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Dollywood Discussion Thread

P. 791: Big Bear Mountain family coaster announced for 2023!

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Interesting to see, that for one attraction only, Lumberjack Lifts for the kids, has a maximum heat allowance, heh.

I am wondering though, what happens to it, after 95' ? Causing it to be shut down, etc. ? Just curious of me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I spent the day at Dollywood yesterday and I have to say I've never seen it as dead as it was. There were no lines for any rides all day long. It was funny to look up at the monitors on each ride showing zero wait times for all the rides in the park. Except for Lightening Rod, which was, as usual, not running. The sign in front of the ride said temporarily closed, but I didn't see it open before I left which was a major disappointment.  I think at this time Dollywood either needs to sue RMC, completely rebuild the coaster or just tear it down and start from scratch. Dollywood has to be mad about the constant down time and it is a big black eye for RMC. Does Steel Vengeance at Cedar Point have the same issue with down time? Probably not with its standard lift. Other than that. all the other rides were running well, food lines were non-existent and the parking lot was only partially filled into the C area. It was very humid, but still a great day at the park. There were also a bunch of new employees that I haven't seen before, which is typical for fall when students go back to school.

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When we finally got some rides on it in May of this year, it was my son's third attempt and my second. Keep in mind that is a one way 8 - 8 1/2 hour drive with not a real flight option to cut the time. First time we were on it as we were pulling out of the station he insisted he would not believe it was happening and/or celebrate in any way until we crested the lift hill, lol.

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1 hour ago, coasterbill said:

Based on Dollywood Wait Times it looks like the last time it was open at all was Saturday.

The week of the 1st looks to be when it when down. I think on FB there was a post motioning parts.

But ran OK the last weekend of August up til Sep 2. About half the day on Sep 3th. And down until the 10th, running until 6:00 then down. Good start Sat, but down for an hour around 4:30, but then ran til park close. Didn't run Sun or the rest of the week.

Waiting on parts again? Only running on busy weekend days to prolong parts that need replaced for reliability (not safety)?

Waiting to see what happens this weekend to see if there's more of a pattern.
 

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In August 2019, LRod was rated better uptime than Steel Vengeance (i.e. when I went to CP, grr). Not progress.

As LR was closed ~all of Labor Day weekend, it surely isn't (all) intentional. WTF is the real problem? Is their security really that good or do they just not know? Maybe they need another extreme launch coaster so they can just do that lift hill. Hire the Steel Curtain programmers so that won't work either. ;)

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10 hours ago, tndank said:

We got cheap flights here if you are coming from Texas or Florida.  Otherwise, forget it.

 

It's not really a cost issue, there just traditionally haven't been any flights from STL into Knoxville that don't go some super round about way like through Denver or I can fly into Nashville and still have a 3 and half hour drive which seems dumb. Ends up taking the same amount of time as driving and costing more so not worth it. Apparently Delta has just added a flight with a short layover in ATL (been getting some notifications since I am flying Delta soon to Paris) So that MAY be a game changer. I'll pay for it if saves me a lot of time.

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15 hours ago, u4icmusic said:

Except for Lightening Rod, which was, as usual, not running. The sign in front of the ride said temporarily closed, but I didn't see it open before I left which was a major disappointment.  I think at this time Dollywood either needs to sue RMC, completely rebuild the coaster or just tear it down and start from scratch. Dollywood has to be mad about the constant down time and it is a big black eye for RMC.

Thanks for clarifying that it is indeed back to its "normal self" as I mentioned in a previous post. 😅

I know I might get some flak for this but even after all the hype, praise, and awards this thing has received over the years I feel its time to say this coaster is massively overrated and a complete joke. Yes I have ridden it but when you factor in all its persistent UN-reliability (yes I emphasized the "UN" for a reason) it is a laughing stock that will probably be added to Urban Dictionary as a new term for "broken rollercoaster" and yes it is a big black eye for both Dollywood and RMC that needs to be dealt with for good before more dollars, resources, and marketing hype are wasted on it. This is dare I say getting to be SOB levels bad with the amount of modifications/repairs and SNBO time its logging. Its taking up some prime real estate that could be put to much better use. It needs to be put out of its misery.

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20 hours ago, coasterbill said:

Based on Dollywood Wait Times it looks like the last time it was open at all was Saturday.

That's the issue for me. Why post a sign outside and have ride hosts standing there saying the ride is temporarily closed. That's why I kept checking the Dollywood app and walking by to see what "temporarily" actually meant. I think it is just a PR decision for guests and should be handled differently by Dollywood.

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Went to Dollywood for the first time ever this week, Monday and Wednesday. Really disappointed in Lightning Rod and how so much was closed, but obviously the current "staffing environment" is to blame for those other things. 

Anyway, Thunderhead and Dragonflier were great!  We also enjoyed blazing fury, it reminded us a lot of black diamond at knoebels, but with more legit "drops", which caught me offguard 🤣.   The humidity really got to us so we didn't really spend too much time there either day (and the first day we werent prepared with proper hydration). Not that I saw anyone on this forum talking about it, but the grist mill cinnamon bread that the internet raves over seems to just be cinnabon to me, not that theres anything wrong with that. 

We did not spend much time in the park, however I can't imagine what this park is like on a busy day. I assume that will make riding every ride (some more than once) take more than 2 hours? 

 

Clearly the area (PF/Gburg) mostly close for the time between labor day and leaf peeping season and a bunch of stuff we were looking to check out was closed. Also, the "Rod Run" being this weekend attracted a zillion people to park their "classic" cars and gawk at them, even days before it officially started. 

I don't mean to sound cranky, its just what happens. 

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On 9/17/2021 at 7:06 PM, Clarimeister said:

Looks like Lightning Rod was open today (Friday, 9/17/21). Is it possible it's only down during the Monday/Wednesday operating days for right now? 

That was my speculation earlier. Just need some more data points.

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17 hours ago, jarmor said:

But why would it be down for any scheduled days?!?  I thought the point of the rebuild was to make it more reliable? 

detox GIF

It's not down for scheduled days. 

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Dollywood Season Pass 2022 renewals starting on October 18th, with upgraded season pass options with up to 6 bring-a-friend passes, plus one 2021 Christmas bring-a-friend pass. They are also bringing back the discount bring-a-friend key tag. Let's see if we get a better deal than the crap one we got last year.

IMG_20210923_201714498.jpg

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