Dollywood

[Joshua H]

I love me some Dolly Parton!
(FYI, She has the absolute best amusement park food!)

Has anybody heard any rumors about Dollywood? I like all the expansions so far, BUT I'm dyin' for more coasters! PLEASE DOLLY PLEASE....Talk it over with Kenny!

[Squid2]

Rumor has it that Dollywood is getting a wooden coaster for next year... stay tuned.

Squid2

dollywood needs something, i don't have a season pass anymore bc it's so boring doing the same rides (1 coaster) over and over again

[Joshua H]

SQUID!!!!

BE STILL MY BEATING HEART!

Are you for real...where did you hear this joyous rumor?

YOU'VE MADE MY DAY, and it's 1:00 am!!!!

[Joshua H]

I still get the Gold pass every year....Last year, I even did the Splash country add-on, BUT DIDN'T GO...talk about a waste! I just waited and waited and then Summer was over and no more Splash country...All my friends just wanted to go to DW.

I like going to all the Festivals. The international one is really cool! As well as Harvest and Christmas....

[Joshua H]

http://www.dollywood.com/Ride_Thead.htm

I FOUND IT, I FOUND IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




THANKS SQUID!

AWESOME! i feel me getting a gold pass once again. you ever went to splash country? it gets boring after 3hrs or so lol

[Joshua H]

Never Been....



That new Coaster looks cool!
Wonder if it'll be near the old Dolly Museum, over the cave...

I always thought that they should add a wooden coaster in the Fair section, but this looks even better...since it looks to be on the hill top!!!

Hurray for Dollywood!


EDIT: Just went to Dollywood on Saturday, Sept. 6....The footers are in and the coaster is GOING UP! We had to ride the train to get to see anything...And we could only see for a brief second. The new Section of the park is behind and to the left of the Southen Gospel Hall of Fame. It's quite a long ways back too, I don't know if they will have us getting there by a new area near the front gate, or what...it's past the area where the train cuts up through the woods....If you went to the skate park during kids fest, it's in that general area, but beyond that, in the woods....
It looks like the coaster is seated in a bowl in between the mountains. There are Large trees all around, and I think it's going to be a pretty exciting ride...Check out www.dollywood.com for photos!

The website doesn't show it yet, but parts of the verticals are up!

[Squid2]

Well, do you think you can post pics? Or let us know when it's built? I want to ride it, but obviously I'll have to wait until next year.

Squid2

[Joshua H]

I'll try to visit with my camera soon Squid....it'll be a long time before it's ready to ride

[billybgate]

What's a "fly through" station?

jo

[redroban]

there is a pic of the fly-thru station on the link above that Joshua provided.

From the picture, I'm guessing it has a section of track just above where the riders board, so those in line can see the coaster fly-thru just above the boarders.

[Squid2]

Actually the fly through will be above the exit side of the station, probably for safety reasons. And yes, the cars will rush through the station, doing about 40 mph, from what I've been led to understand. It sounds like it's going to be a neat feature of the ride.

Squid2

[IEATPASTE001]

I think i might have to go there for a ride....likes like it will be worth the price of admission for a few go rounds! I bet the Ride Ops will love that fly-thru-station when they are under the weather! yay for headaches!

[Extreme]

Hey Everybody. New to the forum, but I have been reading the posts for a while. Went to Dollywood yesterday and the new rollercoaster looks good so far. I say that if the workers would quit standing there and waving at the train riders than they would get a lot more done though. lol. I also rode Tennessee Tornado for the 1st time and it was good, I thought. Well just wanted to introduce myself and fill you in.

[Harpo]

Heck, I'd go back just for their Chocolate Lover's Sundae! I only got to spend about 2.5 hours at Dollywood in 2002, but I really liked that park. It was clean, had nice theming, friendly staff, good food -- I think it would be quite relaxing to spend a full day there.

I'm hesitating to make a very bad joke about the reason for the cost of the park. Are you folks brave enough to read it? Am I brave enough to post it? For the answers to these and other questions, tune in tomorrow when we'll hear the narrator say, "For the answers to these and other questions, tune in tomorrow..."

(Apparently, such warped humor is the effect of a brain on Economics -- went to my first Econ class today in pursuit of an MBA. Of course, it's possible that the warped sense of humor existed before I went to the class. )

[Extreme]

Yeah Dollywood definately has the family atmosphere and with it being this time of year there was no waiting in line for the rides. It was mostly older people who were there and they dont ride the rides. The only thing disappointing was the Mountain Slidewinder was closed for maintanance and I was really looking forward to riding it again. It has been probably 9 or so years since I was there last and I loved the Slidewinder. Also when I was there last, Tennessee tornado wasnt there. It was a different coaster, I cant remember the name for it. Does anybody know?

[redroban]

http://www.rcdb.com suggests that you are thinking of a steel coaster called Thunder Express which ran from 1989 to 1998. It was moved to Magic Springs and now operates under the name of "Big Bad John". Catchy.

