Dollywood Discussion Thread

[Devins3]

How were the lines for the coasters? I am going Thurs-Sat next week for the first time and was unsure if I should get a qbot on Saturday or not.

[KBrylczyk]

How were the lines for the coasters? I am going Thurs-Sat next week for the first time and was unsure if I should get a qbot on Saturday or not.

 

Get the Q-Bot. It's only $15 and it will save the day. While the lines weren't stupid, I'd put them at 45 minutes to an hour per ride yesterday. Also, the Q-Bot will get you priority seating to the shows provided you reserve your showtimes right away when you get the Q-Bot. We waited on reserving our show which is why we were only able to see one. The standby lines for every show are horrific.

 

Edit - Make sure you reserve the Q-Bot online a few days prior, as well. They tend to sell out before the park even opens.

[coasterfreaky]

Edit - Make sure you reserve the Q-Bot online a few days prior, as well. They tend to sell out before the park even opens.

 

Unless something has changed, Q-Bots are first-come, first-serve. You can't reserve one in advance, unfortunately.

[tntornadox]

Edit - Make sure you reserve the Q-Bot online a few days prior, as well. They tend to sell out before the park even opens.

 

Unless something has changed, Q-Bots are first-come, first-serve. You can't reserve one in advance, unfortunately.

 

The latest website update allows you to tack on a few extra things online such as parking, Q2Q and Wheelchair rentals.

[coasterfreaky]

^Awesome, did not know this! Thanks!

[jynx242]

Words can't describe how much I enjoy Dollywood. I have never had a bad experience there - the setting, the rides, the shows and THE FOOD!! I am very excited about extended park hours next year! I've always wanted a full night ride on Thunderhead. On the Deep South Tour we got late afternoon and into the early evening rides (ERT) and it was more and more insane as the evening wore on.

 

Can't wait!

[Devins3]

I'm going for the first time this weekend and am really excited, especially when it gets dark...what is Dollywood not usually open after nightfall?

[jray21]

^^That is still one of my favorite ERT sessions ever! I haven't been back to Dollywood since that trip. I really need to figure out some way to get out there!

[coasterbear30]

Full on night rides on Thunderhead are insane and even better if it is a chilly night. I have had several night rides on it and 2 years ago was there for an event in Novemeber and it was about 50 degrees out and the thing was balls out insane. By far the best night rides I have had on any coaster ever!

[coasterfreaky]

I'm going for the first time this weekend and am really excited, especially when it gets dark...what is Dollywood not usually open after nightfall?

 

In the summer it gets dark late here, like around 9 or 9:30 and Dollywood typically closes around 6, 7 or 8p in the summer, so night rides are more difficult to get. But, for 2013 they'll have planned six weeks (i think?) of night time hours for summer.

[cal1br3tto]

Mystery Mine - WHAT. THE. HELL. This ride is awesome. The themeing is out of this world, the dark ride portions are extremely fun, and everything following the second lift hill is super-intense. Sure, it bangs you around a little, but if you aren't a wuss, you'll be fine. I don't want to mention a whole lot about the ride in case anyone hasn't ridden it yet, but just know that I loved it, as did everyone else I was with. The ride is full of surprises (even right at the beginning) and is a lot of fun. Also, bonus points if you can spot the Despicable Me Minion before the first lift!

Fully agreed. Even with a basic knowledge of the ride (I think I've even seen backstage photos), I still was caught off guard by a few surprises. I also try to keep quiet about them just in case other people are in the same boat I was.

 

Glad you had a good time! Then again, it may well be impossible to go wrong with Dollywood.

[jedimaster1227]

http://www.screamscape.com/html/dollywood.htm#2014

 

Interesting developments are afoot for Dollywood that will affect the park for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. Screamscape has confirmed with Pete Owens at the park that two large attractions will not be return for the 2013 season. According to our exclusive letter from Pete…

 

“On the heels of five Golden Ticket Awards, including Best Shows and Best New Attraction, Dollywood announces an exciting new addition for 2013 and plans for a new major family attraction in 2014. Imagination Cinema will become a 500-seat venue for a new Dolly family show. Plans for 2014 are under way for a one-of-a-kind attraction on the Adventure Mountain site.

 

“When your business grows, it is important to evaluate and improve the experiences you provide to your guests,” Craig Ross, Dollywood President said. “For 2013, we’re excited about Dolly’s new family show and its new venue. Our guests will start to see construction activity for the new 2014 attraction as soon as the park opens next season Family are going to be thrilled and excited about the new additions. They’ll be like nothing you’ve seen before.”

 

"Imagination Cinema and Adventure Mountain will not reopen for the 2013 season to accommodate preparations for the new 2013 and 2014 additions. ”

 

So while I’m not surprised at all to see an outdated style sim-theater like the Imagination Cinema closed for good, I do have to admit I am very curious and somewhat confused about the closing of Adventure Mountain. Adventure Mountain, a huge large-scale themed multi-lane ropes course attraction, included for free to all guests by the way, is perhaps one of the most unique theme park attractions I’ve ever seen anywhere. On top of that, it also seemed to be extremely popular with the guests during my visits to the park. With a unique hillside location and custom themeing, I’m very curious how the park will follow up such a unique one-of-a-kind attraction… with a new one-of-a-kind attraction experience.

