Dollywood Discussion Thread

[bert425]

I might be in the minority, but I found the launch on Lightning Rod to be a big nothing.

the rest of the ride is great tho, once you crest that lift hill. . . so I have ZERO issue with this change.

[AmyUD06]

1 hour ago, bert425 said:

I might be in the minority, but I found the launch on Lightning Rod to be a big nothing.
 

I'm with Bert on this.  It doesn't fling you over the top (like Maverick, for example), so what's the point?

Now if they replace the rest of the topper track with I-box, it might make it into one of my top-lists.

[thrillseeker4552]

Yeah ever since it started cresting the top at a lift hill's pace, the launch really doesn't seem to be as "necessary" other than the excitement of launching up the hill and the gimmick.

As someone who visited Dollywood for the first time this year and found LRod closed all day and not a soul in sight, I am 100% for this change. I also love Dollywood's transparency about this. Can't wait to visit again next year!

[michaellynn4]

My only experience with the ride was in the fall of 2016, and it was a blast back then. That said, with how it's been modified since then, and considering the significant downtime, a nice high-speed cable lift will certainly suffice. Anything to get it more reliable. 

[Hilltopper39]

New trains is an interesting wrinkle to this story, I'm assuming it's for the conversion from the LIM launch to a chain drive and the existing trains can't be salvaged or converted but should be interesting see if these are just the same RMC trains or if there's something new in the works.

 

Isn't SFFT getting new trains for Wonder Woman? I don't remember why, but with that and the new trains for their wild mouse model maybe there will be soem changes to the "new" standard trains from RMC.

[Doppel Looping]

I was hoping for a tire drive

 

[prozach626]

Let's be honest though. They're going to find a way to at least partially screw this up by over complicating it and making it significantly less reliable than a standard lift.

[Chiselphane]

I really hope this works.   I've wanted to go the park for a long time but I've been holding off because I want it to be the best it can be.  And yes I know it's a great park LR or not but being there and not riding it, I know myself enough that it would bother me the entire time.  Not least because it'd be a serious financial outlay for us so a return trip would not be guaranteed.

[prozach626]

We were planning on going to the park next year. Eve will hit the 39" marker easily by then.

But, she now has a fear of roller coasters, log flumes, and anything too exciting. It all went to shit when I coaxed her into going on two roller skaters.

Looks like we're going to the beach next year...

[AmyUD06]

So, I finally got around to posting my Photo Trip Report from this park in June.  Please go check it out by clicking the link!