Dollywood Discussion Thread

[PKI Jizzman]

Nice report on LR. No doubt that sign out front puts up a yellow light to the GP. At least the park is being transparent about it, though.

 

Yay, love for MM! Watch for that canary..

[TBpony414]

Hey, I have that exact same shirt your SO was wearing!! Nice pics, by the way.

Thanks! I got that shirt for SO in green and my brother in red as a surprise for Christmas. They both wear them all the time and get a ton of compliments on them. It was funny though yesterday because SO is pretty shy so when people would say "hey nice shirt!" he'd at first be like (5 pt font) "errrr uhhh thanks" but by the end of the day he was enthusiastic in his replies to complete strangers which was great to see. Anything to bring that guy out of his shell I support 100% haha.

 

I wrote some other stuff that I forgot to include in my TR from yesterday but the site ate it when I went to post so I'll retype another time.

[boldikus]

Great report!

 

Apologies if this has been discussed, but what exactly is the reasoning behind the ops not assisting with putting restraints down on Lightning Rod? And do they at least pull on them to make sure they are locked before dispatch? And the park does help with this at other rides? And at RMC's at other parks they assist you, at least they did on Wicked Cyclone... What's the deal with this?

[dstephe9]

The park doesn't help with any rides anymore (they used to) and last season it was a mix if they would help or not.. this season, them helping us pretty much a no-go.. With that being said, no Official reason was ever given but some ride ops have personally said it is to protect them mainly from hurting guest while trying to push down the bars

 

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[LukeFlynn]

IMHO, it makes sense from a liability perspective. I'm sure the park would rather deal with disgruntled guests than a lawsuit against a lapbar being pushed on too forcefully.

[bert425]

great pics Liz!

 

and so glad you got on LR

 

(and thanks for that flashback to standing in the sun waiting for Maverick. . LOL)

[jonskinny12]

Great report and pictures! Thanks for sharing. I'm glad (and very jealous) that LR was behaving for you.

[TBpony414]

Great report! Apologies if this has been discussed, but what exactly is the reasoning behind the ops not assisting with putting restraints down on Lightning Rod? And do they at least pull on them to make sure they are locked before dispatch? And the park does help with this at other rides? And at RMC's at other parks they assist you, at least they did on Wicked Cyclone... What's the deal with this?

 

 

Thanks Bert and others for the comments! I'm so relieved LR was eventually up and running on Monday after a bad end to its Sunday, and it having A Case of the Mondays. I hope they can continue to keep it operating consistently and improve operations so everyone else who makes the trek to the park can enjoy it!

 

I didn't make it to the park today because we spend too much time at the aquarium and walking the main Gatlinburg strip. Eventually ate at Mellow Mushroom Pizza which was super with a massive upstairs and it was very clean inside. Other adventures today included Hillbilly golf (excellent!) and visiting The Island which was nice enough but different. Not quite what I expected I guess.

 

Went over to Smoky Mtn Alpine Coaster for a much talked about night ride with the rainbow chaser lights thru half the course. Unfortunately on the very last part of the multiple lifts up the hill right when they tell you to push forward on the bars, a massive cicada slammed into the front of my crotch. It was at least 2" long if not more. I went to swipe it away but due to the way the seats and foot rests are it fell and got stuck flapping and fluttering around between my crotch/butt and the seat during the whole freaking downhill part LOL. When I got up at the end the poor thing was exhausted but flew off. Got a milkshake at Mad Dog's Creamery on the way home and tomorrow is LR and CB (cinnamon bread) day before we head up to Carowinds on Thursday.

 

 

Boldikus - thinking about it now, the only time an op helped me was on Wild Eagle when I couldn't quite reach the restraint to begin pulling it down. The op pushed it about 1" down and stood there while I reached up and pulled it the rest of the way. There aren't a lot of seat belts on rides there (which makes the often brutal dispatch times even more bizarre) but the few times I had flipper fingers and couldn't get the darn thing to click in on WE, the ride op was less than enthused to assist me. I would genuinely like to know why these policies are in place because it really makes things difficult/frustrating for both ride ops and guests. I find the hands-off approach also contributes significantly to the ops not paying attention during dispatches because they just stand around waiting for riders to hopefully get themselves settled correctly so they totally space out.

