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Photo TR: Dollywood, River Battle & Opening Day


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Hi everyone,

I was at Dollywood on the official opening day and snapped a few photos of the new ride and some other stuff around the park.

 

Hope you enjoy the photos.

 

Sorry folks, this is my first photo tr and it may take me awhile to upload all the photos.

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Did I mention that it was ice water? Freezing!

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Aqua rage!

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Here I am starting my River Battle journey. I'm in the blue shirt on the left side, all icognito.

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Exit Bridge and more aquatic assualt cannons

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You can see that targets are everywhere. When one was hit, either you got a surprise or someone else on your boat got a surprise.

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More themeing

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Hole for rent? teehee

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Excellent themeing

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Going under the water arch

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Boat

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Located around the perimeter were water canons that you could shoot the riders with.

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Signage fans rejoice!

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Here's where the old and new meet.

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When you turn the corner under Myster Mine, this is what you see. New restrooms on the right side (sorry, sunshine issues), River Battle is on the left as you can see. River Battle's footprint is surprisingly big.

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The new pathway under Mystery Mine.

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Yuo do need to resize the picture. It is kind of anoying scrolling from side to side to get the full picture.

 

But other than that. It does look like a blast, especially on sunny days when you have the need to cool off. I might to arrange going to Dollywood in the near future.

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After being drenched in ice water, we went on down the new path towards Tennesse Tornado.

 

Overall thoughts of River Battle: It's perfect for summer, notsomuch in March, but I had to get my ride on it to test it out. Another winner in the themeing department. Wonderful little animals everywhere, targets, there's just a lot going on - everywhere. In a way overwhelming to take it all in. Very interactive for both the rider and the onlookers, just as they promised. I was exhausted after riding it, but I was full of aqua rage. I got my bicep workout for the day with those guns.

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Splinters snacks, in Wilderness Pass, walking from RB towards Tn Tornado.

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Wilderness Pass is a lot wider than the path headed up to Timber Canyon.

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Rockin Roadway, rehabbed for 2008

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3 Point Challenge. New for 2008

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Looking up Wilderness Pass

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Tn Tornado. Two train operation

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Sorry about the disjointed first photo trip report. I promise they'll be better in the future.

 

Overall, we had a great day. I was most interested in checking out River Battle and letting everyone see what it looks like. The park was packed - all lots were full upon arrival, so I knew it would be crazy. The new path is fantastic. I really love walking between all the 'thrill rides' and having them in a row, so to speak, is great.

 

Thunderhead was running two trains, but had a 45 minute wait, so we passed. Mystery Mine was not running all day, Blazing Fury was not running when we passed by it, the steam train was not running either. Some minor dissapointments, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves on the other attractions.

 

Later,

Coasterfreaky

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Wow, thanks for posting those. I haven't been there since like 2001 when they added The Smokey Mountain Wilderness Adventure. Hopefully I will be visiting this summer though. There is so many new attractions that I think I will spend more time at the park then last time.

 

River Battle looks awesome. I definitely think it was a tad bit too cold for it to be open though.

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Thanks for the pictures. Does it look like there is room for new rides along the new path? Or is it just enough room for the pathways towards Tennessee Tornado?

 

Edit: Looks like you added some pictures that answered my question. Quite a bit of clearing on the east of the path.

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I think they could certainly put some flats in on the new path. I think a screaming swing would look awesome on top of the hill near RB. The other interesting thing was the new path had some new "off shoots" that were walled up. So it definitely looks like they have future plans in mind.

 

I wish the train was running because I wanted to see what work went on in the upper loop during the offseason. Last fall they had cleared out the upper loop and I'm sure these new offshoot paths will one day head up to the upper loop and who knows where else. Dollywood has hundreds of acres in which they can expand.

 

I thought I heard they were planning on adding a new theater in Wilderness Pass, and I would bet money that all the future attractions will be in that vicinity.

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Great photos! Thanks for taking some pics of the new walkway between River Battle and TN Tornado...I think I was actually more excited about that than the new ride.

 

Mystery Mine was not running all day, Blazing Fury was not running when we passed by it, the steam train was not running either. Some minor dissapointments, but we still managed to enjoy ourselves on the other attractions.

