Dollywood Discussion Thread

^ Isn't it Thunder Chaser Run?

Pics of Lightning Rod's first train delivered to Dollywood this past week.

Shin restraints that look fairly comfortable

Urethane wheels instead of steel

Has the question as to why there is no structure on the bottom of the "pre-drop" been answered? To me that is much more interested than arguing over train announcements when we have a picture of the actual train!

Yeah I'm with you on that. And it was several pages back I believe, in fact I was the one asking about it. It's supposedly serving as a passageway during construction but will be supported once the track is complete. It looks really strange as it is with no supports, but then you see Goliath's zero-g stall thingy and it's not surprising that it's possible.

Pics of Lightning Rod's construction site. From station up to top of lift hill

Station behind return track

Lift hill

Rear of station where train exits to lift hill

Lift hill from the top of the mountain

The drop after the lift hill goes to the bottom of the ravine then back up and over the top of the next hill.

The long walk back down the hill

Can't wait to see this thing fly soon...

I KNEW IT!!! I knew Dollywood was just pretending with Lightning Rod. I knew this was really going to be a flying coaster!!!

Could the lack of support have anything to do with DW policy of removing as little amount of trees as possible? I could be completely wrong but that's what came to mind first.

Has the question as to why there is no structure on the bottom of the "pre-drop" been answered? To me that is much more interested than arguing over train announcements when we have a picture of the actual train!

Yeah I'm with you on that. And it was several pages back I believe, in fact I was the one asking about it. It's supposedly serving as a passageway during construction but will be supported once the track is complete. It looks really strange as it is with no supports, but then you see Goliath's zero-g stall thingy and it's not surprising that it's possible.

 

That makes sense. The slight engineer in me is thinking how that can be okay. The main difference is Goliath's stall is like you said, 0g. Not much force on the track/structure there. This this a positive g section so I definitely expect it to be supported. Thanks for the answer!

 

Can't wait to see this thing fly soon, it is amazing how fast some portions of RMC rides go up.

That is what was explained. It seems like construction is about to kick into high gear. Im guessing once they finish the roof and installing the LSM's, it wont be much need to have equipment up there then it will be finish. although, I don't remember seeing footers up there.

Great pics, scubaski! Thanks for sharing!

We're considering taking a Dollywood-Carowinds trip this May. If we were to go, we'd be at Dollywood on the 22nd and 23rd (half-day on Sunday, full day on Monday). How busy would the park be on those days? Any others tips/advice for visiting the park?

I am loving the looks of this ride more and more with each update. June can't get here soon enough.

The wife and I are looking for some other things to do outside of Dollywood. We have done many things in the area already. I was hoping to get some of your thoughts on things we were looking at.

How is parrot Mountain? is it worth a trip to?

Which of the alpine coasters is the best and are they worth the $15 per rider price tag?

Is the Wax Museum any fun?

We have done Dixie Stampede in the past, we were wondering how the Hatfields and Mccoys dinner show compared.

I am loving the looks of this ride more and more with each update. June can't get here soon enough.

 

The wife and I are looking for some other things to do outside of Dollywood. We have done many things in the area already. I was hoping to get some of your thoughts on things we were looking at.

How is parrot Mountain? is it worth a trip to?

Which of the alpine coasters is the best and are they worth the $15 per rider price tag?

Is the Wax Museum any fun?

We have done Dixie Stampede in the past, we were wondering how the Hatfields and Mccoys dinner show compared.

I enjoyed Parrot Mountain. It's basically a Bird Zoo and I wasn't sure what to expect going in, but its nicely done and a decent size. I think it took a couple of hours to go through the entire thing. Lot's of parrots, maccaws...a wide variety of birds to see.

I would say yes the mountain coasters are worth it. I've only done the Goats on the Roof one, which some have said is the better one of the bunch, but three are from the same manufacturer, so they're similar in nature. The one at Ober is from another manufacturer - I have not heard much about it. At Goats, you could re-ride for $5 more, so you can get two rides for $20...not sure if the others offer that as well.

Another dinner theater option is the Lumberjack show near the Island in Pigeon Forge...which Dolly just purchased at the end of last season, so that's another option.

The lumberjack show is great!

We were wondering about the lumberjack show as well. I should look into that, we were curious if its like competition sawing or what.

I would add one more thing about Parrot Mountain. There is a petting and feeding area that you can get up close to about 50-60 big birds on stands like in the picture. I'm not bird-phobic, but I was a bit nervous walking through this area. You don't have to get close if you don't want to, but it was quite the overwhelming experience. Im glad I did it...they were well behaved.

^excellent, yeah we don't have an issue with birds and have owned a large parrot before.

I would add one more thing about Parrot Mountain. There is a petting and feeding area that you can get up close to about 50-60 big birds on stands like in the picture. I'm not bird-phobic, but I was a bit nervous walking through this area. You don't have to get close if you don't want to, but it was quite the overwhelming experience. Im glad I did it...they were well behaved.

I'm not afraid of them attacking me but more getting pooped on.

Making my first trip to Pigeon Forge in April and these last couple posts sparked some interests. These dinner theaters, are they reservation based or first come first serve?

When I went to Dixie Stampede is was Reservation.

Those are some great pics of ThunderRod. Awesome behind the scenes look at this beast:)

The trains look great!

I'm also intrigued by that unsupported bit especially because (as mentioned) it's a place where some Gs will be felt (unlike zero g stalls, for instance)

^ If you look at the pictures, you can see the pre-fab footers sitting next to the structure ready to go in the ground whenever they're done using it as an access road.

^Oh, true. Hadn't noticed that

We have done Dixie Stampede in the past, we were wondering how the Hatfields and Mccoys dinner show compared.

I have not seen Dixie Stampede as it was sold out when we were there. We instead opted for Hatfield's & McCoy's mainly because it was one of the only shows that had tickets left.

I was skeptical at first, but it was actually a pretty fun time...and the food wasn't bad either.

I just watched a video that was recorded at the train reveal event. Pete Owens said that they have a completely new design of seatbelt on these trains that will not allow the lap bars to lock until the seat belt is connected, he also said they are not the rachet strap variety. This is a bit scary to me, if they are the basically over the lap car type seatbelts ( like on Fury325 ) i have no problem with them, but if the are not gonna have any give to them like a lap version of Wild Eagle's vest's, God help us all.

If they are going to be like Wild Eagle and not have any give, a lot of people won't be able to ride and there will be a lot of complaints. I love Wild Eagle to death, but the big boy hurts. It's bruised my shoulders numerous times due to the vest.