Dollywood Discussion Thread

[jarmor]

Well, they did just alter the layout of Mystery Mine so I don't know if that would disqualify it from being very reliable?

[neilnky]

I haven't been on Mystery Mine since the layout change but I read it was to provide a smoother ride experience.  I always looked forward to riding it because of the dark elements but did hate that it seemed so jerky.  I would just classify that as an improvement.  It is 14 years old now so it seems it has done very well right?  I don't remember reading much about it being down. When I think of unreliable at Dollywood based on these boards and news articles Lightning Rod and Timber Tower are the ones that stick out to me.  I did get to ride Timber Tower many times and it was fun. I am just glad I wasn't part of the group that got stuck up there for many hours!

[u4icmusic]

This could be what Dollywood gets in the Wildwood Grove expansion.

 

[Shavethewhales2]

That would be incredibly disappointing if it turns out to be a Zamperla. They are simply not good at roller coasters. Or most rides for that matter... They are good at making simple kids rides where the expectations are low, and a few of their larger flats are decent. Every coaster they've built has been painful or underwhelming. 

Fingers are still crossed for Intamin. 

[Hilltopper39]

20 minutes ago, Shavethewhales2 said:

That would be incredibly disappointing if it turns out to be a Zamperla. They are simply not good at roller coasters.

I get where you're coming from but this is an entirely new product from Zamperla and I was under the impression that they have a new emphasis on retooling their coaster offerings. I believe there were even some new people hired within their organization to work on new coaster products, so this new generation of rides from them might be completely different.  Kind of like Vekoma now vs 15 years ago.

 

One of these launched family coasters from Zamperla would honestly make a lot of sense in that part of the park, as long as it's high capacity and reliable what ever it is will probably be a hit.

 

[Garet]

22 hours ago, Shavethewhales2 said:

That would be incredibly disappointing if it turns out to be a Zamperla. They are simply not good at roller coasters. Or most rides for that matter... They are good at making simple kids rides where the expectations are low, and a few of their larger flats are decent. Every coaster they've built has been painful or underwhelming. 

Fingers are still crossed for Intamin. 

For parks though Zamperla's are a pretty great company for them. The rides aren't terribly expensive, most of their rides seem very maintenance friendly, I've almost never seen a Zamperla ride down for maintenance. There's a bunch here in Korea and the parks here run 365 days a year in -20C weather to 38C weather. There are copies of Zamperla rides everywhere so I assume parks wouldn't wait on parts very long either. Although, for some rides I doubt they'd need parts because I'm pretty sure those powered helix coasters will outlive us all.

The general public won't really care if it's from Intamin or Zamperla. Isn't this rumored to be a family launch coaster like Pony Express? I've never ridden it but that ride seems to have it's fans.

[PKI Jizzman]

It would be pretty disappointing if they essentially add another Firechaser Express. I know it's just concept but the promo video looks like a launched Catwoman's Whip/those long Zerier coasters.

[u4icmusic]

I was at Dollywood last Wednesday and again this last Sunday. Wednesday was packed and Sunday wasn't as busy, which seemed odd to me. Also, the crowd was much older on Wednesday. We saw three shows on Wednesday, which is something we rarely do and they were all rather good and better than expected for theme park shows.

 

Lightning Rod barely ran on both days and when it did, they were only running it with one train, so the lines were excruciatingly long. I asked a ride host why they were only using one train and he replied that they didn't know if they were ever going to be able to run two trains again. How can Dollywood think this is okay. It takes so long to load the trains, so the second train really helps with ride wait times. I only got to ride it once on Wednesday, thanks to the single-rider line and on Sunday it was down most of the day. We got in line when the park opened, waited almost an hour, then were shuffled out the exit with no explanation. In the past when we've been in line and Lightning Rod went down, the ride hosts would give us a card to skip the line on any one ride in the park. That didn't happen this time, so it was just an hour wasted waiting in line for nothing. The coaster opened up and closed a few more times that day, but was mostly down. We did get to do two nighttime rides, just before the park closed, which was fun (and cold).