 

I read elsewhere that Mystery Mine was closed because it vallied before the dive loop during testing. Don't know about the other rides though...I'm kind of under the impression that the park wasn't ready to open for the season yet.

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[quote="Holtskee"

I read elsewhere that Mystery Mine was closed because it vallied before the dive loop during testing. Don't know about the other rides though...I'm kind of under the impression that the park wasn't ready to open for the season yet.

 

Thanks Holskee,

Yeah, my friends and I kept saying the same thing all day long about not being ready to open. It was a good effort though. The tennessee tornado crew was badass running two trains. They had the train out before the 2nd train was in the butterfly, so it didn't slam into the safeties. I saw it stop in the safeties one time in the 20 or so cycles i saw pass. It was insane. I can't say the same about Thunderhead. I didn't ride it, but i was watching the cycles and they were slow.

 

I didn't know that about Mystery Mine. I didn't see a crane over there, but I'm not how they deal with a valley. I'm not even sure how they would get a crane back there?? The workers were at the entrance and the info coming out of some of them seemed hopeful - "it might open up in an hour or so" i heard one say. Just be honest about it. It's okay to say it won't be opening up, really its cool. I don't like to be teased or given false hope when they know it won't open.

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I dont know about it valleying... where did you read that?

Wierd that Thunderhead wasnt fast when they go though they can move that line FAST!

Ive never been when Tornado has 2 trains. I bet it was because Mystery Mine and Blazing where closed though.

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Hi there coasterfreaky,

 

Some very nice photos! I fixed your first few posts so that all the photos are in one place. Just remember to resize so they are no bigger than 800 x 600 next time! Don't worry, we all make mistakes when doing Photo TRs for the first time.

 

Looking forward to your next Photo TR.

 

--Robb

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Yeah thanks for the report!

 

I had no idea that Dollywood's Splash Battle was so unique! Both with the boats and the targets. I love it, very cute!

 

Kind of a bummer that more stuff wasn't open, I mean we expect that opening day at Cedar Fair and Six Flags Parks, but Dollywood!?!?

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I didn't know that about Mystery Mine. I didn't see a crane over there, but I'm not sure how they deal with a valley. I'm not even sure how they would get a crane back there??

 

Assuming that this is the spot (between the big drop and the rollover) where the car eventually slowed to a stop at, I imagine they could simply remove it from the track with a forklift or something without bringing in a crane.

 

The track seems to be right on the ground at that point and I'm sure there is enough room to squeeze a small vehicle back in there.

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The workers were at the entrance and the info coming out of some of them seemed hopeful - "it might open up in an hour or so" i heard one say. Just be honest about it. It's okay to say it won't be opening up, really its cool. I don't like to be teased or given false hope when they know it won't open.

Well I'm sure they just weren't sure. I know that this morning we were told it would open "hopefully somewhere around 11 and 1130am" and then later we were told "hopefully sometime this afternoon", its not like its an exact science.

 

It reopened in the early afternoon today, operations were a bit slow it seemed, at least compared to last year - odd since most of the crew looked familiar.

 

The River Battle looked like it would be fun... if there were a bunch of people riding it and around it as opposed to just a few people. Otherwise its just kinda there. Obviously with temps just creeping up into the 60s today it wasn't the optimal day for it. The new pathway seemed to really lack shade... its gonna get hot up there.

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I was there for opening day and saw the ride valley during what I'm assuming was its first test run of the day. Unfortunately I'm from Wisconsin and it was my first time to Dollywood meaning that I have no idea what the layout of the ride is, but it didn't make it through the Dive Loop at what looked like the spot right before the final brakes. I came back to the ride after a few hours and all the ride ops were still there and said the Mechanics had a plan to get the car back to the station, and they were hoping to open later in the afternoon, but at 5PM they said the ride was done for the day. Made me sad, oh well! Mall of America on Thursday for my first Eurofighter I guess.

 

I did snap a pic of the valley, but I left my USB for my camera in Eau Claire, and won't be getting back up there until after Easter.

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Thanks for the TR!!! It was great and I was delighted to see the RB and new part of the park. It looks like its nice but its not as "pretty" or "natural" looking as the rest of the park does. I'm sure it will over time though. Heading toward Tennessee Tornado it looks a little bare. Otherwise its good and i can't wait to go next weekend of the following weekend!!! lol

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