 

More on this as I try to dig deeper… but there has been some speculation for years about now this area of the park may evolve over the years, linked to the removal of all the trees from the upper circle of the Dollywood Express, which is located just above the hillside for Adventure Mountain. There have been a number of people waiting to see if Dollywood would expand the park to this upper section of the mountain, adding a second train station up there as well to turn the Dollywood Express more into a form of transportation instead of just a round-trip ride.

 

Edited December 10, 2012 by jedimaster1227

[A.J.]

I seriously wonder why they're taking out Adventure Mountain. Was it just unpopular? Maybe it was super high-maintenance?

 

It's a real shame, Adventure Mountain is probably my second-biggest motivation to take a trip to Dollywood, the first being Thunderhead.

 

Occupy Adventure Mountain?

[kidcoaster 2]

I'm assuming its the regular maintenance required as everytime I go to Dollywood it has a line even on the slow days. It really is a shame because as like AJ said it and Thunderhead were also my main reasons for returning so often.

 

No loss at all with the simulator. I rode it for my first time this year and didn't care for it one bit.

[jedimaster1227]

^^I'm wondering more if Adventure Mountain will simply be closed during the 2013 season, not removed, as if the work required for the 2014 encroaches too closely on the attraction to keep it open during construction. It'd be a shame to see this go away after only a few seasons, especially considering how beautifully themed the entire structure is.

[christianscoasters]

Adventure Mountain was one of my favorite attractions at Dollywood. Hopefully it's just closing for the year and not being torn down

[Athletekim]

^^ I hope you could be right that it can possibly close if Construction is near the site of Adventure Mountain.

 

Adventure Mountain would of only been open for 2 seasons because it only opened in 2010. I was at Dollywood in the Summer of 2010 for two days and both days when we were there the queue was packed.

 

My family and I just started talking about going back to TN for vacation this upcoming summer about a week ago and my sister said, "Maybe we can go to Dollywood and do that Rope Course."

[cfc]

I'm not that into ropes courses, but even I like Adventure Mountain, so I hope it isn't being removed; however, the simulator isn't much of a loss.

[AndrewRnR]

Despite Thunderhead being one of my favorite coasters, Adventure Mountain is (was?) my favorite attraction at Dollywood. It was attractions like that which set the park apart from the rest.

[Taylor Finn]

Adventure Mountain was one of the most fun things I did at Dollywood (well, the whole place was pretty darn fun). It really would be a shame for it to go. Imagination Cinema, on the other hand, is not a big loss at all.

[Wes]

^^I'm wondering more if Adventure Mountain will simply be closed during the 2013 season, not removed, as if the work required for the 2014 encroaches too closely on the attraction to keep it open during construction. It'd be a shame to see this go away after only a few seasons, especially considering how beautifully themed the entire structure is.

 

The article specifically says "Plans for 2014 are under way for a one-of-a-kind attraction on the Adventure Mountain site"...I dunno. So weird. Can't imagine they'd got a ROI on Adventure Mountain yet.

[Shavethewhales]

I wonder if the new attraction is simply an extension of what Adventure Mountain was? It simply doesn't make sense to flush such a huge attraction away, but with the capacity issues they seem to have had, perhaps they've come up with a way to fix the issues and build it into a "new" attraction at the same time. I just don't see them knocking the whole thing down yet...

 

There's also the possibility that there have been some liability issues/lawsuits behind the scenes as well. It seems that at several points in HFEC history there have been sudden changes in attractions or even closures because the company has renegotiated their insurance policy or has been hit with a lawsuit. See the removal of the backwards cars on TNT, closure of the rope nets at SDC and DW, removal of all the climbing nets and slides (at one point), etc...

[ernierocker]

Interesting development for sure. Kind of surprised that they aren't looking for a replacement for the Timber Tower site in 2014, or perhaps they are and aren't ready to announce it yet.

[Hilltopper39]

The article specifically says "Plans for 2014 are under way for a one-of-a-kind attraction on the Adventure Mountain site"...I dunno. So weird. Can't imagine they'd got a ROI on Adventure Mountain yet.

 

Does anyone know how much Adventure Mountain originally cost? As impressive of a ropes course as it is it probably still only cost a fraction of what a major new coaster does, so maybe they already did get an ROI on the thing. One thing I did notice last time I was at Dollywood was that it seemed like they had an incredible number of staff members dedicated to the attraction, there was worker at nearly every level of the structure on every obstacle plus several workers all dedicated to getting guests checked in and harnessed in and all. There seriously like maybe 20-30 people working that thing at once, so maybe the labor costs to operate it were just to getting to expensive? I was always kind of shocked that it wasn't an upcharge to begin with.

[SharkTums]

This is beyond strange. I really hope Pete contacts us and can shed some light on this. Adventure Mountain was a signature attraction, great for all ages, fit in so well with the surroundings, and was practically brand new!!?!?

 

Honestly, this upsets me a bit as KT also fell in love with it this summer.