 

On all rides they lift or push up ever so slightly on your restraint and off you go. Definitely NO firm push/pull like I'm used to. On Barnstormer (smaller SkyHawk) the one ride the op really hesitated to push my restraint down which was weird because at CP if you touch the restraint they freak out. I asked her to push it tight and she barely used 2 fingers. The next time I rode it a guy was doing restraints and did it the CP way - hands up and he'll push them down. I much prefer that way and he was zipping thru the restraints doing a great job.

 

I was asked on one LR ride to push my bar down a bit more and keep my feet flat on the floor while doing so. I had my heels lifted up approximately 4cm due to the way I fit in the super deep seat, but other than that they really do a sad job of checking the restraints. Except for that one request when I was able to shove it down a fraction of an inch more to satisfy her, honestly I think I could have had the bar a full 3" off my thighs on every single other ride on every coaster and they wouldn't have said a word to me. They don't tug on the seat belt ends either on LR or the other rides where you share a belt like Thunderhead. Stapling sure ain't a thing in the south, y'all.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Went over to Smoky Mtn Alpine Coaster for a much talked about night ride with the rainbow chaser lights thru half the course. Unfortunately on the very last part of the multiple lifts up the hill right when they tell you to push forward on the bars, a massive cicada slammed into the front of my crotch. It was at least 2" long if not more. I went to swipe it away but due to the way the seats and foot rests are it fell and got stuck flapping and fluttering around between my crotch/butt and the seat during the whole freaking downhill part LOL. When I got up at the end the poor thing was exhausted but flew off. Got a milkshake at Mad Dog's Creamery on the way home and tomorrow is LR and CB (cinnamon bread) day before we head up to Carowinds on Thursday.

That is hilarious. What is up with Tennessee wildlife? If it's not snakes, it's cicadas (Cicadae? Cicadi?).

[PKI Jizzman]

Went over to Smoky Mtn Alpine Coaster for a much talked about night ride with the rainbow chaser lights thru half the course. Unfortunately on the very last part of the multiple lifts up the hill right when they tell you to push forward on the bars, a massive cicada slammed into the front of my crotch. It was at least 2" long if not more. I went to swipe it away but due to the way the seats and foot rests are it fell and got stuck flapping and fluttering around between my crotch/butt and the seat during the whole freaking downhill part LOL. When I got up at the end the poor thing was exhausted but flew off. Got a milkshake at Mad Dog's Creamery on the way home and tomorrow is LR and CB (cinnamon bread) day before we head up to Carowinds on Thursday.

That is hilarious. What is up with Tennessee wildlife? If it's not snakes, it's cicadas (Cicadae? Cicadi?).

 

You'd think a rattlesnake fell in your lap with how loud they are and how hard they hit you flying at full speed. They're pretty bad in the midwest this year....I believe we're approaching the massive 17 year swarm. If you don't know what I'm talking about look it up, I'm not kidding

[teacherkim]

I remember the year the 13 year swarm and the 17 year swarm coincided here in St Louis. You literally could not hear someone standing right next to you over the noise. Got pelted with them trying to mow the yard under a big tree. Thankfully it was before the days of youtube so my leaping about and frantically trying to disentangle a dozen or so cicadas from my hair was not immortalized for eternity. And the periodic swarms are demonic looking things with red eyes.

