July 4th trip not the bomb but a bust..

[IggyACE]

A last minute trip was made and we decided to drive to Dollywood. We haven't been to DW since May of 2005. In 2005 Veggie Tales coaster was not done while we were there and Speedway drift at Nascar Speedpark was hit by lightning the night before. So these and Mystery Mine were all new to us.

 

We drive into town and notice Nascar Speedpark is still open. I go in to see if the coaster is open only to be turned down. "Sorry sir but the coaster is broke and hasn't run in several weeks and we are waiting on a part from Germany!" crap denied again!!!!

 

So on to Dollywood the next morning July 3rd. What a beautiful day as temps were in the low 80's and sunny. Crowds got a little bit bigger after noon.

 

 

So first thing we do when we get there is to go get Veggie Tales out of the way. We were greeted by a gentleman telling us we will not be riding today as it hasn't been running all week. Tire motor won't push it up the lift hill.

 

DENIED AGAIN!

 

Could be a nice photo op if they remove this tree....

 

So nice to have the loop up by Tornado to River Battle. Makes for a easier day to get around. River Battle was a very nice ride and the kids loved it.

 

 

So this was starting out to be a wet day with already riding Sidewinder, Daredevil Falls and now River Battle. We were going to skip River Battle as Caitlyn doesn't like to get wet but she suggested we go on it. Man can that ride tire you out. Mystery Mine was up next and we waited about 40 minutes as the crowds started to fill in. Loved the themeing and concept of the whole ride but the first half of the ride just plain out sucks. Boring as hell and you have to ride defensive or you get banged around, wait, you'll still get banged around. But we did LOVE the second half and have to say it is my favorite 3 elements on any coaster. The two heartline rolls into the dive loop was just fantastic.

 

Since crowds were getting heavy I opted to by my first ever Q-bot. Man I love this thing here and it is very affordable. Kids got a Timber Tower ride and Caitlyn got wet again...

 

 

As they were riding I decided to get a 1 pound baked potato, YUMMMM!!!

 

 

All in all the q-bot really helped us enjoy the day with many rides on everything and glad it was a nice day to enjoy the water rides. Had to take the train ride and it was our last ride of the day. Such a nice relaxing way to end the day.

 

 

Kids finally enjoyed each others company!?!?!?!?!? I think!

 

 

We left about 6 pm and head east to our other destination 6 hours away and 14 hours from home. As I get up July 4th and am moving stuff around in the truck I notice I have fireworks going off in my foot. I have now encountered my first bite from a fire ant! I got bite by one, I can't imagine people who get by hundreds of them. OUCH!

 

Our next destination is....

 

Freestyle Music Pap...(guess I'm not as good as Big Mike at taking self photos)

 

I was so surprised to find out FMP was running a special for the 4th and all three of us got in for a total of $17.76. Thats right people a TOTAL with tax was $19.08. We picked a good day to go or did we??

 

Round about line...

 

Time Machine line..

 

Iron Horse= full trains!

 

We even waited about 20 minutes for the breakdance themed to taxis...

 

FRM is a really nice park. Fantastic themeing and a nice setting. We seen two shows, the BMX one which was just ok and the Country on Ice which was fantastic. My only down fall with the park is there not enough to keep you busy for a full day.

 

Time Machine is nothing special and has the B&M rattle but just your typical coaster from them. Soak'd is just that, a way to get soak'd again nothing special. Hang Ten has a cool name but again nothing special. Round About could have been soooooo much better if only it was longer. Was fun for what is is but to me felt tooo short. Now on to Iron Horse, for some reason I really liked this one. It was a lot of fun and the fire surprised me at the end. Now don't get me wrong we had a blast today and had fun on everything we rode. Monsters of Rock was well done with what they did to it. Only thing is the music in your car was a little to loud and you sometimes couldn't hear the recording when you got into new rooms.

 

 

FMP had fireworks which we did not stay for and we had to make our way back west and left about 6pm towards our next stop. With news I got from Kyle I wish we would have stayed for the fireworks but still glad we made the drive that night.

 

Stop #4 was supposed to be Ghost Town In The Sky, but as we all know Cliffhanger opened only to be shut down. So a big DENIED should go here!

 

So with nothing to do on Sunday I thought about going to Carowinds but decided not to. Thought about going towards Atlanta for the three small parks, but decided against it.

