Dollywood Discussion Thread

[DoinItForTheFame]

...with no one on it or working on it...

 

I assure you there are people working on the coaster. Just because you may not be able to see them when you walk by, does not mean that they are no there. Dollywood is not going to leave this coaster just sitting there SBNO. They are actively trying to get it up and running. The park doesn't like having the ride closed any more than we like the ride being closed.

[LukeFlynn]

...with no one on it or working on it...

 

I assure you there are people working on the coaster. Just because you may not be able to see them when you walk by, does not mean that they are no there. Dollywood is not going to leave this coaster just sitting there SBNO. They are actively trying to get it up and running. The park doesn't like having the ride closed any more than we like the ride being closed.

 

+1

 

Who knows if the issues even require people to be there physically.

[BigBad]

There are a couple of possibilities that wouldn't require anyone to be working on the coaster. Here are two that come to mind.

 

1. The problem has been identified and no work can be done until a replacement part has arrived.

2. The problem involves software and rewriting code from the RMC office in Idaho. It's amazing how much depends on software these days. A car in my family only had the driver's window going down halfway. Mechanical issue? No! The car computer had gotten confused and was only bringing the window down halfway.

[Mastalucky23]

Well I was at the park literally all day today with no sign of activity around Lrod at all. All the lights were off, no one out at the front of the que, and the bay doors were shut in the station. It looked deserted. Even everyone walking by the station, seeing the sign at the entrance of the park and on the tram back to the parking lot had nothing but negative things to say. It's become a joke to the guests. I'm not bashing Dollywood, it's my favorite park. I'm

Just letting you all know what I witnessed today with the negative feedback from guests.

[jimmiemac02]

I was looking to go to Dollywood the week of the 18th and looked into DreamMore pricing and found this. Anybody know what is going on?

Why is the rate so high Wednesday and Thursday?

[BigBad]

First day of summer?

[larrygator]

^^Grand re-opening of Lightning Run

[DoinItForTheFame]

^^Grand re-opening of Lightning Run

 

Kentucky Kingdom... Is that you??

[cparkes92]

^^Grand re-opening of Lightning Run

 

Kentucky Kingdom... Is that you??

 

I'm surprised Lightning Rod and Lightning Run don't get confused more often, considering they're somewhat close geographically.

 

I have an odd theory with the design of Lightning Rod's launch hill: I feel it was designed the way it was that if it had lots of problems, Dollywood and RMC could replace the launch with a chain lift over an offseason (while eliminating the short drop at the top of the first hill).

[MidwestThemeParks]

I have an odd theory with the design of Lightning Rod's launch hill: I feel it was designed the way it was that if it had lots of problems, Dollywood and RMC could replace the launch with a chain lift over an offseason (while eliminating the short drop at the top of the first hill).

 

Or it was designed that way to get over the mountain which would have made it much more difficult to have a flat launch. I still don't think they would change the launch to a chain or cable lift. I would expect them to get a completely new launch system before changing to a chain lift. Throughout all of these issues, I still don't understand why a launch on wood is so much more difficult than a launch on steel and I don't get why the trains have such big sensor issues when other RMCs don't seem to have those issues.

[larrygator]

^^Grand re-opening of Lightning Run

 

Kentucky Kingdom... Is that you??

 

I'm surprised Lightning Rod and Lightning Run don't get confused more often, considering they're somewhat close geographically.

 

I have an odd theory with the design of Lightning Rod's launch hill: I feel it was designed the way it was that if it had lots of problems, Dollywood and RMC could replace the launch with a chain lift over an offseason (while eliminating the short drop at the top of the first hill).

 

I'm just glad I got to ride it. Maybe they can change the name to Flash in the Pan, so I don't mess up the name again.

[Vonni]

So I may be going to the park next Summer! If everything works out, this will be my first visit since 2002!

[LukeFlynn]

Lightning Rod is never going to have a chain lift hill.

 

They've already spent too much on having the world's fastest and only launched wood coaster to do anything that drastic to the ride experience IMHO.

[Jcoaster]

Im sure Dollywood wants to get LR running consistently before peak summer season. A little down time in June may go a long way to getting it running regulary in July and August.

[aeyrolet]

Lightning Rod is never going to have a chain lift hill.

 

They've already spent too much on having the world's fastest and only launched wood coaster to do anything that drastic to the ride experience IMHO.

