Obviously there is a trade off between quality and quantity, and with a shorter ride they could have themed it more heavily. But then again, it is bear themed, so maybe they wanted it to look a bit bare.
I absolutely agree about rides being too short. But I think here you’ve really hit the nail for me. Long rides need to remain interesting. That can be with theming, or it can be with a unique element, such as a riding position, trick track, show scene or similar.
This so sparse and track and train-wise it lacks anything really unique. Sure it’s got the second launch, but naturally as a family coaster, that second launch would only ever be so fast or punchy. Compare this to something like Slinky Dog Dash. It’s a pretty poor coaster in my opinion with a feeble launch, but it has some set dressing to make it more interesting. But this, based on the render, could be anything once you leave the station.
Big Bear Mountain - Yet it’s bright orange, with Jeeps for ride vehicles, with one small bit of rockwork around the waterfall, and no bears (not physically anyway!).
Keeping in mind the family audience for this, and the fact that it is a coaster that travels by at a moderate speed, it really didn’t need to have sophisticated animatronics or anything like that. No one’s suggesting or expecting a Joe Rhode yeti! Even just some static model bears dotted around with some rocks in one of the more empty segments would have added something and kept it interesting. Waterfall aside there’s not really much to it, short of a tunnel under the path with a sound effect.
You wouldn’t think it’d take very much to elevate it that bit more, especially given the layout doesn’t really sprawl around. The first half is essentially an out-and-back layout. One cluster of theming could be seen several times and from different angles. Heck, they’ve already done it with the waterfall!
Is it awful? No. Will families and children enjoy it? Most likely. But does it bring something unique to the park? Not really. It’s distinctly average. As I say, for a park like Dollywood building something of this size, that’s the disappointment here. They are capable of more.
That’s simply my observation of this, but I don’t feel like that’s anything too unreasonable to say?