Dollywood Discussion Thread

[mckayj93]

- You can no longer get sweet tea anywhere in the park except the sit down restaurants. That stinks, especially being in the South. A few people told me Red's had it but they do not.

- The Gazillion Bubbles Show was really good, better than I expected. Would have been even better if I had a younger kid with me.

 

I live in the south and I don't drink sweet tea, but I know a lot of people who do. I wonder why they decided to take it out.

 

I saw the Gazillion Bubble Show for the first time a few weeks ago and I thought the same thing. This is definitely one of the best shows that has ever been at Dollywood.

 

I drink sweet tea like others drink coffee. Only certain places had it before. To me it's understandable if only one quick serve place in a area of the park has it, for instance only 1 kiosk in Market Square used to have it. I guess the rationale was even if it was selling, it probably took more space and time to make and clean compared to a Coke fountain machine. They should still have a handful of quick serves that have it, I like certain foods with tea and certain foods with coke. I don't mind buying food and drink from different vendors if I can get my sweet tea if I want it lol

[Dollywoodlover20]

I was the first rider of the day (one of), second row.

 

Almost first rider

I KNEW YOU WERE AN ENTHUSIAST!!!! YES! Thank you for posting this man! Was that your first time riding? It made my 11th total. I was almost the rider stuck in row 5 when the launch failed. But we had reservations at Dixie Stampede and I couldn't wait for it to open back up if it did. Ah, I'll wait to go back in a few weeks again if all is well.

OH and Drop Line, GREAT ADDITION to the park! Much needed!!! The views are beautiful and it catches you off guard because you get caught in the views of the smokies right as it drops.

And I can understand the long distance drivers. Same as me not driving to Cedar Point 6-7hrs if Mean Streak has problems. I probably won't get that direction for a while anyway. Not in OH much. Anyway, yes the focus of the park at the moment is LR. The other coasters were almost walk ons Tuesday with WE being a 10 min wait with two trains, TT 30 mins one train, MM 10-15 (varied), Drop Line was 10, Thunderhead was 20, and LR went from my first ride being 0, second ride at 10, and from there on I watched it pack up. I checked the app after rampage it was at 45 and by the time I got up to TT it was at 85 and stayed there pretty much the remainder.

[scars]

Hey, it was our first visit in Dollywood. We still were able to ride 6 times that day. But its very sad that they dont get it proper working. Lightning Rod is absolutely amazing.

 

Also Wild Eagle and Fire Chaser was down two times that days, looks to me like they got the technical staff from SF Great Adventure...

[Djwadeknox]

Hey, it was our first visit in Dollywood. We still were able to ride 6 times that day. But its very sad that they dont get it proper working. Lightning Rod is absolutely amazing.

 

Also Wild Eagle and Fire Chaser was down two times that days, looks to me like they got the technical staff from SF Great Adventure...

 

 

The ride maintenance staff is great at Dollywood. Sometimes TC could be adding or taking off a train or a protein spill. Also with the change In temps they change the wheels more often. I don’t think the maintenance should be blam3d for LR as RMC gave it to them running at under 50% uptime from the start.

[dstephe9]

Wild Eagle has been going down a lot recently.. has anyone actually went over to see if it's going down due to bees? It's early for them to migrate but they do still have issues with them this early in the summer, just not as often.. I notice it goes down during the same time when the bees are active during the fall so maybe it's not a maintenance related issue but bees and wasp

 

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[Mastalucky23]

At the park now and they've already closed Rod for the day. Was hoping for a night ride but oh well, off to thunderhead

[mckayj93]

I was the first person on LR today! It opened about 20 minutes after the park. I was the first one the ride op walked up in the line, the station reeked of burnt brake fluid when I got up there, smell left after a couple minutes. Got front row first ride, then went around again and got back row. That was my first time front and back! Rode well, no jolts that I noticed. View was great in the front, airtime was even more insane in the back row. This was my first ride since March, the launch did stop a little sooner than before. It didn't take away from the experience though, just noticed it today.

[VegasBaby]

I was the first person on LR today! It opened about 20 minutes after the park. I was the first one the ride op walked up in the line, the station reeked of burnt brake fluid when I got up there, smell left after a couple minutes. Got front row first ride, then went around again and got back row. That was my first time front and back! Rode well, no jolts that I noticed. View was great in the front, airtime was even more insane in the back row. This was my first ride since March, the launch did stop a little sooner than before. It didn't take away from the experience though, just noticed it today.