[Satans Hockey]

Does anyone know why the park is closed every Tuesday/Thursday of this month after August 15th? Put a bit of a wrench in my plans since I was going to try to go the 17th then start the drive home that night. I'm planning a cedar point / kings island / dollywood trip, might just extend it a day and go on the 18th and check out the other stuff in Pigeon Forge the 17th or go to splash country since that's open on the 17th. Kentucky Kingdom is closed the 16/17/18 as well so that's not an option either lol

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Went over to Smoky Mtn Alpine Coaster for a much talked about night ride with the rainbow chaser lights thru half the course. Unfortunately on the very last part of the multiple lifts up the hill right when they tell you to push forward on the bars, a massive cicada slammed into the front of my crotch. It was at least 2" long if not more. I went to swipe it away but due to the way the seats and foot rests are it fell and got stuck flapping and fluttering around between my crotch/butt and the seat during the whole freaking downhill part LOL. When I got up at the end the poor thing was exhausted but flew off. Got a milkshake at Mad Dog's Creamery on the way home and tomorrow is LR and CB (cinnamon bread) day before we head up to Carowinds on Thursday.

That is hilarious. What is up with Tennessee wildlife? If it's not snakes, it's cicadas (Cicadae? Cicadi?).

 

You'd think a rattlesnake fell in your lap with how loud they are and how hard they hit you flying at full speed. They're pretty bad in the midwest this year....I believe we're approaching the massive 17 year swarm. If you don't know what I'm talking about look it up, I'm not kidding

I did just look it up. We don't have those all the way out here on the western edge of the Midwest, but I do remember driving somewhere on a family vacation when I was a kid and those things were so loud they were drowning out conversation in the car at highway speeds. Don't remember if that was the year we went to Chicago or Pensacola, so it was either rural Illinois or Mississippi.

[coneyislandchris]

Does anyone know why the park is closed every Tuesday/Thursday of this month after August 15th? Put a bit of a wrench in my plans since I was going to try to go the 17th then start the drive home that night. I'm planning a cedar point / kings island / dollywood trip, might just extend it a day and go on the 18th and check out the other stuff in Pigeon Forge the 17th or go to splash country since that's open on the 17th. Kentucky Kingdom is closed the 16/17/18 as well so that's not an option either lol

I wish I knew. Those random closed days definitely threw a wrench in my summer trip plans as well. I finally figured out a schedule that allows me to hit both Dollywood and Kentucky Kingdom on weekdays, but I'm not going to be able to include Holiday World thanks to them closing weekday operation as of August 9th. I leave on the 11th.

 

My best guess is it has something to do with local school schedules, but I don't really know as I'm not a local.

[Chiselphane]

I remember the year the 13 year swarm and the 17 year swarm coincided here in St Louis. You literally could not hear someone standing right next to you over the noise. Got pelted with them trying to mow the yard under a big tree. Thankfully it was before the days of youtube so my leaping about and frantically trying to disentangle a dozen or so cicadas from my hair was not immortalized for eternity. And the periodic swarms are demonic looking things with red eyes.

 

I moved to Missouri a few years ago and the first time I discovered a cicada, it was while taking out the garbage and I inadvertently kicked one sitting on the ground. The noise is just indescribable. It startled me so badly I swear I was channeling Michael Jackson with the moves I was making, holding two garbage bags no less.

 

I can't even imagine one striking one mid-ride, they are pretty big and very solid.

[Jcoaster]

Does anyone know why the park is closed every Tuesday/Thursday of this month after August 15th? Put a bit of a wrench in my plans since I was going to try to go the 17th then start the drive home that night. I'm planning a cedar point / kings island / dollywood trip, might just extend it a day and go on the 18th and check out the other stuff in Pigeon Forge the 17th or go to splash country since that's open on the 17th. Kentucky Kingdom is closed the 16/17/18 as well so that's not an option either lol

I wish I knew. Those random closed days definitely threw a wrench in my summer trip plans as well. I finally figured out a schedule that allows me to hit both Dollywood and Kentucky Kingdom on weekdays, but I'm not going to be able to include Holiday World thanks to them closing weekday operation as of August 9th. I leave on the 11th.

 

My best guess is it has something to do with local school schedules, but I don't really know as I'm not a local.

 

What days will you be in Dollywood? Im going to be there on the 13th and 14th of August.

[carolinaman]

When do the area schools start back?

[Chiselphane]

TN is generally first or second week of August. We here in MO are mostly 2nd week, my kids start Aug 10. I dont know offhand what the states closer to Dollywood start at but seems likely to be a similar time frame.

