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Dollywood: General Discussion

JAperson said:
It does look like a family launcher but don't dollywood already have one with firechaser express?
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That’s a valid point. Although I guess if this one had motorbike seating or something, that might be enough to differentiate the two?
 
Matt N said:
That’s a valid point. Although I guess if this one had motorbike seating or something, that might be enough to differentiate the two?
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Maybe it just seems odd to have two family launch coasters even if they are different. Suppose we'll just have to wait until there's more info.
 
Firechaser Express was quite possibly the family coaster I had the highest hopes for on my last US trip; yet was fairly disappointed after riding (for the layout and pacing; the theming is superb).

Hopefully, this is far better executed.
 
Danny said:
Firechaser Express was quite possibly the family coaster I had the highest hopes for on my last US trip; yet was fairly disappointed after riding (for the layout and pacing; the theming is superb).

Hopefully, this is far better executed.
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Wow, I'll admit that surprises me; I've always heard a lot of superlative reviews of FireChaser (by family coaster standards, anyway)! What was it you didn't like, out of interest?

In terms of this upcoming coaster, I've heard both Intamin Blitz and Mack XTREME Spinner being spitballed as potential options by some. However, as much as I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, and I'm of course open to all ideas, I'm personally a little sceptical; the fact that the park has inferred that this is a family attraction on multiple occasions leads me to believe that this probably won't be anything too high-octane, personally.

I'm open to surprises, however, and if this is a thrill coaster, I'll be the first to hold my hands up and admit I'm wrong!
 
Leaked plans for the new coaster anyone?



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Multi-launch family coaster!
 
Dollywood have said in the past that they're planning a second phase for Wildwood Grove. Is this coaster going where the second phase would have gone, or is there a plot of land on the left of the picture for Wildwood Grove to expand into? It looks like there might be.
 
Looks very Icon esque with the two main launches next to each other. Makes sense as Herchend recently worked with the company at Silver Dollar City on Time Traveller.
 
Seems to feature everything you could ask for in a solid family launch coaster layout. It'll be a coaster that ought to be ridden two years after it opens, however, giving the surroundings time to grow in.

My only complaint about Wildwood Grove when visiting not long after it opened was how sparse some of the areas are, but that was down to nature not having had a chance to settle in and grow. Once the area has had a few more years to mature, complete with this new coaster, it'll be thoroughly stunning.
 
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I think this will be a Vekoma flying coaster like F.L.Y, they say in this video about a ride in North America which they can't talk about yet. Iowa is mentioned but surely they can't be talking about the one at Lost Island as that is just a standard SLC. Surely it isn't gonna be just a standard sit down launch coaster, seeing as they already have Firechaser Express

 
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dazza4783 said:
I think this will be a Vekoma flying coaster like F.L.Y, they say in this video about a ride in North America which they can't talk about yet. Iowa is mentioned but surely they can't be talking about the one at Lost Island as that is just a standard SLC.

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For what it's worth, I did hear that Dollywood apparently aren't very happy with Vekoma at the moment due to Dragonflier's drive tire lift hill being unable to run in the rain, in spite of Vekoma promising that it would be able to. Do take that with a pinch of salt, however.

That is a solid suggestion, though, and would be cool if it did happen!
 
Matt N said:
For what it's worth, I did hear that Dollywood apparently aren't very happy with Vekoma at the moment due to Dragonflier's drive tire lift hill being unable to run in the rain, in spite of Vekoma promising that it would be able to. Do take that with a pinch of salt, however.

That is a solid suggestion, though, and would be cool if it did happen!
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The staton configuration in the plans wouldn’t work for the Vekoma flying model, the riders need to enter and exit the station from the same side, as the track is basically against the wall for loading and unloading, before twisting 90 degrees into the flying position. You can see the exit path is on the opposite side to the queue lines.
 
tayspru said:
The staton configuration in the plans wouldn’t work for the Vekoma flying model, the riders need to enter and exit the station from the same side, as the track is basically against the wall for loading and unloading, before twisting 90 degrees into the flying position. You can see the exit path is on the opposite side to the queue lines.
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Good point. Unless there'll be a bridge inside the station that's not on the plans?
Got a feeling it'll be a junior Mack Launch like Manta at SeaWorld San Diego though. Or it could be a quad bike coaster like the one at Le Pal.
 
Biggest regret I had from my time living in the states was only spending one day here at Dollywood. And we happened to visit on labour day weekend and it was absolutely heaving. I think we did 5 rides all day and that included 1 ride that wasn't a major attraction.

Would love to go back one day but I doubt I ever will.
 
tayspru said:
The staton configuration in the plans wouldn’t work for the Vekoma flying model, the riders need to enter and exit the station from the same side, as the track is basically against the wall for loading and unloading, before twisting 90 degrees into the flying position. You can see the exit path is on the opposite side to the queue lines.
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That’s assuming Vekoma haven’t updated this somehow. For me FLY was a faff loading / unloading - not as simple as the b&m version
 
Jb85 said:
That’s assuming Vekoma haven’t updated this somehow. For me FLY was a faff loading / unloading - not as simple as the b&m version
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The whole point of the Vekoma design is for guests to walk up and sit down, and eliminate the need for the expensive heavy lifting mechanism B&M use. I’m not sure what faff you describe ?
 
To be faiir I'm sure vekoma said somewhere that they were looking at another loading system as they thought the current one wasn't perfect although I don't think this ride will be a vekoma flyer.
 
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