Dollywood Discussion Thread

[rosscoeI own the website www.donkey.com]

my only question ( which may have already been asked ) is will this spoil the beauty of the park, due to it's size?

I don't think it will. The treeline is still intact along both sides of the ridge, so you can not see any of the ride from Timber Canyon or Craftsmen Valley. The front of the park and Market Square areas will not be visibly impacted at all.

You saw all of the supports that were up there in the update and we couldn't see them walking back to the construction site until we got back by Mystery Mine. The ride is really only visible from Wilderness Pass, as the lift hill will be clearly visible behind Splash Battle.

Eric, just saw the update and it puts all my fears to rest. I should have know there was no way they would spoil that park.

[sammmmmyI wrote the book about donkeys!]

This almost kind of reminds me of skyrush. In skyrush's case, if you just saw the layout and had no knowledge of the wing rider cars, you would have never guessed those would be used on that layout. Its same with Wild Eagle, they're focusing the excitement of the ride on the trains and not completely the layout of the coaster, which is in some ways a really good change. For people who were complaining about how this is a 'standard' B&M design, just think about how much different the experience is going to be just because of the cars!

[rollin_n_coastinDon't put that donkey on the floor!]

Eric, great pics!

This looks amazing. I know there are a few of these being built but wow, to have a different layout built into the Smokies will really make this stand out and provide an edge compared to the others.

Herschend does it really well with these coasters, especially with Tennessee Tornado (also in the Smokies) and Wildfire (in the Ozarks). Love the use of the terrain.

[RoCoBonafide Donkey Expert]

Mystery Mine, Thunderhead, Tenn. Tornado, Blazing Fury, and now THIS?

Semi-tentative plans for first visit to Dollywood next year have become absolute, cast in stone, will not change for anything, plans.

[krakenmaniacShe turned me into a donkey! I got better...]

the winner has been anouncced, it said on the dollywood 2012 website

[hippidudeI Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

i hope dollywood realises that there is going to be two other "wing" coasters coming out in america next year so its not the first

[CommandoI'm a know-it-all about donkeys!]

^This will open before the others. Making it the first one to open. X flight is the only other true wing coaster in America because Skyrush is more of a hybrid and IMO wouldnt really count it as a wing coaster.

[dragonskeepA donkey is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family.]

^^It will be the first to open though.

In the Cedar Point thread Maverick is being discussed. It reminded me of how little I thought of that ride when I saw the animation, maybe Wild Eagle will provide a similar surprise.

[WFChrisJar-Jar Binks smells like Donkey]

^If you can all remember wayyyy back to the year 2000, there was another weird little coaster war similar to this: SFMM and CP were both advertising the tallest coasters at the time, Goliath at 255 and Millennium Force at 310. Since SFMM opened their coaster in February, it was the 'First Tallest Coaster of the new millennium' or something like that. In the end, MF opened their coaster and it was taller, but not without all the fanfare SFMM got the first half of the year. In the end, we all win with great, massive coasters!

Going through the construction shots, it is so great to see Dollywood taking the time to work around existing foliage rather than just bulldozing a site for the ride. It really proves that that park is capable of pulling of a fantastic ride, with the woods as their setting, as it seems to always have been there. We don't need silly keyholes when we are darting from cliff tops with amazing vistas to tightly wooded ground level acrobatics. This is probably my most anticipated ride of the year, and thats mostly because I love watching Dollywood incorporate their attractions into their natural environment.

[TmcdllrWhy do I still have a donkey title???]

If a wing coaster is a coaster with seats on the sides of the train, then isn't X2 a wing coaster and the first in America?