Dollywood Discussion Thread

I know from a lot of past interviews, a lot of the original issues had to do with various sensors and items on the trains. Pete mentioned during the first off season they rewired the trains and had planned on putting the trunks back on the trains last season (Trunks have yet to be replaced). I'm sure these new hoods, are the results from all the tweaks they made to the train over the last year or so. I'd also be willing to bet that we might have new trunks headed our way as well.

I bet it's safe to say, the trains are probably working as expected now that they are spending money to add themes back to them or at least repair the themes they took away. or better yet, I bet RMC is covering the retheming of the trains under warranty if the issue was something on their end

There are apparently new trunks, new style with painted on wheels. So I have been told.

Is there anyone at the park today? Lightning Rod has been down for at least most of the day and yesterday, just curious if the downtime might be related to the new train design?

I know Dollywood has been growing a lot with the 300 million investment. They now have the DreamMore Resort and spa along with more coasters and shows investments. I have never been to Disney ( I don't get to travel much lol). I have been watching lots of youtube videos and looking at Disney park maps. I can't believe how expensive their rides are wow! I want to ride Splash Mountain so bad!. It cost 75 million when it was built and was their largest investment to date at the time. At any rate, I could go on but my point I want to get to is how do you guys that have been to both compare the two parks. If I am not mistaken, Dollywood is actually larger at 150 acres (soon to be 155 right) where Disneyland will be around 100 after Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is built. I think I read Magic Kingdom was also around 100 acres maybe a little more. Disney seems to have wider walkways as there are trams inside the park. I think I read their train ride is about 1.2 to 1.5 miles while Dollywood's is 2.5 miles. I know Dollywood can't spend 75 to 100 million per ride but when I was at Dollywood several years ago some visitors I was talking to actually preferred Dollywood to Disney. One different thing about Disney it seems I have noticed on all the videos is you don't see roller coaster tracks anywhere. They seem to all be super themed inside a 100 million dollar mountains (Six Dwarves Mine Train, Expedition Everest). Anyway , I have been on this Disney info kick lately and have always loved Dollywood and its history and was just curious to hear c omparison observations from you well traveled folks if you cared to share. I am so proud of Dollywood's progress I was just amazed to find it comprised more acres than Disneyland or Magic Kingdom. I don't see how Disneyland and Magic Kingdom accomodate so many more millions of visitors. Could Dollywood ever be able to do that? Anyway this was all on my mind and I thought I would see what you guys thought. I just can't wait for the new expansion announcement to get all the details. I hope Dollywood can be like Disneyland or Magic Kingdom someday and be a national destination.

I frequent both parks.. Disney does a lot better job on maintenance and upkeep of their rides than Dollywood but if imagine they have a larger budget for it..I mean a lot of Dollywood looks ran down.. their parking lot is in horrible shape and some of their old paths are ugly asphalt..

Disney is also layed out much better to allow tons more guest.. on a slow day Disney has 30+ thousand.. on a record breaking day for Dollywood they have around 30 thousand.. you can move and really enjoy a day at Disney with that amount of people but not so much at Dollywood.. Dollywood is getting better and expanding their pathways..

Also Dollywood is making small improvements here in there to handle the crowds.. it think they listened when some of us were posting bad reviews on here.. they now have signs on trams not being used saying "training" or something like that.. they also had trams lined up my last visit ready to pick up leaving guest.. they also had both sets of ticket windows open on my last few visits..

As for rides, Disney spends a lot more on them and you can tell but Dollywood does a great job on theirs as well!! A lot of the price Disney spends on their rides is due to them being inside.. a lot of the cost of Dollywood rides is due to them litterly having to move a mountain to build them!

