- May 31st, 2016, 1:11 pm
#88097
Another report yep. So memorial weekend was to be spent at Kings Dominion, but since the forecast called for rain the whole day and with Bonnie lingering off the coast we switched it up last minute and headed on down to Pigeon Forge, TN to Dollywood.
I'm starting to see what a lot of people are saying. Carowinds is a jam fest during this day however Dollywood was not busy at all. All the rides were at the most a 10min wait except Lightning Rod. Well get to him later.
We got to the park around 11:30am. The day was beautiful a mere 87 degrees but the cool breeze kept it manageable. I weirdly enjoyed the tram ride up to the main gate. I'm still a huge fan of the park being situated under canopies of trees with streams, rivers and waterfalls almost everywhere.
So of course we darted for LR to see if it was open and the line was all they way by the Chasing Rainbows Museum them was told it could be another two hours before testing started. We went on to the county fair section and rode all the rides there.
We moved on to the craftman's valley section and got doused on daredevil falls, I mean completely drenched.
Next up was Barnstormer. One side was in operation go figure. I've never been to Dollywood where from the time Barnstormer opened to this day both sides were in operation. The ride it's just everything. I hope to go we get a screaming swing at carowinds. We rode this like 8x.
We decided to go clockwise from this point so we wouldn't miss anything being we were in the middle of the park so here we go.
Mountain Slidewinder - I really enjoy the ride for some reason. I just can't put my finger on it. It cause me to laugh uncontrollably lol.
Tennessee Tornado - by far the best arrow I've ever ridden and remains a top arrow looper. I don't know what they are doing to keep it running so smoothly but they need to pass the info onto other parks with arrow loopers. I mean it's insanely smooth and still a fun ride and the loop is so massive.
Wild Eagle - Still place this wing coaster above gatekeeper. The layout to me is way more intense than Gatekeepers and overall more thrill and enjoyable to me, maybe because it's situated on the mountain top I don't know. Believe it or not place it above thunderbird as well. Yea it has a launch but less elements an no airtime hills.
Fire Chaser - love this ride from the day it opened and it still haven't changed. Great family coaster
River Battle- Carowinds need this ride somewhere in that park. It's a great family and interactive ride. I had way too much fun on it. I was greatly wet afterwards.
Mystery Mine- Yep still love this ride. It is getting just a tad rough but it's manageable. I'm a huge fan of vertical lifts and drops. It did go down but maintainance was on the spot within minutes. The ride controller on this ride really loves his job. He was very engaging and told a lot of jokes and kept us entertained while dispatching cars.
They turned the former area where Timber Tower was into a seating area at first now it's a performance stage.
Thunderhead- still a fav woodie. Its definitely seem better days but hey it's wood. It's gotten a bit rough but not like break you back or snap your neck rough. I call the good rough the out of control type roughness with a slight head ache. Still a great ride.
Lunch Break - We ate at aunt Granny's Buffet. OMG great food is all I can say!! I ate about 3 plates lol. Don't judge me! Jarvis
So clearly we walked around for A little bit and caught some great shows and rode the train around the park.
Did some re-rides on thunderhead, wild eagle, river battle , barnstormer, and dizzy disco.
It's a bout 5:30pm the park was starting to die down a bit so we headed for LR. We could here the train peeling off up the hill. We stopped and got on rampage raft ride which was a lot of fun.
So we got in line for LR which was now near the side of the Pines Theater. The line was so deceiving. Came to find out that they were only letting groups of 40 in at a time so the que was empty and the like actually started at the front door of the que building that they kept locked.
I freaking got a ride on LR. The ride is a-freaking-mazing. I mean there are no words to articulate the response needed to describe this ride. You are literally out of your seat the entire time. The airtime on this ride whether sideways or from the drops are amazing. Of course I was on the back seat so I got the brunt of it all and I loved every bit of it! My eyes and teeth were so dry when I got off but everybody had a smile on there face. The quadruple down? OMG!! This coaster really uses the mountain and valleys to the fullest extent. I felt bad for the people waiting outside because when we got back we were actually the last group they would allow to ride and closed it for the night. I'm just happy I was fortunate to get a ride.
After LR we stalked up on merchandise. Everybody know I'm a theme park tshirt freak and shot glass hoarder. Got some enough cinnamon bread to last me a week.
7pm came and now the park was closed. Thouroghly enjoyed the trip of course I'll be going back. Should've upgraded to a season pass. The staff as always was very kind and friendly and went over and beyond for basic questions. They really do love their jobs. Did I mention I just love driving I-40 through the mountains it made the trip home go by so quickly.
