Dollywood Discussion Thread

[Looty]

I'm at the park today. No LR and no sign of any activity taking place in the station. No surprise, but a bummer nonetheless.

 

Also, their weather policy is a bit frustrating. They have reopened rides and closed them after only about 10 minutes...twice now due to weather. Current conditions:

[ernierocker]

Also, their weather policy is a bit frustrating. They have reopened rides and closed them after only about 10 minutes...twice now due to weather. Current conditions:

 

All parks have a similar policy...lightning in the immediate area and all rides are closed. I am 45 minutes away and there were several storms that went through today.

[southpuddle]

I work at a large outdoor sportsplex here in central Florida, and we have a system that detects the likelihood of lightning within a certain radius of the park. I think that ours is set to 5 miles. I'd imagine that theme parks have similar systems. Ours will signal a loud siren when the threat is great enough (parks I'm sure forego the siren and just radio or call attractions to tell them to close). It's a good system most of the time, but it can be frustrating when the weather immediately over the park is seemingly clear.

[dstephe9]

I manage a lakefront in the area and we do a 10 mile rule or if we hear thunder.. lightening is not something to mess around with.. but being in the same area as Dollywood it was the same here.. sunny out but I couldn't let kids in the water bc lightening was just close enough that I was required to close

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[djcoastermark]

according to NOAA, lightning can strike 10 to 15 miles away from the storm. I myself have seen lightning strike when the sky around me was fairly clear but a storm was in the area. Better to be safe than sorry. Yes sometimes it seems as though a park is being too cautious, but in today's sue happy society.......

[bluestreak]

Trying my luck with LR tomorrow... I know it's not likely but still beyond excited to visit the rest of this awesome park.

[STDog]

I work at a large outdoor sportsplex here in central Florida, and we have a system that detects the likelihood of lightning within a certain radius of the park.

 

Missed the stunt show at Universal because of lightning. They delayed a while, then let us in the stands only to delay more. 5-10 minutes after they were supposed to start (even had the cars staged) they finally called it and had us exit.

 

I believe they use a 10 mile range.

 

Never saw lighting or heard thunder the rest if the day. Got a little sprinkle, but not even real rain.

 

Almost didn't see the Transformers that day for the same reasons. One came out late and another left early.

[Garet]

^ I feel like the performers/staff safety is more important than keeping to times or disappointed guests at the end of the day, even with storms far away staff still need time to make sure all guests are off the ride or out of the water. Look at that lifeguard at Adventure Island who died, wasn't that death due to not shutting down the ride when the alarms sounded?

[dstephe9]

That's another good point. The lifeguards, staff, performers are always the last people out usually.. there have been times on my waterfront that we hear thunder a long way off.. by the time we get all boats out, swimmers into safety, and so on, the storm has been right on top of us.. just last week me and my sail boat instructor was tying off our 25ft sailboat in the pouring rain with Lightening within a mile.. we sent the kids off the dock in a rush but we had to still secure the boat.. we called it when lightening was over 10 miles out

 

So it takes time to close some of this stuff.. coasters, shows, it's all the same.. closing it is not only for the customers safety but for the staff as well

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[bluestreak]

At the park now... LR is not operating but there's a lot of mechanics walking around near and in the station area... the ride is also making a lot of random noises. Don't know if said noises mean anything but they seem to be a good sign to me.

[Jccoasterfan]

I'm also at the park today. I have been seeing several LR ops around the park still in their LR uniforms helping out at the other attractions. As far as LR itself, it has been quiet most of the day, but as mentioned already, there was some activity around the station at one point. Not sure at the moment, though.

 

Overall crowds aren't that heavy today. Most of the coasters have very little wait times. The most I had to wait was for Fire Chaser, and that was only for about 15 minutes.

[bluestreak]

^ This is just me being maybe a bit too optimistic but maybe they have the operators in uniform today just in case it does open? Like I said I'm probably being too optimistic but one could hope.

[Jccoasterfan]

^ Probably just too optimistic.

 

Other than that, I honestly had a great time at the park. It was a bummer that LR was closed all day, but that didn't stop me from enjoying my day! The fireworks were awesome and nothing could beat the view from Wild Eagle's lift hill during the fireworks. It made that particular night ride even better! That was definitely a highlight of my night.

 

I still consider myself lucky for being able to get a ride in on LR last month during the first technical rehearsals. All I can say is WOW. What an amazing coaster. Hopefully they can get this thing up and running again very soon.

 

We always get season passes every year because they are so worth it. Dollywood's only a 4-5 drive from where I live (outside of ATL) so traveling is never a hassle. Can't wait to be back this Fall! Or maybe sooner...

 

*Edit: I did happen to walk by LR twice during the late afternoon/evening and no acitivity could be seen anywhere in or around the station. The lights in the station were all off as well.

[dstephe9]

From what I can tell is if the LR ops are outside LR playing games, drawing on the street, and playing with the guest, there is a chance it will open. If they are on other rides, then no. It's just Dollywood trying to give them hours which is nice and fair..

 

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[sonoma15]

Lightning Rod will not be opening today

[sonoma15]

Not sure though, their is a train in the station. Workers in station too.

[sonoma15]

Lightning rod is running

[Dollywoodlover20]

Lightning rod is running

Let the choir sing "yesssssssssss"...for now at least.

[bluestreak]

Lightning rod is running

 

With people?

[ImNotOneOfYou]

Lightning rod is running

Lightning Rod will not be opening today

 

What a difference 3 hours makes

[sonoma15]

It's still not open, but it is testing

[bluestreak]

A gentleman (probably from maintenance) by the entrance said is has to run 50-100 times without problem. He inferred it was another recalled part

[DoinItForTheFame]

A gentleman (probably from maintenance) by the entrance said is has to run 50-100 times without problem. He inferred it was another recalled part

 

Weird. I heard from the Dip-N-Dots guy that it was still problems with the launch system.

[Dollywoodlover20]

A gentleman (probably from maintenance) by the entrance said is has to run 50-100 times without problem. He inferred it was another recalled part

What's with all these recalled parts on only lightning rod? Wildfire is running perfectly from what I've seen. So is Storm Chaser

[bluestreak]

Since a small storm that passed through about 2 hours ago LR has not resumed testing... even though all other rides are running. Really is a shame. I thought it might run today.

More time to eat cinnamon bread