Dollywood Discussion Thread

[coasterdude5]

I was at the park on Monday for the season passholder preview and Lightning Rod seemed to be running just fine, only closing for a thunderstorm.

 

The real story is the ongoing Thunderhead retracking. Wow. Such an improvement.

 

 

Overall, I enjoyed the day, but it was definitely a very different visit: https://www.coaster101.com/2020/06/16/changes-youll-see-at-dollywood-in-2020/

[Clarimeister]

Does Dollywood still offer admission the evening before with a one day ticket? I think I remember it being after 3 p.m. Is that still a thing. And how would that work with the new reservation system?

Silver Dollar City still did this last year when I went, but not sure if they canceled it this year cause of the reservation stuff.

[tanthonyam]

Is there a reason why they are not taking park reservations past Sep 7?

[coasterbill]

Crowd's: both visits, crowd's have been pitiful. Very low. Parking not really much past B. Like, we are talking street side park levels. Like from those jankey carnivals and what not! Hopefully they pick up. Saturday and Sunday look booked. But for summer level crowd's, it's actually really concerning everything is so dead.. and it's not due to the limiting of crowd's. I believe the parked turned in a capacity of 30,000 - 35,000 to the city so half of that is 15,000ish. Even that's a lot for Dollywood and today I would be surprised if they hit 1000. From the parking lot of say they had less than 500 today! Just a guess though. Curious if this is due to the mask debate? Or something else! People are in the area, just not at Dollywood

 

That was not our experience on Saturday. I wouldn't have known that capacity was limited had I not known going in. It wasn't packed but midways were pretty busy. Timesaver was a must! Lightning Rod and Mystery Mine were both well over an hour (though a lot of that was probably due to the covid policies).

 

I would recommend anyone look into Timesaver if you're going on a weekend. Mystery Mine is one-party-per-car and every other car is from Timesaver and every other coaster is only loading half the train and stopping frequently for cleaning and cycling them empty to dry them.

 

Wild Eagle is (not-surprisingly) the exception. It's running as normal, loading all seats.

 

We were really impressed with our visit. The Flower and Food festival was really nice and they even had fireworks at park close. I assume they were already paid for but still, I wouldn't have expected either of those things at a capacity-limited park during a pandemic.

 

Oh, and row requests are generally honored despite all of this. We rarely bothered because we didn't want to complicate things for the ride hosts but they let us wait for the front on Lightning Rod a few times.

Edited June 22, 2020 by coasterbill

[dstephe9]

Good to hear they got LR up and running!

 

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[cloudeleven]

Oh, and row requests are generally honored despite all of this. We rarely bothered because we didn't want to complicate things for the ride hosts but they let us wait for the front on Lightning Rod a few times.

 

That's good to hear. Hopefully other parks like Cedar Point will also allow row requests if we're willing to wait.

[Erik Johnson]

I was at the park on Monday for the season passholder preview and Lightning Rod seemed to be running just fine, only closing for a thunderstorm.

 

The real story is the ongoing Thunderhead retracking. Wow. Such an improvement.

 

[attachment=0]Eak_XlEXkAcCH_c.jpeg[/attachment]

 

Overall, I enjoyed the day, but it was definitely a very different visit: https://www.coaster101.com/2020/06/16/changes-youll-see-at-dollywood-in-2020/

 

Did someone say Thunderhead retracking????

[coasterbill]

Yeah, there's a big difference once you hit that new track. The first half is pretty jarring but not too bad. We still enjoyed it but that new track was a welcome sight halfway through the ride.

[SharkTums]

Ok super dorky showing my age coaster enthusiast thing here but talking about retracking reminded me...

 

Did anyone ever ride Raging Wolf Bobs at whatever the hell Geauga Lake was called the one year where they retracked half of it!? It was hilarious. You were bouncing around, getting thrown from side to side, and then all of a sudden it was glass smooth for the second half!

[dstephe9]

Back today! For those who haven't noticed, starting next week they changed the hours and are now closing at 8:00 during the week. They said at the gate that they might lower it even more after the forth

 

Much different experience today, they are enforcing mask a lot more. Still have yet to see a table cleaning and the hand washing stations have been out of water

 

LR is open and running much better crowd today, half of lot C is full. Still a dead day but rides all have waits of 30+ mins aside from wild eagle. More rides running today.

 

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[Canobie Coaster]

Just a FYI, you cannot buy the Timesaver Unlimited online at this time, but you can purchase or upgrade to it inside the park.

[rebelrailroad]

Facebook chatter is saying that a chain has broken on Mystery Mine and hit guests on the sidewalk underneath.

[SharkTums]

Ouch. Hoping this is incorrect or at least only minor injuries.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ Aren't both lifts to Mystery Mine enclosed by the show building?

[rebelrailroad]

From the Dollywood Junkies Facebook group, this apparently is the latest from the persons mother in law. The park apparently was shut down between Mystery and the Emporium after the accident. Pictures of the dangling chain are on that group page.

 

UPDATE she has some brain bleed they are keeping her to do ct scan every 6 hours also her arm is badly burnt from chain and her ribs they had to put staples in her head please continue to pray for her that all will be ok

[rebelrailroad]

News is reporting that the chain was a "themed decoration"

[DJeXeL]

ABC 6 is reporting a Themed Decoration fell striking guests walking below.

 

PIGEON FORGE (WATE) – 3 people were transported to the hospital after an item used as “themed decoration” at Dollywood fell on them.

 

A Dollywood spokesperson says it happened around 2 p.m. in the Wilderness Pass area of the park when the item fell and struck them while they were walking below. This was not a ride-related incident.

 

They were evaluated and stabilized by first responders and paramedics from the Dollywood Safety Department at the scene. They were transported to the hospital by ambulance and are in stable condition.

 

“Our prayers are with the patients and their families during this trying time,” said Dollywood in a statement.

 

The spokesperson says the park is cooperating with a routine incident investigation by the Pigeon Forge Police Department.

 

The Mystery Mine attraction is currently closed but the rest of the park remains open and operating.

 

Edit: ^Beat me to it.

[Garet]

Is that a chain making that semi-circle in the middle of the bridge over the sidewalk or is it just part of the bridge? Perhaps something like one of those chains? It's over a sidewalk and I can see how people could assume that was for a lift hill.

[dstephe9]

There are chains hanging around mystery mine as a decoration. Like large mine shaft chain's

 

I'm sure they will be removed now

 

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[SFOG1991]

There are pictures on Facebook of the aftermath. Some blood and a woman in a neck brace but it didn’t look that life threatening. I’m sure the park will be paying up for this.

 

The heavy chain was held by a few short rusty screws so it definitely doesn’t appear to have been installed well and the years of weathering seemed to really fatigue it. A good reminder to always overly secure items and have some kind of maintenance.

[DBru]

Hate that some guests were injured, but glad to see this wasn’t the major mechanical failure it was first thought to be.

[Jdprince45]

According to Screamscape the park will be closed Tuesday-Thursday beginning August 11

 

https://www.screamscape.com/html/dollywood.htm

[Canobie Coaster]

Mystery Mine is open today.

[megan]

Huh? How do you get burnt by chain?

[AmyUD06]

If its moving past you at a high rate of speed, such as falling from a great height, it could cause a friction burn. If it was being shined on by the sun for several hours before falling, it could be well over 100 degrees in surface temperature. Plenty of ways.