Dollywood Discussion Thread

[robbalvey]

. Delays happen and even from a distance, I think the way Dollywood deals with that is perfect.

 

You think it's "perfect" to wait until three days before opening to announce something that's been pretty apparent to anyone watching for a couple weeks?

 

While we all conceded that there was a *possibility* that the ride might make it, all signs pointed toward a slight delay. No testing videos, no reports of endless cycling, not even a second train on the track until yesterday. I have no doubt that they all wanted, hoped and wished that this thing could be up by Friday but that was always the long shot and they should never have planned media days on Thursday, a "grand opening" countdown to the ride on the weekend and even a coaster club event with Lightning Rod ERT on Saturday. That's just crazy for any new ride let alone a prototype trying to open in mid March! (And yes this is a prototype. It's velocity magnets first launch)

 

There's been almost no sign of serious testing. Meanwhile Dollywood got on the news YESTERDAY trying to drum up opening day business by talking about the new ride. Pretty convenient to cancel with under 72 hours to go before pass holder day. I'm sure it's not just a coincidence that the cancellation refund policy at their fancy new resort is 72 hours in advance.

 

No, the "perfect" thing to do would be to set a Grand Opening and media day in mid April and allow for a little bit of buffer. If the ride soft opens, great! That's a bonus perk. Say "lightning rod, coming later this spring" on the news instead of getting the GP excited. They don't follow the construction like us and they wouldn't have any reason to expect it to be closed based on what the park put forth.

 

Pretty shameful. I can't think of a time when a park was so sloppy about handling the delay of a major attraction.

 

This is seriously one of the worst and stupidest posts I've ever read on our forums. In fact, I'm giving the poster a 1 month ban for being an idiot, and hopefully in that time he'll learn a bit more about the amusement park industry and be more respectful with his words.

 

Now that I've got that out of my way, let me explain something....

 

I *GUARANTEE* you the park was doing everything they possibly could up until the last minute they had to get the ride ready and hope it could be open to the public for opening day. Absolutely NO PARK IN THE WORLD wants to open a ride late or have to say it's delayed.

 

But having said that, the park still owes you NOTHING. Can the park operate just fine without Lightning Rod open? Absolutely. They have done so for many years. And the majority of the guests, while slightly disappointed will still have an amazing day at the park. Why? Because it's an amazing park!

 

They will get the ride open when the ride is READY. And that's exactly what they should be doing. There was nothing wrong, shameful, or sloppy about what the park did. In fact, I applaud them for working around the clock as hard as they can to get the ride open and I'll be more than happy to ride it when I can.

 

Your post is exactly why some "enthusiasts" are an embarrassment and why we ban people like you from our forums. Quite simply, we don't want people here who cannot understand or appreciate the work that goes into running a park, which includes opening a new ride, because it's a hell of a lot of work and most people here wouldn't last at your typical theme park job.

 

/end rant

[jarmor]

To the people who say that the opening (or not opening) of a coaster is not something that should impact our lives deeply, let me remind you why we all ride coasters: We ride coasters and travel to amusement parks to take a break from our shitty daily lives.

 

 

I'm upset not only because I'll be flying from Brazil just to -apparently- ride only kiddie coasters in Pigeon Forge, but also due to all the season pass/foreign credit card drama and everything that followed. Lately I've been having so many bad experiences with US parks (and some coaster people, from park employees to coaster fans) that traveling to the US is no longer fun.

I'm not part of that we as my life is faaaaarrr from shifty lol. That could be the reason why a lot of enthusiasts are a-holes. Anyway . . . if you consider the coasters at dollywood kiddie then I feel the trip is a waste even if lightning rod was ready.

 

I hope this is a lesson learn to everyone. As its been said everytime this happens , stop trying to be first and start being smart. The coaster will still be there after the first day so no need to rush.

[Dollywoodlover20]

I knew when the park workers themselves were doubting the opening due to it not running enough full cycles I knew they realisticly wouldnt make opening. We were going to go to opening to ride but now we are planning late April/May for our first ride. But I'm fine with that, as long as the coaster is safe and runs like it's supposed to. I'm blown away by the actual speed on this thing though! It literally flies over the false drop and drop, then even faster through the wave turn. My mouth dropped when I seen it going into the quad down but the video was over

[Mrenata]

I already have all the other credits at Dollywood, except for Firechaser Express and the kiddie coasters around Pigeon Forge. And to be honest, there's nothing so extraordinary about that park that would make someone fly 6000 miles just to hang out there. Without Lightning Rod, Dollywood is just an OK park with terrible, TERRIBLE customer services.

 

Also, as I said, if the not opening of Lightning Rod was the only issue with this trip, It wouldn't be so bad. This trip to Dollywood was a nightmare since my first attempt to purchase a season pass online.

