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Dollywood Discussion Thread

P. 796 - Ride closing 10/30 to remove launch and install chain lift!

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After seeing the Screamscape headline, I was relieved to see it wasn't a coaster or another ride I care a lot about, in case it leads to stupid changes. (And I do feel awful for people who hurt themselves. I just know that, especially in this day and age where things are designed and tested to be overwhelmingly safe, a ride-related accident rarely justifies "punishing" a park or innocent riders with unnecessary changes.)

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Seriously?

Woman Sues Dollywood for $400,000 Over Theme Park Injury

A woman claims she took a trip to Dolly Parton‘s famed amusement park but ended up with a busted wrist, and now she’s suing for damages to the tune of $400,000.

 

According to documents obtained by The Blast, Judy Eatherton says she was visiting Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN on March 19 of last year. While exiting the Rockin’ Roadway Car Ride Eatherton claims her “foot caught on the side of the ride causing her to be thrown to the ground.” She says her right wrist was fractured in the fall.

 

The Rockin’ Roadway is advertised as a mild attraction geared towards kids which allows them to sit behind the wheel of classic cars as they cruise along a fixed track. Eatherton says the ride has a big design flaw though; there are no doorways on the cars, so riders must step over the side of the ride. She claims this alleged flaw is what caused her to trip.

 

Since the fall at Dollywood, she claims to have suffered loss of enjoyment of life, and permanent impairments and disabilities.

 

Eatherton is suing Dolly Parton productions, and the company that operates Dollywood, for negligence.

 

I hate people. Seriously, you tripped while falling out of a kiddie ride. Suck it up and move on. "thrown to the ground", ugh gag me!

 

 

I am SO sick of these types of things happening, and can't even believe any of these terrible people are even given the time of day when they bring their frivolous suits!

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I wish that companies could counter-sue these people based on stupidity alone and make them pay the company back just for being dumb and wasting people's precious time.

 

That would be the most amazing thing ever. Maybe it would cut down on the stupid amount of unnecessary lawsuits. Everyone seems to be trying to "get rich quick" by doing nothing but suing.

 

A fractured wrist takes about 8-10 weeks to heal, what job does she do where she would've made $400,000 in that time frame??

 

Maybe she is a Realtor?

 

^I think it's safe to say Dollywood/Hershend is done with RMC. Why? Two Words: Lightning Rod

 

I think you may be on to something here. Lightning Rod gained Dollywood a ton of INTERNATIONAL attention. It was a HUGE publicity boost for the park (and is an amazing attraction.) So yeah, I can see where you are coming from. Maybe Lightning Rod/RMC was just way too successful for Dollywood... So Dollywood has had to part ways with RMC forever!

 

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It was running great the majority of last season as well, even though they had a sign out front. Early during the spring, they had a lot of downtime but by summer it seemed to run very well through late summer and into the fall.

 

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^I think it's safe to say Dollywood/Hershend is done with RMC. Why? Two Words: Lightning Rod

 

Pete Owens said they worked it out with Fred and are happy with the ride.

 

Yes, I did and it is running great this pre-season. Come ride it.

 

 

I guess you don't remember me. haha but yes, It looks like it has been running great. I'm very excited for opening tomorrow so I can get back to riding it. All the time.

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Dollywood just posted an update video about Rivertown on their Facebook. I'm impressed with Aunt Granny's look, doesn't even look like the same space. That building needed a refresh bad. Also it looks like they said Heartsong got redone on the inside, curious to see if there is a new film or if they just remastered the old one. Looking forward to being there tomorrow and Saturday!

 

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Glad to see they are still refreshing the place.. I just hope they haven't had another quality drop in food like they had last year.. While Aunt Grannies was still one of my favorite places to eat in the park, their food has dropped in quality over the years.. real fried fish, changed to fish sticks, and so on.

 

They did a great job with front porch cafe, and it had great food last year.. but the remodel to the pizza place outside Thunderhead, wasn't so nice.. The pizza lost a lot of quality..

 

Hoping aunt grannies is just as good, if not better than last season!

