Dollywood Discussion Thread

[larrygator]

I'm not trying to break their rules or anything but maybe we'll get 2 passes and take turns on Firechaser (then bonus rides for me!).

 

That is how you are going to have to handle it.

[Hilltopper39]

^We ended up meeting up with some friends and their kids who didn't want to splurge for the Time Saver passes so that put a little dent in my plans but we still had a great time. Mystery Mine was testing Monday but never did open.

 

I finally got on Lightning Rod and it was as good as advertised. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to rank it overall, it's way up towards the top of my wood coaster lists, maybe even #1, but I think I preferred the inversions and overall length and intensity of Steel Vengeance. It's in my top 5 but probably still behind Maverick and Steel Vengeance.

 

Biggest surprise of the trip was Firechaser Express, got two rides on it with my girls, 3 and 6 years old, and we all absolutely loved it. What a fun ride for everyone. Another treat for us was Wild Eagle having a 50" height requirement, my 6 year old barley cleared the mark and absolutely loved it. That was here first "big" coaster outside of Disney and I'm surprised she hopped right on it and it was her favorite ride of the trip. Super cool for Dollywood to have a 50" B&M where the rest of them in America are mostly 54".

 

The only "frustrating" thing about the day was it seemed like operations were a little off, I'm not sure if it was just early in the season, or they had a larger crowd that they expected or what. I'm not gonna pretend I know what goes into park operations decisions but multiple rides were only operating 1 train with 30-40 minute lines, Lighting Rod (after opening late) was running 2 trains consistently but then temporarily closed mid day to pull a train off with a full que? Maybe I'm just spoiled with Disney operations and this is just the norm at most places.

 

Overall we had a really great day at the park, we were there from open til close and still wish we had more time. Going to have to plan for 2 maybe even 3 days for future trips, and I can't wait to take the kids back after Wildwood Grove opens. Outside of Disney, Dollywood really is one of the best parks in the country for kids.

[dstephe9]

^We ended up meeting up with some friends and their kids who didn't want to splurge for the Time Saver passes so that put a little dent in my plans but we still had a great time. Mystery Mine was testing Monday but never did open.

 

I finally got on Lightning Rod and it was as good as advertised. I'm not quite sure where I'm going to rank it overall, it's way up towards the top of my wood coaster lists, maybe even #1, but I think I preferred the inversions and overall length and intensity of Steel Vengeance. It's in my top 5 but probably still behind Maverick and Steel Vengeance.

 

Biggest surprise of the trip was Firechaser Express, got two rides on it with my girls, 3 and 6 years old, and we all absolutely loved it. What a fun ride for everyone. Another treat for us was Wild Eagle having a 50" height requirement, my 6 year old barley cleared the mark and absolutely loved it. That was here first "big" coaster outside of Disney and I'm surprised she hopped right on it and it was her favorite ride of the trip. Super cool for Dollywood to have a 50" B&M where the rest of them in America are mostly 54".

 

The only "frustrating" thing about the day was it seemed like operations were a little off, I'm not sure if it was just early in the season, or they had a larger crowd that they expected or what. I'm not gonna pretend I know what goes into park operations decisions but multiple rides were only operating 1 train with 30-40 minute lines, Lighting Rod (after opening late) was running 2 trains consistently but then temporarily closed mid day to pull a train off with a full que? Maybe I'm just spoiled with Disney operations and this is just the norm at most places.

 

Overall we had a really great day at the park, we were there from open til close and still wish we had more time. Going to have to plan for 2 maybe even 3 days for future trips, and I can't wait to take the kids back after Wildwood Grove opens. Outside of Disney, Dollywood really is one of the best parks in the country for kids.

 

Running only one train on LR is the normal. Not sure why they do it but I'm sure it's to keep the ride open and reliable. Most of the season last year they only ran one train when it was open.

 

It's also normal for Tornado to only be runny one train. Was thunderhead only running one? It normally only runs one if there is no line. Wild eagle almost always runs two even with no line. Firechasher normally never runs 1 but can run up to 3. It's odd to see it running 3 now but it normally runs at least 2.

 

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[appel]

 

Running only one train on LR is the normal. Not sure why they do it but I'm sure it's to keep the ride open and reliable. Most of the season last year they only ran one train when it was open

 

Are they really running 1 train on LR because of reliability?? I thought that they would have figured out all the problems after last years closure?

 

Does the ride still go down for mechanical reasons if they are running 2 trains?

[dstephe9]

I don't think anyone can say for sure that's why they only run one train but it a good guess. They have only ran one train the majority of time it's been open since the coaster was built and Dollywood, in general, is good about running all trains on other coasters if able and the park is busy so there must be a reason why they don't on LR.