[TBpony414]

I moved to Missouri a few years ago and the first time I discovered a cicada, it was while taking out the garbage and I inadvertently kicked one sitting on the ground. The noise is just indescribable. It startled me so badly I swear I was channeling Michael Jackson with the moves I was making, holding two garbage bags no less.

 

I can't even imagine one striking one mid-ride, they are pretty big and very solid.

 

Hahaha! I can believe it! We have them in Virginia too so I'm used to them but they absolutely sound like a rattlesnake. The incident was comical and I think I would have pissed my pants had I not known what it was. This one was not only massive in size but also in perversion... who smacks a lady in the dark on a wooded mountainside at 11PM right in the crotch and then goes for the back door?! I mean really!

 

 

I have a lot to report on our day at Dollywood yesterday. It was so beautiful out that I was snapping away all day and have some good pics to post too. Might have time to type it up in a bit but not sure so I'll leave you with this: PUT ALL YOUR CRAP IN THE BINS ON RIDES! My SO's wallet went flying out of his buttoned pocket on LR yesterday 20 minutes after we arrived at the park and has not been recovered yet. Something else got lost as well (Bert knows - don't spoil it!) but that second item was eventually located. It was quite a memorable day for many reasons and despite it all, we can't wait to go back.

[bgtlover]

TN is generally first or second week of August. We here in MO are mostly 2nd week, my kids start Aug 10. I dont know offhand what the states closer to Dollywood start at but seems likely to be a similar time frame.

 

Sevier County (the one DOllywood is in) starts August 16th.

[teacherkim]

I moved to Missouri a few years ago and the first time I discovered a cicada, it was while taking out the garbage and I inadvertently kicked one sitting on the ground. The noise is just indescribable. It startled me so badly I swear I was channeling Michael Jackson with the moves I was making, holding two garbage bags no less.

 

I can't even imagine one striking one mid-ride, they are pretty big and very solid.

 

Hahaha! I can believe it! We have them in Virginia too so I'm used to them but they absolutely sound like a rattlesnake. The incident was comical and I think I would have pissed my pants had I not known what it was. This one was not only massive in size but also in perversion... who smacks a lady in the dark on a wooded mountainside at 11PM right in the crotch and then goes for the back door?! I mean really!

 

 

I have a lot to report on our day at Dollywood yesterday. It was so beautiful out that I was snapping away all day and have some good pics to post too. Might have time to type it up in a bit but not sure so I'll leave you with this: PUT ALL YOUR CRAP IN THE BINS ON RIDES! My SO's wallet went flying out of his buttoned pocket on LR yesterday 20 minutes after we arrived at the park and has not been recovered yet. Something else got lost as well (Bert knows - don't spoil it!) but that second item was eventually located. It was quite a memorable day for many reasons and despite it all, we can't wait to go back.

 

 

I told you, they are demonic, lol!!

 

Schools in St Lou start mostly the week of the 14th. I'm sure that is what is affecting the closures. As much due to loss of all the teen employees as reduced attendance. SFStl calendar coincides precisely with the 2 biggest districts in west St Louis county.

[ernierocker]

Knox County starts August 7th which has the highest population in the region.

[dstephe9]

And Blount County has already started.. they are a neighboring county. You can tell local schools are starting back, I'm here today and parking is only half of lot C.. LR only has a fifteen min wait.. when school starts, it'll be a walk-on or was last year

 

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[coneyislandchris]

What days will you be in Dollywood? Im going to be there on the 13th and 14th of August.

With luck I'll be there on Monday, the 14th. I'll have my kid in tow and we'll be hightailing it over to LR as soon as we get there, knock on wood that the uptime is still remaining steady by then. *fingers crossed*

[MidwestThemeParks]

Wow, schools start early around Dollywood. Most schools in my area don't start until at least the 23rd.

 

I don't understand why they are open Wednesdays but not Tuesday or Thursday. I am sure they have their reasons, but I wouldn't think many people would go on a Wednesday if they can't visit the park on Tuesday or Thursday. The Wednesdays would be great days for the locals to go.