Airtime&Gravity Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 (edited) Don't know why I never posted this. Nashville Our first stop was Nashville. We didn't do much in the city though as we only spent the morning and afternoon there. It has a nice downtown area, and the parts of the city we saw were nice, although traffic was bad. We made sure to eat at the Loveless Cafe, watch the travel or Food Network if you don't know about it. While the weather would only get worse on the trip, it was still, obviously, really hot and humid here. Pigeon Forge Area After eating at the Loveless Cafe, we mad our way to Pigeon Forge. We got there late, ate at Cracker Barrel, and it was here where we stayed in one of if not the worst hotels we've stayed in. Whatever you do, do not stay in the GuestHouse Inn. It's in a converted Microtel, a chain we've stayed at and liked, but the rooms were dirty and smelled smokey/musky despite being a non-smoking room. Avoid this hotel at all costs. Having been to the Dells, we thought we knew what to expect, but Pigeon Forge is far worse(Sevierville was okay though). We visited on a tax free weekend, and traffic was just horrendous due to all the attractions and the large outlet mall in the middle of it. Although, there is a store selling nothing but Beef Jerkey in a small strip mall on the main road. Dollywood So the morning after we stayed at the aforementioned hotel, I was dropped off at Dollywood while the rest of my family saw what there was to do. Wow, I knew this would easily be my #1 park, but my expectations were easily exceeded. While not the largest park, Dollywood is just really enjoyable to visit. The rides are top notch, the service is great, the food is great, the theming is great, it is just a great park. I used my Club TPR discount to get in, and then I got a q-bot due to my limited time in case any ride had a long wait. Overall, lines weren't that bad, although the q-bot would be helpful later on when it got more crowded, especially for Mystery Mine. Unfortunately, even with the q-bot, most flat rides still had long lines, so my day was pretty much spent walking around, riding coasters, and getting a ride on Dollywod Express and Daredevil Falls Thunderhead - This was my second GCI, and while it was a little rough, it was still smoother than most wooden coasters. While fun, I don't see why this ride is ranked as high as it is. It's not a bad ride by any means, but there just didn't seem to be anything special about it. Maybe it just wasn't running up to it's potential, but I still had a lot of rides on it due to it being fun. Tennessee Tornado - The surprise of a trip, this coaster is great. The enclosed drop, as well as the large inversions, and loop with the messed up track make this a great ride. The airtime hill at the end was another surprise, and that moment probably one of the best airtime moments on a coaster I've ridden. Despite being an Arrow, the ride is still very smooth, and my only complaint is that it is pretty short. Blazing Fury - A fun but strange indoor dark ride/coaster. I can't say much about the ride as I couldn't see what was going on with out my glasses, but it was still fun. With how hot/humid it was, it was also a welcome way to cool off. Mystery Mine - I wasn't expecting much from this ride, but, like the park, it ended up exceeding my expectations. The theming is great, and while not very scary(the vertical lifts were pretty thrilling though), it is still a very fun ride. The ride itself seemed like a cross between Lost Coaster of Superstition Mountain with the tight turns and small drops in the beginning, and Steel Hawg in the end with the extended dive loop. Dollywood Express - A fun and long train ride though the hills surrounding the park. Daredevil Falls - It was nearing time that I'd have to leave, and with the heat getting to me, I decided to ride Daredevil Falls. I didn't know what to expect, and this ended up being a great ride. The theming is pretty good, and it is probably my favorite log flume type ride. Asheville We made it to Asheville that evening, and we explored the city the following day. Asheville is a city that seems out of place in the Smokeys/Southern States. It has a very yuppie/hippie vibe, and the city can best be described as if Lincoln Park-Chicago was in North Carolina. It is a cool city that just doesn't belong where it is. It was here that we really started seeing "American Owned" on businesses, even national chains. What is up with this? Hilton Head Island Now we didn't do much here, as we didn't find much to do. It was a nice town, and we stayed at a really nice Holiday Inn on the beach. I hadn't been to a beach on the Atlantic Ocean since 2002ish, so it was a lot of fun to do it again. Again, as we were visiting during a heat wave, it was a great way to cool off even if the water was really warm. Savannah The next day we explored downtown Savannah. It's a nice downtown area with a lot of great architecture, although parts did seem pretty touristy. Atlanta In Atlanta we stopped at World of Coke and the CNN Center. CNN Center - We were the first tour of the CNN Center of the day, and it was a lot better than expected. It was very informative, and because of the time, we were able to see the news shows in progress. You aren't allowed to take photos on the tour, and the metal detectors there are the most sensitive I've ever had to go through. World of Coke - After the CNN Center tour, we went across Olympic Park to World of Coke. The 3D movie and 4D ride were pretty bad, but the museum at the end was cool. Of course the highlight was the tasting room at the end. Of course I tried the dreaded Beverly. So in Atlanta, I was originally also going to visit SFoG, but in Savannah, we checked the hours to see if I could also visit that night. We saw that they were already on weekend only operations. We then checked out Beech Bend's hours to see if I could visit on our way home, but they too were on weekends only. I then remembered another park that would be on the way home... Holiday World So after four years of trying I finally made it to Holiday World. Unfortunately it was on a day when it was 95 with a heat index of at least 110, so my visit would unfortunately be unpleasant. Then again, this helped as everyone was in the water park. Voyage, Legend, and Raven were all running below their potential, as all rides were running very rough and not thrilling. Voyage was particularly brutal, with the only fun parts being the