 

LR really is an incredible ride in the back row. I got a few back row rides on my visit two weeks ago and it was crazy. I was out of my seat for the entire first drop and the quad down was Skyrush-like in throwing me out of my seat. The ride ops were usually pretty good about not stapling down the restraints, so I was able to get the full force of the airtime.

[Mastalucky23]

At the park and rod is closed for the day. Here we go again

[dstephe9]

Down for the count.. I guess we just need to be prepared for that to happen once a month! Lol

 

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[SFOGdude25]

Gosh darn it I'm about to head over there for the weekend today. Please be open tomorrow!

[DoinItForTheFame]

Down for the count.. I guess we just need to be prepared for that to happen once a month!

 

Well as long as this is the only time it happens this month, and it is back up and running by July 28th, then I'm fine with it!

 

I'm still going to the park with about a 50% expectation that we will get to ride LR. And I know even if we don't get a chance to ride it, we are going to have a great time!

[lbeeler]

Down for the count.. I guess we just need to be prepared for that to happen once a month! Lol

 

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Maybe LR is a Female

[larrygator]

- You can no longer get sweet tea anywhere in the park except the sit down restaurants. That stinks, especially being in the South. A few people told me Red's had it but they do not.

- The Gazillion Bubbles Show was really good, better than I expected. Would have been even better if I had a younger kid with me.

 

I live in the south and I don't drink sweet tea, but I know a lot of people who do. I wonder why they decided to take it out.

 

I saw the Gazillion Bubble Show for the first time a few weeks ago and I thought the same thing. This is definitely one of the best shows that has ever been at Dollywood.

 

I drink sweet tea like others drink coffee. Only certain places had it before. To me it's understandable if only one quick serve place in a area of the park has it, for instance only 1 kiosk in Market Square used to have it. I guess the rationale was even if it was selling, it probably took more space and time to make and clean compared to a Coke fountain machine. They should still have a handful of quick serves that have it, I like certain foods with tea and certain foods with coke. I don't mind buying food and drink from different vendors if I can get my sweet tea if I want it lol

 

I did not realize this change was made when I visited in April. I thought found sweet tea very easily on all my previous visits, but in April I checked every quick serve stand and could not find it. At least now I know for my return next week that I need to have a sit down meal. for the sweet tea and the air conditioning.

[Jason Maier]

About how much downtime does Lightning Rod average on a week to week basis?

[LukeFlynn]

It's rare to find it up without any closures on any given day... the length of the closures varies from 15 minutes to several hours. The only exception is right after they finish doing a bunch of work, then it works well for about 2 weeks and repeats the cycle all over again. This is pretty much how it's been since day one.

[Mastalucky23]

Last day at the park and rod has been down since opening. This is getting a little frustrating

[Canobie Coaster]

The fact that it's listed as TC at least seems to be a sign that they intend to opening it later. I think the most encouraging sign if that this doesn't seem like another long term issue.

[Mastalucky23]

The fact that it's listed as TC at least seems to be a sign that they intend to opening it later. I think the most encouraging sign if that this doesn't seem like another long term issue.

 

The guy out front didn't seem too confident it would be opening anytime soon today, they tested nonstop for about 15 minutes this morning right after 10 and then told everyone in the line they didn't know when it would be opening. I thought one guy was going to lose it. He shouted "worst ride ever" and stormed off lol still a fantastic day at the park without riding rod but still, I've been coming everyday since Thursday evening and yet have gotten a single ride on the thing. It's just disappointing

[Canobie Coaster]

I know how you feel. I missed the ride last year and this year as well. I have a chance to sneak out there when I'm in Atlanta next weekend, but knowing my luck these issues will probably last through next weekend.

 

I hope for your sake it opens sometime today though!

[SFOGdude25]

Lightning Rod never opened today, so no rides for me this weekend. Sad day, but still had a blast. I love this park so much.

[Djwadeknox]

Dollywood needs to invest in a moose out front to let people know that Lightning Rod is not open today.

[Nrthwnd]

[Jason Maier]

The fact that it's listed as TC at least seems to be a sign that they intend to opening it later. I think the most encouraging sign if that this doesn't seem like another long term issue.

 

TC = Test Cycle . . . .

 

How many test cycles does LR go through on a daily basis before opening?

[fireman1000]

Dollywood needs to invest in a moose out front to let people know that Lightning Rod is not open today.

Hilarious!