Dollywood wants to give Disney a run for their money and they may one day.. they are a long way away from that but still they are growing.. in my opinion, before they grow much more, they need to figure out how to manage the guest better.. like you said, Disney is smaller but much better St managing those guest (but Disney is also flat! No mountains in their way)

Being a fan of Disney I can say that sometimes Dollywood feels like a low budget Disney.. it really does but they still do a great job with their rides, themeing and so on

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One major difference between Disney and say Dollywood is all of Disney's rides are kid friendly. Even the roller coasters have a maximum height of 44 or 48 inches. Dollywood's max is 50 inches while most parks are 54 inches. Dollywood seems to be investing in more thrilling rides that are aimed for an older audience than say Disney would. But with the Gatlinburg area being a mountain tourist stop in the great smokey's, Dollywood can offer a little more than your typical six flags or cedar fair parks in terms of shows and a resort feel. It is sort of a hybrid of the Disney and Cedar Fair.

I know Dollywood has been growing a lot with the 300 million investment. They now have the DreamMore Resort and spa along with more coasters and shows investments. I have never been to Disney ( I don't get to travel much lol). I have been watching lots of youtube videos and looking at Disney park maps. I can't believe how expensive their rides are wow! I want to ride Splash Mountain so bad!. It cost 75 million when it was built and was their largest investment to date at the time. At any rate, I could go on but my point I want to get to is how do you guys that have been to both compare the two parks. If I am not mistaken, Dollywood is actually larger at 150 acres (soon to be 155 right) where Disneyland will be around 100 after Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is built. I think I read Magic Kingdom was also around 100 acres maybe a little more. Disney seems to have wider walkways as there are trams inside the park. I think I read their train ride is about 1.2 to 1.5 miles while Dollywood's is 2.5 miles. I know Dollywood can't spend 75 to 100 million per ride but when I was at Dollywood several years ago some visitors I was talking to actually preferred Dollywood to Disney. One different thing about Disney it seems I have noticed on all the videos is you don't see roller coaster tracks anywhere. They seem to all be super themed inside a 100 million dollar mountains (Six Dwarves Mine Train, Expedition Everest). Anyway , I have been on this Disney info kick lately and have always loved Dollywood and its history and was just curious to hear c omparison observations from you well traveled folks if you cared to share. I am so proud of Dollywood's progress I was just amazed to find it comprised more acres than Disneyland or Magic Kingdom. I don't see how Disneyland and Magic Kingdom accomodate so many more millions of visitors. Could Dollywood ever be able to do that? Anyway this was all on my mind and I thought I would see what you guys thought. I just can't wait for the new expansion announcement to get all the details. I hope Dollywood can be like Disneyland or Magic Kingdom someday and be a national destination.

OMG, man. The return key exists.

I know Dollywood has been growing a lot with the 300 million investment. They now have the DreamMore Resort and spa along with more coasters and shows investments. I have never been to Disney ( I don't get to travel much lol). I have been watching lots of youtube videos and looking at Disney park maps. I can't believe how expensive their rides are wow! I want to ride Splash Mountain so bad!. It cost 75 million when it was built and was their largest investment to date at the time. At any rate, I could go on but my point I want to get to is how do you guys that have been to both compare the two parks. If I am not mistaken, Dollywood is actually larger at 150 acres (soon to be 155 right) where Disneyland will be around 100 after Star Wars Galaxy's Edge is built. I think I read Magic Kingdom was also around 100 acres maybe a little more. Disney seems to have wider walkways as there are trams inside the park. I think I read their train ride is about 1.2 to 1.5 miles while Dollywood's is 2.5 miles. I know Dollywood can't spend 75 to 100 million per ride but when I was at Dollywood several years ago some visitors I was talking to actually preferred Dollywood to Disney. One different thing about Disney it seems I have noticed on all the videos is you don't see roller coaster tracks anywhere. They seem to all be super themed inside a 100 million dollar mountains (Six Dwarves Mine Train, Expedition Everest). Anyway , I have been on this Disney info kick lately and have always loved Dollywood and its history and was just curious to hear c omparison observations from you well traveled folks if you cared to share. I am so proud of Dollywood's progress I was just amazed to find it comprised more acres than Disneyland or Magic Kingdom. I don't see how Disneyland and Magic Kingdom accomodate so many more millions of visitors. Could Dollywood ever be able to do that? Anyway this was all on my mind and I thought I would see what you guys thought. I just can't wait for the new expansion announcement to get all the details. I hope Dollywood can be like Disneyland or Magic Kingdom someday and be a national destination.

