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Dollywood: General Discussion

Invites have been sent out for the annoucement of Dollywood's new area, revealing that it will be called Wildwood Grove:

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Source: Screamscape

:)
 
Looks like news of Dollywood's 2019 expansion evaded the forum whilst I was away! The park announced their new family area: Wildwood Grove.
Dollywood said:
Dollywood's Wildwood Grove Coming In 2019

Wildwood Grove, the largest capital investment in Dollywood’s 32-year history, is slated to open in 2019 and provides an adventurous journey for guests to explore, imagine and play together as a family.

The adventure begins as soon as guests enter Wildwood Grove through the massive hollow trunk of a fallen tree. Once inside this delightful place, a remarkable world is unveiled to families through their own imaginations.

The Wildwood Tree—a tree unlike any other—serves as the centerpiece of the area. It grows from a cluster of natural rock and boulders, and offers a natural platform for performances throughout the day and night. The green, leafy canopy is adorned with thousands of butterflies that dance playfully in the breeze. As the sun sinks in the sky, Wildwood Grove glows warmly as lanterns and lights glimmer like cheerful fireflies. Once darkness falls, the area sparkles as the Wildwood Tree comes to life each evening in a unique nighttime show that features the butterflies glowing in a kaleidoscope of spectacular color.

Six new ride attractions await guests eager to explore this captivating land. Those attractions include:

The Dragonflier— This thrilling suspended roller coaster lets guests soar with a dragonfly as it dips and darts along the gushing geysers and lush landscape of Wildwood Grove.
Black Bear Trail— Riders hop on the back of these friendly bears for a spirited trek through their natural habitat. Families will enjoy meandering through the woods of this unique Smoky Mountain experience.
Sycamore Swing— Guests aboard this thrilling “leaf boat” swing back and forth just like a leaf falling from a giant sycamore tree.
Treetop Tower— This family tower gives guests a sky-high view of Wildwood Grove as they soar nearly 40 feet in the air. Riders, seated inside giant acorns, spin around the top of a tall oak tree before gently drifting back to the grove floor.
The Mad Mockingbird— Tennessee’s state bird—the mockingbird—gives visitors a lift as it flies in a high speed circle around a tall tree. Riders control their ride experience by moving a sail as the birds rush above the ground.
Frogs and Fireflies—These friendly frogs hop up and down as they chase each other around the lily pad trying to catch the flickering fireflies fluttering from the tall reeds and grasses. Adventurous guests can hop aboard for this riveting race.

Play options abound inside Wildwood Grove. Hidden Hollow, a 4,000 sq. ft. indoor play space, provides a climate-controlled area for families looking to recharge before their next big adventure. With climbing structures, slides and multiple games, play time here is full of exploration. Another refreshing stop for play is at Wildwood Creek where numerous pop jets, splashing pools and more await. There, guests also can discover their musical side thanks to the various “instruments” available to play.

New Friends

Several new friends await guests to the area. In the tradition of the Wildwood butterflies before them, Flit and Flutter—Wildwood Grove’s butterfly ambassadors of beauty and grace—dutifully watch over the Wildwood Tree. While each has their own distinct personality, both Flit and Flutter enjoy interacting with visitors to Wildwood Grove. Guests also can meet Benjamin Bear, a playful friend who loves to explore the grove with new visitors.

New Dining

Wildwood Grove’s featured dining establishment, named Till & Harvest, offers another great option from Dollywood’s award-winning foods team. Visitors can order from a selection of Southwest fresh favorites, including burritos, salads and more, all with a Southern twist. In addition to traditional entrees and a topping bar with assorted salsas, guests can add items like pulled pork and fresh coleslaw to their selections. A walk-up window provides sweet treats like churros and ice cream.

As with most areas of Dollywood, Wildwood Grove takes advantage of the natural beauty of the surrounding Smoky Mountains. Nearly $1 million has been planned for landscaping the area, with more than 400 trees and 1,000 shrubs helping transform this space into a lush and relaxing spot hidden within the foothills of the Smokies.

