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Dollywood Discussion Thread

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

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This isn't a prediction this is just me finding some facts...

 

For it to be the Longest wooden it would have to be longer than 7,359 ft.

For it to be the Steepest wooden it would have to be steeper than 85°

For it to be the Tallest wooden it would have to be taller than 196.8 ft.

For it to have the Longest wooden coaster drop it would have to be longer than 180 ft.

For it to have the Most inversions on a wooden it would have to have more than 3.

 

I am by no means saying that all of these records will be broken but I figure that at least one of these will be broken!

 

The only two I could possibly see are steepness and inversions.

There's actually dispute as to whether Colossos should get the height record. Sure, the lift hill, bottom to top, is 196 ft., but it heavily uses the terrain to an advantage, as it only reaches a peak of about 155 ft. above ground. The tallest flat-ground woodie is El Toro, at 181 ft.

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I will say they have been really cautious with information relted to this attraction, even that published article didn't really reveal anything other than what we already knew.

 

Exactly. I decided to read that, after a little internal debate, and in the end, didn't feel I really knew anything that I didn't strongly suspect already. I'm still completely "unspoiled" for the announcement!

 

This isn't a prediction this is just me finding some facts...

 

For it to be the Longest wooden it would have to be longer than 7,359 ft.

For it to be the Steepest wooden it would have to be steeper than 85°

For it to be the Tallest wooden it would have to be taller than 196.8 ft.

For it to have the Longest wooden coaster drop it would have to be longer than 180 ft.

For it to have the Most inversions on a wooden it would have to have more than 3.

 

I am by no means saying that all of these records will be broken but I figure that at least one of these will be broken!

 

The only two I could possibly see are steepness and inversions.

 

I agree... Those are the only two I could see it being of those records. Regarding steepest, I read that Switchback would be around 87 degrees, so if this coaster is a vertical (or beyond vertical), then it would claim that record. I could actually see that happening, though it seems less likely than most inversions, or the one I am almost certain it will claim, the fastest.

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I'm fairly confident that this new coaster won't break the fastest or longest drop on a wooden coaster. I can't remember who said it, but when Goliath at SFGAm opened, either the park president or a higher up said it eluded to there being an agreement that RMC wouldn't break any of the three records that Goliath broke for a few years. It could be that that agreement is now complete, but who knows.

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^^That was discussed on the last page. It depends on how you count shuttles for record breaking. I mean, you have full circuit records and records all together. This could be the steepest full circuit wooden coaster for example. Alpengeist is the tallest full circuit inverted coaster, but Wicked Twister is the tallest & fastest inverted coaster. It's all at how you count records, but WT, believe it or not, is recognized for its record and Alpengeist is as well.

 

Even if this thing gets to 87 degrees, it will still "tie" the record.

 

Anyway, enough about records...I don't care if this thing doesn't break a single record, I am completely excited for it! Just a little over an hour to go.

 

^Or maybe the agreement only existed for a year. Or maybe it never existed at all? If its a launched woodie, I have a feeling it'll be a terrain runner, so we wouldn't see longest drop on it. But fastest is possible, but that all depends.

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I'm fairly confident that this new coaster won't break the fastest or longest drop on a wooden coaster. I can't remember who said it, but when Goliath at SFGAm opened, either the park president or a higher up said it eluded to there being an agreement that RMC wouldn't break any of the three records that Goliath broke for a few years. It could be that that agreement is now complete, but who knows.

 

I take all these allegations about "contracts" with a grain of salt... It doesn't seem like a single one of them has ever been proven to actually be true!

 

Would all these records not even count if it ends up being I-Box? If it is Topper Track, then they would be broken.

 

This is a key point, because if it does end up being I-box, it's not likely to break ANY of those records for steel, so...

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Less than an hour. Here's the link to watch the live stream:

 

 

Remember - Please let one of us post the announcement to the forum! If other people start posting stuff, we only have to delete it later to clean up the forum posts to make the official one. We will get it on the forum as quickly as possible.

 

Thank you!

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Would all these records not even count if it ends up being I-Box? If it is Topper Track, then they would be broken.

Again though, Dollywood can claim it breaks any records they want for marketing.. To the GP Ibox is still probably considered wood because of the wood support structure..

 

Now officially breaking the records would be another thing.

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I'll stick with the Ibox prediction I made on July 7...simply because that's what I heard from someone on the inside and I haven't heard any different. I also think it would better support a launch.

 

I'll be scoring the rumors and news I've shared the last few months

http://www.pigeonforgetnguide.com/things-to-do/new-dollywood-roller-coaster-in-2016/

 

Looking forward to the reveal and chatting about it in a bit!!!

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I'm going to go with Topper Track (to claim the wooden title because Ibox is steel) and an awesome launch (whether it be a real launch or an LSM Lift Hill Launch). I think the latter would be really awesome especially if it launched up hill, into an element and then into a drop that kept it close to the ground afterwards.

 

About 30 minutes to go. Excitement abound.

Edited by Coasterguy21
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Would all these records not even count if it ends up being I-Box? If it is Topper Track, then they would be broken.

Again though, Dollywood can claim it breaks any records they want for marketing.. To the GP Ibox is still probably considered wood because of the wood support structure..

 

Now officially breaking the records would be another thing.

 

What I bolded is SO key, as far as perception is concerned! To this day, every non-enthusiast person I have ever ridden Gemini with, or talked about Gemini with, thought it was a wooden coaster until I told them it was actually a steel tracked coaster in a wooden structure. I haven't had those same discussions with any GP regarding Iron Horse tracked coasters, but I have to imagine that it would be a very similar situation...