 

I'm not sure what Dollywood should do with this ride now. It was a huge investment for them when it was built and another huge investment for the partial retracking last winter and the ride still isn't working like it should be. You can hear people all throughout the park complaining about Lightning Rod being down and you can see people checking the Dollywood app to see if the ride is back up and running, which it is usually not. There are rumors going around that they are going to retrack the areas that were not retracked last winter, so if that happens, maybe that will help with whatever the problem is. The ride hosts and Dollywood are very quiet about what the issues are and why they are only running one train. Dragonflier can only run one train because of the short track layout, so we know the lines will always be long on that ride, but for Lightning Rod, which is supposed to be the star attraction, the long wait times are just not acceptable for a coaster that is 5 years old now. Those kinks should have been all worked out now and it should be running smoothly with two trains at all times.

[KarlaKoaster]

How Dollywood and RMC cannot work this out amongst themselves is crazy to me. It's bit of a stain on both their reputations.

[jarmor]

How is it a stain on Dollywood's reputation?!?!?  I don't think either dollywood nor RMC have explicitly stated what the issue is so how can we just say everything should have been worked out by now?  I appreciate them trying their damndest to get it fixed instead of just outright scrapping the ride.

[u4icmusic]

8 minutes ago, jarmor said:

How is it a stain on Dollywood's reputation?!?!?  I don't think either dollywood nor RMC have explicitly stated what the issue is so how can we just say everything should have been worked out by now?  I appreciate them trying their damndest to get it fixed instead of just outright scrapping the ride.

It is a stain and an embarrassment on Dollywood to have a ride, any ride, that does not function as intended. Ask the thousands of guests that have walked up to Lightning Rod only to see a sign out in front that is is closed. This would have been understandable in its first year of operation, but there is no way this should be happening on a coaster that opened in 2016. If they cannot get it right, then Dollywood should sue RMC and remove the ride or replace it with something that works. Who cares if Dollywood or RMC has made an official statement as to what is causing the problems and down time. It doesn't matter. The fact is that Lightning Rod doesn't work as it was intended to and that is the stain. It would be like walking into a McDonald's and them telling you they are out of Big Macs. Sure, you can order a quarter pounder, but that isn't what you came in for. Many people, myself included, drive to Dollywood to ride the roller coasters. I've been there dozens of times when Lightning Rod has been down all or most of the day. For people paying full price for a ticket, which is now $95 with tax, they want all the rides to be working. Luckily, I have a season pass and drive over every week or two, but I've been disappointed at how often Lighting Rod has been closed this season, as have many others. Not everyone goes to Dollywood to see shows and and buy overpriced subpar food.

[coasterbill]

If they remove this thing entirely in a few years I couldn’t even be mad about it.

[TEDodd]

2 hours ago, u4icmusic said:

I was at Dollywood last Wednesday and again this last Sunday.

Bad day? Dollywoodwaittimes.com

Doesn't show it being that bad lately.

 

Wed the 17th?

https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-17

 

Or the the 10th?

https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-10

[KarlaKoaster]

3 hours ago, jarmor said:

How is it a stain on Dollywood's reputation?!?!?  

OK calm down!!!! I said a bit of a stain, I'm hardly tearing them a new one here. Just obviously from a guest perspective having their signature attraction running so unreliably even now is a negative point. The whys and wherefores don't really matter to guests, I'm just surprised we're still talking about this after five years. Sorry it's such a hot topic for you, I won't comment again.

[PKI Jizzman]

2 hours ago, KarlaKoaster said:

OK calm down!!!! I said a bit of a stain, I'm hardly tearing them a new one here. Just obviously from a guest perspective having their signature attraction running so unreliably even now is a negative point. The whys and wherefores don't really matter to guests, I'm just surprised we're still talking about this after five years. Sorry it's such a hot topic for you, I won't comment again.

It's the main reason I haven't visited yet. I'm not paying full price while LRod is likely/for sure going to be down. 

[tndank]

I've been told Dollywood is removing the tunnel.  Sad to see a piece of history like that go.  I remember running through there 30-40 years ago.  Usually a good way to escape the heat for a second, too.  Oh well.

