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Dollywood Discussion Thread

P. 796 - Ride closing 10/30 to remove launch and install chain lift!

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That announcement wasnt what I anticipated and like some of you I left after a few minutes. I was hoping for more details of the ride and an "on-ride" animation. Does anyone have the layout of the ride or anything? While this ride may not be the most intense, at least its a launch and its NOT intamin Will not be making a trip for the opening day of the ride, but will definitely ride it when I am there next year. Maybe some "behind the scenes tours" of construction will be given at Smoky Mountain Coasterfest like they did of Wild Eagle, which was absolutely amazing! I hope they post the layout and animations soon I want to see the ride and how it will fit into the area.

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Sounds like a good fit for Dollywood. Especially nice to see something with a low height restriction being built in that section of the park. Looking forward to more details being released about the ride layout and resort.

Edited by SuperShawn
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Oh yea I forgot to mention the resort. I like the idea of the resort, and it looks amazing. I am just wondering about the pricing of this place, I can see this being very expensive. I am assuming it will be a year round resort even with dollywood closed? I hope to be able to stay there, but I am guessing it will be pretty expensive. Now that Dollywood is doing a resort, I think Carowinds needs to step it up and announce what they have in the works, because I think they might be doing the same thing within the next few years....

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Since no ride layout was released I had to do some research to find some similar coasters, so I went to Gerstlauer's website and found their family coaster page. Now that I've seen the kind of coaster it will be, I'm pretty excited! This looks like it will be a great "bridge" coaster!

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A Dollywood resort makes a lot of sense for a few reasons.

1 - Dollywood has a lengthy operating season

2 -Many Travelers from out of the region look for brand names with lodging, and there are not big chains on Pigeon Forge.

3 - Traffic is brutal during Christmas time, the time saved with the convenience of being on property only will attract guests.

4 - Staying on site will increase time and moneyspent in park by hotel guests.

 

The biggest concern I see is how the locals will view the resort as my understanding is that most of the local lodging is locally owned. I'm sure Dolly doesn't want to steal business from local hoteliers.

 

Of course the price will be higher at Dream More, but you expect to pay more for quality and convenience.

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IMHO I think this will be exactly what the park needs in that area. Especially after the removal of Adventure Mountain. Aside from River Battle, there really is nothing up there for families. And that is only open maybe 6 of their 10 month operating schedule. During the winter, that area is pretty much a thrill seeker alley. It will be good to have something else drawing the family crowds up the hill. I have great faith, and trust in the management of this park. Herschend operates two of my favorite parks in the US, and so far they have never disappointed myself or my family. That is why we consistently purchase season passes and will continue to do so. I for one am looking forward to seeing this attraction rise, and riding it in March when the 2014 season starts.

 

Guy "I'm gonna tap into a bit of my Gay side here. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE DOLLY!!!! She is such an awesome role model! She has the one of the greatest hearts and personalities in the world. I just gush listening to her!" Koepp

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Storyline for Firechaser Express:

 

Crazy Charlie owns a gas station and fireworks store in the same building up in the mountains. As you're getting ready to board, fire alarms sound and the station gets a call that a fire has broken out. You load and the train launches from 0 to 16 MPH in 1.1 seconds. You climb the lift and ride through the mountainside with six zero-G moments, two helices and side-to-side twists. Suddenly, the train pulls into the back room of Crazy Charlie's business when real fire starts burning and fireworks start exploding. Then Big Bertha, the largest firework of them all, falls over in front of the train and points right at it. The fuse lights and burns fast. When it “explodes,” the train launches backwards from 0 to 20 MPH in 2 seconds and you ride the track backwards to the station.

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Storyline for Firechaser Express:

 

Crazy Charlie owns a gas station and fireworks store in the same building up in the mountains. As you're getting ready to board, fire alarms sound and the station gets a call that a fire has broken out. You load and the train launches from 0 to 16 MPH in 1.1 seconds. You climb the lift and ride through the mountainside with six zero-G moments, two helices and side-to-side twists. Suddenly, the train pulls into the back room of Crazy Charlie's business when real fire starts burning and fireworks start exploding. Then Big Bertha, the largest firework of them all, falls over in front of the train and points right at it. The fuse lights and burns fast. When it “explodes,” the train launches backwards from 0 to 20 MPH in 2 seconds and you ride the track backwards to the station.

