Dollywood Discussion Thread

[TheCoasterKid211 0]

So speaking of wood coasters.... How is Thunderhead holding up?

 

There's been a lot of talk about Apocalypse at Magic Mountain and how terribly it's aged in such a short period of time. Thunderhead is several years older, but is it doing better?

 

I was at Dollywood in August, and its wood was very smooth.

If you know what I'm talking about...

[KBrylczyk 88]

So speaking of wood coasters.... How is Thunderhead holding up?

 

There's been a lot of talk about Apocalypse at Magic Mountain and how terribly it's aged in such a short period of time. Thunderhead is several years older, but is it doing better?

 

I was at Dollywood in August, and its wood was very smooth.

If you know what I'm talking about...

 

[A.J. 78]

There's been a lot of talk about Apocalypse at Magic Mountain and how terribly it's aged in such a short period of time. Thunderhead is several years older, but is it doing better?

It gave me a headache at the bottom of some of the drops but it's running pretty well overall. Loads of fun.

[TheCoasterKid211 0]

So speaking of wood coasters.... How is Thunderhead holding up?

 

There's been a lot of talk about Apocalypse at Magic Mountain and how terribly it's aged in such a short period of time. Thunderhead is several years older, but is it doing better?

 

I was at Dollywood in August, and its wood was very smooth.

If you know what I'm talking about...

 

Thanks.

[Dollywoodlover20 0]

I'm in Pigeon Forge right now. Not for sure if my family is wanting to go to Dollywood but here is my question, if my family doesn't decide to go, what would be the best place to get a in person view of Lightning Rod? Like, without getting arrested that is bahaha.

[KBrylczyk 88]

^ A helicopter. The area it's being built in is, IIRC, off limits to the public. Even if you visit the park you won't be able to see anything outside of the station and lift.

 

Still, though, you should totally convince your family to visit. Even if they're not big on rides they'll love Christmas In The Smokies. Tons of shows and events for the Christmas season and the entire park is decked in lights. Sell them on that rather than the rides.

[prozach626 185]

Yeah I thought the sarcasm in that post was obvious and it actually made me laugh. I dont really get the confusion. Lol

Bill gets me.

[Firechaser 0]

We just got back from another great trip to Dollywood, if you live within five hours of the park you should look into getting a season pass. It was supposed to be rainy almost all day yesterday but it was just a drizzle for half the day. None of the rides had waits so I made sure to use that for my benefit. We also watched Christmas Charol again this year. I am going to miss that show. Also, for any first timers make sure to ride the train at night, it may be chilly but it is truly beautiful. All in all another great trip and I can't wait to come back whether it be in December or April!

[Dollywoodlover20 0]

So we are going to wait couple weeks and then come back down because we ran out of time today but let me just give a review of what I seen in person of Lightning Rod. Pictures don't do it justice at all, the launch is larger in person, once you go towards the employee lot you see the peaks through the hills and you can see nothing but airtime and then the beast of what is a drop. I tell you this so you won't be decieved, that drop is huge and steep. For some reason the angles are making it look weak except for the most recent one. Like I mean it literally goes from that 165 all the way to pretty much the ground. Now that's what I call a literal terrain coaster lol. I could see some bents placed way far back upon the hill that were sticking up for the crazy wave turn. Then looking back through the woods I seen just how twisty this coaster will be, I just wanted to stand and cry tears of joy. For one my first time ever seeing a RMC in real life, and two it's just beautiful. Can't wait to come back and see more soon!

Just the signs that are ALL over Pigeon Forge

[KingRCT3 0]

^ I'm sorry you can't post nudity on these boards. Please cover those beautiful Dollyboobs!

[rcjp 0]

That drop looks stunning!

[nannerdw 0]

Wow, it's definitely shaped for sustained ejector

[DoinItForTheFame 20]

Thanks for the photos!!

 

That drop looks amazing.

[chargersmichael 0]

Wow it is really going to be visible from that lot! It looks to be a small tunnel on the top of the launch lift. Theming!

 

Station looks to be coming along great too!

 

I'm really excited to see how this turns out...

[Dollywoodlover20 0]

I plan to take more when I go back in a few weeks of the actual station from inside along with if anymore changes had been done. There were about 4-5 cars in front of us just driving up there to see the coaster because one car had a camera with a zoom lens LOL. I tried to take a picture of the bents on the hill but all the trees were in the way and it made a really hard to identify picture but yes, the drop when you stand and look at it looks like nothing but an airtime/speed monster.