 

 

Edit: I wasn't trying to be the first to ride the coaster by the way. It's just a matter of logistics. All the other parks are not open yet, so it makes more sense to visit Dollywood and the surrounding parks now, and visit the parks with shorter operating days in the summer, specially considering that I can take one international trip every 3-4 months.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Mrenata

[kickflipbacktail]

To the people who say that the opening (or not opening) of a coaster is not something that should impact our lives deeply, let me remind you why we all ride coasters: We ride coasters and travel to amusement parks to take a break from our shitty daily lives.

 

 

I'm upset not only because I'll be flying from Brazil just to -apparently- ride only kiddie coasters in Pigeon Forge, but also due to all the season pass/foreign credit card drama and everything that followed. Lately I've been having so many bad experiences with US parks (and some coaster people, from park employees to coaster fans) that traveling to the US is no longer fun.

Okay. I thought I was making a questionable choice going only a week after opening, but that's going to a new level of irresponsibility. Sorry for you mate but that wasnt the wisest decision.

[SuperShawn]

Dollywood is just an OK park with terrible, TERRIBLE customer services.

 

Also, as I said, if the not opening of Lightning Rod was the only issue with this trip, It wouldn't be so bad. This trip to Dollywood was a nightmare since my first attempt to purchase a season pass online.

 

As someones who works with international customers and deals with a payment system that can and will reject international credit cards, I can tell you it's frustrating for all parties but it 100% does not mean I am nor the people of Dollywood are giving you terrible customer service. I have found with any issue minor or frustrating I have had with bookings and various things with Dollywood their staff have always gone above and beyond to fix the issue or be helpful.

[SFOGdude25]

Well judging by the latest testing video, progress seems to be going well despite the delay.

The way I see it, Dollywood did want the ride to be ready for opening, so they seem to have been working as hard as they can to get the ride ready, and they simply weren't sure how close they were to opening the ride until now.

 

Look at it this way. The flak Dollywood is getting from the delay is a FAR better situation than the ride opening early and an accident happens as a result. Once the ride opens, all the bad publicity will be forgotten.

[Mrenata]

Dollywood is just an OK park with terrible, TERRIBLE customer services.

 

Also, as I said, if the not opening of Lightning Rod was the only issue with this trip, It wouldn't be so bad. This trip to Dollywood was a nightmare since my first attempt to purchase a season pass online.

 

As someones who works with international customers and deals with a payment system that can and will reject international credit cards, I can tell you it's frustrating for all parties but it 100% does not mean I am nor the people of Dollywood are giving you terrible customer service. I have found with any issue minor or frustrating I have had with bookings and various things with Dollywood their staff have always gone above and beyond to fix the issue or be helpful.

 

 

- First the website doesn't take foreign credit cards

- Then you decide to call, and there's only a 1-800 number, so you need to add Skype credits in order to make this call

- The woman on the phone doesn't know why all my 5 credit cards were declined - she kept insisting that they do take foreign cards

-They can't process a season pass in 6 easy payments over the phone, nor at the ticket office, Only online.

- You can't message them through their Facebook page

- It takes them 10 days to reply a message sent via their website - which by the way, they still haven't.

 

If that's not terrible customer services, I don't know what is!

 

 

Anyway, my trip to Dollywood is scheduled for March 28th. Let's hope that Lightning Rod is open by then or that at least customer services reply the message I sent them a week ago with a solution to my problem.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Mrenata

[Philrad71]

Dollywood is just an OK park with terrible, TERRIBLE customer services.

 

Also, as I said, if the not opening of Lightning Rod was the only issue with this trip, It wouldn't be so bad. This trip to Dollywood was a nightmare since my first attempt to purchase a season pass online.

 

As someones who works with international customers and deals with a payment system that can and will reject international credit cards, I can tell you it's frustrating for all parties but it 100% does not mean I am nor the people of Dollywood are giving you terrible customer service. I have found with any issue minor or frustrating I have had with bookings and various things with Dollywood their staff have always gone above and beyond to fix the issue or be helpful.

 

Well said, Shawn!

 

While it is unfortunate that the OP has had such bad luck with processing a season pass and getting credit cards declined, this is not the fault of the person at Dollywood working in customer service. I assume that international season pass processing is not something that this park receives inquiries for on any given day (Disney and Universal parks are probably much more attuned to this) so it is probably fairly new to them.

 

Although I am sure that it might be safe to day that this is something that they will most likely work diligently to fix as Dollywood gains more international recognition - especially if they keep installing state of the art coasters like Firechaser Express and LR. This park is not one to slack on customer service, that's for sure!

 

And I cringe at the thought of the absolute crap that must be plastered all over Dollywood's Facebook page right now (I don't and won't do Facebook - just because it makes me want to throw up).

 

Also...I know that this was just posted a few pages back, but......it's still worth sharing again based on a few of the posts that I have read since the recent announcement.

