Dollywood Discussion Thread

[brenthodge]

Like several other have said - this Holiday season has been abnormally busy, and I'm sure is not a true barometer of the direction the park is heading BUT this is the time when people visit that may have never visited before and make their decisions to come back based on that initial visit. We were at the park the first weekend in Dec and didn't see the crowds that seem to have grown as the month went on. I do think they under anticipated the "demand" for the park this late season, but based on this learning, I hope they are ready come March when (I think) the crowds will be closer to what we saw late December than early in the month all season long.

 

They have created a great product that people are discovering and "trying out" now they just need to able to manage the demand that they have created.

 

I see steps such as opening up paths and removing bottlenecks, but I agree there are other solutions to be explored. I agree that the exit set up needs to be re-evaluated. The main gates should be open for entry and exit with the balance of which is used for what shifting through the day. Maybe they could even add a "outside the gate" entry that is only open from an hour before close on, That way people could enter the emporium even after they had "left the park" and since the entry would only be open right before close, it wouldn't be an issue with park entry.

 

More "quick service" food options would be great along with a better balance of "table service" locations. The table service locations are all situated fairly close together on one side of the park, and outside of pizza, there are few food options on the opposite side of the park - there should be a better distribution of food options.

 

There doesn't seem to be a great "overall management awareness". I've seen times when food service in areas of the park is mobbed while other areas are WAY over staffed. There should be better overall communication and ability to quickly reassign staffing to manage down lines quickly. Of course some of this also depends on physical set up of the area. You can't open more lines when space doesn't exist to open them. Thats why it seems like there should be several "peak time" locations that are close to other food service areas that can quickly open with identical food options. Then line management personnel could easily tell guests before getting in the 45 min hot dog line that "right around the corner you can also get the same items with little or no wait".

Edited January 3, 2016 by brenthodge

[fireman1000]

I'm afraid the park is losing its charm. My wife is disabled and was treated very rudely by an employee in 2014, so much that she cried. I reported it but never heard anything. We had been buying season passes up to that point yearly, but we didn't go back this past year. I realize it could have been a bad day for that employee and it was near closing time.

[Ape]

We will be making our second trip back to the park this summer. First weekend in June. We are looking at staying in the bear run falls condo. I was wondering if anyone on here has stayed there and if so how did you like it?

 

we loved the park on our first visit a few years ago, I can't wait to ride my first RMC.

[Firechaser]

We will be making our second trip back to the park this summer. First weekend in June. We are looking at staying in the bear run falls condo. I was wondering if anyone on here has stayed there and if so how did you like it?

 

we loved the park on our first visit a few years ago, I can't wait to ride my first RMC.

My family loves Bear Run Falls. They are one of the few places that is on the lower end of the price range while being nice looking. I would stay in the Bear Run cabins or condos over the Golfview condos, they are all clean but Golfview is starting to show its age.

[p-sychiatrist]

Not sure if the hosts are just tired/stressed/underpaid/overworked but this is definitely different than the way it used to be. Don't get me wrong there are still a few hosts left with some customer service "charm" but they are few and far between compared to the old days.

 

^ This is definitely a huge part of it. Dealing with thousands of people on hot summer days while being paid dirt, staffing scheduling you for far too many hours in a week, and not getting proper breaks can make anybody cranky. However I will say it is largely a generational problem as well. The "southern hospitality" or even the simple greeting of people is almost completely lost on a young generation that would rather just check their phone than socialize with strangers. I'm part of this young generation and it's frustrating to see how much my friends have started closing themselves off. While working at Great Adventure I would always strike up conversations with guests, it can be as simple as complimenting their t-shirt or asking what their favorite ride is. There are definitely days when the frustration of being overworked/underpaid and having to deal with very rude or entitled guests can completely sour an employee's mood. While the employees shouldn't ever take their anger out on guests, I completely understand how easily this can happen.

[ASE]

Regarding the feeling that Dollywood is losing its "Southern charm" and "friendliness", this is actually an issue that Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg have been struggling with as a whole the past decade or more. The town use to be filled with "locals" working in the businesses and owning them...locals that were raised in the Smokies with a noticeably hospitable and friendly nature...the kind of people who help & give advice without appearing to be inconvenienced or expecting tips. Now, however, the county is filled with people who have moved here from all over the world (literally) and it's a hobo stew of personalities. There is no longer a "consistent" Smoky Mountain experience that helped the area grow in the first place.

 

I'm not saying everyone who has moved to the area are jerks...it's just that personalities, demeanors, accents, etc all go into the "experience" visitors have...and it's a lot different now than it use to be.

 

It's not just a generational issue or problem with Dollywood...there just aren't enough "good" employees to fill all the jobs in the area...and most of the jobs are low-paying, so there's very little incentive to convince "good" people to move to the area. It's a serious problem that is actually a great opportunity for the smart business owners that solve it. It's not a problem that can be swept under a rug by adding a 5 star hotel and fancy new rides. Hopefully Dollywood can figure it out quickly before it gets worse in the area.

[ktkmaddaw]

Was At the park on Sunday. Crowds weren't too bad as most coasters had at most a 10 to 15 min. wait all day. Our party arrived about 30 min. before the park opened. As we walked to the gate I counted 4 employees that were greeting gust by saying welcome to Dollywood. As we went through the turnstiles, the workers were also wishing us a happy new year. I also thought it was very neat that Dollywood starts out the day with the singing of the National Anthem at the front gate.

