Dollywood Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

Is this person secretly Dolly Parton? Canobie and I just did the same thing but it took forever so I'm posting this anyway

 

Just search this thread for "Lightning Rod Closed" and re-live the incredible memories.

 

2016: Hilarious dumpster fire... late opening, constant closures, closed the last few weeks of the season aside from that one time it opened, sent one train full of enthusiasts that camped outside the ride being miserable for 5 days and it rolled back immediately and closed for the day providing us with endless entertainment. Almost burned to the ground in November... sadly for the park and their maintenance department, it did not.

 

2017: F*cked up for a bunch of May and June... and actually also July. Late July... "OMG there's a train on the track, maybe this means something (it did not)". It looks like it opened a few days later.

 

2018: Closed for three months... basically the entire summer.

 

2019: Unreliable compared to most coasters but it had a marginally better year than Top Thrill Dragster I guess for the first time ever. Setting the bar low...

 

2020: Peel out now!

Edited September 22, 2020 by coasterbill

[Canobie Coaster]

^ 2017 was easy to remember since I was there that random weekend it closed in late July. I decided to omit that one since it was only a week closure compared to the other multiple week/month closures the ride has had.

[Hilltopper39]

Raise the peak of the launch 10 or 15 feet, slap a lift hill on that bad boy, re-prolife the pre-drop and be done with it already.

 

I know it's not that easy, bust seriously if they replaced the launch with a modified chain lift and all the sudden the ride was as reliable as any other RMC would anyone really care? The launch is awesome, but I feel like the ride would probably be just as good without.

[coasterbill]

Yeah, I know that it would require a lot of work to the track and either modified or maybe even new trains (I have no clue how that stuff works) but I'd be thrilled with that at this point. I know for awhile everyone swore up and down that the launch wasn't the problem but no other RMCs have these types of problems so it's hard to imagine the problem is with anything other than the launch, the trains that it needs because of the launch or some combination of the two.

Edited September 22, 2020 by coasterbill

[xVicesAndVirtues]

After reading everyone else's experiences with Lightning Rod and Canobie Coaster's downtime data (thank you for that) I can definitely consider myself incredibly lucky to have been on it as many times as I have, especially since I have to fly there.

 

I've probably had 50-60 rides on it over the course of 6-8 visits. I do hope they find a way to fix the ride and make it run reliably without having to do something as drastic as an IBox conversion, as it's an incredibly unique ride and topper track gives RMCs so much more character than IBox track RMCs...but we've also been hoping they'd find a way since 2016. I rode during the first drop pothole and again this year with the slam at the bottom of the quad down, and I just wonder what seems to make this different/less reliable than the other topper track RMCs other than the fact that it has a launch.

[Canobie Coaster]

^ I agree the fact this ride has a launch and the other RMCs don't makes it stand out as the root cause, but the rumored issues in 2018 and earlier this year were related to the track and not the launch.

 

I think Lightning Rod would probably still be my favorite coaster with a traditional chain lift, so I'd be onboard with anything that keeps the rest of the ride intact and allows it to run more reliably.

[Canobie Coaster]

One of the things that has always struck me with Lightning Rod is that the two spots people have mentioned as having potholes are the speed hill after the quad down and the pullout from the big drop. These are possibly two of the fastest, highest G sections of the ride. And they're also the two parts of the ride that have to cross over a roadway/the ride itself so the support structure is cutout there.

 

Ultimately only the park and RMC knows why Lightning Rod has been closed.

[jonskinny12]

Does anyone known who owns the site?

Are they on this site?

 

I haven't posted on this site in a while but if you're talking about dollywoodwaittimes.com, that's mine. I made it as a quick project to track LR's uptime leading up to a trip my brother and I took to DW in June 2017. Of course it closed a few weeks before we went and didn't reopen for a while so we didn't get to ride it and I haven't been back since.

 

In the last 3 years after I created that site I've put almost no work into it because it had served its purpose, but I've left it running because people seem to enjoy it. In case you can't tell, all it does is pings the DW app every 15 minutes and puts the wait times in a database. Then displays those wait times in a graph.

[I306]

^ May I ask how that works since wait times are only shown on the app if you're in the park? Just curious. Also, thank you for this service! Hopefully someday I won't have to reference the site so often to check on LR's status...

[TEDodd]

Does anyone known who owns the site?

Are they on this site?

 

I haven't posted on this site in a while but if you're talking about dollywoodwaittimes.com, that's mine.

 

Cool. Any chance of getting the raw data?

 

I assume a simple database and a export wouldn't be hard. Would be interesting for analysis.

 

^ May I ask how that works since wait times are only shown on the app if you're in the park? Just curious

 

I would assume location spoofing. Not that hard on Android unless the app works hard to prevent it (like Pokemon Go did)

 

Similar could be done in a computer and the website (which used to list wait times anyway).

[TEDodd]

Ultimately only the park and RMC knows why Lightning Rod has been closed.

 

And they aren't sharing.

 

I can sort of see that from DW given the people that visit their site/outlets and how they would over react.

 

But RMC is more enthusiasts that wouldn't freak out over technical issues that aren't safety issues.

 

I do recall RMC and DW being adamant that the early problems were not the launch system.

[TEDodd]

After reading everyone else's experiences with Lightning Rod and Canobie Coaster's downtime data (thank you for that) I can definitely consider myself incredibly lucky to have been on it as many times as I have, especially since I have to fly there.

 

I've probably had 50-60 rides on it over the course of 6-8 visits.

 

Same here though not as far.

 

Granted intend to not go during peak summer, opting for less crowded times in spring and fall when I can ride w/o needing TimeSaver.