 

[u4icmusic]

On 11/20/2021 at 10:23 AM, TEDodd said:

Bad day? Dollywoodwaittimes.com

Doesn't show it being that bad lately.

 

Wed the 17th?

https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-17

 

Or the the 10th?

https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-10

It was the 10th that was really busy. The parking lot was filled to d/e and you could not more inside the park. The ride wait times were not that long because the people that visited that day were old. Very old. The shows were all filled up with lines snaking through the park to get in. I still had a great time and it was warm, in the 70's that day, so it was a perfect day to be at Dollywood, even with Lighting Rod issues.

[TEDodd]

1 hour ago, u4icmusic said:

It was the 10th that was really busy. The parking lot was filled to d/e and you could not more inside the park. The ride wait times were not that long because the people that visited that day were old. Very old. The shows were all filled up with lines snaking through the park to get in. I still had a great time and it was warm, in the 70's that day, so it was a perfect day to be at Dollywood, even with Lighting Rod issues.

I just didn't see the wait times that long on the 10th.
15-20 min after 6, but earlier it was only 40-45 min.
And ran 3-10, practically all day.

Sunday, the 14th, again wasn't bad (not great, but not bad).
Bad start, down 2 hrs from 1 til 3, but then ran 3-6 and again 7-9 so down an hour.
Up 5.5 hours, down 3hours. Running more than not, and certainly not "most of the day"
https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-14

Or are the reported times/closures not accurate now?

Now yesterday was horrendous. 150-180 min wait around noon, 90 min around 5, and still and hour from 6-8:30. Even 25 min just before close. 
https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning+Rod&day=2021-11-21

[mikeykaise]

Honestly I'm surprised that DW is keeping LR going, the thing that keeps popping into my head is the return on investment.... it can't be that great because it's constantly down.

[Shavethewhales2]

On 11/20/2021 at 8:23 AM, u4icmusic said:

It is a stain and an embarrassment on Dollywood to have a ride, any ride, that does not function as intended. Ask the thousands of guests that have walked up to Lightning Rod only to see a sign out in front that is is closed. This would have been understandable in its first year of operation, but there is no way this should be happening on a coaster that opened in 2016. If they cannot get it right, then Dollywood should sue RMC and remove the ride or replace it with something that works. Who cares if Dollywood or RMC has made an official statement as to what is causing the problems and down time. It doesn't matter. The fact is that Lightning Rod doesn't work as it was intended to and that is the stain. It would be like walking into a McDonald's and them telling you they are out of Big Macs. Sure, you can order a quarter pounder, but that isn't what you came in for. Many people, myself included, drive to Dollywood to ride the roller coasters. I've been there dozens of times when Lightning Rod has been down all or most of the day. For people paying full price for a ticket, which is now $95 with tax, they want all the rides to be working. Luckily, I have a season pass and drive over every week or two, but I've been disappointed at how often Lighting Rod has been closed this season, as have many others. Not everyone goes to Dollywood to see shows and and buy overpriced subpar food.

I completely agree. It's surprising that anyone would defend Lighting Rod, RMC, or even DW at this point over this issue. It has been so many years, and this ride has flopped through every single season. Tearing all or most of it out would actually be a good idea, despite it being a great ride when it is (rarely) open. It's just an operations and public relations nightmare to have a star attraction that can't be open consistently and frequently has major malfunctions. The comments DW has received from guests upset about LR being down over the years says enough. It's not just enthusiasts complaining, it's everyone.  

I do understand wanting to be positive and wishing the park and all involved the best, but after 5 years it's time to admit they don't know what they are doing and the ride will never work reliably as intended. Save as much of the structure as possible and bring in someone else to re-imagine this ride. 

In general, DW and HFEC should stop investing in inventive/prototype/first-of-their-kind rides and just build quality, reliable, high capacity rides. Bring in B&M to do all their coasters from now on. 

