Dollywood Discussion Thread

[cav07]

^ I asked one of the hostesses about it, and they said that there is a high chance of it opening later today.

[chickenbowl]

^ I asked one of the hostesses about it, and they said that there is a high chance of it opening later today.

 

Any luck yet?

[cav07]

^ I asked one of the hostesses about it, and they said that there is a high chance of it opening later today.

 

Any luck yet?

Not yet. I asked again a little while ago, and they said they weren't sure if it would open today or not.

[fredoflasvegas]

^ I asked one of the hostesses about it, and they said that there is a high chance of it opening later today.

 

Any luck yet?

Not yet. I asked again a little while ago, and they said they weren't sure if it would open today or not.

 

 

 

This news certainly leaves me very hopeful for tomorrow and Friday, when I will be at Dollywood.

[jjzadero]

So, was the article from Travel and Leisure a fake or does Dollywood continue to have the most inept PR team on the planet? Or both?

 

"The ride now has been repaired, however, and is ready for visitors, Pete Owens, Dollywood's director of communications, told Travel + Leisure."

[coasterdude5]

So, was the article from Travel and Leisure a fake or does Dollywood continue to have the most inept PR team on the planet? Or both?

 

"The ride now has been repaired, however, and is ready for visitors, Pete Owens, Dollywood's director of communications, told Travel + Leisure."

There's no telling. But I think part of this poor handling may be that the park (and possibly Hershcend as a chain) has never dealt with such a complex situation like this before with a new ride opening. It's been a perfect storm of massive proportions — and I doubt the park has prepared for this sort of "crisis" PR situation. And if they have, that preparation certainly isn't showing.

[cav07]

So, was the article from Travel and Leisure a fake or does Dollywood continue to have the most inept PR team on the planet? Or both?

 

"The ride now has been repaired, however, and is ready for visitors, Pete Owens, Dollywood's director of communications, told Travel + Leisure."

At this point, I think anything and everything is an option.

[knaiwear]

Who on earth tells the media that the ride is open when it's not open?! smh

[dstephe9]

Who on earth tells the media that the ride is open when it's not open?! smh

Remember, the ride has been having several different issues.. motor burned up, the recall, passable launch issues.. they might have fixed the recall issue and had the ride ready for today and then something else failed.. we have no idea when Pete told the magazine it was repaired.. it might have been last night or something..

 

This is assuming they actually spoke with Pete

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[knaiwear]

^all the more reason to avoid making a public statement until the ride is actually open.

[appel]

As there is still the banner on Dollywood.com, I would expect that the coaster is still down, despite what Pete Owens supposedly said in this article.

However I hope they can fix the issues and reopen as soon as possible.

Hope to hear some updates from visitors these days.

[jynx242]

You guys do know that the PR department that you guys are insulting actually read and post to this forum, right? I understand the confusion and irritation, but perhaps a little politeness or tact is in order??

 

Just checking

[djrappa]

Yeah I don't think there is any need for insults.

 

The way I see it the ride crews last priority is probably to tell marketing what is going on. It's would be to get the ride running again.

So they probably informed PR that the seat issue was fixed and then it was good to go.

By the time they found another issue the release was probably already sent out.

 

I know all too well how frustrating it is to have to stop work on commissioning/repair frequently to update marketing people etc. really slows the job down.

[coasterdude5]

I know all too well how frustrating it is to have to stop work on commissioning/repair frequently to update marketing people etc. really slows the job down.

But that's not an excuse. As inconvenient as that communication may be, sending pertinent information to the public-facing PR team is important — especially now that the coaster has "officially" opened and people are expecting it to be open.

 

Of course, there is no need to go into specifics as to what the problems are or divulge more technical information than necessary (like why did the park name drop RMC on the website alert? 99% of visitors to their website likely have no idea who/what that is).

 

Everyone on the park side needs to be on the same page so that incorrect information isn't relayed to the public. That's for everyone's benefit.

 

I have an incredible amount of respect for the park's PR team — they do an outstanding job. Having worked in a similar capacity in my last job, I know and can empathize with the stress of dealing with an impatient/uninformed public.

[brenthodge]

I haven't seen anything insulting to the PR team in the last posts. Just stating that they seem unprepared to deal with this problem. I don't see that as an insult. I see it as a well founded opinion based on the way the situation has been handled from March 18 on.

[STDog]

(like why did the park name drop RMC on the website alert? 99% of visitors to their website likely have no idea who/what that is).

 

LR is the only ride on the site that has info on the manufacturer. But RMC is mentioned a few times and was often mentioned in early info about the ride.

http://www.dollywood.com/themepark/Rides/LightningRod/AboutTheRide

 

Was WE or FCE done similarly? Nothing on the park pages mention the manufacturer of them, now.

Edited June 24, 2016 by STDog

[djrappa]

Have to respectfully disagree coasterdude.

 

A daily update or maybe twice daily update if there is a change expected is reasonable.

But you simply can't expect the maintenance crew to be updating PR on every thing with the ride. Their work and stress load would be huge right now.

 

And to be fair LR is effectively temporarily closed right now. Because it is meant to be open and will be as soon as they can correct the current issue. Thunderhead has been down for a while today, do they issue a press release on that? No

 

LR will be open the second it can be and people just have to be patient.

It's not like they are up there going "oh haha this will screw with people's plans, let's keep it closed"

 

I've flown out here from Australia to ride the thing and it doesn't look like it will happen and I'm ok with that because shit happens and if that was the sole reason for coming here that would be incredibly stupid of me.

I feel if I can be cool about it, no one else has an excuse not to be.

[cav07]

As of now, LR's train is sitting on the launch track. Hopefully, it will be running soon.

[appel]

As of now, LR's train is sitting on the launch track. Hopefully, it will be running soon.

 

Wonder why they don't move it to the station/maintenance area...

[coasterkid124]

^Of course this is purely speculation, but they may be trying to launch it but the system keeps giving errors. I hope this situation gets ironed out soon. I would hate to see more parks reluctant to purchase a similar model from RMC.

[jynx242]

The saving grace of the situation is the fact that Dollywood is such an amazing park. I know I would be disappointed if I had traveled there and Lightning Rod was down - but there is just so much to see and do (and eat) there that I would not leave unhappy.

 

And to note - I really just don't understand people who do not get this. I'm not saying they are wrong (but they are ,) but to not be able to find AT LEAST a day's worth of things to enjoy while visiting Dollywood is just Science Fiction to me.

 

Back on topic....the videos and pictures I've seen make me REALLY look forward to riding LR next time I visit. If you could actually ride it WHILE eating Cinnamon Bread...I'd be in Nirvana

[djrappa]

It's gone now so either they launched it or it went back to the station.

[coasterdude5]

If you could actually ride it WHILE eating Cinnamon Bread...I'd be in Nirvana

The cinnamon bread is still the best ride at Dollywood, so don't set your Lightning Rod expectations too high.

[djrappa]

And they're not stupid enough to set fire to the Bread!

[jjzadero]

While the cinnamon bread at Dollywood is absolutely amazing, has anyone been to the Donut Friar in Gatlinburg? Their cinnamon bread is crazy good and just barely tops Dollywood for my #1 spot. It's ridiculously good. They open at 5 am, so try to get there early-ish... this stuff goes pretty fast and is usually gone by mid-afternoon.