Dollywood Discussion Thread

[ernierocker]

^Aww Hell no.

 

Where would they fit a B&M Hyper? If they are building a coaster it would have to be quite compact, B&M Hyper's, anyway you build them, are not compact...Plus they are building a Giga coaster at a park just 3 hours east that already has a Hyper coaster, the competition just wouldn't match up in that category.

 

EDIT: if it is a coaster, I would also expect it towards the front of the park, however it would have to be VERY, and I mean VERY compact for a big coaster anywhere in the park.

 

There are plenty of places to place a large coaster. Not saying the park is going to put in a Hyper coaster but Dollywood is not limited to a compact coaster.

 

 

So the article said that it was going to be "one of the biggest single attraction additions in our 30-year history" So I'm not sure that means that the attraction would cost more than $20m, it just might be a really big attraction with a large footprint.

 

I don't take that as literally the biggest attraction, more as the most significant attraction in the park's history. Either way, I am excited to find out what it is!

[Shavethewhales]

Oh, they could certainly drop $20 million on a really world class dark ride. We're not talking about the old Sally dark rides either, think about what Universal has been doing lately. But before we get too far on how much they might be spending and how, consider that they said it would be one of the biggest attractions, not the biggest. So it could be around the size of Wild Eagle's expenditure.

 

Assuming they go the coaster route, I'm also in the camp to bet on an RMC. HFEC has always liked to do repeat business with companies who build successful attractions for them. Meanwhile, DW seems like it is increasingly being influenced by competition with Carowinds, which of course has just announced a hyper coaster. So based on those two points I'd make the case for an RMC with a 200ft+ drop. Perhaps it could start off like Goliath but then move into a tighter OR-like layout.

 

DW has tons and tons of land, and they are no longer terribly conservative about how they use it, so there are literally dozens of places and ways they could fit a hyper coaster into the park if they wanted too. Hopefully they would point it outwards from the park and utilize the terrain, but you never know at this point. It looked like the immersion ship sailed when Wild Eagle was placed in the middle of the park.

[tarheel1231]

^Darkastle was actually around $20 Million. Transformers: The Ride and The Amazing Adventures are both $100 million, I believe. If a park can create a 3D dark ride as good as Darkastle, they will have a winner IMO.

 

{EDIT} Also, if the park adds an RMC, I doubt it would cost as much as Wild Eagle. Outlaw Run was $10 Million, so if the park wanted to build a longer version of it, it wouldn't be too expensive.

[ernierocker]

^A significant part of Wild Eagle's cost was earthwork as they had to do a lot of grading to fit the entrance plaza and station in addition to the ride itself. I imagine the new attraction will have a similar proportion of the cost associated to earthwork.

[OrlandoGuy]

Oh, they could certainly drop $20 million on a really world class dark ride. We're not talking about the old Sally dark rides either, think about what Universal has been doing lately.

 

Um no lol. $20 million isnt gonna come close to what Universal has been doing lately. Noooooowhere close. Plus Dollywood has no experience with world-class dark rides, so their R&D costs would probably need to be higher just to match that. Im sorry, but thats a huge pipe dream.

[Bobby2889]

My guess is definitely an RMC, I also think it will be similar to Wildfire at Kolmarden.

 

It'd be really awesome for it to take the worlds longest record but that's such a pipe dream.

[Shavethewhales]

Huh, I hadn't looked at how much some of those Orlando dark rides actually ended up costing, but I wonder how much of that was actually on the rides themselves. I knew HP world was in a league of it's own, but there's still a few good examples of sweet dark/combo rides within the range of around $20 million. Point is, I kind of hope they do something other than just a basic coaster, but I won't complain anyway.

 

I wish HFEC would go back to the track they were on when Mystery Mine was announced. If only that ride was a bit smoother it would have been even more of a success. When you see a ride taken to that level of detail you know you're not in a just some basic amusement park.

 

And just to throw out another idea beyond the RMC discussion that's surely going to dominate, what about going back to B&M for another high-capacity, highly marketable ride? Both of the B&M's that HFEC has purchased have ended up as their most visible and marketed attractions. I'd love to see them dress one up like Efteling is doing.

[VF15]

If it's going to be one of the park's largest investments ever, then it's certainly going to be a roller coaster. I would've said B&M wing rider if they didn't already have one. Maybe it could be an RMC woodie, but those are usually around the $10 million range, unless they make one that's really long or insane. Plus, they already have a top-notch woodie (Thunderhead). Maybe it's a large B&M invert like Banshee; I could see that working well there. Whatever it is, I'm sure that Dollywood will wow us.

[DanTheBooker]

Yeah, can't believe anybody doesn't think there's enough room for a hyper. Ithrew that out there in haste, not considering Fury 325. I don't know why, I just don't think it'll be RMC. I feel like Thunderhead is still relevant enough to be the only wood in the park. I hope I'm wrong and very well could be. With that said Tennesee Tornado was HUGE for this property and so has Outlaw Run. Maybe HFEC is ready to invest in some more Alan Shchilke goodness.

 

Until I hear anymore, most DEFINATELY a coaster!!!

[Vonni]

I'm going to speculate either RMC or B&M Invert. Those two options seem the most probable to me.

[brenthodge]

I do agree with the comment about mystery mine. Riding it again a few weeks ago reminded me how close to disney they got with this (if all the effects would work) I think if they are going for "destination" resort these are the type of investments and the level they need to be taking things. I think the coaster line up is pretty good right now. I don't think adding coaster after coaster is a sound strategy. That's more of a regional mindset. Look at kings island,dominion,and the other cf parks. The park definitely needs reinvestment in existing as well. River battle looks awful. None of the interactive elements work. Those are things " national destination" resorts also need to pay attention to. I really love this park and the track they are on with such a blended, balaced approach. I hope they keep that along with really expanding and developing new and different entertainment options. Even if they put a few shows in rotation and swapped out every other year would help.