 

As for going down, it only goes down to remove the second train if they are running both

 

There have also been cases of the park attempting to run both and the ride going down shortly after both trains start running, only to open back up with just one

 

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[ytterbiumanalyst]

While I can't say for sure that it's the reason they're running one train, having only one does increase reliability. Outlaw Run had the same issue when it first opened, and when they would run two trains, it had to be timed just right not to trip a sensor. Since the ride time is so short, there wasn't much window to clear the blocks, and if they missed it, the ride would e-stop.

 

Sorry ride ops and former ride ops if I'm butchering the terminology; that's the best I can do to say what OR's ride ops told me.

 

Anyway, LR's ride time is similar, so it's plausible. May or may not be the actual reason, but it does make sense that it could be.

[dstephe9]

I don't believe that's the reason LR runs one train. It stacks like crazy so there really isn't any need to rush it out of the station to prevent tripping sensors. If sensors trip, I'm sure something else causes it

 

But then again, I don't know anything about timing on coasters so I might be completely wrong lol

 

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[tndank]

I think I might visit Saturday and get a season pass. Always had season passes to SDC growing up. Went to Dollywood once in 95. Haven't been back since and I live near Knoxville.

 

Hopefully I can knock out most of the coasters early and sneak out before it gets too bad. I also hope sneaking over there early morning for a few rides becomes a summer habit.

[tndank]

I had a great day at Dollywood. Lightning Rod was running 2 trains most of the day. It went down for about 15 minutes while I was in line later in the day, but came back up with both trains.

 

Loved Lightning Rod and it lived up to the hype. Thunderhead surprised me. Loved that ride.

 

Ride lines weren't too bad except for LR and Firechaser. Other coasters were 5-20 minutes for the most part. Pretty cool seeing them run multiple trains on Firechaser.

 

Mystery Mine closed for the day. Didn't sound like it was going to open tomorrow either.

 

They were running sandbags on Dragonflier today as well. Cool seeing that while riding Thunderhead.

[Zecora27]

Does anyone know what is going on with Mystery Mine this season? We visited on both March 17th and March 21st and it was closed both days. I did see them run an empty car once on the 21st, but that was it. Is it just seasonal?

[dstephe9]

No, it always has a lot of down time early during the season. Actually it has a lot of down time in general but not nearly as bad as LR

 

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[TBpony414]

If you check out my post on page 1721 (it’s quite long so I didn’t want to quote it here)... I have loads of our favorites for the area, including some specific mountain highlights! Happy travels!

 

Hey Taylor, I'm not who asked for specific recommendations but enjoyed looking back at your list of favorites. I was wondering if you know if any of the hikes you went on allow leashed dogs? I know there's only certain trails that allow dogs but can never remember which ones. I did have a list at one point of leashed dog-approved trails but that was before my phone decided to commit hari kari and I lost my extensive amount of my trip tips Sigh.

[Taylor Finn]

^Yeah, there are two trails in the whole park that are. I haven't hiked either of them, but they are both like 3-3.5 miles and are out and back trails. Gatlinburg Trail and Oconaluftee River Trail. Hope this helps!

[sdcfan88]

For those who have been following the news about Dollywoods sister park (SDC) and the demolition of Lost River. Its apparently been reported that the boats from that ride have been shipped to Dollywood and could be seen in the parking lots on flatbeds. Will be curious to see what or if the park does anything with them other than use them for parts/backup.

 

[BoulderDash]

Went to the park for the first time on Sunday, definitely more crowded than I thought it would be. Ended up getting Time Saver, I thought that even the unlimited one only came with one LR ride, but after confirming that was incorrect it was a no-brainer. Got multiple front and back rides, totally insane coaster. Lots of airtime and the launch is super fun. The only disappointment was there was pretty much no airtime on the first hill after the launch, but the rest of the ride is ridiculous and had amazing airtime. The wave turn and banked turns were awesome and had lots of airtime as well, especially the wave turn. Awesome coaster and lots of fun.

 

The other coasters were great as well, Mystery Mine was down which was disappointing but expected since I saw reports about it down. Tornado was very smooth and easily the best looping arrow iv'e been on although it is a little short. Wild Eagle was very fun and would probably put it between Thunderbird and Gatekeeper. Has the nicest looking station and atmosphere iv'e ever seen. Fire chaser was great and is a nice coaster for everyone. Thunder Head definitely could have been smoother but the first two re-tracked hills were great. Has a really good layout but was a little rough. Blazing Fury was cool and seemed to be popular. I saw the new coaster testing and wasn't able to get on WPC due to breakdowns and lines. Very nice day at the park but wish it was a little less crowded.

