone gets his glass blown by sticking the shaft in the glory hole Derek and Tim do their Git-R-Done Dance to the local hillbilly music A family bears the rain to get soaked on the Mountain Slidewinder Only in the South! The new Chance Aviator seemed like a big crowd pleaser Greg is stunned at the size of Derek's pickle Holy crap! Those are some big potatoes. Some will be pleased to find out that Dollywood even has baked potatoes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted May 16, 2005 Share Posted May 16, 2005 Holy shit that was a fucking GREAT photo TR!!!!! Keep them coming! --Robb "Misses Dollyweird!" Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 OMG! Angry guy looks like he really aged!!! The towel rack reminds me of our La Quinta Inn at SFoG where one of us pulled that piece of art off the wall by accident! Glad you had a great time! I really loved all of your pictures and captions! The pin rack was amazing!! That reminds me, I have some pins I need to send you! Elissa "you rule!" Alvey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PKDFreak Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 I LOVE Dollywood! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhishyBrewer Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Nice pickle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster1 Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Ahh the pickle .. I lost it when I saw how big it was .. then I got sad cause I didn't have one that big. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DerekRx Posted May 17, 2005 Author Share Posted May 17, 2005 The towel rack reminds me of our La Quinta Inn at SFoG where one of us pulled that piece of art off the wall by accident! What about the time at the same La Quinta where the bathtub had no spiggot. I had to stick my finger into the pipe to get the shower to function. Then we got upgraded to the Presidential Suite. Granted, there was no Super Fire on TV, but it was a classic hotel experience never the less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoasterFanatic Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Miss Lillian asked me to cock-a-doodle-doo. When I did, she threw me a biscuit. Free food is good! Miss Lillian is probably my favorite character in the park. When I went last year, she made me wear the silly chicken hat and eat a gizzard. Oh the memories. // Doesn't call 911 either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meteornotes Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 OMG! The towel rack reminds me of our La Quinta Inn at SFoG where one of us pulled that piece of art off the wall by accident! "At the LaQuinta Inn, you can eat things that fall off the wall!" That might have been the best hotel experience ever. If only Superfire and/or Turbulance 2 had been on TV... As always, Derek's photo TRs RULE! I really need to get to Dollywood sometime... dt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgwfreak Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Nice TR. Too bad you didn't get to ride Dizzy Disk. I loved that thing!!! I was there for "grand" opening weekend and rode it twice on Sat and then it broke down and wasn't heard from the rest of the weekend. Dollywood is a great park, I'll be back there again for probably the last time this season this coming Sunday and Monday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nannerdw Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 I went to Dollywood with ACE, but I could not get to Lake Winnie because of school. I planned to ride the good rides before it rained. On Saturday, I headed straight for Thunderhead. Riding from the front seat, the ride was very fast, and the speed never let up. I had never been on a woodie with Millennium Flyers, and I was surprised that there was not much to hold onto. That didn't really matter, because I had my hands up all the way. Next, I rode Daredevil Falls. I just thought it would go up the lift and back down, but it was kind of like Splash Mountain with all of its turns before the drop. The drop was cool, but I really expected it to be steeper. I went to the back of the park for a ride on the Tennessee Tonado. The first drop was really fun, but the huge loop was just strange. It had some really weird laterals through the top of the big loop. The Iron Butterfly was the most intense part of the ride, in fact I think it was the most intense part of any ride I have been on. It only pulls 4 g's but it lasted so long that I felt myself balcking out near the end of it :shock: . It made me nervous, but I still rode it again. Right after I got off, it was raining very hard, so I went to the bird show. It was okay, but I was just glad to be out of the rain. Once the weather had cleared off, I headed for the Slidewinder, and it was closed I rode Blazing Fury next. I had no idea what to expect when I got on it. It ended up being a cool little ride. The "lift hill" part was extremely boring and cheesy, though. The weather was getting much warmer, so I went over to the river raft ride. The ride was fun, but the waterfall at the end just ruined the whole ride for me. The waterfall shuts off just before you are going to go through it . I went on the little car driving thing after that, and it was boring. Next up was the Wilderness Adventure ride! I had seen it on a travel chanel show about Dollywood. It was funny and entertaining the whole way through, so I rode it three times, lol . Next I went back to the Slidewinder, and it was open! I really wanted to ride up the lift, but I just had to walk up like everybody else . The maximum weight limit was 750 pounds, and my group weighed 749, so we barely got to ride! It was pretty cool, much better than the dry bob sled rides. Next I went over to the fair section. I was disappointed with how everything was packed together. I really wanted to go on the Dizzy Disk, but it had a flat tire for the weekend. I went on a few rides, and then headed back to Thunderhead for the ACE group picture. Next up, food! The food was the best part of the day, because I had not eaten anything all day. After dinner, I re-rode many of the rides before the ERT. I was somewhat disappointed with the Thunderhead ERT. They got a late start, so it was only about 40 minutes long. I only had enough time for two backseat rides during the ERT session. The back seat of Thunderhead makes the front seat seem like a kiddie coaster! I loved it! Sunday was very cold, rainy day. I just sat in the arcade to eat, deciding not to be one of the crazy people to actually go on Slidewinder or Tornado in that weather. I left the arcade after the park opened to try to find a warm place to dry off. I went to the blacksmith, but his fire was not going yet . I re-rode several rides that day and went to the little church service at the chapel. The train ride was disgusting, because of all of the ashes that got everywhere. They should seriously consider using electricity for their train instead of coal. I was glad that we had a speaker from GCI after lunch. It was the first time I had heard a speaker from any roller coaster manufacturer. Somebody asked a question about the CCI ride, Hades, and they had no idea what that was (it seems like they don't know their competition very well). After one more backseat ride on Thunderhead (a little too soon after lunch), I left the park at around 3:00. Dollywood was a nice little park, but you don't need two days there, unless you plan on going to every show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twisterbret Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 OMG! Angry guy looks like he really aged!!! Elissa "you rule!" Alvey I miss the angry guy! Bret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlyingScooter Posted May 17, 2005 Share Posted May 17, 2005 Great TR! I love Dollywood. it's the best park IMO. wish i lived closer to TN. I liked the craft places as well as the rides. Love those giant wind chimes they have. Those things reverb for hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgathriller Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 Does Dollywood still have the big bear character? Last summer it grabbed my mom and gave her a huge noogie! It was hilarious! She said it smelled. Is the Thunderhead riding rough yet? That's what I heard from some people. What rides did they remove from Dollywood in the off season? Does Dollywood have 1 or 2 trains? Is Tennessee Tornadoe still riding 2 trains? Just a couple of questions I had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coaster1 Posted May 21, 2005 Share Posted May 21, 2005 Thunderhead was nice when we rode it, despite the 1 train operation. 2 trains on both Thunderhead and TTornado. As for removed rides, not sure but the Country Fair section was very nice with the new additions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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