[sdcfan88]

On 11/22/2021 at 1:43 PM, Shavethewhales2 said:

I completely agree. It's surprising that anyone would defend Lighting Rod, RMC, or even DW at this point over this issue. It has been so many years, and this ride has flopped through every single season. Tearing all or most of it out would actually be a good idea, despite it being a great ride when it is (rarely) open. It's just an operations and public relations nightmare to have a star attraction that can't be open consistently and frequently has major malfunctions. The comments DW has received from guests upset about LR being down over the years says enough. It's not just enthusiasts complaining, it's everyone.  

I do understand wanting to be positive and wishing the park and all involved the best, but after 5 years it's time to admit they don't know what they are doing and the ride will never work reliably as intended. Save as much of the structure as possible and bring in someone else to re-imagine this ride. 

In general, DW and HFEC should stop investing in inventive/prototype/first-of-their-kind rides and just build quality, reliable, high capacity rides. Bring in B&M to do all their coasters from now on. 

Precisely this. The ONE ride I ever managed to get on it 2 years into it's existence I thought it was meh and to my surprise it rode horribly rough for a still new coaster and I thought how the park could have better benefited from a B&M Hyper in that spot with all the issues they have had. That was in 2018. Fast forward to 2021 and I still feel validated on my impressions. Naturally the ride closed for the day right after I got my first and only ride on it. 

[xVicesAndVirtues]

I cannot with this thread.

I know it does suck that LR continues to be a problem for them but hopefully the steel re-tracking of the rest of the coaster will do the trick. IMO it's the best RMC creation by far (I'm only missing Hakugei and Wildfire) and I think it's pretty cynical to wish they'd just give up and rip it out. I'd literally rather have a LR that only operates 3 days out of the year in that spot than another soul-less B&M hyper I could fall asleep on. Luckily for the optimists, the park doesn't care what the cynics think and they continue to work on it. It may require some more iteration because that's just how the design process can be sometimes.

Also somehow we've been lucky 7 out of 8 visits to the park since LR opened and been able to get pretty much as many rides as we've wanted. Last spring we were there for two days and got at least 30 rides on it. It was running great, didn't break down at all the two days we were there, and downtime according to Queue Times doesn't look to be *that* bad as some people make it out to be.

I mean yeah, it sucks when you visit the park and it's down. i305 was down when we went to KD this year and that was a bummer. But I think it's really weird to be one of the people who are like "I'm not planning a visit until LR works all day, every day" because most of the time it does. Also, Dollywood is still awesome if LR is down. I've had better luck with LR's uptime than Millennium Force the past 5 years.

[IzzyB]

On 11/25/2021 at 2:01 PM, xVicesAndVirtues said:

I cannot with this thread.

I know it does suck that LR continues to be a problem for them but hopefully the steel re-tracking of the rest of the coaster will do the trick. IMO it's the best RMC creation by far (I'm only missing Hakugei and Wildfire) and I think it's pretty cynical to wish they'd just give up and rip it out. I'd literally rather have a LR that only operates 3 days out of the year in that spot than another soul-less B&M hyper I could fall asleep on. Luckily for the optimists, the park doesn't care what the cynics think and they continue to work on it. It may require some more iteration because that's just how the design process can be sometimes.

Also somehow we've been lucky 7 out of 8 visits to the park since LR opened and been able to get pretty much as many rides as we've wanted. Last spring we were there for two days and got at least 30 rides on it. It was running great, didn't break down at all the two days we were there, and downtime according to Queue Times doesn't look to be *that* bad as some people make it out to be.

I mean yeah, it sucks when you visit the park and it's down. i305 was down when we went to KD this year and that was a bummer. But I think it's really weird to be one of the people who are like "I'm not planning a visit until LR works all day, every day" because most of the time it does. Also, Dollywood is still awesome if LR is down. I've had better luck with LR's uptime than Millennium Force the past 5 years.

I have been pretty lucky myself.  Almost all of my visits it is open and each vacation it has always been open at least one day.  I actually have less luck with Mine Train.  I think what helps us is a lot of our visits are in the first week of the park being open in March or June during Covid.  But we went this year in June and it was open.

[Nrthwnd]

I am wondering ...

Quote

I cannot with this thread.

Um, is the missing word W-I-N? Just curious of me.

[IzzyB]

If you haven't renewed yet the Silver pass today only comes with a one day unlimited refill mug.