 

I DO have to think that there will be something officially record breaking about this coaster, however! Maybe it will be as simple as "World's first wooden structure launched coaster!" While that seems "tacky" to us enthusiasts, literally NO non-enthusiast reading that or hearing that is going to care. They're just going to be like: "Wow! This looks like an exciting, record setting roller coaster! I want to ride it!"

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Officially Announced!

 

http://www.dollywood.com/themepark/rides/LightningRod

 

Dollywood Adds World's Fastest Wood Roller Coaster For 2016

Dollywood today announced the addition of Lightning Rod, both the world’s fastest wood coaster and the world’s first launching wood coaster. Set to roll to the starting line in March 2016, Lightning Rod adds another groundbreaking roller coaster to the park’s already impressive portfolio of world-class attractions. The thrilling $22 million ride also marks the single largest attraction investment in The Dollywood Company’s history.

 

Themed after a tricked out 1950s-era hot rod, Lightning Rod launches riders from zero to 45 mph more than 20 stories up its lift hill to one of the ride’s first airtime moments. At the crest of the hill, riders face twin summit airtime hills before tackling the daring first drop. Lightning Rod races down the 165-foot drop and propels guests along its 3,800-ft. track to a top speed of 73 mph, the fastest speed for a wood coaster in the world.

 

“Lightning Rod reminds me so much of those colorful cars cruisin’ up and down Main Street in downtown Sevierville back when I was in high school. I remember all those souped up cars; but what I remember most were those good lookin’ boys behind the wheel with those flat top and ducktail haircuts,” Dolly Parton said with a laugh.

 

“I’m truly excited about this ride because it will let our guests experience something just as fast as those hot rods I remember,” she continued. “Even better, it’s the fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, so I think we’re going to see a lot of people coming from all over to peel out on the Lightning Rod.”

 

Located in Dollywood’s Jukebox Junction, Lightning Rod rockets riders around its massive wooden structure on an adrenaline-charged lap through the trees in the hills and valleys surrounding Dollywood. During the ride, guests experience nearly 20 seconds of airtime. The coaster train is comprised of 12 cars, carrying two passengers each, for a total of 24 people per train.

 

Dollywood’s development team has tapped Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) as the ride manufacturer. RMC is no stranger to out-of-the-box coaster projects, having designed a number of innovative attractions around the world. Lightning Rod employs several unique features including the lift hill launch, twin summit airtime hills, a 90+ degree banked breaking wave turn, a 90+ degree outside banked turn, and a non-inverting half loop.

 

Lightning Rod puts riders in the driver’s seat of Johnny Rev’s newest hot rod. After months of tinkering, Johnny invites Dollywood guests to step behind the wheel for the first test drive of his flashy new creation. Like any proper hot rod, massive header pipes and an imposing injector scoop peer out from the train’s flamed bodywork.

 

Lightning Rod is the newest member of The Dollywood Chttps://pbs.twimg.com/media/CL0D2ADUEAA-oNt.pngompany’s collection of award-winning attractions. In March 2012, Dollywood opened the $20 million Wild Eagle, the country’s first wing coaster. The company introduced RiverRush, Tennessee’s first and only water coaster, at Dollywood’s Splash Country in 2013. FireChaser Express, the nation’s first dual-launch family coaster, was added at Dollywood in 2014. Dollywood mainstays Thunderhead, consistently among the world’s top five wood coasters, Mystery Mine, Blazing Fury and Tennessee Tornado round out the park’s list of innovative coasters.

 

For more information about Dollywood’s attractions, please visit http://www.Dollywood.com or call 1-800-DOLLYWOOD.

 

Lightning Rod

FAST FACTS

 

Type: Wood Coaster

Track Length: 3,800 feet

Inversions: None

 

Ride Elements:

- Zero to 45 MPH Launch = 1500 HP

- Trick Hill (Twin Summits)

- 90 + Degree Bank Breaking Wave Turn

- 90 + Degree Outside Banked Top Hat

- Twist and Shout

- Step Up

- Quadruple Down

- High Speed Airtime Hill

- Non-Inverting Half Loop

- 12 Total Airtime Moments

 

Top Speed: 73 miles per hour

Lift Height: 206 feet (80 ft. above crest of lift hill)

Drop Height: 165 feet

Ride Duration: 3 minutes, 12 seconds

Passengers Per Train: 24

Manufacturer: Rocky Mountain Construction, Inc.

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Edited by robbalvey
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Sounds amazing, can't wait for 2016. From this description... new RMC train designs?

 

The coaster train is comprised of 12 cars, carrying two passengers each, for a total of 24 people per train.

 

Can't wait for video & renderings in a few minutes! Dying to see the color scheme they went with and how terrain-y this will be.

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For reference and comparison sake, what is the speed of Maverick's lift hill launch?

 

Also, looks like I was wrong about the top speed record. Good for Dollywood. I know where I'm spending my spring break next year!

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For reference and comparison sake, what is the speed of Maverick's lift hill launch?

 

Also, looks like I was wrong about the top speed record. Good for Dollywood. I know where I'm spending my spring break next year!

Although neither Cedar Point nor Intamin released that statistic, if I remember correctly someone calculated it around 27 mph.

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Aw, I was hoping the Shot Rod name would last. I work in an industry that actually uses lightning rods, so it will always sound weird to me. Not that it matters in the slightest.

 

So the launched lift idea turned out to be true after all... makes sense in retrospect with the position of the hill.

 

I'm very surprised that they didn't spring for any inversions, but I guess they didn't want to push it too far? Or perhaps they are going for a more timeless design. The shear length of it leaves a lot of room for a ton of airtime... can't wait for the renderings.

 

YAY for the wave turn though! That's what I really wanted!

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