Dollywood Discussion Thread

[rollercoasterbuff]

I may be going to Dollywood one day between Thursday and Sunday. Just got to get an idea of what day is best, and what order we should do the attractions in?

 

Thanks!

[coasterfreaky]

Google has updated their map of Dollywood...including Wild Eagle and Barnstormer.

from the Google.

[Voxelmatic]

Yay! Glad to see an arial view of the rides!

[brock_boehm]

That's awesome! Would be really helpful to someone recreating the park in RCT3.

[KevinPage]

(please don't kill me if these are answered elsewhere, just not in the mood to go through 302 pages of stuff right now, while trying to book a trip)

 

1 - any chance for a TPR Dollywood event this year? Wife and I were wanting to go in either September or October (but we are slightly flexible)

 

2 - Will be our first visit here, do we need more than 1 day?

 

3 - October 3 starts the gospel music events, so I would assume that it would be less crowded the weekend before this starts?

 

4 - since park closes early (6p-7pm), any chance for night rides ? (didn't know what time sundown was there)

 

5 - November they are open to 9pm alot, so night rides seem plentiful. But is the weather in this park of the world cooperate that all the coasters are running?

 

Thanks for your help

[ernierocker]

(please don't kill me if these are answered elsewhere, just not in the mood to go through 302 pages of stuff right now, while trying to book a trip)

 

1 - any chance for a TPR Dollywood event this year? Wife and I were wanting to go in either September or October (but we are slightly flexible)

 

2 - Will be our first visit here, do we need more than 1 day?

 

3 - October 3 starts the gospel music events, so I would assume that it would be less crowded the weekend before this starts?

 

4 - since park closes early (6p-7pm), any chance for night rides ? (didn't know what time sundown was there)

 

Thanks for your help

 

1) Dollywood is one of the parks on the New Hotness Trip. With Deep South Bash already taking place at Six Flags Over Georgia (which is a part of the same tour), I wouldn't count on a TPR event this year.

 

2) If you get there right at opening and plan on staying until closing, you should be able to do the park in one day. This of course depends on if you are wanting to see all of the shows or not.

 

3) Even if the park is crowded that time of the year, as long as you don't go on a Saturday the lines for the rides will generally still be reasonble. The clientelle at Dollywood is much different than your Six Flags parks. A lot of people go there for the shows, entertainment and food over the rides.

 

4) If you went later in October after the time change, maybe.

 

Hope this helps, enjoy your trip!

[dragonskeep]

I am going for the first time on Sunday 29th. Looking forward to it big time. Are there any shows that are favorites of any one? The rest I know, Q-bot, cinnamon bread etc. etc.

[jmicha]

Like above poster I will also be visiting Dollywood for the first time. I will be going this Sunday and have some questions for regulars to the park. I seem to have a general idea of what to expect, but the main question I'm having is about the Qbot. I've heard great things about it at all parks it is located at and it seems that at $15 it's a steal. I'm assuming that it's worth it on a weekend to get it as it will quickly pay for itself in my mind. Is this an accurate statement? Also, I'm unfamiliar with how the Qbot system works as I've never used it before. When reserving a ride time, how far in advance does it need to be? Also, can you reserve a ride multiple times or just once per ride until you ride it? Thanks for any info anyone can give, it will be most helpful.

[ernierocker]

^Get the Qbot. Even if the crowds are unusually light that day, for that price, you can take the gamble. Chances are though that it will be pretty crowded with it being peak summer season.

 

Qbot is simple. You can reserve one ride at a time. Your wait will be based off of the current stand-by wait time. So, if it is 1:00 and the stand-by line for Mystery Mine is 30 minutes, your Qbot will have a 1:30 reserve time listed by Mystery Mine. You can then reserve it, head towards the attraction and once it is time, you can enter the Qbot entrance and an attendant will scan your Qbot. As soon as this happens, you can select your next ride to reserve. So, while you are riding the ride, you are already waiting out the time for that next ride.

[jmicha]

^Thanks for the info. Yeah, it definitely seems that regardless of crowds it's worth it at that price. Based on reports of significant attendance increases this year and with it being a summer weekend, I think we'll be getting the Qbot.

[thrillerman1]

People, don't forget that Dollywood Nights is about to start and will allow for riding coasters in the dark from July 30 - August 12: http://www.dollywood.com/themepark/events/Dollywood-Nights.aspx

[Ace Of Spades]

Google has updated their map of Dollywood...including Wild Eagle and Barnstormer.