OMG, man. The return key exists.

Oops so sorry. I don't post that often and tried to make the sentences coherent but it didn't even cross my mind about paragraphs! I guess my mind was thinking one post not splitting up in paragraphs. I'll remember that for future posts! Thanks for pointing that out lol.

I frequent both parks.. Disney does a lot better job on maintenance and upkeep of their rides than Dollywood but if imagine they have a larger budget for it..I mean a lot of Dollywood looks ran down.. their parking lot is in horrible shape and some of their old paths are ugly asphalt..

 

Disney is also layed out much better to allow tons more guest.. on a slow day Disney has 30+ thousand.. on a record breaking day for Dollywood they have around 30 thousand.. you can move and really enjoy a day at Disney with that amount of people but not so much at Dollywood.. Dollywood is getting better and expanding their pathways..

 

Also Dollywood is making small improvements here in there to handle the crowds.. it think they listened when some of us were posting bad reviews on here.. they now have signs on trams not being used saying "training" or something like that.. they also had trams lined up my last visit ready to pick up leaving guest.. they also had both sets of ticket windows open on my last few visits..

 

As for rides, Disney spends a lot more on them and you can tell but Dollywood does a great job on theirs as well!! A lot of the price Disney spends on their rides is due to them being inside.. a lot of the cost of Dollywood rides is due to them litterly having to move a mountain to build them!

 

Dollywood wants to give Disney a run for their money and they may one day.. they are a long way away from that but still they are growing.. in my opinion, before they grow much more, they need to figure out how to manage the guest better.. like you said, Disney is smaller but much better St managing those guest (but Disney is also flat! No mountains in their way)

 

Being a fan of Disney I can say that sometimes Dollywood feels like a low budget Disney.. it really does but they still do a great job with their rides, themeing and so on

 

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Thanks so much I loved all that info! You have made a lot of things clearer. So very interesting!

One major difference between Disney and say Dollywood is all of Disney's rides are kid friendly. Even the roller coasters have a maximum height of 44 or 48 inches. Dollywood's max is 50 inches while most parks are 54 inches. Dollywood seems to be investing in more thrilling rides that are aimed for an older audience than say Disney would. But with the Gatlinburg area being a mountain tourist stop in the great smokey's, Dollywood can offer a little more than your typical six flags or cedar fair parks in terms of shows and a resort feel. It is sort of a hybrid of the Disney and Cedar Fair.

Great point. That explains my observation of no large roller coaster tracks popping up. It was funny that was one thing that stuck out to me. Watching Dollywood videos Wild Eagle, Tennessee Tornado, etc stick out and are fun but Disney is more like super Blazing Fury's all tucked inside. It was obvious when I watched a Disney video and then a Universal video and immediately I saw Hulk and was like, Disney didn't have that. Just very interesting. I have been on a theme park kick lately and I consider Dollywood "my park" so can't help but compare it to everything else.

Ride wise, Dollywood is more like Universal. Both parks want to be kid friendly but both parks do have grown up rides.

And actually in an old interview early during the 300 million dollar upgrade, Dollywood mentioned wanting to be more like Universal.. but in a more recent interview Dolly mentioned "give Disney a run for their money"

I'd imagine Dollywood is in the middle of Disney and Universal in their hopes and dreams but that's probably a great thing! A kid and family friendly park with grown up rides.

