Dollywood Discussion Thread
p. 734 - Lightning Rod closed for remainder of 2020 season
By crispy,
April 3, 2005 in Theme Parks, Roller Coasters, & Donkeys!
Philrad71 0
Philrad71
^ I'm gonna guess twice here and go with...something that will be a perfect fit for Dollywood as well as something that will kick ass.
Edited August 7, 2015 by Philrad71
Last Reply 7 hr
dstephe9 1,533 posts
ernierocker 570 posts
Dollywoodlover20 533 posts
coasterbill 515 posts
southpuddle
There was a time in my life when I would have cared what Lightning Rod was made of. So refreshing to give precisely zero effs. I just want to go to Dollywood and not worry about it being open!
coasterbill
Yeah, the difference to the rider between I-Box track and the current track is really minimal. The only major difference would be that the ride would actually be open when you wanted to ride it and wh
jarmor
You mean like this. . . (pssst, all wooden coasters run on steel rails, well, with the exception of the flying turns) Also, who would have thought the first RMC coaster to get the RM
robbalvey 83
robbalvey
Agreed with Robb, I mean if you really want to find out about the attraction is watch the broadcast or simply wait until you get home from where ever. Tomorrow will be a celebratory day for all of us on here I'm sure.
We will have it up on all our socials and the forum within moments of the announcement. All we are trying to do is limit the amount of "clean up" we have to do in the forum from everyone always wanting to be "first" to post the announcement, which sometimes, while we appreciate the effort, just ends up being a link to a page or something that isn't full of complete information anyway.
DILinator 0
DILinator
My final prediction is an RMC wooden tracked launched coaster up a hill, that will set a record for speed on a wooden coaster. Additionally, it will utilize the terrain and feature massive amounts of airtime, and banked turns through the trees. I'm not 100% certain there will be inversions, but I will be surprised if there are not any. A second launch would not surprise me either. Lastly, I will be surprised if it's the longest, steepest, or racing/dueling, but I honestly wouldn't rule it out. It's going to be awesome, whatever it is!
I'm just so glad that my first trip out to Dollywood just so happens to be next year when I'm taking the family to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for our vacation!
Password121 0
Password121
I haven't really said all that much about the pending announcement, so here's my input:
It's gonna be a kick-ass ride no matter what the stats are because they really don't matter.
(But with that said I don't see it being anywhere near as long as the Beast. A speed record, maybe. Maybe no actual records, just a worlds first.)
DonkeysWaffles 0
DonkeysWaffles
Final stat predictions:
Height: 110 ft
Drop: 100 ft
Length: 3,500 feet
Inversions: 3 (dive loop, stall, barrel roll)
Two launches (0-50, 50-65)
Angle of drop: 85 degrees
ernierocker 0
ernierocker
My predictions:
-Over 4000 feet of track involved either dual or single track.
-Obviously there will be a launch somewhere.
-It will be frickin awesome.
No matter how totally amazing this new ride is going to be, I'm still going to eat several loaves of Cinnamon Bread every time I visit the park.
bkwjjm 0
bkwjjm
Full Fledged Donkey Enthusiast!
Mmmmmm....Cinnamon Bread.
jimmiemac02 0
jimmiemac02
Which came first the turtle or the donkey?
Location: The cold north
I predict a launched RMC with a height over 200 feet and a top speed around 75-80 mph with the name "Lightning Rod".
dstephe9 2
dstephe9
All the emails from Dollywood today said lightning speed.. So I'm sure it will have a launch but if not it will definitely be the fastest wooden coaster out there!!
^ What email went out today?
coasterjunkie1975 0
coasterjunkie1975
The best thing about TPR is the donkeys.
My prediction....Dollywood+RMC=masterpiece.
PeggedSole 0
PeggedSole
Macaroni and Donkey
My prediction: The world's fastest, launched, terrain-hugging...(all-wooden) Vekoma Stingray! Who wants to ride????
Edited August 7, 2015 by PeggedSole
Just an email from Dollywood to watch the live feed tomorrow while they announce their new lightening fast attraction
They also sent the same notification to their phone app as well. It had no info in it, just a link to live feed
Coaster Hero 0
Coaster Hero
When I grow up, I want to breed donkeys!
Time to lock in my prediction!
RMC Topper Track coaster with a normal LSM launch but slightly more inclined than usual. May or may not have inversions, but if it does it will be one or two. It will be considerably long, perhaps even challenging The Beast's record. I also think it will break the wooden speed record. And an interesting aspect, maybe Dollywood will shock us and add another launch somewhere in the layout?
coasterkid124 0
coasterkid124
I love donkeys more than me.
I'm hoping for a true launch rather than cheating it, but any launch would be great. I have a feeling that this is going to push major limits.
SFOGdude25 0
SFOGdude25
Just a few more hours to go! I set an alarm for tomorrow morning so I can catch the announcement.
angryemobeaver 0
angryemobeaver
I own the website www.donkey.com
My prediction:
- Launch
- Top speed around 70mph
- Max height near 150'
- 4 inversions
- Around 5,000' long
Oh, and I also predict that I will be returning to Dollywood (only been once in 2010 and it was only for like 3 hours.)
Dollywoodlover20 0
Dollywoodlover20
Donkeys are my way of life!