 

Instead we headed back the way we came and went to...

 

 

to ride this..(no I don't count these!)

 

 

Well the slide was supposed to open at 10 am but due to the rain the night before they had to dry the track. They actually come down the slide with towels wrapped around the front of the sled to dry it off. So while we are waiting we decided to use our wristband and take the chairlift to the top of the mountain.....

 

Nice view from up here..

 

 

Still getting along!?!?!?!?!

 

 

 

Well after taking the chairlift back down the op tells us the slide just opened. SWEET so back up the mountain we go. Get about half way up towards the slide and guess what?? It starts to rain so what does that mean??? DENIED!!!!!!!

 

Well after about a half hour the sun came out and we got five rides on the slide, rode the lame ass bumper cars and rode each of the three water slides..

 

 

 

So now being about three hours late on getting on the road home and trying to get out of Gaitlinburg and Pigeon Forge we are headed for stop #5, Zuma's Fun Center and our last for the weekend.

 

Well as the weekend has gone so far our last stop was going to be no different. As we are about five miles from the exit the skies open up and mother nature tells me I should have got off on I75 north and just headed home. Well I say screw you mother nature and press on towards our exit. As I am in the parking lot it is still raining so i decide to go down the street to get a bite to eat. Well I go not to far and find nothing (figures) I turn around and as I get close to Zuma's it stops raining. I call and talk with Alex and ask if they are going to get the coaster running soon. He tells me to come on in and they will get it dried off for us.

 

So we head in and find Alex and he takes over by the coaster and gets another guy and they start to dry the coaster off.

 

 

Yes folks they actually have a leaf blower and are drying the track for us.

 

 

Well it still wouldn't get over the lift hill so they worked on getting it running some more for us..

 

 

After many attempts we have success!

 

 

Oh the things we will do to get a credit! Thanks Alex!

 

 

So after a two long delays today we head back home with some nice views to look at..

 

 

 

All in all we had a blast on this trip even though we had some disappointments. Just means we have to go back down again in the future. Drove 1950 mile though 5 states in just under 83 hours!

 

Thanks for reading,

Craig

[eagleshot]

where are the pics of the coasters????

[DiSab]

^Little known fact, all roller coasters are invisible, and you need special red-and-blue glasses to see them. Unless you're an ACEr, in which case you just need to eat enough gravy and you gain Coaster Vision.

 

Looks like you guys had a fun trip. One of these days (like when I graduate college) I'll take a big Credit-Whoring road trip. Dollywood is one of my top-choice parks to visit in the coming years. I've only heard good about the place. I haven't been to FMP yet, but I thought the same thing about RoundAbout when I saw a POV on YouTube. The ferris-wheel lift and first drop seem decent, but after that, it looks like a few forceless turns and that's it. And that's great they worked hard to get the Zuma credit up and running for you guys.

[IggyACE]

where are the pics of the coasters????

 

I count 5 pics of coasters! Have you not seen any of Dollywoods or Freestlye Music Parks coasters before? My TR are more about our time then the coasters.

 

Craig

[larrygator]

where are the pics of the coasters????

 

They can be found in TPR's Park Index.

 

Craig - sorry I just had to laugh at your plans being foiled, but at least you got the FMP coasters out of the way.

[willh51]

A line for Time Machine, I actually am happy to see it. Also, how does it work now, do you just walk through the old preshow area into your train when called?

[The Bebes]

LOL. The trip didn't sound as bad as the topic suggests. Looks like some fun times.

 

Did you manage to insert the pics into the body of the text??? How???

 

-Mr. Bebe

[slither37]

(guess I'm not as good as Big Mike at taking self photos)

 

Who is????????

 

 

Great TR Craig, too bad it rained so much. The trip also looked like a great time...... Perhaps we can arrange a trip together to say the PA parks next year?

 

Let me know if/when you are going to CP this year again, we will come up.

[Big Mike]

Hey Craig Buddy!!!

 

Thanks for the shout out dude

 

 

Those long road trips in your truck are awesome, I KNOW and experienced it first hand

 

Better head out East to ride all these new coasters I am discovering before they disappear!

 

 

Peace, Big Mike

 

 

PS - I think the coaster Gods just don't want Gage to catch up to me lol

[BelizeIt]

Forget the coaster pics, that's the best looking baked potato I've ever seen!