I'm starting to see what a lot of people are saying. Carowinds is a jam fest during this day however Dollywood was not busy at all. All the rides were at the most a 10min wait except Lightning Rod. Well get to him later.
We got to the park around 11:30am. The day was beautiful a mere 87 degrees but the cool breeze kept it manageable. I weirdly enjoyed the tram ride up to the main gate. I'm still a huge fan of the park being situated under canopies of trees with streams, rivers and waterfalls almost everywhere.
So of course we darted for LR to see if it was open and the line was all they way by the Chasing Rainbows Museum them was told it could be another two hours before testing started. We went on to the county fair section and rode all the rides there.
We moved on to the craftman's valley section and got doused on daredevil falls, I mean completely drenched.
Next up was Barnstormer. One side was in operation go figure. I've never been to Dollywood where from the time Barnstormer opened to this day both sides were in operation. The ride it's just everything. I hope to go we get a screaming swing at carowinds. We rode this like 8x.
We decided to go clockwise from this point so we wouldn't miss anything being we were in the middle of the park so here we go.
Mountain Slidewinder - I really enjoy the ride for some reason. I just can't put my finger on it. It cause me to laugh uncontrollably lol.
Tennessee Tornado - by far the best arrow I've ever ridden and remains a top arrow looper. I don't know what they are doing to keep it running so smoothly but they need to pass the info onto other parks with arrow loopers. I mean it's insanely smooth and still a fun ride and the loop is so massive.
Wild Eagle - Still place this wing coaster above gatekeeper. The layout to me is way more intense than Gatekeepers and overall more thrill and enjoyable to me, maybe because it's situated on the mountain top I don't know. Believe it or not place it above thunderbird as well. Yea it has a launch but less elements an no airtime hills.
Fire Chaser - love this ride from the day it opened and it still haven't changed. Great family coaster
River Battle- Carowinds need this ride somewhere in that park. It's a great family and interactive ride. I had way too much fun on it. I was greatly wet afterwards.
Mystery Mine- Yep still love this ride. It is getting just a tad rough but it's manageable. I'm a huge fan of vertical lifts and drops. It did go down but maintainance was on the spot within minutes. The ride controller on this ride really loves his job. He was very engaging and told a lot of jokes and kept us entertained while dispatching cars.
They turned the former area where Timber Tower was into a seating area at first now it's a performance stage.
Thunderhead- still a fav woodie. Its definitely seem better days but hey it's wood. It's gotten a bit rough but not like break you back or snap your neck rough. I call the good rough the out of control type roughness with a slight head ache. Still a great ride.
Lunch Break - We ate at aunt Granny's Buffet. OMG great food is all I can say!! I ate about 3 plates lol. Don't judge me! Jarvis
So clearly we walked around for A little bit and caught some great shows and rode the train around the park.
Did some re-rides on thunderhead, wild eagle, river battle , barnstormer, and dizzy disco.
It's a bout 5:30pm the park was starting to die down a bit so we headed for LR. We could here the train peeling off up the hill. We stopped and got on rampage raft ride which was a lot of fun.
So we got in line for LR which was now near the side of the Pines Theater. The line was so deceiving. Came to find out that they were only letting groups of 40 in at a time so the que was empty and the like actually started at the front door of the que building that they kept locked.
I freaking got a ride on LR. The ride is a-freaking-mazing. I mean there are no words to articulate the response needed to describe this ride. You are literally out of your seat the entire time. The airtime on this ride whether sideways or from the drops are amazing. Of course I was on the back seat so I got the brunt of it all and I loved every bit of it! My eyes and teeth were so dry when I got off but everybody had a smile on there face. The quadruple down? OMG!! This coaster really uses the mountain and valleys to the fullest extent. I felt bad for the people waiting outside because when we got back we were actually the last group they would allow to ride and closed it for the night. I'm just happy I was fortunate to get a ride.
After LR we stalked up on merchandise. Everybody know I'm a theme park tshirt freak and shot glass hoarder. Got some enough cinnamon bread to last me a week.
7pm came and now the park was closed. Thouroghly enjoyed the trip of course I'll be going back. Should've upgraded to a season pass. The staff as always was very kind and friendly and went over and beyond for basic questions. They really do love their jobs. Did I mention I just love driving I-40 through the mountains it made the trip home go by so quickly.
Last edited by pproteinc on May 31st, 2016, 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