[Canobie Coaster]

Yeah the TimeSaver isn't needed for too many rides, but it's a no brainer if Lightning Rod is open.

[Mastalucky23]

Something sketchy is going on with Mystery Mine.

[Mastalucky23]

MM has been closed since the park opened for the season two weeks ago. Saw it testing a couple times but never opened. At the park again today and it’s STILL closed. Was going to ask a ride op outside what the issue is but there’s no activity or anyone around. I had posted something on Dollywood’s Facebook page on another persons post about MM being closed and an hour later my comment was deleted. Dollywood messaged me personally and did the whole “guest safety is our top priority” etc. which I totally understand. But still..

[coasterbill]

It's Mystery Mine. Mechanical issues are par for the course.

[dstephe9]

MM has been closed since the park opened for the season two weeks ago. Saw it testing a couple times but never opened. At the park again today and it’s STILL closed. Was going to ask a ride op outside what the issue is but there’s no activity or anyone around. I had posted something on Dollywood’s Facebook page on another persons post about MM being closed and an hour later my comment was deleted. Dollywood messaged me personally and did the whole “guest safety is our top priority” etc. which I totally understand. But still..

Be careful asking ride OPs or Dollywood employees. A lot of times, are just as informed as we are meaning not at all. Last Sunday there were no OPs around but one of my walks past there was a Dollywood employee looking at the ride. Another guest asked her what was wrong and she simply replied "it's being replaced because of the new area"

 

We all know this is 100% false but it's ashame that dwood employees are also left in the dark and that helps spawn these rumors

 

Like mentioned earlier, this is nothing out of the ordinary for MM. It happens almost every year haha. I'd imagine there is no activity because they are waiting on parts so no reason to test if they know they issue

 

BUT I do hate that crap when places remove honest comments.. that's shady, very shady if true Dollywood. Don't hide it!!!

 

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[AmyUD06]

MM has been closed since the park opened for the season two weeks ago. Saw it testing a couple times but never opened. At the park again today and it’s STILL closed. Was going to ask a ride op outside what the issue is but there’s no activity or anyone around. I had posted something on Dollywood’s Facebook page on another persons post about MM being closed and an hour later my comment was deleted. Dollywood messaged me personally and did the whole “guest safety is our top priority” etc. which I totally understand. But still..

 

Looking through their Facebook posts, they're obviously religious fanatics. Of course they'd try to censor their "message" so that no truth is revealed.

[Timh121]

MM has been closed since the park opened for the season two weeks ago. Saw it testing a couple times but never opened. At the park again today and it’s STILL closed. Was going to ask a ride op outside what the issue is but there’s no activity or anyone around. I had posted something on Dollywood’s Facebook page on another persons post about MM being closed and an hour later my comment was deleted. Dollywood messaged me personally and did the whole “guest safety is our top priority” etc. which I totally understand. But still..

Be careful asking ride OPs or Dollywood employees. A lot of times, are just as informed as we are meaning not at all. Last Sunday there were no OPs around but one of my walks past there was a Dollywood employee looking at the ride. Another guest asked her what was wrong and she simply replied "it's being replaced because of the new area"

 

We all know this is 100% false but it's ashame that dwood employees are also left in the dark and that helps spawn these rumors

 

Like mentioned earlier, this is nothing out of the ordinary for MM. It happens almost every year haha. I'd imagine there is no activity because they are waiting on parts so no reason to test if they know they issue

 

BUT I do hate that crap when places remove honest comments.. that's shady, very shady if true Dollywood. Don't hide it!!!

 

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How do we know its 100% false?

[dstephe9]

Why would they remove it? It's one of the most popular rides in the park, one of the most expensive in the park, why would they be testing on opening weekend if it wasn't planned to be open this year and so on. Opening weekend they did have ride ops stationed like it was about to open and so on. The ride is not that old and not really in the way of anything with all the land opened up. yeah I guess I shouldn't say 100% but 99.9% sure it isn't being removed

 

Plus, I want to be clear, the lady that mentioned this was a janitor or something for that area. It wasn't a ride op or anyone like that. She was cleaning the bathrooms right beside MM. Basically if it was that widely know at Dollywood, we would have heard by now.

 

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[Mastalucky23]

It’s just bizarre. Dwood is my home park and I come all the time, I just haven’t seen MM with this much downtime and I know a lot of people would disagree but it IS my favorite ride at the park. I would be so upset if it was removed.

[coasterbill]

Maybe a bird flew inside it.