Dollywood Discussion Thread

[coasterfreaky]

Dolly's Update from thursday March 24, 2016

 

In the video - She reviews just about everything going on in her career and Dollywood / Pigeon Forge. Highlights if you can't watch...Lightning Rod is not ready yet, and she is as disappointed as everyone else Dolly Concert in Pigeon Forge on November 15th at the LaConte Center in PF. Sounds like this is the same concert she performed last year at Dollywood...which was fantastic of course. Q&A included in the video.

 

There will be more press articles coming out today...i'll keep an eye out and update.

[dstephe9]

So far very good day at the park.. Lines are short.. Food lines however are long at some places but not bad.. I waited 20 minutes for a Japanese Stir Fry bowl but all registers where open and food was ready. Line was just long..

 

The Dollywood ride time app is working well with accurate ride times..

 

Staff is very friendly and so far no rain (knock on wood) but it's coming

[Djwadeknox]

Dolly mentioned the park was packed yesterday. She said they planned on 7,000 people and over 17,000 folks showed up. That's the reason for the long lines yesterday at the pizza place and all over the park. They only had enough employees to really serve 7,000 not the 17,000 that showed up. WOW

[coasterbill]

A couple questions for those who have been to the area multiple times:

1. We are going for 4 days in April, probably hitting the park 2 of those, is it worth staying at one of the Dollywood cabins for the ticket deal? Do they ever run last minute deals on their cabins? Or should we just go ahead and book elsewhere and save a little money?

2. How does the child swap policy for riding work at Dollywood? We've encountered a LOT of variation even from what the park employees say from place to place, and there will be multiple parents with kids swapping out.

 

I always wanted to stay at a Dollywood Cabin until I figured out this existed. Stay there instead. Drink up. Lol

[TrippinBillie]

A couple questions for those who have been to the area multiple times:

1. We are going for 4 days in April, probably hitting the park 2 of those, is it worth staying at one of the Dollywood cabins for the ticket deal? Do they ever run last minute deals on their cabins? Or should we just go ahead and book elsewhere and save a little money?

2. How does the child swap policy for riding work at Dollywood? We've encountered a LOT of variation even from what the park employees say from place to place, and there will be multiple parents with kids swapping out.

 

I always wanted to stay at a Dollywood Cabin until I figured out this existed. Stay there instead. Drink up. Lol

 

Researched and did an Air BnB. $91 a night for the wife and I. In the mountains 2 miles from DW. 2 story, 2 BR 1.5 BA with pool table, flat screens wrap around porch with hot tub:

 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/9505765

 

We're going in April. Very excited.

[Mrlittle]

I wasn't sure if this has been posted. RMC did not have to make a statement but its very nice that they did.

 

RMC’S STATEMENT ON THE DELAYED OPENING OF LIGHTNING ROD ROLLER COASTER AT DOLLYWOOD THEME PARK

HAYDEN, Idaho — Rocky Mountain Construction co-owner Fred Grubb has released the following statement on the recently announced delay to the opening of Lightning Rod at Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, TN:

 

“We take the highest level of pride in every attraction we create. RMC is equally disappointed that Lightning Rod will not be opening as originally planned. We have been working with the launch system subcontractor on-site to bring it up to speed and working as intended.

 

As is often the case with prototype attractions and especially with launched coasters, delays are an ever-present possibility. During the course of testing, we determined that the third-party launch system would not be able to perform at the level required for proper operation.

 

While we strive to meet all of our deadlines, we cannot and will not sacrifice safety or ride quality in the name of saving time. RMC never has nor ever will open any new attraction until it has passed our rigorous standards.

 

At this time, we cannot speculate as to when the attraction will open to the general public. That date is ultimately decided upon by the customer, therefore all questions regarding an opening should be directed to Dollywood.

 

On behalf of all the employees at Rocky Mountain Construction, I want to personally thank the management team at Dollywood, the fans of the park as well as our fans for their patience and understanding as we work to bring you Lightning Rod.”

Edited March 24, 2016 by Mrlittle

[n1ch0las]

^That could take awhile.

 

Ride is still gonna be great when it opens though.

[ZeroGravity55]

So basically they're gonna have to put on a whole new launch system from a different company? That would explain why the trains were took off because they're gonna have to redesign where the LSM's go through the train to meet the new clearances. I wonder who will supply the launch now?

 

Ride is still gonna be great when it opens though.

 

This.

[kickflipbacktail]

Tryin to be optomistic but this is some pretty rough news as far as Lightning Rod is concerned. Don't expect to see this open any time soon.

 

Edit-sorry. My phone didnt refresh and I didnt see someone beat me to the bad new punchs. My bad.