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I couldn’t agree more with the comment on the parking lot’s current condition. The entire lot, with the exception of the preferred lot, needs to be repaved and repainted. We are constantly trying to determine if we are actually parking in a legit space or an old faded space that has been repurposed. Faded lines, potholes, and old standing water puddles are not welcoming as a first impression when arriving at the park.

Hey, what's the status for Lightning Rod? I'll be there Sunday and Monday and now I'm worried that it'll be mostly closed for a third year in a row.

It's had a little down time this week but the park starts week long operations next week so it's very possible they have been trying to get the ride 100% ready for summer.

It was closed most of the day yesterday and has been closed for the day today.. it's listed as closed for the day so it shouldn't open.

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It's had a little down time this week but the park starts week long operations next week so it's very possible they have been trying to get the ride 100% ready for summer.

 

It was closed most of the day yesterday and has been closed for the day today.. it's listed as closed for the day so it shouldn't open.

 

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One can hope. It's the best ride I've ever experienced and I'd hate to miss out on it again. Thanks.

It's had a little down time this week but the park starts week long operations next week so it's very possible they have been trying to get the ride 100% ready for summer.

 

It was closed most of the day yesterday and has been closed for the day today.. it's listed as closed for the day so it shouldn't open.

 

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One can hope. It's the best ride I've ever experienced and I'd hate to miss out on it again. Thanks.

It’s down because of the train change/modification. When they got the new hoods is exactly when it went down from TC to CD. Hopefully it’s back up by next weekend.

It’s down because of the train change/modification. When they got the new hoods is exactly when it went down from TC to CD. Hopefully it’s back up by next weekend.

I mean, it's not been smooth sailing for LR this year.. yeah it has been running decent but during the heart of Spring Break it was down for quite a bit

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I'm visiting DW next month for the first time since 2002. I hope so badly that LR is being reliable when I visit.

But I'll still be happy with the four other credits I've yet to receive. And just being at DW in general!

It’s down because of the train change/modification. When they got the new hoods is exactly when it went down from TC to CD. Hopefully it’s back up by next weekend.

Actually, according to http://dw.jonstoddart.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning%20Rod&day=2018-04-15, the ride ran for one hour each day (except) yesterday and then went down for the rest of the day. Not looking good.....

It’s down because of the train change/modification. When they got the new hoods is exactly when it went down from TC to CD. Hopefully it’s back up by next weekend.

 

Actually, according to http://dw.jonstoddart.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning%20Rod&day=2018-04-15, the ride ran for one hour each day (except) yesterday and then went down for the rest of the day. Not looking good.....

That was last month.

Also have you seen the weather we are having right now?

It’s down because of the train change/modification. When they got the new hoods is exactly when it went down from TC to CD. Hopefully it’s back up by next weekend.

 

Actually, according to http://dw.jonstoddart.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning%20Rod&day=2018-04-15, the ride ran for one hour each day (except) yesterday and then went down for the rest of the day. Not looking good.....

 

That was last month.

 

Also have you seen the weather we are having right now?

You just have to adjust the date on that site and you will see what I meant .

It’s down because of the train change/modification. When they got the new hoods is exactly when it went down from TC to CD. Hopefully it’s back up by next weekend.

 

Actually, according to http://dw.jonstoddart.com/ride.php?ride=Lightning%20Rod&day=2018-04-15, the ride ran for one hour each day (except) yesterday and then went down for the rest of the day. Not looking good.....

 

That was last month.

 

Also have you seen the weather we are having right now?

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I really, really hope it’s not back to this consistent TC/CD stuff again where it’s like we are back in 2016 again. Memorial Day weekend is next week, I’ve never been during then so I can’t say how busy the park will be but I would expect busy. Plus it kicks off BBQ and Blugrass. You’ll have older crowds going to the concerts and younger wanting to hit LR.

Well some good news, Lightning Rod is now posted as a 30 minute wait on the app. Hopefully I'll get a ride or two over the next couple days!