Maybe I'm crazy, but does it look like there's a strange contortion in Wild Eagle's lift stairs to anyone else? About halfway up, it completely changes its angle, even though the track itself is straight.

 

Other than that, good to see that they updated it. It's really irritating when I'm trying to show the layout of a park to someone on Google Earth and have to use an aerial photo from more than eight years ago (the reason for why that happens is completely understandable, but still really annoying all the same.)

[coasterfreak101]

^That's just the angle that each photo was taken, and the way that they were stitched together.

[Ace Of Spades]

^That's just the angle that each photo was taken, and the way that they were stitched together.

Ah, I figured as much.

[KevinPage]

Due to night rides, we are now planning on going in November, park is open til 9pm. Gotta assume the weather won't be too bad just yet

[Bobby2889]

It will be quite chilly that time of year!

[Guy T. Koepp]

^(cough, cough) PUSSY! (cough, cough)

[KevinPage]

I don't care about the cold, only if the rides will be open. I've rode Superman: ROS in what felt like freezing cold weather at ERT's and it was quite memorable to say the least

[Intimidator305]

For me, the colder the better at amusement parks as long as the rides stay open.

 

Dollywood is definitely a great park to visit in November/December.

[Bobby2889]

^(cough, cough) PUSSY! (cough, cough)

 

I get cold easily!

 

I've never been to a theme park in winter or fall months, it's always been during summer vacation. I am hoping to make It back to Dollywood this fall, in September, anyone know how crowds are that time of year? I wanna take a Birthday trip!

[coasterfreaky]

^^It can be a good time to visit...but the weather can also be unpredictable in December (any time, actually). I think it was two years ago that Dollywood had to close for snow and ice in December. I've been several times when the rides would shut down not long after arriving as it dipped below 36-degrees while we we there. And they only do one train operation on coasters (except M.M. and B.F., not sure about W.E. yet.) when it's below 45-degrees, which can quickly put the damper on any hopes of multiple re-rides. Plan wisely and hope for the best. Most of the rides in the Country Fair area can and do operate under the 36-degree mark, fyi.

[ernierocker]

Due to night rides, we are now planning on going in November, park is open til 9pm. Gotta assume the weather won't be too bad just yet

 

Do keep in my mind, that all of the water rides will be closed. If that doesn't matter to you, then November is a great time to go.

[jmicha]

I had my first visit ever to Dollywood yesterday. I was quite impressed with the quality of everything at the park. What they lacked (which really isn't the right word honestly) in quantity they made up in quality. Wild Eagle was a lot of fun, but Thunderhead stole the show for me. I loved it. We rode it by far the most and ended the day with 5 or so rides on it.

 

Tennessee Tornado was the surprise of the trip. I was expecting to like it based on reports but was surprised how seriously intense the loop/sidewinder combo was. And the first loop is awkward in all the right ways. It was short, but no part was lacking.

 

Overall I was really happy with the trip and in the end we didn't get a Qbot and never waited more than 15 minutes for anything. The park wasn't very crowded at all and allowed us to ride all the major rides multiple times with Thunderhead the most with probably around a dozen rides. I would love to return again and rent one of those cabins with a group of people that you can see from the back of the park way up on the hill. They must have a seriously awesome view.

[KevinPage]

I had my first visit ever to Dollywood yesterday. I was quite impressed with the quality of everything at the park. What they lacked (which really isn't the right word honestly) in quantity they made up in quality. Wild Eagle was a lot of fun, but Thunderhead stole the show for me. I loved it. We rode it by far the most and ended the day with 5 or so rides on it.

 

Tennessee Tornado was the surprise of the trip. I was expecting to like it based on reports but was surprised how seriously intense the loop/sidewinder combo was. And the first loop is awkward in all the right ways. It was short, but no part was lacking.

 

Overall I was really happy with the trip and in the end we didn't get a Qbot and never waited more than 15 minutes for anything. The park wasn't very crowded at all and allowed us to ride all the major rides multiple times with Thunderhead the most with probably around a dozen rides. I would love to return again and rent one of those cabins with a group of people that you can see from the back of the park way up on the hill. They must have a seriously awesome view.

 

Nice. Link to where to inquire about one of those cabins ???

[jmicha]

http://www.pigeonforgecabinvacation.com/

 

I believe these are the ones you can see from the back of the park. They were quite high up. I can only imagine the views of not only Dollywood but of the surrounding mountains.