Edited March 15, 2016 by Philrad71

[RyanTPM]

Regardless of the delayed opening, it's great to see a testing video, looks like it has fast pacing which is fantastic!

[jarmor]

Dollywood is just an OK park with terrible, TERRIBLE customer services.

 

Also, as I said, if the not opening of Lightning Rod was the only issue with this trip, It wouldn't be so bad. This trip to Dollywood was a nightmare since my first attempt to purchase a season pass online.

 

As someones who works with international customers and deals with a payment system that can and will reject international credit cards, I can tell you it's frustrating for all parties but it 100% does not mean I am nor the people of Dollywood are giving you terrible customer service. I have found with any issue minor or frustrating I have had with bookings and various things with Dollywood their staff have always gone above and beyond to fix the issue or be helpful.

 

 

- First the website doesn't take foreign credit cards

- Then you decide to call, and there's only a 1-800 number, so you need to add Skype credits in order to make this call

- The woman on the phone doesn't know why all my 5 credit cards were declined

-They can't process a season pass in 6 easy payments over the phone, nor at the ticket office, Only online.

- You can't message them through their Facebook page

- It takes them 10 days to reply a message sent via their website - which by the way, they still haven't.

 

If that's not terrible customer services, I don't know what is!

I think you are failing to remember dollywood is not an international parl. It's not even a national park. How many people do you think, outside of the US, is clamoring to buy a season pass for them to have an international commerce site? Not once did you mention the people were rude to you or anything of that nature. That would be terrible customer service. I really don't foresee them making any changes to their current system. If you visit the US enough, I would personally suggest getting a US bank account where you can easily transfer your money into and out of to use for said purchases.

[coasterbill]

In all seriousness I'm not sure why anyone would invest a significant amount of money to be at the opening of a new ride when you know there's a risk there. We've gone to some opening days (like Fury last year or some rides at our local parks) but only when we can drive and don't have to book anything more than a day or two out.

 

We had thought about going to Dollyood opening day and making the 12 hour drive. I get it, they open a week earlier than most parks and options are limited but now we're going to Williamsburg instead and we'll go to Dollywood later this year. I really don't suggest flying to go to the opening day of a ride or booking in advance. It'll only stress you out. But to be fair even if you did exactly that Dollywood is a killer park. If you haven't been there before you're going to love the place and now you have an excuse to go back (cough... Smoky Mountain Christmas).

[thedlr]

That testing video though...

[Mrenata]

Dollywood is just an OK park with terrible, TERRIBLE customer services.

 

Also, as I said, if the not opening of Lightning Rod was the only issue with this trip, It wouldn't be so bad. This trip to Dollywood was a nightmare since my first attempt to purchase a season pass online.

 

As someones who works with international customers and deals with a payment system that can and will reject international credit cards, I can tell you it's frustrating for all parties but it 100% does not mean I am nor the people of Dollywood are giving you terrible customer service. I have found with any issue minor or frustrating I have had with bookings and various things with Dollywood their staff have always gone above and beyond to fix the issue or be helpful.

 

 

- First the website doesn't take foreign credit cards

- Then you decide to call, and there's only a 1-800 number, so you need to add Skype credits in order to make this call

- The woman on the phone doesn't know why all my 5 credit cards were declined

-They can't process a season pass in 6 easy payments over the phone, nor at the ticket office, Only online.

- You can't message them through their Facebook page

- It takes them 10 days to reply a message sent via their website - which by the way, they still haven't.

 

If that's not terrible customer services, I don't know what is!

I think you are failing to remember dollywood is not an international parl. It's not even a national park. How many people do you think, outside of the US, is clamoring to buy a season pass for them to have an international commerce site? Not once did you mention the people were rude to you or anything of that nature. That would be terrible customer service. I really don't foresee them making any changes to their current system. If you visit the US enough, I would personally suggest getting a US bank account where you can easily transfer your money into and out of to use for said purchases.

 

 

First, the idea of opening a bank account just because Dollywood and it's sister park SDC are not prepared to deal with international customers is just insane. Specially because those were the only 2 parks in the US where I had this issue. Even the smaller parks (and I mean, the really small ones like Quassy or Andretti Thrill Park) are able to process a simple international transaction (Paypal?).

 

 

Second, here's the irony on this situation: I decided to go for the season pass because I realized about 2 weeks ago that Lightning Rod would probably not be open, so I thought it was a good idea to buy the season pass, save some money and have a reason to go back later this year. Dollywood clearly doesn't want my business

[A.J.]

Honestly, situations like this me wonder if, in reality, Busch Gardens' refusal to acknowledge Tempesto actually paid off. I wonder how a park would be received if they, say, pulled the "Apple approach" and announced a brand new ride opening several weeks to a month after the announcement, as opposed to building hype over an entire off-season.

