Squid2
04-03-2007, 08:03 PM
WARNING: THIS ENTIRE REPORT IS A SPOILER ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF MYSTERY MINE, THE NEWEST COASTER AT DOLLYWOOD. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO HAVE THE RIDE EXPERIENCE SPOILED, PLEASE GO READ ANOTHER THREAD. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
Mystery Mine is a very impressive ride, both visually and as a coaster. It is a unique Eurofighter, custom for Dollywood. The test seat is located outside the coaster, in a little nook. Just lower the restraint until you hear the loud obnoxious buzzer. If you hear the buzzer while you're in the test seat with the restraints down, you'll fit in the coaster... it's an exact match. Also, the vulture from Timber Tower has been moved up to the Mine, and sits outside in his own little nest. While I didn't hear him interact with guests, he is set up to do so.
The queue is essentially one long set of stairs. At the top, it turn left to enter the station. Once it has entered the station, the single rider line starts on the left. They are capable of loading two trains at a time. MM is also on the Q2Q system, which involves climbing a set of stairs opposite the station. Wheelchair access is provided via an elevator next to the Q2Q stairs.
Couple of interesting notes about the ride construction. Emergency evac will be to the left of your seat, so if you have someone who would have difficulty in an evac, they will be forced to sit on the left side of the train for safety reason. You will also not notice a transfer track for the trains... there's seven of them, by my count. That's because the ride doesn't use a traditional transfer system. It uses an elevator instead, which is built into the station and sits just before where they load the wheelchair access. So the transfer track and shop sit directly below the station track.
The restraints for the ride are some of the most comfortable OTS restraints I've ever used. Somehow the restraints don't have a 'click' method; you just pull the restraints down and wherever you pull them to is where they stay. You do have to pull them in enough to make a light on the back of your seat light up, but other than that, there's no preset settings. They have extra room in the shoulders for those of us who are larger riders, (like me!) Also, there's no seat belt, just the OTS restraints. You could use some more arm room, so if you're a big guy, sit next to someone smaller... trust me, you'll be more comfortable.
You literally drop right out of the station. It's only about ten feet or so, but it does get the ride going right! You pop right back up about five feet and enter the 1st dark ride portion of the ride. All around you are hanging boots. The track does something unique here... while the ride turns a sharp left at slow speed, it banks to the opposite of the turn, with the right rail dropping down. The net effect is the right side riders feel like they're about to be dropped from the train.
Once out of the turn, you see lots of crows on the walls, along with one lone canary in a cage. All of the crows are chirping at you, with glowing red eyes staring at you. The train starts a diving banked turn to the right. As you're picking up speed, you hit a cloud of mist and are confronted with the crusher, a spinning piece of mining equiptment bigger than your train. You duck under it and rush through an unbanked turn to the left, where you come to the 1st vertical lift hill.
At the base of the hill, on your left, you'll notice two mischevious crows on a lever. Their weight causes the lever to drop from the on posistion to the off posistion.. and then the lift chain starts up. (The chains on both lifts are not moving until after you've come to a stop at their base... no idea why.) You're pulled up the lift, with your body weight shifting back up unto your upper back and shoulders. Hard to believe, but you'll get airtime going up the lift hill... both of them. You're staring at the open sky at this point. A bit surprising for me... I thought that both lifts were completely enclosed, but the 1st one is open to the sky.
At the top of the lift, you crest the hill and then drop a very short distance, maybe five feet, with a sharp turn to the left and then right. You're crossing the top of the tressle now, through a mid course brake run and hit the 1st vertical drop at the end of the tressle. Call it thirty feet or so. From there you run straight into the vertical horseshoe turn. Coming out of the turn, you hit another brake run, then a down left helix. After the helix, you cross the tressle again, this time in the interior, and through a heavily banked S turn and back into the mine.
Once back into the mine, you come to the 2nd vertical lift hill. Again, you wait a moment for the chain to start back up. As you climb this hill, you'll see tons of crows staring at you, cawing at you. You'll also notice the now dead canary off to your left at the bottom of the hill. As you are climbing, you'll notice that there's a video screen at the top of the shaft, playing a scene where the top of the mine gets hit by lightning, causing part of it to catch on fire and collapse on top of the shaft. After the collapse, everything's black.
When you crest the 2nd vertical hill, you roll out a few feet and then stop. It's pitch black, and then you see trails of lights and hear a hissing sound. That's when you notice the dynamite straight in front of you. The lights hit the dynamite, and the fuses go off... with real jets of flame aimed at your face. You drop straight down, hair singed, for 85 feet. During the drop, you twist right to line up with the finale of the ride. Do note that the ride doesn't have a 95 degree drop as advertised in some place... it's a straight 90 degree plum line drop. Also note that during this drop is where the cameras are placed for the on ride photo.
After levelling out at the bottom, you scream out of the mine and into the inclined heartline roll. You'll roll to the left for one and a half rotations. At the end of the roll, you're upside down, only being held in by your OTS, for about two seconds. You then hit the immelman, level back off and into the final brake run before the station.
Overall, it's an excellent ride.... part dark ride, part coaster, all thrilling and enjoyable. Everyone I asked said it was an incredible ride, great, etc... and this was across age groups and genders. Now, it's rougher than I expected, and I did hear complaints about head banging, so be wary if these are concerns for you. I definitely would NOT recommend taking loose articles on this ride.. they do have bins in the station at no charge and lockers for rent outside. And considering how close MM is to Thunderhead, the lockers are a good idea.
I don't think MM is going to jump to the top of everyone's favorite steel coasters, but it's going to place high. How high is unknown as of yet, but I personally put it in my top ten steels. I do recommend the ride for everyone. Even small children seemed to love it.
