MonorailORANGE

So I actually made it out to White Water on Sunday 8/15. I haven't been in about 10 years so it felt great to be back in the park. The app was correct with ride closures. The area where bermuda triangle / gulf screamer and black river falls was all closed off, as well as the lazy river and dive bomber. It appears that the new 2022 slide will be going between dragon tail falls and take over the old Rapids area. Even though I've read horror stories about the summer reviews with slide closures and crowds, we had a great time! The place was fairly empty in the afternoon and we rode everything within an hour, with the longest wait to be around 10 minutes or so for run away river. Most rides were nearly walk on with under 5 minute waits! Then on Monday 8/16 we ventured out to SFoG. Got a few rides in before the tropical storm approached. Crowds were also non existent with no waits. Most of the big coasters were open with one train ops, as well as Pandemonium and Justice League. I highly recommend the weekdays when they are open in August from 5:00pm to 10:00 pm for minimal crowds. Even got to see some 2 train testing on Mindbender. Looks like they were working on some programming in the station. New trains look really nice. The trains still haul through the loops. One train had weights while the other was empty. Based on where the trains were stopping at the end of the ride, I could easily see them running up to 3 trains now that they are shorter than before, breaking up that long brake run into more block sections.

Interesting! I wonder if the ultimate goal is to have it run similar to an omnimover ish type ride, where vehicles are connected around the entire circuit?

Maybe a side view photo of a vehicle for JL:BfM? Credit GuidetoSFoT.com

Are they still handing them out? Also, how late can you enter the park? I might not be in Pigeon Forge until 4:30 today. I'll be honest I have no idea how long tech rehearsals will run today. They rep told us it could be just and hour session to an all day thing. We had to leave the park to head home.:/ Already looking forward to my next visit! I also highly recommend the DreamMore resort! The perks alone pay for itself! Buy one day at Dollywood, get a day free if you buy through the hotel. Complementary time saver passes, and free parking and transportation with a private entrance!

Very cool! I'm going to the park in a few hours for the very first time and will be there tomorrow and Wednesday. Did someone approach you by the ride and give you that Lightning Rod pass? So this was asked several pages back but probably lost due to all the hash tags.. like this user asked, are they asking guest to ride? Is it open with a long line? Do you request to ride? For those that rode it, how did you get on it. I'm sure several of us would like to know Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk So they have a representive around to the right side of the main entrance. (The time saver line I believe)They had an A frame sign talking about the tech rehearsals, and the rep had a stack of cards, prob 1 trains worth, and people were in a unofficial line, so he distributed them. They opened the chain, we got the cards taken from us in the station, and got one lap.

So this was my first RMC, and we were assigned row 7. As I'm sure everyone is aware the train picks up speed before the hill. The launch was incredible, but really not as forceful as I thought it'd be, but still an absolute blast! The air time on "Dolly's humps" was great and the first drop just seems to go on forever! I was out of my seat all the way down! The overbanked turns carry terrific speed, but the outter bank hill for me was a OMFG moment! I loved it! The quad down was just plain fun, ejecting out of my seat by the 2nd, 3rd and 4th hill, and the large turnaround back to the brakes at the station was quick and snappy! Overall a fantastic coaster with quick transitions and blistering speed throughout!

Just got off! Was on the first tech rehearsal train out! The ride is stunning! Me and mi madre!

The Slink Coaster reminds me a bit of DW's Fire Chaser Express! And upon looking at a higher res image, the coaster has a launch section! Mixed with some small hills this coaster could be a surprise hit!

Had a chance to see Mickey today. The experience was incredible, very enjoyable. This is going to be wildly popular with the GP. Here's 2 videos I filmed while waiting in line and when we got to see Mickey. I apologize for the bad filming in advance as I wasn't really watching the screen during our meet, and I put the camera down thinking we were going to take a picture.

The epic Snow Coaster should get refurbed with a tunnel! TPR members always "take the tunnel!"