 

With three trains, this seems very hard to do. Not the story, but the track layout. I am thinking we will see something more on the lines of the Mummy rides, with a backward portion. I could be wrong here, but this seems to indicate that it will be more of a full circuit coaster rather than a shuttle coaster.

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The coaster sounds like an awesome addition to the park. It is good to see them adding something with a smaller height restriction so more families can enjoy this together since that is primarily what comes to Dollywood anyway. I am excited to see more information released as well see the final product.

 

Also the resort looks and sounds beautiful! Once its finished I will have to plan another vacation to the Smokey Mountains!

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Little disappointed that they aren't going with S&S for this one as I think Powder Keg is one of the best, if not the best family coaster out there. I guess those extra 3" in the height restriction will help draw more families though, and the show scenes sound wicked awesome!

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So if the resort is adjacent to Splash Country I guessing it will be on the plot of land just north of Splash Country between Jayell and McCarter Hollow roads? It will be interesting to see what kind of ticket packages and transportation options are available.

 

Also, I just joined the "Founders Club" on the resort webpage and it had a place where you could select your interests and and golf was one of the options. I wonder if the resort has plans to partner with courses in the area or maybe even eventually build their own course on site?

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I really don't care for the resort, at this point, anyways. I am still very interested in the new ride though and can't wait to see how Dollywood spends the $300 Million, which they said is not only being spent on the resort but BIG attractions for Dollywood.

 

In the future, the resort might appeal to me more. Being so close to pigeon forge I never stay around there anyway. I do make a trip every few years to Wilderness at the smokies in the winter when their price is $99/room and that includes water park tickets. That brings me out of my "winter blues"... If Dollywood builds an indoor water park for their resort I will gladly spend my money there instead. Hopefully a water park is in the works during this 10 year expansion. Indoor water parks are so nice during the rainy winter season

 

Dollywood, honestly, is a "Off Season" park to me anyways. During the summer I tend to take trips to other parks and I spend the majority of my time at Dollwood during March - Early May and then Sept - Dec. I have only made one trip there this summer but made several when they opened.

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While the launches on Fire Chaser Express do sound a bit weak (even for a family coaster), I think it will be a great addition to the park. The ride is very different from anything I expected to go there and fills the role of a much needed family coaster in between the intensity of Blazing Fury or Sideshow Spin and Mystery Mine or Thunderhead. Plus, the 39" height restriction means this is accessible to almost anyone of around kindergarten age and is actually lower than most Disney coasters.

 

The resort hotel also looks nice, and although I'm not one for fancy hotels I'd probably stay here at least once just out of convenience and to check it out. Looks like I need to start planning a 2015 trip to Dollywood.

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I'm liking the theme and story of this ride more and more. As a kid I loved me some fireworks and a stop at a fireworks super store was a HUGE highlight of our trips to Gatlinburg (good fireworks were illegal in Kentucky) so the theme really fits for me. I'm excited about this, can't wait to see some kind of a layout.

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That resort overview just looks so...generic. I was really hoping for something like that concept posted a little bit back, that really had that Smoky Mountain feel. Oh well.

 

The ride sounds great, definitely something that parents can totally enjoy riding with their kids. Can't wait to see more!

 

I was kind of thinking that myself initially but there still aren't a lot of details on the resort other than some generics. I mean the renderings aren't anything impressive but they're just renderings, if you think about it a lot of really nice Disney resorts and other great properties don't look like much from the outside (although some do), still expect this place to have a lot of charm when it is all finished. It will be interesting to see what kind of restaurant or other dining options are in the finished product. Maybe in true Smokey Mountain fashion there will be about 4 pancake houses .

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