[ahecht]

I'm going to speculate either RMC or B&M Invert. Those two options seem the most probable to me.

 

How would a B&M invert be a significantly larger investment than a B&M wingrider?

[YOLO]

^Aww Hell no.

 

Where would they fit a B&M Hyper? If they are building a coaster it would have to be quite compact, B&M Hyper's, anyway you build them, are not compact...Plus they are building a Giga coaster at a park just 3 hours east that already has a Hyper coaster, the competition just wouldn't match up in that category.

 

EDIT: if it is a coaster, I would also expect it towards the front of the park, however it would have to be VERY, and I mean VERY compact for a big coaster anywhere in the park.

 

There are plenty of places to place a large coaster. Not saying the park is going to put in a Hyper coaster but Dollywood is not limited to a compact coaster.

 

Just to let you know I went to Dollywood in 2013 and it looked like they where pretty full, but I just looked at my map and it looks like in the east side of the park across from The Grist Mill and the church they have a LOT of room that I didn't even notice. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. It's still not enough for a Hyper though. I think whatever it is it will be manufactured by Mack or Intamin, as they don't have either of those manufactures. A little more so Mack, I think something like Blue Fire could be perfect.

[A.J.]

If we're talking high capacity in a coaster, maybe they'll put in an Intamin prefabricated wooden coaster that runs three trains with a mid-course brake like T-Express.

[coasterfreaky]

^^they have several hundred acres to keep on expanding Dollywood park, there is more than enough room for a hyper.

 

Now Mack is a good guess...but hopefully more like HELIX. Blue Fire goes from the launch straight into a inversion and then a mid-course...no bueno.

[coasterfreaky]

If we're talking high capacity in a coaster, maybe they'll put in an Intamin prefabricated wooden coaster that runs three trains with a mid-course brake like T-Express.

 

I love that idea A LOT, but I would be very surprised if Dollywood or HFEC announced an Intamin ride or coaster. They don't have any at DW or SDC and never have...tho they do have one at Darien Lake, which HFEC manages. And no the rapids rides at DW and SDC are not Intamin, they are from Barr Engineering. I think Dollywood may view their safety record as too potentially dangerous to deal with. Recall the accident on Superman at Darien Lake the first season that HFEC took over management of that park?

[YOLO]

Now Mack is a good guess...but hopefully more like HELIX. Blue Fire goes from the launch straight into a inversion and then a mid-course...no bueno.

 

Everyone would like it to be more like Helix. Helix was 36 million dollars, and that is almost double of what they said they are investing. I'm being realistic.

[CoasterLine]

I think everyone is underestimating the amount of property that is owned by Dollywood. It's amazing at how much the park has expanded in the last 15 years alone, but look at Google Maps and where the train travels. The land clearing that is happening currently is fairly large, and is on the "unexplored property" side of the park. I'm excited to see the direction they take it.

[ernierocker]

 

 

Everyone would like it to be more like Helix. Helix was 36 million dollars, and that is almost double of what they said they are investing. I'm being realistic.

 

They haven't said how much they are investing (unless I missed it somewhere). Just that it will be the biggest project in the 30 year history of the park.

[dstephe9]

 

 

Everyone would like it to be more like Helix. Helix was 36 million dollars, and that is almost double of what they said they are investing. I'm being realistic.

 

They haven't said how much they are investing (unless I missed it somewhere). Just that it will be the biggest project in the 30 year history of the park.

 

There is an interview from this summer where they said around 20 million or the cost of wild eagle for dollywoods nxt attraction . Not quite sure how they worded it but I believe they said the cost the same as wild eagle. So that's where the 20 million is coming from.

 

The interview is linked in this thread from back during the summer

 

It was of Pete at a coaster convention or something. Park convention or something. He mentioned it was also the 2016 attraction so unless plans have changed that is where the cost everyone speaks of is coming in

[Shavethewhales]

Let's not get too hung up on the exact dollar figure. The most recent statement said it would be one of the largest attractions to date. That's purposefully vague, but it tells us it could cost anywhere from $10-20 million. It's going to be a big attraction in any case. Most coasters can be built for that, along with most major flat rides, a lot of good dark rides, and a lot of other things.

[maverickpoint]

This will clearly be a roller coaster. I mean. Wild Eagle had a price tag of twenty million dollars. What other type of SINGLE attraction could they add for >$20m that wouldn't be a coaster?

 

So the article said that it was going to be "one of the biggest single attraction additions in our 30-year history" So I'm not sure that means that the attraction would cost more than $20m, it just might be a really big attraction with a large footprint.

 

in an article from Dollywood like a year ago it said the 2016 attraction was around the price of Wild Eagle. He's right.

[maverickpoint]

 

 

Everyone would like it to be more like Helix. Helix was 36 million dollars, and that is almost double of what they said they are investing. I'm being realistic.

 

They haven't said how much they are investing (unless I missed it somewhere). Just that it will be the biggest project in the 30 year history of the park.

 

you missed it. Somewhere is an article which states it will be around the price tag of Wild Eagle. So we're looking at 20 million.

[dstephe9]

Yes it was also in a recorded interview. The interview is hid back in this post somewhere haha

 

I believe your right and Pete worded it "2016 attraction will be around the cost of wild eagle"

[ernierocker]

Okay, gotcha. I didn't expect them to spend much more than that, just didn't see where it was mentioned. No matter what the final price tag, I am excited to find out what it is!