 

The rides were chugging along just fine. Thunderhead was great and riding it after dark was just amazing. For some reason they had to shut down the front row of one of the Wild Eagle trains for the whole day. The lights were amazing, I cant imagine how long it must have taken to put all those up. FYI though, don't put pennies down on the train track for the Train to run over, our group did it for the kids to have a souvenir but one of the crossing workers told us if she caught us doing that again we would have to leave the park. Overall though it was a great day. I snapped a few pictures while riding on the cars of the Lightning Rod launch and station.

 

P.S. You can be jealous, I got to purchase the last piece of Cinnamon Bread of the 2015 season. They ran out around 6:30.

[mordecai-75]

^ Good Lord! Are you trying to derail Dollywood Express right in the middle of the park with that penny?

 

 

 

Nice pics, i was there Sunday as well. The park seemed to finally return back to normal after the few weeks of chaos that rained down upon it. Hope they prepare for what's coming in March, the crowd may be much larger then what they predicted. I enjoyed your praise of Thunderhead, alot of comments i hear from the GP when exiting the ride are quite negative. Mostly about roughness and shaking them around and such. I know that the folks saying these things probably have no clue what a "rough" coaster is (in my opinion Mystery Mine is rougher than Thunderhead) but it still makes me bit sad inside they didn't enjoy such a wonderful coaster. To each their own though.

[Dollywoodlover20]

It may just be me but I enjoy the on edge rattling feel of Thunderhead. It makes it feel that much more intense when the whole train is vibrating and shaking you around. Now, there are some spots in the end that if you ride alone, and in the main back it will toss you around like a rag doll, but isn't that why it's the "wildest ride in the woods". I generally think Mystery Mine is just meant to be abrupt and jerky. There's no way to not be with that layout design, well maybe changing train types and go more of a Dare Devil Dive style (lap bar restrain system).

 

Beautiful photos of Lightning Rod. I hope Dollywood does a cool lightning style with the launch for the summer nights. Like a timed lighting sequence for when it launches up, not sure if that'd look tacky or not but I'm sure they have the 50's era ready to come at us in full swing. Done some out of boredom research on why the Gas Station/Garage is so big. Until I noticed the building had "ACE" on it. Which is a well known hardware store. So I looked up ACE's stores in the 50's and apparently they worked on cars more than just being a hardware. Here's what the station is probably loosely based off of.

[Guy T. Koepp]

^Nice catch! That makes a great amount of sense.

 

Remind me to look you up if I never need any Private Investigation work done.

[jimmiemac02]

Done some out of boredom research on why the Gas Station/Garage is so big. Until I noticed the building had "ACE" on it. Which is a well known hardware store. So I looked up ACE's stores in the 50's and apparently they worked on cars more than just being a hardware. Here's what the station is probably loosely based off of.

 

That's really cool! I never knew this.

[Ape]

Dollywood trip for the family is officially booked. I cannot wait.

[WolfBobs]

Booked my first trip to Dollywood for mid-April. Looking forward to it and Lightning Rod was the ride that put me over the edge. Booked the day the ride was announced.

[jedimaster1227]

This ride continues to look better and better with each update!

[jray21]

^ Good Lord! Are you trying to derail Dollywood Express right in the middle of the park with that penny?

 

 

 

Nice pics, i was there Sunday as well. The park seemed to finally return back to normal after the few weeks of chaos that rained down upon it. Hope they prepare for what's coming in March, the crowd may be much larger then what they predicted. I enjoyed your praise of Thunderhead, alot of comments i hear from the GP when exiting the ride are quite negative. Mostly about roughness and shaking them around and such. I know that the folks saying these things probably have no clue what a "rough" coaster is (in my opinion Mystery Mine is rougher than Thunderhead) but it still makes me bit sad inside they didn't enjoy such a wonderful coaster. To each their own though.

 

 

Interesting info! I love Ace hardware out here. Thanks for the pictures, the ride is looking really great!

[ZeroGravity55]

Photos from RMC's Facebook:

 

 

 

 

[rcjp]

^The first and last photos look especially twistyyyy

[chickenbowl]

It definitely looks AMAZING! I still think it's very possible that this will become my favorite wood coaster when I ride it in June/July!

 

Also, I'm having a difficult time imagining this construction being completed and the coaster fully tested in 2 1/2 months (Late March opening?). I'll stay optimistic though, I can't wait to see more!

[ernierocker]

^I was told they were actually ahead of schedule right before the New Year. I am with you though. I thought they would of had the major trackwork completed. My guess is that they need the service road to complete the final trackwork and obviously with the trolley running that route, they had to wait until the park was closed. Let's just hope East Tennessee doesn't have the winter we had last year with a ton of snow in late January and throughout February.

Edited January 12, 2016 by ernierocker

[Guy T. Koepp]

Just awesome! That giant wave turn in going to be insane? I have no idea what kind of forces you are going to feel on it? It just boggles my mind! Can not wait for this monster!

[DoinItForTheFame]

 

[Dollywoodlover20]

They have way more than what RMC posted. For some reason RMC is always a tad bit behind on the progress but I love their updates. I was doing my daily construction check on Instagram and found this one of the breaking wave turn from the HR building, then these others were posted in a comment to the RMC Updates by some guy named Chris? Anyway, they seem to have been taken from somewhere deep in the woods, I'm going to guess behind those old apartments on the mountain. These pictures give you an idea of how tall the turn is though.

Instagram photo

From Facebook

[RyanTPM]

It looks way too good, look at that twisty part!

[jedimaster1227]

Those are some incredible looking maneuvers! My excitement for this ride continues to grow with each new photo!

[ETapley0687]

Ugh Dollywood is going to make me spend my money this summer!!! lol I love that park though. My original home park and the progress they've had over the years is amazing.