Prediction-
Launch/Terrian (would love for it to race as well just because of the theme of dragsters and the 50's)
-Top speed at or around 70mph
-Hill Height- near 200ft (that I'm assuming it will launch up)
-Drop 160ft
-Airtime hills -over 7 (even if small)
-Inversions -Yes, 3-4
I would honestly love to see this coaster do some of the craziest maneuvers ever seen on a RMC yet. With Dollywood's terrian some crazy things are possible.
Firechaser 0
Firechaser
I think Intamin should make a donkey!
This isn't a prediction this is just me finding some facts...
For it to be the Longest wooden it would have to be longer than 7,359 ft.
For it to be the Steepest wooden it would have to be steeper than 85°
For it to be the Tallest wooden it would have to be taller than 196.8 ft.
For it to have the Longest wooden coaster drop it would have to be longer than 180 ft.
For it to have the Most inversions on a wooden it would have to have more than 3.
I am by no means saying that all of these records will be broken but I figure that at least one of these will be broken!
Coasterguy21 0
Coasterguy21
Yummy! I just ate donkey!
^It probably won't take longest. But the other ones, except for steepness, are doable. The only reason I say steepness is because "Switchback" at ZDT, when it opens later this year, will probably take the steepness record at 90 degrees (if the cars reach that high, right now they're only expected to reach 87 degrees, which would still be the record). That's if you count shuttles with records by the way. http://www.zdtamusement.com/switchback.aspx
Edited August 7, 2015 by Coasterguy21
People don't count Superman (SFMM) as a strata coaster because it's a shuttle. Shuttles usually ignored in enthusiast discussions about records because they're pissed they aren't full circuit
A donkey is a domesticated member of the Equidae or horse family.
Well also because it is pretty much a glorified drop tower.
If Dollywood keeps adding rollercoasters every two years that would be amazing.
ASE 0
This B&M donkey is so smooth!
From the Mountain Press (local paper in Dollywood's town)...assuming heads may roll for the leak...WARNING - SPOILERS IN THE LINK BELOW:
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED....SPOILER ALERT....if you WANT to be surprised, wait for the official announcement...I'll admit I feel like the kid who just took a peek under the wrapping of his presents the night before Christmas and spoiled the surprise....so, if you absolutely CANNOT wait and want to see what the announcement is, here ya go:
http://www.themountainpress.com/x110784624/Dollywoods-latest-ride-to-be-announced-Friday
DoinItForTheFame 3
DoinItForTheFame
Wait, this can be changed now?!
Location: At KD!
^ In case people are having issues reading it like I did at first. I kept getting re-directed to a "sign up" page.
*Spoiler Alert* -- If you don't want to know what *might* be going in at Dollywood then... DO NOT READ THIS.
PIGEON FORGE —
Dolly Parton and Dollywood officials will announce the theme park's newest ride Friday during a special event.
Slated for the Jukebox Junction area, the ride will be a wooden roller coaster themed around 1950s and 1960s hot rod cars. It is set to open in March 2016.
It marks the largest investment into a single attraction in the history of the park, likely costing more than $21 million, Dollywood's Public Relations Director Pete Owens said.
The ride will use urethane wheels on a steel railing. It will be the first wooden coaster in the world to use launch technology, Owens said.
Previously, the power demand to launch a wooden coaster was too great for launch technolgy to be feasible, but the energy costs associated with this ride are much lower.
Brian Dudash, vice president over maintenance and construction at Dollywood, emphasized that the roller coaster will be a smooth ride.
"When you think of a wood coaster, you might think of it being a rough ride, but it's the latest version of a wood coaster," Dudash said. "It's not a traditional wood coaster."
Owens said he believes the new attraction will get attention worldwide.
"My belief is, this ride is going to be among the one or two most anticipated rides in our industry," he said. "I think people will look at this ride and be very interested to see how it turns out, what the ride experience is, and we believe it will be a very unique, very thrilling experience."
The company constructing the project, Rocky Mountain Construction, is a new partner with Dollywood. One of the engineers working on the project designed the Tennessee Tornado ride at Dollywood while working at another company.
This project has been in the works for more than a year. Construction takes about nine months, and there was a lengthy process of determining the attraction's specifics.
Choosing a new attraction and its theme is a complicated process, both Dudash and Owens said.
"It's more complex than the political process," Dudash joked.
"We know the traffic flow of our guests, and we have a good idea of what is popular in the park," Owens said. "So that allows us an opportunity to go after things our guests are interested in, and try to find innovative products and unique experiences."
Officials at the company also had input, including Parton.
The name of the ride has not been revealed. It is expected to be announced Friday.
The ride is the latest component of the $300 park investment announced by Parton in 2013. Previous parts of the investment were the FireChaser Express roller coaster, which opened in 2014, and the DreamMore Resort, which opened last month.
jold@themountainpress.com
Just reading through this, so far there are a few things that catch my eye...
So, I am assuming this will be an IBOX coaster, and if so, would it not technically be a "hybrid" not wooden??? Just a thought. (And I may be, and I probably am wrong.)
I don't understand how the power demand to launch a wooden coaster is any higher than the power demand to launch a steel coaster. I mean... You have a train... You are launching along a track... I don't really see how the power demand is higher just because it is a wooden coaster...
Edited August 7, 2015 by DoinItForTheFame