[Dollywoodlover20]

I was just reading the article before I checked this, so is what I'm taking from it the launch isn't bringing enough power to make the coaster go fast enough? Uhm, that test video we seen looked like it was going pretty fast although it did get a bit laggy around the double up but still. If that wasn't the speed they want, will young kids really be able to handle this thing?

 

But if they have to redesign the launch, and the part where LSM meets sensor on the train, the delay will be at least another month- month and a half. I'm just going to try and be hopeful for my late June- July trip.

[SFOGdude25]

So the entire launch system may be replaced huh? Not sure how long that would take, but it sounds like Lightning Rod may not be open until May at the earliest. Oh well. I got a season pass this year, so I'll be back multiple times. Dollywood is still an amazing park, with or without Lightning Rod. I'm going in a few weeks. Still looking forward to my trip.

[Shavethewhales]

They said the system wasn't performing up to their standards, not that it specifically wasn't pushing the train fast enough. It probably works in the basic sense, but it failed some kind of redundancy/safety/maintainability test. Who knows at this point.

 

This is why I haven't been so excited over getting the "first" of anything. I'll gladly take the second version that has had all the kinks worked out. I'll bet DW gets a discount on this though, so it'll all work out in the end for them.

 

I'll bet they can have it done by Memorial Day.

[Firechaser]

Will they have to replace the whole launch system or will it just require some extra tweaking? Hopefully it is option number two!

[Djwadeknox]

Sounds like Dollywood might be getting a little refund on part of the launch system. I am sure they would want it to work right and if they promised them it would and it don't might be seeing Dollywood and the sub contractors in court. Sounds like this could take a few months.

[jimmiemac02]

I really wonder why Dollywood chose to go with Velocity Magnetics knowing they had never made a launch before.

[dabrian]

yuck.

[Anoki]

Think it'll be open by June, maybe July?

[Ape]

I'd rather wait through the delay and have an incredibly awesome one of a kind ride over them going for a run of the mill GP pleaser.

 

I'll be interested to see and hear about the fixes that will occur, also curious to see how long of a delay this sort of thing will cause.

[Jodon]

Am I the only one that is starting to question the reputation of RMC? When Goliath at SFGAm was nearly a month late, people chalked that up to it being Six Flags, but this is at Dollywood. RMC was really late getting the track and bent work completed which didn't leave much time for testing before the original opening. Then there's this debacle with Velocity Magnetics when there are several other manufacturers of LSM launch systems that have already been proven. Does anyone know if this was RMC or Herschend's decision to work with Velocity? When B&M decided to make a launch coaster, they partnered with a reputable company to get it right.

 

Regardless, this coaster doesn't look like it will be open for a long time. I'm betting with the change in LSM manufactures, there will need to be alterations to the trains... All in all, this has not been a good look for RMC.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Am I the only one that is starting to question the reputation of RMC?

 

Yes. Yes you are.

[kickflipbacktail]

Am I the only one that is starting to question the reputation of RMC?

 

Yes. Yes you are.

 

No he isnt. I'm not going to question the quality of their rides, because they obviously are top of their class. I am however questioning their choices to go with this LSM manufacturer and the HUGE delay this will cause. When Lightning Rod opens it WILL be amazing. I just hope this horrible press doesnt reflect too negatively on RMC in the eyes of Cedar Fair and other parks who may be considering them in the future.

[DoinItForTheFame]

Am I the only one that is starting to question the reputation of RMC?

 

Yes. Yes you are.

 

No he isnt. I'm not going to question the quality of their rides, because they obviously are top of their class. I am however questioning their choices to go with this LSM manufacturer and the HUGE delay this will cause. When Lightning Rod opens it WILL be amazing. I just hope this horrible press doesnt reflect too negatively on RMC in the eyes of Cedar Fair and other parks who may be considering them in the future.

 

Do we know for certain if it was RMC's choice to go with the LSM manufacturer, or was it Dollywoods decision??

[coasterkid124]

I'm guessing that it was probably cheaper for RMC to go with Velocity Magnets because of their previous relationship, and because they provided the brakes for the ride. But it was a pretty big risk to go with them when they've apparently never done a launch before. Of course Dollywood and RMC are going to blame this on being a "prototype" and all, but in reality they kind of have themselves to blame because LSM launches and Topper Track woodies have been working successfully for a while now. It was pretty much inevitable that sooner or later, they would have been put together.

 

I personally am not blaming anyone for this delay, but you have to wonder why RMC just didn't choose Intrasys for the LSMs. Maybe it would have cost more, but they've been successfully producing launches for pretty much all manufacturers for years now.

[n1ch0las]

Am I the only one that is starting to question the reputation of RMC?

 

Yes. Yes you are.

 

They did literally burn down Colossus that one time...

[coasterbill]