 

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Dolly is at Dollywood today and spoke to the press. Here are some notes from her talk:

 

She mentions the "investment" (expansion) in 2019 with Dollywood President Craig Ross...calling it the largest investment they have ever made and will appeal to families and adult couples and Dolly said, "We're going to give Disney a run for their money with all of the stuff we're gonna do." Hmmmmmmmm

 

Dolly WILL be in town during the Pigeon Forge parade weekend. She plans to be at the park to do her parade through the park as she normally does. She also threw out a jab about not being in the parade by saying, "I think they fired me." So take that for what you will.

 

They are creating a sequel to the movie "9 to 5"

 

You can see the full video at https://www.facebook.com/dollywood/videos/10156493597722240/

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Dolly is at Dollywood today and spoke to the press. Here are some notes from her talk:

 

She mentions the "investment" (expansion) in 2019 with Dollywood President Craig Ross...calling it the largest investment they have ever made and will appeal to families and adult couples and Dolly said, "We're going to give Disney a run for their money with all of the stuff we're gonna do." Hmmmmmmmm

 

Dolly WILL be in town during the Pigeon Forge parade weekend. She plans to be at the park to do her parade through the park as she normally does. She also threw out a jab about not being in the parade by saying, "I think they fired me." So take that for what you will.

 

They are creating a sequel to the movie "9 to 5"

 

You can see the full video at https://www.facebook.com/dollywood/videos/10156493597722240/

Giving Disney a run for their money is a very strong statement from the renderings I have seen so far.. I can't wait to see what's planned because I see nothing from the renderings so far that's Disney Worthy lol. But what makes Disney is their heavily themed areas so I can for sure seeing Dollywood heavily theme this area

 

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I'll wait until everything is revealed to pass judgment, but at least they're looking at the right standard for quality in Disney. I have no doubt Dollywood will theme the area well based on how well themed the rest of the park is.

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I decided to take a peek at Dollywood's opening day wait times and of course Lightning Rod is already temporarily closed. Looks Lightning Rod is off to another less than great start this year.

 

It’s the first day... give it a break. Haven’t we hated on it enough lol.

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Spent several hours at the park today. Yes Lightning Rod was down for most of the day but it wasn’t the only coaster experiencing any downtime. Mystery Mine never opened despite the park running some test runs with it at one point. Tennessee Tornadoe also went down for a bit but reopened eventually. Of course, it is the first day of the season so there will be some bugs to work out.

 

A few things to mention:

 

- The new plaza at Wilderness Pass looks great. I really love how open the area is, and there is plenty of seating throughout that area. It seems like a perfect place to rest on a hot day. I look forward to seeing how the area changes throughout the season!

 

- They really opened up the train depot by removing the large room in the middle. All that’s there now is the large wall towards the back that contains the train backdrop for guest photos.

 

- The land clearing is MASSIVE. They were working on it today and it looks very different compared to this past December.

 

Some pictures to follow:

3A6493AC-1740-4A4D-8C8B-91D243FA9CB0.thumb.jpeg.9a4e2ca6f2f206a57ae40fb1a85fad27.jpeg

5AAC301B-E818-4FCC-8850-F7BC6ADC3393.thumb.jpeg.3ce2dbcf9816b5a878b00c604b7670f6.jpeg

Great views of Thunderhad’s lift from this angle!

78BEDE42-43BA-4390-9E3B-DC591A70463F.thumb.jpeg.97a137b78043c1086f80da3b80d1a626.jpeg

8F0328C0-3061-40B8-9E4D-9802BD33B491.thumb.jpeg.371d02161689b8a4c17a6d92bfb7d150.jpeg

944012C7-17E8-4966-B7A6-51578BA3E0DB.thumb.jpeg.0fc4031ba30cfefc5a6cf880edabe104.jpeg

Anyone notice what’s missing? I was a little shocked honestly.