Hypothetically if Lightning Rode were to get a chain left, would CREHOS count it as a new coaster credit? Asking for a friend.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Well, just completed our order for our Dollywood visit this year. So excited to be making our first trip to the park!! As an added bonus we get to do the water park too!!! Super excited for this!!!

[ytterbiumanalyst]

^ Have fun, it's super awesome! Good luck on Lightning Rod.

[dstephe9]

Well, just completed our order for our Dollywood visit this year. So excited to be making our first trip to the park!! As an added bonus we get to do the water park too!!! Super excited for this!!!

Splash Country is a great water park! It's top notch, and I'd honestly say it's on par with a Disney water park.. I can spend all day there relaxing in the summer.. it's themed well and has tons of slides so make sure you devote most of a day to it! If it's a summer trip, you might get 3 hours or so in Dollywood after splash closes.. Enjoy your trip!

 

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[BigBad]

Lightning Rod is never going to have a chain lift hill.

 

They've already spent too much on having the world's fastest and only launched wood coaster to do anything that drastic to the ride experience IMHO.

I agree with this, though not for the given reason. If they were to do something as drastic as replacing the launch hardware, I'd expect an LSM system by someone well established.

 

LSM technology works just fine.

[LukeFlynn]

Lightning Rod is never going to have a chain lift hill.

 

They've already spent too much on having the world's fastest and only launched wood coaster to do anything that drastic to the ride experience IMHO.

I agree with this, though not for the given reason. If they were to do something as drastic as replacing the launch hardware, I'd expect an LSM system by someone well established.

 

LSM technology works just fine.

 

Agreed.

 

Look at something like Maverick, or any of the other LSM coasters that have been operating for the past decade or two. I doubt it's even the launch anymore.

 

RMC has never designed trains for launches before, so maybe it really is the trains.. but honestly, none of us like blaming RMC because most of us all love their coasters.

[thrillerman1]

"I'm just glad I got to ride it. Maybe they can change the name to Flash in the Pan, so I don't mess up the name again.

 

Shut your pie hole Larry! (glad you got to ride it though)

[A.J.]

...but honestly, none of us like blaming RMC because most of us all love their coasters.

SOMEONE FINALLY ADMITS IT! I AM VINDICATED!

 

In all seriousness, Herschend was looking for an edge, and Rocky Mountain gave it to them. This industry is no stranger to taking risks to gain an advantage in the market. No matter how much a manufacturer can sell reliability and no matter how much a park thinks that their next grand scheme will work, anything revolutionary is going to have teething problems.

 

Lightning Rod's launch system and trains, Flight of Passage [apparently] not being able to operate at full capacity, issues with Volcano Bay's TapuTapu system... The list goes on.

[KingRCT3]

RMC just designed a straight piece of track, and hired Velocity Magnetics to do the job on the LSM. RMC was to blame for the issues with the lap-bar cylinders, but there we can't really blame there (that's not the train who're faulty, as far as I understand). Except maybe for partnering with an inexperienced LSM manufacturer - although VM has a great record history with magnetic brakes.

 

But in the end we will never now what really happened. Maybe RMC gave Velocity Magnetics wrong datas about their trains... Maybe Dollywood rushed the designing phase and put an unbearable pression on the manufacturers... So I don't really want to blame anyone unless we really know what's the matter.

[dstephe9]

And maybe it has nothing to do at all with the LSM, one thing the park has said over and over is that the launch works "beautifully".

 

It has been said by maintenance guys, Pete, another member of management on a news interview some of us on here saw, and even ride ops.. you never know if they are telling the truth or not but that part has been said more than anything about the downtime

 

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[Djwadeknox]

Folks the LSM's are working fine. The rollback videos have all been failure to launch by a censor before the launch. This censor issue is also happening at the break runs. It seems the more weight the train has the more censor problem they are having. That is why the train works so well when testing and then shuts down with a car load is in it. The only times I've heard of real rollbacks have been in testing when they made it rollback. I have a feeling (could be gas) but I think it is totally a train and censor problem and having RMC their seem to back it up. A good point has been made that RMC has never built trains to launch and these are one of a kind that seem to have a issue playing nice with the LSM's and the censors. That is why it's been so hard to keep it up and running in my opinion. Feel free to disagree.

Edited June 6, 2017 by Djwadeknox