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Dollywood Discussion Thread

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

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On 3/13/2021 at 9:08 PM, tndank said:

Give it a week or two.  When it's running every day without major problem, take a shot and come down.

 

For a second there, I thought you quoted a post from 06/13/2016.

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If they want to stop spending money on refurbing it and have true reliability, they should have admitted it was a failed experiment and just dump the launch system from the equation


The launch was aborted, not failed.

The same safety systems that caused the abort would stop a chain lift.

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For real, I'm so glad I found this...... 
https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-03-15
 

We really don't need to wonder.... just check this. You can go back far as you want, so you can see if it was up/how much it was up every day for weeks/months if ya want. Eliminates any question. I'd just check this in a few weeks. If it looks like it's been running all day every day for a few weeks, then all's good : D 

BTW elsewhere I saw another person confirm that it felt exactly the same as before, and if anything the Quad down feels faster. This person also got to talk to the ride op and they said 1: they HAVE tested LRod with 2016 launch speeds, and it was "life changing" but no idea if they will ever go back to that. "Possibly" but ya know....let's not bank on it. They also mentioned all the trees were removed partly due to access like was discussed but also bad storms over the winter downed/weakened a lot of trees. 

So yeah, I'm pretty stoked. It seems they are running 1 train ops right now but I assume this will end as the season progresses. 


 

 

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I wonder if some of the tree-chopping is to make sure there's a wide enough berth around the park in case they end up with bad wildfires again.

Also, Herschend is well known for its conservation efforts, particularly when it comes to replanting trees. Mary Herschend was very adamant that no trees be harmed, and if they needed to be taken down, then two trees for every one cut down had to be planted somewhere else to make up for it. As such, her son Jack Herschend was raised to cherish trees and in 1992 created the Gift of Green tree farm which grows and donates trees. Also, a funny anecdote: Jack was actually fired by his mother several times because of trees cut down that she felt didn't need to be touched.

Here's an article from 2003 talking about the stats from the program's first ten years:
https://www.ksmu.org/post/gift-green-program-provides-free-trees#stream/0

And here's an article from 2011 talking about how the program was going to be closed, but the Joplin tornado prompted them to keep it open and help plant new trees in the city:
https://www.bransontrilakesnews.com/news_free/article_b4215d94-f137-11e0-b4a6-001cc4c002e0.html

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6 hours ago, TEDodd said:


 

 


The launch was aborted, not failed.

The same safety systems that caused the abort would stop a chain lift.
 

 

Not necessarily. There are other factors involved in a launch that don't exist with a chain lift.

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Not necessarily. There are other factors involved in a launch that don't exist with a chain lift.
Sure, but I suspect 90% of the sensors that cause aborted launches would stay if they changed the start. So there would still be a lot of stoppages due to the sensors.

I hope the Fri/Sat was just tweaking the sensitivity of a few sensors and similar tweaks and Sun are the new normal.

I'd also like them to be more forgiving of an aborted launch and treat it more like other parks do with roll-backs (see TTD/KDK relaunches w/o unloading the train).

Maybe unload, hold those people in a queue, run one or two test trains, then load them back up.

5-10 minute delay. Not shut down for an hour or two. Like the 2.5hr closure today. Why was that not just 5-10 minutes?
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1 hour ago, TEDodd said:

Sure, but I suspect 90% of the sensors that cause aborted launches would stay if they changed the start. So there would still be a lot of stoppages due to the sensors.

I hope the Fri/Sat was just tweaking the sensitivity of a few sensors and similar tweaks and Sun are the new normal.

I'd also like them to be more forgiving of an aborted launch and treat it more like other parks do with roll-backs (see TTD/KDK relaunches w/o unloading the train).

Maybe unload, hold those people in a queue, run one or two test trains, then load them back up.

5-10 minute delay. Not shut down for an hour or two. Like the 2.5hr closure today. Why was that not just 5-10 minutes?

The ride operators never give a reason for the shut down. Not sure if it was the sensors. You would think after 4 or so years that they would have the sensor issues worked out. I'll be going again this Wednesday and I'll check it out. I only got to ride 1 time last Friday before it died again, lol.

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Such an interesting past 10 years for Dollywood with LR issues, changing MM, the topple tower fail turned into a drop tower, the amazing ropes course then turned into the area for Firechaser, and didn't they remove the splash battle? 

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35 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

I just saw that they cleared a ton of trees around Tennessee Tornado too. Man, I normally love this place but WTF are they doing lately?

I wonder if SDC has been clearing trees around their rides as well?? Like is this a Hershend thing?? Orrr??? 

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49 minutes ago, coasterbill said:

I just saw that they cleared a ton of trees around Tennessee Tornado too. Man, I normally love this place but WTF are they doing lately?

See? It's settled. DW has gone to crap! It's all over enthusiasts lol jk jk 
It is a bit of a shame, I reckon it'll take away a bit from the experience just bc who doesn't love trees? And ya know that did seems to be part of the feel of Dollywood. I mean no big deal but is a little unfortunate. I heard there were supposedly bad storms but seems like they cleared huge swaths! If they aren't gunna expand the park in the future, hope they pay to move in new trees. Sounds silly when they can regrow for free but like....that can take decades, and it'd be sad to see so much of the park cleared out for so long. 

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I saw that too regarding the trees. It's quite unfortunate. Man good thing miss Mary Herschend isn't around, she would be having fits over this. She was very adamant on enforcing their tree removal policy they had made for their properties.

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7 minutes ago, michaellynn4 said:

Are there any photos of the trees by TT? I've tried finding some online but haven't been able to see what others are talking about.

Coaster Studios on YouTube had a brief segment on it on their video trip report.

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I wonder if any of the tree removals are due to invasive bugs that are killing trees all over the mountains and even that area. There are scenic roads closed due to these bugs and while it sucks, can cause the trees to be very dangerous fall or fallen limbs.

It seems they are clearing them out around the rides, possible they are afraid they will fall?


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1 hour ago, prozach626 said:

 

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LOL this ride is the truly the god of memes. But for real it'll be fine. If it isn't then well we just gotta accept the ride is cursed, perhaps it was built on some ancient burial ground or some rivalrous country star hired someone put a hex on it. In which case I'd say DW just up the launch speed and run the ride until it falls apart in 2 years bc its doomed anyway XD

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20 minutes ago, tndank said:

Mystery Mine up and running today. Reports suggest the outside was the only work and it is still just as rough as ever everywhere else. 

lol oh can't wait. 

Though speaking of, near 2 hour wait??? Yikes...but I hear the waits are always horrendous for MM. Don't seem remotely worth it or maybe the ops are just that bad?

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