A09EE055-AF57-4BD2-86FB-DBA241CC777C.thumb.jpeg.950ec9b740dde3ff4a6bdd37d9b16e72.jpeg

ADDA9131-3875-4892-9061-C047F5A50F12.thumb.jpeg.1e1b1a95928cdc3a43236e45918794e0.jpeg

This was where the Wonder Wheel used to be. It looks like they just turned it into a spot containing some simple landscaping. The only thing left is the Country Fair sign.

DE41C9A8-29C5-4671-875A-7D78ABA61037.thumb.jpeg.6d58fbd75ee58825a73c11d453d3547f.jpeg

277AF67A-0F33-4435-864A-FFD85716F6CD.thumb.jpeg.4f1aca51f5a2f797c69946dc8dfee1c2.jpeg

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Wow, they really didn't hold back with chopping trees down... That whole in-the-forest vibe on Thunderhead is definitely different...

 

a2d201124a9c4c130cf3ab2ab2688c50.jpg

thunderhead-dollywood-roller-coaster-1242.jpg

I'll definitely miss this look.

 

It would've been nice to keep most of those mature trees to incorporate into the new development. They really just razed it all

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Spent several hours at the park today. Yes Lightning Rod was down for most of the day but it wasn’t the only coaster experiencing any downtime. Mystery Mine never opened despite the park running some test runs with it at one point. Tennessee Tornadoe also went down for a bit but reopened eventually. Of course, it is the first day of the season so there will be some bugs to work out.

 

A few things to mention:

 

- The new plaza at Wilderness Pass looks great. I really love how open the area is, and there is plenty of seating throughout that area. It seems like a perfect place to rest on a hot day. I look forward to seeing how the area changes throughout the season!

 

- They really opened up the train depot by removing the large room in the middle. All that’s there now is the large wall towards the back that contains the train backdrop for guest photos.

 

- The land clearing is MASSIVE. They were working on it today and it looks very different compared to this past December.

 

Some pictures to follow:

I know folks will jump all over me for saying this but I feel it is inexcusable to have two coasters down on opening day.. yes it's been cold this past week but yesterday was beautiful!

 

To me, and I am sure to a lot of GP, this gives the look that the park put off testing this stuff until the morning they opened (I know they probably didn't but still, that's how it looks)

 

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Oh Jesus, the only coaster that didn't open today was Mystery Mine. Lightning Rod re-opened this afternoon. Everybody chill.

 

I experienced the same thing at SFOG last Saturday with one ride being down all day and a few others breaking down periodically.

 

Anyways, back to Dollywood, I do kinda miss the trees that used to surround Thunderhead. It’s certainly something I will have to get used to. Regardless, I look forward to the new area next year! Can’t wait for the official announcement later this year.

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Today was a great first opening day. Crowds weren't as near as bad as I expected. I got in at 9 on the dot, and most of the other season pass holders swarmed the Celebrity Theater upon receiving their wristband for the press event. I went from 9-10 and rode all the open coasters. By the time I got back to Celebrity theater the line was from there to past Ham N Beans in Craftsman's Valley. The press event was phenomenal. They had a dancing painter that will be there this summer paint a picture of Dolly, a country artist, a gospel artist, Orleans, and even Dolly sang a song. Dolly cracked a few jokes too- my favorite was a random guy screamed "Dolly your beautiful" while she was talking, and she just said "Didn't I tell you to wait out in the truck" haha. A few notes on other things in the park:

- Popcorn buckets and mugs from last year are good this year. Staff verified this at multiple vendors.

- Thunderhead was a wee bit rough today. It looks like some of the beams and support got new wood. I contribute that to the first day of the season though.

- Mystery Mine was down all day, Lighting Rod was down for a couple hours but was open at opening and at the end. I rode at about 9:30, they were dispatching both trains but leaving one empty.

- Rivertown's upgrades look great. Really opened up the space where Apple Jack's used to be. It's an open area now. A lot of the buildings had a fresh coat of paint.

- The new plaza where River Battle was is exactly what that area needed. It really opens up the space, there are new seating options everywhere, and you can cut through it to make a straight shot instead of walking around like before.

 

A great day! Staff, rides, and shows were all top notch today.

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