I don't know if all of the effects were in the ride yet or not, but I've been told that they were. MM will be subject to infrequent bouts of fine tuning until April 13th, so if you visit before then, it may be temporarily shut down. Just wait and be patient... it's well worth it.
Squid2
Mystery Mine is a very impressive ride, both visually and as a coaster. It is a unique Eurofighter, custom for Dollywood. The test seat is located outside the coaster, in a little nook. Just lower the restraint until you hear the loud obnoxious buzzer. If you hear the buzzer while you're in the test seat with the restraints down, you'll fit in the coaster... it's an exact match. Also, the vulture from Timber Tower has been moved up to the Mine, and sits outside in his own little nest. While I didn't hear him interact with guests, he is set up to do so.
The queue is essentially one long set of stairs. At the top, it turn left to enter the station. Once it has entered the station, the single rider line starts on the left. They are capable of loading two trains at a time. MM is also on the Q2Q system, which involves climbing a set of stairs opposite the station. Wheelchair access is provided via an elevator next to the Q2Q stairs.
Couple of interesting notes about the ride construction. Emergency evac will be to the left of your seat, so if you have someone who would have difficulty in an evac, they will be forced to sit on the left side of the train for safety reason. You will also not notice a transfer track for the trains... there's seven of them, by my count. That's because the ride doesn't use a traditional transfer system. It uses an elevator instead, which is built into the station and sits just before where they load the wheelchair access. So the transfer track and shop sit directly below the station track.
The restraints for the ride are some of the most comfortable OTS restraints I've ever used. Somehow the restraints don't have a 'click' method; you just pull the restraints down and wherever you pull them to is where they stay. You do have to pull them in enough to make a light on the back of your seat light up, but other than that, there's no preset settings. They have extra room in the shoulders for those of us who are larger riders, (like me!) Also, there's no seat belt, just the OTS restraints. You could use some more arm room, so if you're a big guy, sit next to someone smaller... trust me, you'll be more comfortable.
You literally drop right out of the station. It's only about ten feet or so, but it does get the ride going right! You pop right back up about five feet and enter the 1st dark ride portion of the ride. All around you are hanging boots. The track does something unique here... while the ride turns a sharp left at slow speed, it banks to the opposite of the turn, with the right rail dropping down. The net effect is the right side riders feel like they're about to be dropped from the train.
Once out of the turn, you see lots of crows on the walls, along with one lone canary in a cage. All of the crows are chirping at you, with glowing red eyes staring at you. The train starts a diving banked turn to the right. As you're picking up speed, you hit a cloud of mist and are confronted with the crusher, a spinning piece of mining equiptment bigger than your train. You duck under it and rush through an unbanked turn to the left, where you come to the 1st vertical lift hill.
At the base of the hill, on your left, you'll notice two mischevious crows on a lever. Their weight causes the lever to drop from the on posistion to the off posistion.. and then the lift chain starts up. (The chains on both lifts are not moving until after you've come to a stop at their base... no idea why.) You're pulled up the lift, with your body weight shifting back up unto your upper back and shoulders. Hard to believe, but you'll get airtime going up the lift hill... both of them. You're staring at the open sky at this point. A bit surprising for me... I thought that both lifts were completely enclosed, but the 1st one is open to the sky.
At the top of the lift, you crest the hill and then drop a very short distance, maybe five feet, with a sharp turn to the left and then right. You're crossing the top of the tressle now, through a mid course brake run and hit the 1st vertical drop at the end of the tressle. Call it thirty feet or so. From there you run straight into the vertical horseshoe turn. Coming out of the turn, you hit another brake run, then a down left helix. After the helix, you cross the tressle again, this time in the interior, and through a heavily banked S turn and back into the mine.
Once back into the mine, you come to the 2nd vertical lift hill. Again, you wait a moment for the chain to start back up. As you climb this hill, you'll see tons of crows staring at you, cawing at you. You'll also notice the now dead canary off to your left at the bottom of the hill. As you are climbing, you'll notice that there's a video screen at the top of the shaft, playing a scene where the top of the mine gets hit by lightning, causing part of it to catch on fire and collapse on top of the shaft. After the collapse, everything's black.
When you crest the 2nd vertical hill, you roll out a few feet and then stop. It's pitch black, and then you see trails of lights and hear a hissing sound. That's when you notice the dynamite straight in front of you. The lights hit the dynamite, and the fuses go off... with real jets of flame aimed at your face. You drop straight down, hair singed, for 85 feet. During the drop, you twist right to line up with the finale of the ride. Do note that the ride doesn't have a 95 degree drop as advertised in some place... it's a straight 90 degree plum line drop. Also note that during this drop is where the cameras are placed for the on ride photo.
After levelling out at the bottom, you scream out of the mine and into the inclined heartline roll. You'll roll to the left for one and a half rotations. At the end of the roll, you're upside down, only being held in by your OTS, for about two seconds. You then hit the immelman, level back off and into the final brake run before the station.
Overall, it's an excellent ride.... part dark ride, part coaster, all thrilling and enjoyable. Everyone I asked said it was an incredible ride, great, etc... and this was across age groups and genders. Now, it's rougher than I expected, and I did hear complaints about head banging, so be wary if these are concerns for you. I definitely would NOT recommend taking loose articles on this ride.. they do have bins in the station at no charge and lockers for rent outside. And considering how close MM is to Thunderhead, the lockers are a good idea.
I don't think MM is going to jump to the top of everyone's favorite steel coasters, but it's going to place high. How high is unknown as of yet, but I personally put it in my top ten steels. I do recommend the ride for everyone. Even small children seemed to love it.
I don't know if all of the effects were in the ride yet or not, but I've been told that they were. MM will be subject to infrequent bouts of fine tuning until April 13th, so if you visit before then, it may be temporarily shut down. Just wait and be patient... it's well worth it.
Squid2