lift, first drop, triple down, and brake run. Gobbler Getaway was fun though and a welcome break from the heat. Other than the coasters, I got on a few other rides. Liberty Launch was great with what is probably the most intense airtime moment of any ride I've ridden. Pilgrims Plunge was also great, and while I was in the one row that stayed dry(row 3 Dan) it was a lot of fun. That lift was pretty creepy, especially the part where the structure bends. I didn't get that many photos as I couldn't find any good spots and I was feeling sick from the heat. While not the great visit I was expecting, I can't wait to visit Holiday World again. I can see why it is such a great park, and hopefully I'll have time to visit the water park the next time. Side note, I ended up visiting the same day TPR was. HW Pros: The food at Plymouth Rock Cafe. Free drinks Liberty Launch Great Staff Gobbler's Getaway Club TPR Discount HW Cons: All three coasters were running pretty bad(sorry Paula) The heat The heat The heat The heat You must eat here if you're ever in Nashville Welcome to Dollywood Probably the most asphalt anywhere in Dollywood Mystery Mine looks great Hangtime Mystery Mine does have some strange elements in the first 1/2 of the ride Noted The station Mystery Mine has what is probably one of the best finales on a coaster. Mystery Mine's theming again Going down ... Noted, and so very true Going up Tennessee Tornado through the trees Orly Blazing Fury - so cheesy but so fun It's great how the building was themed to look like it was part of the landscape. Unfortunately Timber Tower was closed. I know they are supposedly more fun to watch, but I still wanted to ride it. Why can't Six Flags have a place of this quality... or a place like this? Edited April 15, 2011 by Airtime&Gravity
Airtime&Gravity Posted March 23, 2011 Author Posted March 23, 2011 Part 2 Daredevil Falls was surprisingly a lot better than expected. While not a #1 coaster, Thunderhead was still a lot of fun It was my second GCI after Evel Knievel Going up Going down Another reason why Dollywood is great. They aren't mandatory, and they don't charge more than they have to. Hell, I'm positive they still make a profit charging $0.50. The rapids ride looked great, but I didn't ride. I don't remember if it was due to time, queue length, or me not finding the entrance. Theming along the train My one problem with the theming here was how random or far away it was. The theming was placed in open fields, yet all the buildings were far apart from each other or from the train. IMO, it seems like it'd have been better if they set up a town with the buildings closer together. A ride you'll never find me on. I wanted to ride this, but even with the q-bot, the wait was still longer than I had time for. Asheville CNN Center The escalator uses the lift structure of the pinball ride from The World of Sid and Marty Krofft that used to occupy the building. CNN Center DEATH Mint soda from Djibouti - It was actually okay, but as I had it right after Beverly, anything would have been an improvement. I think this was my favorite of the sodas available One of the worst parts of the ride One of the best parts of the ride Coming up to the best part of the ride. Thanks for reading.
beatle11 Posted March 23, 2011 Posted March 23, 2011 Great stuff. Too bad to hear Holiday World's coasters weren't running so well. I will get to Dollywood sometime.
B.A.B Posted March 24, 2011 Posted March 24, 2011 I rode Timber Tower once,and maybe the only time I have ever seen it running. But you get soak and wet really bad and I thought it was fun but very slow though.
beyondthepalace Posted March 24, 2011 Posted March 24, 2011 How long would you say it took you to go around Dollywood with the q-bot. We are headed there in a few months and was just curious if we should plan to stay there from park open to park close
Airtime&Gravity Posted March 24, 2011 Author Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) ^Well, I took my time, so I didn't immediately enter another ride into the q-bot when I could once I got my first few rides on Thunderhead, Mystery Mine, and Tennessee Tornado. Dollywood isn't really a park you want to rush through, but if you are just going for the rides, you shouldn't need more than six hours if you enter a new ride into the q-bot as soon as you can. I spent around six hours there, and while I would have liked to get on a few flat rides or more rides on the big three coasters, I was still happy with all that I had done. I got scared when I saw all the people at the park at opening, which helped motivate me to get a q-bot, but most people go for the shows. The ride lines weren't that long, but those 15-30 minute queues add up if you have limited time. So in short, if you use a q-bot, you could spend all day at Dollywood, but it won't be necessary. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I forgot to mention it in my trip report, but I felt so bad for the performers in the theater next to Granny Olge's as they had one spectator who left halfway through the first song. A couple came in at the next song, but they too left maybe one song later. Edited March 24, 2011 by Airtime&Gravity
beyondthepalace Posted March 24, 2011 Posted March 24, 2011 Looking at the the Dollywood website, it doesnt mention the pricing yet for the qbot for 2011...how much was it for you?
Airtime&Gravity Posted March 24, 2011 Author Posted March 24, 2011 I don't remember how much it cost, but it was very reasonable. I want to say it was 20-some dollars, but I'm not sure. Don't expect Six Flags prices, and whatever the cost does end up being, it will be a great value. What is also great about it is the amount of rides and shows that you are able to use the q-bot for.
CorkscrewFoley Posted March 24, 2011 Posted March 24, 2011 Well that was quite the trip! I'm more than likely going to Dollywood this year, so seeing the pics get me excited. I'd have to say my least favourite thing of this TR was CNN, but that's another time and place.
DJeXeL Posted March 24, 2011 Posted March 24, 2011 I need to make it out to Dollywood. How does TT compare to other Arrow loopers in terms of roughness?
Airtime&Gravity Posted March 24, 2011 Author Posted March 24, 2011 I need to make it out to Dollywood. How does TT compare to other Arrow loopers in terms of roughness? ^ Despite being an Arrow, the ride is still very smooth, and my only complaint is that it is pretty short.
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