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Dollywood: General Discussion

I'm failing to see from that POV why I should get excited. I am unsure how that has become a crime?

Phantasialand is easily the best theme park I've ever been to, but if they announced this I'd be disappointed. On the flip side, if an utter dump like Barry Island announced a Vekoma Flying Coaster I'd be excited for it. I really want to go to Dollywood but this just doesn't look exciting. In comaprison stakes, it looks less exciting than RMT at Towers. It reminds me of Abyssus of being a large amount of...something. Not good, not bad, just there. Bit like Icon.
 
It does sound like this is meant to be family friendly. If you look at most enthusiasts top coasters there aren't many, if any, family coasters in there. On the other hand hyping it up as their most expensive single project may have set some people up for disappointment. They advertised the original Wildwood Grove area as costing $37 million, and this ride as costing $25 million. Either they didn't count Wildwood Grove as a single project, because it's multiple rides, or something's gone wrong with their figures.

It seems like a decent ride for Dollywood, with the possible caveat that maybe it is a little similar to FireChaser, and maybe the theming in some places is a little sparse.
 
I mean, it does feel like an awful lot of track that isn’t really doing a great deal, even as a family coaster.

Perhaps they’ll add more props and themed structures around the layout to give it something a little extra, but based on that video it could have ended at the second launch and still been fine. On that video it almost becomes a little tedious towards the end.

I do agree that it seems an odd choice for the park, given they already have Firechaser. Even down to the train themed to a truck/car of sorts. I believe that’ll be three now with this, Firechaser and Lightning Rod?

I don’t think it’s unfair to say this had more potential, especially from a park like Dollywood.
 
There definitely is a place for short punchy coasters, but when I talk to non-enthusiasts one of the most common complaints is the '2 hour queue for a 30 second ride'. 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.
 
Funcone said:
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.
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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?
 
Rob said:
Track is now onsite:



Very unusual looking track and not what Vekoma have been using recently for their coasters.
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Looks dfferent indeed. I would probably look somewhat similar to standard Vekoma track if the track ties went straight across without that dipping down they are doing. It almost suggests there could possibly be some piece of equipment on the underside of the train that nessisitates having to have that dip in the ties.
 
Rob said:
Track is now onsite:



Very unusual looking track and not what Vekoma have been using recently for their coasters.
Click to expand...

I'm not a massive fan of the colour for this ride either. The theme would suggest perhaps a brown or green track but they've gone with bright red? Seems an odd decision.
 
A first look at the train design for Big Bear Mountain:



Looks to be the same design at Junior Boomerang trains, but with added onboard audio.
 
Rob said:
A first look at the train design for Big Bear Mountain:



Looks to be the same design at Junior Boomerang trains, but with added onboard audio.
Click to expand...

They look nice! The restraints are slightly different though.
 
Yes you're right. On first glance I thought they were the same, but they are more of a T-bar design, which will be more secure than those on Junior Boomerangs.
 
It looks like the god awful shin guards aren't there either. Happy days. Love the detailing.

Edit: A full POV is now available:

 
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I think the coaster itself looks like a good fun family coaster, but I can't help feel that the lack of theming throughput the layout is a missed opportunity.
 
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