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The coaster will be a Vekoma family suspended coaster. This looks like a lovely and much needed family area for the park. More information can be found on Dollywood's website.

:)
 
Lightning Rod still hasn't re-opened but it is now testing with water dummies:

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Hopefully it will re-open soon, but who knows with this ride.
 
Hopefully it'll open before Dollywood's 2018 season is over; I personally reckon it could be within weeks!
 
Good to see that it is testing again.

Meanwhile I have come across a new Wildwood Grove concept along witn an image showing the plans for the area on top of an aerial image:

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:)
 
Sorry to bump the thread, but I'm here with another Lightning Rod update! After reopening with a substantially smaller zero car in October, the ride's zero car has apparently now disappeared entirely! One does have to wonder why they had to remove it...
 
I believe that one of the (many) issues with Lightning Rod has been the weight of the trains. So they have been trying to shed weight from them.
 
Dollywood have confirmed that Wildwood Grove will open on Mat 10th 2019.

In other news, Dollywood are apparently expecting Lighnting Rod to have a great season (I'll believe it when I see it) and over 600ft of Thunderhead has been re-tracked by GCI with more to follow in the next few years.

Finally, Mountain Slidewinder has been retired. This was a dingy ride down the side of the hill in the middle of the park and was quite good fun so it is a shame for it to go!
 
Wildwood Grove has now opened. Here is a video showing a look around the area:



It looks nice, and it is an area that the park needs, however I can't help but feel a little underwhelmed at the moment. It just all looks a little sparce and is lacking something that the rest of Dollywood has. Having said that, I am sure that it will improve once planting has been given time to grow.
 
The area looks really nice if you ask me; well done Dollywood!

On a side note, I am also hearing reports that Dragon Flier is surprisingly intense; people apparently greyed out on it during the media event, and it's reportedly more intense than the other SFCs, including Orkanen that it is a clone of! If true, then this ride's status as a family coaster is somewhat questionable; sounds like we have a wolf in sheep's clothing on our hands here!
 
Dollywood are set to announce their largest ever investment on Friday 13th March to the press. Based on planning applications filed last year, it could be a 310-room hotel project with a 325-seat restaurant as well as conference space that would be located somewhere between the current DreamMore Resort and Dollywood’s Splash Country waterpark.
 
It would appear that Dollywood is still having immense problems with Lightning Rod. The ride has reportedly been shut since the start of August, and Dollywood have put a sign up indicating that the ride will be shuttered for the remainder of the 2020 season:

However, the most interesting part of this sign is that they are teasing some sort of upgrade to the ride for 2021 (the full teaser doesn’t seem to show in the forum preview, so the catchphrase at the bottom is “In 2021, lightning strikes twice”). Little is known about what this could be, but it is apparently not the ride’s launch system causing the issues. All we know is that a crane has appeared within the ride area:
https://www.reddit.com/r/rollercoas...0e1116f6f1&utm_source=embedly&utm_term=jmspds
Now one rumour spreading around is extremely interesting... I know this might sound like some kind of April Fool’s joke or something, but there are rumours that Dollywood may possibly be doing an IBox conversion of Lightning Rod. Yes, rumour has it that the ride is at very least being partially (if not fully) retracked with steel IBox track, and for the first time ever... an RMC is getting RMC’d.

Now, I know that this would remove the main USP of the ride, but a very intriguing point to consider is that RMC have previously stated that it was them who pitched the idea of a launched wooden roller coaster as opposed to Herschend; they were competing with steel coaster designs when pitching their wooden coaster design to Dollywood. So I don’t think Herschend really cares whether or not it’s a wooden coaster at this point.

As obscene as this rumour sounds, the crane would imply that at the very least, some form of trackwork is being conducted. This rumour could be untrue, and this could just end up being routine track maintenance.

But regardless of what it is, here’s hoping that it allows them to finally run Lightning Rod problem-free!
 
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