[rlindsey]

Me, my fiance, her two kids, my dad, mom and sister went to Pidgeon Forge last August. We got married on saturday at the Wedding Bell Chapel and then after changing clothes and eating lunch, went to Dollywood. I loved the Tennessee Tornado and other rides and got soaked playing in the water cannon area with my new step sons. It was a blast. I'm glad they're making more dry coasters though, the Tennessee Tornado and Smokie Mountain Adventure ride was the only ones that didn't get you wet at some point.

[Extreme]

That was it. Thunder Express. Thanx for the info. I knew that is was a smaller coaster and that was all I could remember. Im glad to see that it was just relocated. I cant wait until Thunderhead is finished.

[Squid2]

Just thought I would update everyone about the progress on Thunderhead.

If you go to the CCI website, (I found a link to it at www.screamscape.com ) you can easily find new pics of the construction. From those pics, that looks like one awesome coaster. It's really making me want to visit the park next year.

According to the pics, most of the supports are up, including the complete lift hill plus 1st drop. I didn't see any metal tracks, but I did see where the tracks will be when she's finished. Thunderhead is really shaping up well. And, if I'm correct, it will be the 1st CCI coaster in the Southeast. (I'm not sure whether you would count the Osark Wildcat as being in the SouthEast.) I'm looking forward to riding it.

Oh, and restraints... from what I can tell, just an individual lap bar and seat belt.

Squid2

[redroban]

That is actually GCI, not CCI. Easy to mix up, similar lettering, and both work with wood coasters.

I saw the pic's at that link. Very impressive. I think I need to make my first stop at Dollywood ever. 5 coasters there, and I know of a 6th in Pigeon Forge owned by one of the go kart business. That can make a full day.

http://www.greatcoasters.com/thunderhead.html

Does the type of train it will use have those annoying and painful seat dividers? Like those between passengers on the Georgia Cyclone. Those things ruin my rides with woodies. I keep thinking the pressure they create will snap my big, rawboned, hipbones.


By the way, did I hear correctly? I thought I heard a rumor months ago that CCI, which apparently built The Raven and The Legend, dissolved, or was absorbed by another company or otherwise ceased to be? I know CCI and GCI were the crackerjack kings of the wood coaster community.

[Harpo]

You did hear correctly: CCI has ceased to exist. They went bankrupt, leaving Cliff's Amusement Park in New Mexico on the lurch, as they had a CCI coaster in progress. But, Cliff's finished the ride themselves.

RCDB has this comment about the New Mexico Rattler at Cliff's:

"Custom Coasters, Inc. (CCI) went bankrupt while building the New Mexican Rattler. This left the roller coaster less than half complete. Cliff's Amusement Park then finished the construction on their own and the New Mexican Rattler opened late in the 2002 season."

(The quote says "New Mexican Rattler," but the coaster is actually the "New Mexico Rattler." Close enough!)

I can't be certain, but I think a lot of the key people from CCI went to GCI. I'm thinking that even Denise Dinn Larrick, the daughter of Charles Dinn (who was a wood coaster designer), went there. Denise was the owner and president of CCI.

Edit: Whoops, my mistake. Denise did not go to GCI. I went looking around a bit, and found that Denise Dinn Larrick was hired by S&S to head up their new wood coaster division. It does lead me to wonder a bit, however: Is it a real good idea to take the former owner/president of a company that went bankrupt and put them in charge of a division doing the same thing as the company that they led into bankruptcy? I hope S&S knows what they're doing! (Of course, one could also state that she may have gained some valuable experience from that bankruptcy, and has learned of some of the pitfalls to be avoided.)

[LBischel]

I'm hesitating to make a very bad joke about the reason for the cost of the park. Are you folks brave enough to read it? Am I brave enough to post it? For the answers to these and other questions, tune in tomorrow when we'll hear the narrator say, "For the answers to these and other questions, tune in tomorrow..."

I think I already know that one...

Is it a real good idea to take the former owner/president of a company that went bankrupt and put them in charge of a division doing the same thing as the company that they led into bankruptcy? I hope S&S knows what they're doing! (Of course, one could also state that she may have gained some valuable experience from that bankruptcy, and has learned of some of the pitfalls to be avoided.)

Does it matter? Please forgive my ignorance, but what duties does a president have anyway?

[rlindsey]

Wave and duck.

[redroban]

Originally posted by Harpo
...It does lead me to wonder a bit, however: Is it a real good idea to take the former owner/president of a company that went bankrupt and put them in charge of a division doing the same thing as the company that they led into bankruptcy? I hope S&S knows what they're doing!

It could be that she has far less to do with the finances of the biz this time round and is more focused on her specialty: wood coaster design.

Of course, that is looking on the bright side.

Huh...I'd hate to hire CCI's Financial VP though. If they built Raven and Legend, two of the greatest woodies ever, and went bankrupt thereafter, someone definitely couldn't do the bookkeeping.

[Harpo]

CCI has one heckuva list of great coasters, including Shivering Timbers at Michigan's Adventure, Cornball Express and Hoosier Hurricane at Indiana Beach, GhostRider at Knott's Berry Farm -- the 34 coasters they've built almost look like a "who's who" of wood coasters, yet they still went bankrupt. Shocking.