[southpuddle]

Mrenata, you may have already explained, but you live in Brazil and are buying a season pass, so I'm assuming you'll be visiting again this year, correct? I'd count your blessings that you're able to make such a long journey twice in one year.

 

*edit* you answered my question while I was typing my original post. I'm still scratching my head as to why, after so much frustration with purchasing the pass online, you didn't just decide to buy it at the park on your first visit.

 

I believe that Dollywood honestly didn't know until today that LR wouldn't be ready for Friday. Unfortunately, the worst part seems to be that they made the announcement after the resort cancellation deadline.

Edited March 15, 2016 by southpuddle

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Honestly, situations like this me wonder if, in reality, Busch Gardens' refusal to acknowledge Tempesto actually paid off. I wonder how a park would be received if they, say, pulled the "Apple approach" and announced a brand new ride opening several weeks to a month after the announcement, as opposed to building hype over an entire off-season.

Considering that up to a few years ago, that's exactly how every announcement was, I'd say that approach can be quite successful.

[Nrthwnd]

Honestly, situations like this me wonder if, in reality, Busch Gardens' refusal to acknowledge Tempesto actually paid off. I wonder how a park would be received if they, say, pulled the "Apple approach" and announced a brand new ride opening several weeks to a month after the announcement, as opposed to building hype over an entire off-season.

 

This would work IMhO, better than actual opening dates posted.

 

As for building hype - oh, we seem to do that enough ourselves, heh.

[Ape]

I'm just exciting to see a testing video. I guess I'm easily satisfied

[brenthodge]

I think - while YES they tried - hoped and prayed it would be ready they should have had "plan B" all along. I agree waiting till a few days out to announce "not gonna happen" was a bit crazy. If there was even a chance of this being "behind" they should have not promoted it as opening on opening day. I wonder if - in the future - this will impact the marketing of all major ride openings. I totally agree that they should have promoted it as "Grand Opening" in late march or April with a firm date. They could have been sure then they would have hit that deadline, but could have also marketed the fact that LR would be in "Preview" when the park opened for the season. They could have clearly told people that the ride MAY be open, or may not - may run the full day, or may have to shut down to make adjustments. This is a "preview" period and like any "show" there might still be tweaking. THAT WAY people could have planned accordingly knowing that if they came in those first two week, there were no guarantees. It seems now like they are gushy to even post a date for fear that they will not make that as well. I think this was poor planning and synergy between the marketing and the planning/construction teams. A lot of "hoping" and maybe even pushing one or the other to make this happen.

 

To beat up on the guy saying it was sloppy is unfair - because like it or not - the timing of it and the way it was worded was a bit sloppy.

[jarmor]

I think - while YES they tried - hoped and prayed it would be ready they should have had "plan B" all along. I agree waiting till a few days out to announce "not gonna happen" was a bit crazy. If there was even a chance of this being "behind" they should have not promoted it as opening on opening day. I wonder if - in the future - this will impact the marketing of all major ride openings. I totally agree that they should have promoted it as "Grand Opening" in late march or April with a firm date. They could have been sure then they would have hit that deadline, but could have also marketed the fact that LR would be in "Preview" when the park opened for the season. They could have clearly told people that the ride MAY be open, or may not - may run the full day, or may have to shut down to make adjustments. This is a "preview" period and like any "show" there might still be tweaking. THAT WAY people could have planned accordingly knowing that if they came in those first two week, there were no guarantees. It seems now like they are gushy to even post a date for fear that they will not make that as well. I think this was poor planning and synergy between the marketing and the planning/construction teams. A lot of "hoping" and maybe even pushing one or the other to make this happen.

 

To beat up on the guy saying it was sloppy is unfair - because like it or not - the timing of it and the way it was worded was a bit sloppy.

 

Maybe there are different degrees of "sloppy" but this was definitely not one of them. Say 2 weeks ago they announced it wasn't gonna be ready. Then 3 days before opening they announced it would be ready. You'd still find people complaining. I guess being optimistic isn't always a good thing.

[hydra]

Hey, as someone who had bought a plane ticket and put in for time off work to be there this week (for the assumed media event, remeber the park never set a date for the opening) I'm not even mad.

 

We knew the risk of this happening and you role with the punches. After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

The best part? Now I can wait until later in the season when the water-park is finally open and get to experience that as well!

Win-freaking-Win

[jarmor]

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

After seeing the testing video, how can you even be mad?!

 

. . . I think I quoted that enough.

[FaithPlus1]

I give up!! Laptop not letting me embed the video however, theres a great new testing video posted a few minutes ago.

[jarmor]

I give up!! Laptop not letting me embed the video however, theres a great new testing video posted a few minutes ago.

 

Who wants to see the first video testing of LR?!?!? Looks like it's running pretty well!

 

[vimeo]

[/vimeo]