[Canobie Coaster]

I've made myself a promise to always get Timesaver Unlimited whenever Lightning Rod is open. I think it has been open in 4 of my 8 visits, but I've managed ~60 rides on it.

[Kstr737]

I am tempted to make a late fall foliage Lightnin' Run down to Tennessee. This does not sound promising. That's a long drive...

 

Longer then the 8-hour RT trip I took from a work layover in ATL to get into line only to see it go down for the day while I was in the station.

 

This coaster right now is highest on to-ride (domestic) bucket list. Half because of the hype and reviews, half probably because of being previously thwarted.

[jonskinny12]

^ May I ask how that works since wait times are only shown on the app if you're in the park? Just curious. Also, thank you for this service! Hopefully someday I won't have to reference the site so often to check on LR's status...

 

A few years back they showed the wait times on their website without any location restrictions. Looking at this for a couple minutes I noticed that the frontend called an API, which is still open to the world today. I'm not doing anything fancy, literally just making a normal web request to their API every 15 minutes. I emailed the park back then to make sure they didn't care and they never responded. The code is all in a public github repository. Anyway, getting off topic here...

 

Any chance of getting the raw data?

 

I assume a simple database and a export wouldn't be hard. Would be interesting for analysis.

 

Happy to share. In the interest of keeping this thread on-topic, PM me and I can get it to you.

[TEDodd]

A few years back they showed the wait times on their website without any location restrictions. Looking at this for a couple minutes I noticed that the frontend called an API, which is still open to the world today.

 

Oh, too funny. I thought they closed that when they took it off the site.

[Pseybert]

I know there are bigger things going on in the world, but my wife was super excited for Lightning Rod for our first visit next week. I don't know how to break it to her that it's not happening. Someone reassure me and tell me there's a 1% chance!

 

Next week? Not likely. I haven't seen any mention of work being done currently.

 

Absolutely ridiculous.

 

I think they are waiting on parts.

 

It would be nice if DW or RMC would give some info on what was being done and a timeline for repair.

Like if they have to wait for something to be manufactured and the supplier is backlogged due to the shudowns.

[u4icmusic]

^He's laughing because it IS an RMC!

 

But I do agree with everyone, something needs to be done, it's getting ridiculous.

I realize that, but I was referring to the RMC I-Box Track that they use to upgrade wooden coasters. Then they could add some inversions too.

[Garet]

They could remove the launch and reprofile that first pre-drop to work with a chain-lift so that the rest of the ride runs exactly the same as it did before and even with it running consistently every day you'll still see the rise of enthusiast armchair engineers who will forever tell you how it isn't the same/Dollywood ruined it/how elitist they are for having the original credit.

 

At least for you guys, here in 2020, there's a good chance when you're at that park seeing it SBNO, that it'll reopen eventually and you'll get to ride one of the highest-ranking coasters in the world. Imagine moving halfway around the world, seeing a ride you always dreamed about trying after seeing it in a TPR video, finding out you missed out on it by 1 year..., and then being able to see it on every trip from anywhere in the park, watching it slowly rot for 6 years, all with that tiny spark of hope they'll return to it or you'll show up and see some signs of life because the English sign says 'refurbishment'... even when your Korean friends insist the Korean sign nearby is a 'memorial to a closed ride'... only to find out the 'exciting new attraction' that replaced it was a garden... Sorry, all this talk of people missing out on trying a world-class coaster due to closure hit a sore spot.

[TEDodd]

I know there are bigger things going on in the world, but my wife was super excited for Lightning Rod for our first visit next week. I don't know how to break it to her that it's not happening. Someone reassure me and tell me there's a 1% chance!

 

Next week? Not likely. I haven't seen any mention of work being done currently.

Absolutely ridiculous.

 

What do you suggest they should do then? Run it unsafe? Magically conjure parts for it?

 

Coaster are very customized products. You can't just go to Walmart or Lowe's or even Amazon for parts.

 

They are made to order by small specialized companies. And right now those companies are operating at reduced strength (if open at all).

 

For months you couldn't find toilet paper, even now there are tons of products out of stock with no expected availability.

 

A new product I was interested in was supposed to start production in Jan. The sub contracted manufacturer for a major component shut down, and while they've restarted operations, the product I want is low priority and they won't even commit to a start date for production.

 

If you can't get mass produced products, small market specialty items are not likely.

[TEDodd]

They could remove the launch and reprofile that first pre-drop to work with a chain-lift so that the rest of the ride runs exactly the same as it did before

 

That presumes that the launch system is the problem. That was speculated back in 2016/17 and was refuted by the park and the manufacturer.

 

Yet people still post about making a chain lift and how it would cure all the problems.

[mikeykaise]

Well considering at one point they had to have water spraying on the magnetic fins on the launch just to try to get it to run helps points it that way, something needs to be done, why have a ride that's constantly up and down, if it was me I wouldn't want to try to keep wasting my money, I'd want to fix it or remove it.

[Garet]

^^ my post was more joking about how enthusiasts would react to Hilltoppers and Bill’s comments a page or two back on the subject more than actually suggesting it as an idea.

[grsupercity]

RMC is sorta working with Vekoma on rare occasions. Let them come in and redo the launch

[Canobie Coaster]

Well considering at one point they had to have water spraying on the magnetic fins on the launch just to try to get it to run helps points it that way, something needs to be done, why have a ride that's constantly up and down, if it was me I wouldn't want to try to keep wasting my money, I'd want to fix it or remove it.

 

A lot of launch coasters spray water on the motors to cool them down. Incredicoaster is one that comes to mind. That alone doesn't indicate a problem.