Yes two rooms for the design (got to nab 6 rides on it yesterday). Fastpass riders will have the opportunity to select a pre made car before moving to the merge point in the queue. I love the overall new experience! The world of motion icons put into the signage, and some awesome visuals. I think a def win for the GP, as they will eat it up for sure! Spoilers from my ride experiences. I apologize in advance if I loose you in this review or if I reiterate too often. Walking into the queue, and seeing just how different the layout is, well stunning. Chevy displays a full-size concept vehicle on the left of stand-by, and a case containing the four aspects of the "design": Capability (yellow), Efficiency (green), Responsiveness (blue), and Power (purple). The yellow pulled apart car thing was also very cool eye candy, and rounding behind it all to see the white car shaped blob that had projected imagery on it was a nice touch. Heading up to the staging area for the design studio, it was nice to see interactive monitors that allow the designer to preview how to create their car before actually doing it. When you get to the design studio, you begin with the choosing a car or truck design, and draw a line, which ultimately shapes the vehicle. The line becomes "optimized" into a more defined shaped, that allows you to alter at certain points, and a vehicle is generated. Once created, the designer can sculpt the vehicle by pulling and pushing parts of the car, as well as change the size of the wheel base, widen the car, etc. When this is all happening, the top of the screen displays the 4 categories (Capability, Efficiency, Responsiveness, and Power) and the values are changed as you alter the car. You then choose the engine for your car, with several choices from eco friendly - to power hungry, sacrificing values in efficiency or power. The final step includes some final touches to the vehicle, painting it, adding decals, and accessories and wheels. At this point, you'll see how outlandish (but fun!) you can make your vehicle, from monster truck sized tires to over the top hood scoops. Some of these things adjust the values of the 4 categories, and display when it boost points in one or subtract from the other. We saw that some accessories did change the values of the 4 categories, even though it wasn't mentioned beside the accessory on the screen. You then continue the merge point, where it was in the old TT. The design of the new queue is clever, since the Fastpass and single rider are so separated, the things such as the design studio and layout keep stand by riders occupied and distracted from the quick flow that fastpass lines generally have with guests. The boarding process is the same as the old TT, except RFID readers with small displays have been added to each "spot" that you stand on. I was told that it is important to scan your card before the gate opens to the car, as if you scan when the gate is open to board, your vehicle design will be uploaded to the next car. As this was just testing, my vehicle never uploaded to the Test Track car that I rode in. Onto the ride portion, as you pull towards the seatbelt check, the "hello, the seatbelt check is around the corner" spiel is the same, but a male voice now talks in a much more mellow pace, the new voice of TT. It sort of sounds like one of those voices that you'd hear on one of those relaxation cd's. (No idea if anyone knows what I mean). When you get to the seatbelt check CM, that has you tug on the yellow strap, It is easy to notice that the lighting on the track to the left to the maintenance bay has been turned off, and the focus goes to uphill portion of the ride (easily one of my favorite parts). The uphill climb has massive murals on both sides of the track, with some containing projection effects, as the car says, "welcome to the sim track". It is an awesome open to the ride, with cool black lighted stars on the celling. You pass under the first of many arches, this one being yellow, marking the Capability testing. The track and guard rails are painted with yellow black light painting. The Belgium and German blocks are going, and more big murals with projectors are on the sides, and your car "connects" to On-Star. Into the old abs off / on sequence, the old monitor that Bill talked to you on has been replaced with a frosted piece of glass, that is projected onto, a very nice appearance. The car does the same effect, swerving off at the end of the "track" like it lost control, and turns the corner to repeat the test. As it does, a projector effect occurs, where it looks like a virtual waterfall comes towards the car on the left. The next stretch of road( the old abs on test) has blue outlined black lit set pieces on the sides, (as others have said, heavy usage with black lighting) and you launch towards the efficiency testing (the old hot/cold chambers), and a bolt of lighting hits on the right. Think of it as a virtual tron-like world and appearance. Just before going in, to the left of the car, a model of a futuristic city sits, with projection effects, as well as a monitor displaying the 6 vehicles that were made by the designers, and who scored best in capability. (This part did not work when I rode, as the vehicles were not ours on the monitor). This is the trend for the ride, as you go through each category, the results are displayed. Moving on to Efficiency (green theme), the old hot chamber "scans" the car with lighting. The old cold chamber, shows a wind tunnel effect, and then the old corrosion chamber also has a "scan" effect on both sides of the car. Overall, this part was just ok, as the effects were just nothing special and non surprising. As you move into the Responsiveness (blue theme) test, a laser effect projects onto cut out black tree shapes, to appear that it is drawing the trees. When going through the curvy road, black light again is heavily used, as the cut out trees from the old TT are reused, outlined with blue black light paint. The track and guard rails are also painted with blue black light paint. You continue to the truck, yes it's still there, now with blue headlights, and a neat effect where rather than putting show lighting on the truck, they outlined it with lasers. As you arrive to the power effect (old crash test) you round the corner to see all 4 categories illuminate (almost like they are loading up). And the car says, " and now its time for the final test. Power. The room lights up, and plays epic (ok, well I like it) music as you launch through several purple arches, onto the outside portion of the track. The outside is the same, no more "Push it, Harder!" quote though. When exiting the photo viewing area is the same, and a massive screen with RFID readers allows you to see the layout of the ride, as well as where the cars are on the track (no idea if it is truly synced with the cars, or if its just a cool display) and allows the guests to scan their car, and compare to friends to see their final score and how they did. It also displayed the top 10 cars for scoring the highest in each category. I didn't get a chance to see the rest of the post-show, but as others said, it sounds promising. It is very re-rideable and I found myself wanting to go back to the design studio, trying to optimize the score of my vehicle.

So while I didn't do Dark Escape 4D, what I did gather was that the 3-D shooter 2 person cabin had seats that could "shock" you, with vibration effects. Additionally, the video promoted that there were wind effects, that would blow towards you from the screen, or even behind you, right on your neck.

Had to give a quick thanks for getting the opportunity to attend IAAPA this year! It was awesome meeting Robb, Elissa and Kristina at Zamperla! I apologize for the small picture size as I had some trouble uploading them at any other size.

Simply incredible view from what looks like a pretty good B&M! Def need to get to Asia sometime! Both pics are stunning!

I am also having problems with clicking the CREATE button when trying to create a profile. Any suggestions on how to get it to work? I click it, but nothing happens.