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Dollywood: General Discussion

Tim said:
I guess this makes the ride truly unique. It is a hybrid of a hybrid. Can't think of anouther ride with multiple track types. Switching between wood and steel (assuming you count toper track as wood).
I know there are some rides that have been partially rebuilt or extended (Even by different manufacturers) but they've always tried to keep the track consistent.
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I wonder what RCDB will class it as? It’s currently listed as wood, but will that change if over half the ride is tracked with steel?

It’s such a grey area... coasters have become far more difficult to classify in the last few years.
 
Matt N said:
I wonder what RCDB will class it as? It’s currently listed as wood, but will that change if over half the ride is tracked with steel?

It’s such a grey area... coasters have become far more difficult to classify in the last few years.
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I think that's a good thing. RMC has really shaken up the industry by building rides that:
A) are neither wood or steel. They've used the best of the different materials to create smooth and wild coasters.
B) do not stick to standard ride elements. Back in the 90s most coasters looked like they were built in RCT; straight section, curve, vertical loop, helix ect. But most rides today have flowing layouts in which elements merge together. RMC are the best example of this, frequently having to name new elements as they don't fit within the ones on existing rides.

Maybe we should have a unique category for hybrid coasters.
Potentially water coasters and trough (aka concrete coasters) should get their own category too. The latter is as much a steel coaster as a wooden coaster is.
 
I wouldn't trust RCDB's building material categorisations. Untamed is listed as a hybrid, whereas Steel Vengeance for instance is listed as steel. If I'm not very much mistaken were they not both wooden coasters converted to IBox track? I'd personally count retrofitted Lightning Rod as a hybrid.
 
Burbs said:
I wouldn't trust RCDB's building material categorisations. Untamed is listed as a hybrid, whereas Steel Vengeance for instance is listed as steel. If I'm not very much mistaken were they not both wooden coasters converted to IBox track? I'd personally count retrofitted Lightning Rod as a hybrid.
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Yh Robin Hood to Untamed, Mean Streak to Steel Vengeance and unlike Gwazi they reused a lot of it's structure so yh i think i'd class it as hybrid!
 
Lightning Rod is set to reopen this weekend, with IBox track replacing 2/3 of the existing steel topper track.



I find it odd that they've branded this all as Lightning Rod 2 or whatever it was last year when the ride experience is going to be largely the same.
 
I'm sure it will speed up with time but I'm still concerned that even once it's run in, the full I-box track will rob the coaster of its relentless sense of speed.

I slightly disagree with @Danny's earlier comments. I thought there was a noticeable difference between the topper track RMCs and the Iron Horse variants. Whilst I wouldn't have called Lightning Rod rough by any stretch, it definitely had a bit more shake and rattle about it which gave the out-of-control sensation that woodies are renowned for.

Steel tracked I-box RMCs are freakishly smooth. They almost don't feel like they're attached to rails, more like an invisible force whisking you round the layout.
 
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Danny said:
Hopefully, it's running a lot faster at the weekend; that looked tragically slow compared to when I rode it.
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Okay, we get it, you rode the damn thing when you went!! :p

Does look rather slow in that POV. I am hoping that is because technically it is a new coaster again and will need time to fully bed in and reach its maximum speed. It would be a pity if it did become a tamer ride long term, although maybe they need that for it to be sustainable.
 
In other news, Lightning Rod isn’t the only ride at Dollywood to have had work done this closed season! Mystery Mine has received some track replacement to improve the rides reliability and prolong its life.

However, this does mean a section of the ride has been removed entirely. The vertical drop and horseshoe turn following the first lift hill have now gone and been replaced by a 90 degree turn to the left and a much shallower drop into the uphill turn to the MCBR. The horseshoe turn is however still standing.

The changes can be seen in this video from Midwaymayhemfan on Twitter...

 
Good move I think. Whilst the new layout may look less spectactular from an offride perspective, the old section was horrifically uncomfortable on the ride. It was pretty clear that the elements were too tight and compact for the car to negotiate smoothly.
 
The entire first half of Mystery Mine wasn't great TBH. It felt like they'd just tried to stick Eurofighters cars on track designed for bob cars and had been forced to keep the speed to an absolute minimum. What they've ended up with now looks very dull though.
 
It's very much the US version of Baron. Very pretty to look at and well themed, but well under-par as a ride.
 
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In other news, it would appear that Lightning Rod has already had a launch failure since reopening:

Hopefully this is just a minor glitch, and the ride runs problem-free from here on out!
 
Sorry for the double post, but Dollywood has announced a major, $500m+ expansion of the resort that will happen over the next 10 years:


The things being included currently include a new 302-room hotel named HeartSong Lodge & Resort, as well as a record-breaking new attraction opening in 2023!

Exciting stuff, don’t you think? What do we think the new record-breaking attraction could be?

Based on some things previously said, I reckon it could be a B&M hyper, personally. “Hyper coaster” appeared as an option in a previous survey from the park regarding future new coasters, alongside numerous pictures of B&M hypers, and Pete Owens is also said to be a huge fan of rides like Fury 325, and is really keen to have a B&M hyper at Dollywood.
 
Sorry to double post and bump the thread, but a site plan for what the park is referring to as a “family attraction”, as well as a “multi-generational coaster”, that is due to open in 2023, has been approved: https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/11/04/site-plans-approved-new-attraction-dollywood/

I don’t know about you guys, but that looks like some form of family launch coaster to me. Maybe an Intamin family launcher, in the vein of Juvelen or Hagrid’s.
 
Matt N said:
Sorry to double post and bump the thread, but a site plan for what the park is referring to as a “family attraction”, as well as a “multi-generational coaster”, that is due to open in 2023, has been approved: https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/11/04/site-plans-approved-new-attraction-dollywood/

I don’t know about you guys, but that looks like some form of family launch coaster to me. Maybe an Intamin family launcher, in the vein of Juvelen or Hagrid’s.
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It does look like a family launcher but don't dollywood already have one with firechaser express?
 
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