[Ed Farmer 4]

 

I'd also be very disappointed if a park promised an RMC but just added a drop. It's almost like construction isn't over yet.

It's worth noting that the length of track shown in this image is roughly twice the length of track in Goliath SFGAm's entire layout, and that's a decent ride.

 

[Vonni 2]

Awesome pics! Thanks so much for sharing those! I could see the wooden peaks at the top of the launch hill be the beginning stages of theming to a covered bridge.

[dstephe9 8]

Went to Smoky Mountains Christmas last night! while a lot of the even seems to be better, especially the lights right at the front, a lot of it also felt lacking this year.. Not very many lights in the blazing fury, some parts of the park had no lights at all (did they run out? Where they not on?).. Not much Christmas music playing like years past.. IDK maybe it was just to early for me to be in the Christmas spirit but a lot felt missing.. I'll be back in a few weeks maybe everything will be better then lol.

 

Overall a fun trip through!! No wait times! Their new ride wait system screens weren't working very well.. Tennessee Tornados even said it was temporarily closed.. But there was no gate up so we walked up and about 3 people where getting on.. It wasn't closed but I guess people believed the sign ha-ha..

[UrbanLegend 0]

^ Yeah, I'm still shaking my head on how those are pictures of the same drop.

 

 

 

There is no way those are both pictures of the same drop.

 

So I'm still trying to figure out if they're pictures of two different drops or actually the same. Is it because of the way it's situated on the hill, as well as the trees, as well as perhaps the top being illuminated and the bottom in shadow contributing to it? I know that looking at a drop straight up makes it look smaller (like in the MF picture below), but Lightning Rod seems really exaggerated.

[Ed Farmer 4]

So I'm still trying to figure out if they're pictures of two different drops or actually the same. Is it because of the way it's situated on the hill, as well as the trees, as well as perhaps the top being illuminated and the bottom in shadow contributing to it? I know that looking at a drop straight up makes it look smaller (like in the MF picture below), but Lightning Rod seems really exaggerated.

There are some footers at the base of the drop to the right side in the second image- you could see the top of one of them in the first image.

[DoinItForTheFame 20]

So I'm still trying to figure out if they're pictures of two different drops or actually the same. Is it because of the way it's situated on the hill, as well as the trees, as well as perhaps the top being illuminated and the bottom in shadow contributing to it? I know that looking at a drop straight up makes it look smaller (like in the MF picture below), but Lightning Rod seems really exaggerated.

 

I spent more time than I should have trying to figure out if those photos were of the same drop. I finally just started counting the supports... and sure enough they added up. I don't think that first photo does this coaster justice. It makes it look like a kiddie coaster when it's really going to be more like a ride on a space shuttle.

[ejot 6]

Because the photo where the drop looks "very small" is taken from the ground, close to the track, and because Lightning Rod has a pretty big radius at the top of the drop, a lot of the track literally vanishes from that perspective.

 

In contrast, the picture where the drop looks stunning is taken from higher elevation... line of sight more horizontal, full track comes into view.

 

I'll use a crop of Dollywoodlover20's pic below. The orange arrow is the rough line of sight in the "weird" pic, meaning the track beyond the dotted line is obstructed from view. If you look at the vanishing point at the top of the track, you can see it is only about 3 or 4 big bents into the structure, roughly in agreement with the sketch.

 

Poof!

 

Whatever, I just can't wait to ride it.

[Jakizle 11]

GUYS, I have breaking news. Things look different from different angles. Can't believe this is still being discussed.

 

Lightning Rod looks absolutely insane. What a setting for a ride. And the drop will have insane sustained airtime all the way down it looking at the shape.

[ytterbiumanalyst 31]

GUYS, I have breaking news. Things look different from different angles. Can't believe this is still being discussed.

 

Lightning Rod looks absolutely insane. What a setting for a ride. And the drop will have insane sustained airtime all the way down it looking at the shape.

But how do we know if the angles are objectively different, or if it's each person's opinion? Only one way to find out: Mitch Hawker's 2016 Photographs of Roller Coasters poll.

[n1ch0las 0]

GUYS, I have breaking news. Things look different from different angles. Can't believe this is still being discussed.

 

Lightning Rod looks absolutely insane. What a setting for a ride. And the drop will have insane sustained airtime all the way down it looking at the shape.

 

Exactly.

 

I don't think I've ever been this impressed by a coaster under construction for years. RMC seems to be knocking this thing out of the ball park and they've convinced me to visit next year.