Dollywood, 2023

LostKause:

How in the world is that a bigger investment than Lightning Rod or Wild Eagle?

The rumored animatronic bear better cost a helluva lot more than the animatronic Yeti cost Disney. You know... to ensure that it works. And stuff.

I would not be surprised if it was the most expensive installation in absolute dollars. Inflation is a thing, it's not a short ride, and the theming adds up. Also "biggest" ride investment could just mean "most feet of track."

Absimilliard:

I feel this ride is an emergency band-aid, due to the low capacity at both FireChaser Express and Dragonflier.

Or maybe they just felt a long family ride is the thing that would attract more families to the park.

Looks like fun to me. I love a little launch action, and this reminds me a little of Cheetah Hunt.

Maybe I'm a bad enthusiast, but – I like the look of this ride.

I'm not a fan of Dollywood in general after a crap experience in 2016 but this might actually get me to return.

Right? Looks fun to me. Seems like a nice long ride with little pops of floater air, quick Maverik-y turns, and good ground speed (50mph isn’t exactly slow). Cheetah Humt is is top 100 and this could easily be too. Only reason I didn’t like Cheetah Hunt was the old style Intamin OTSR (they need the soft collar if they haven’t gone that route already) and this could be better with just the lap bar.

I guess take away my ACE card.

What the shpx is a "family ride" anyway? It seems to me the only real qualification is that it have a low enough height requirement that the younger family members can ride, and be exciting enough that the older family members won't turn their noses up at it.

Be advised that animations, blueprints, and even POV video can be misleading! On video, Magnum XL-200 is one of the dullest coasters on the planet. Seriously, the Grizzly at CaGA looks more interesting. But anyone who has ridden both can tell you that certainly isn't the case.

It's also worth noting that Vekoma has brought us some of the best known, best loved family-friendly coasters of the last few decades, thanks in particular to one of their biggest and best-known clients. They've got the technical and practical capability to make this a particularly impressive, high throughput ride that will probably be exactly what Dollywood wants and needs.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Tommytheduck:

The rumored animatronic bear better cost a helluva lot more than the animatronic Yeti cost Disney. You know... to ensure that it works. And stuff.

Coming to Dollywood in 2025: Disco Bear

Cosmic Rewind is 42", and I'm not sure if they market it as a family coaster, but I see a lot of families with younger children riding it. That's a great example of not being dull but not being silly extreme. I love that ride more than I ever expected.

Watched the announcement with Dolly with my kids, and they were just like..."that....looks...awesome!".

Which it does.

Wildwood Grove is just a really beautiful addition to the already beautiful park. The story by the tree at night is a neat experience, even if you don't care for Dolly at all. Dragonfly is really fun, and that empty space was just waiting for an expansion.

We're on the fence between Dollywood and BGW for next summer's adventure.

I agree about Wildwood Grove, I thought it was cute as hell, there’s a nice collection of flats, the characters were creative and I absolutely loved the coaster. I think it’s an area of the park that most families could spend an entire day in and be happy about it.
However… I have an aversion to huge dead ends at amusement parks and that one takes the cake. When during that first season it became clear that there would be an expansion or something happening up the hill I was hoping for some kind of connecting loop. I wasn’t sure what, but I imagined all sorts of possibilities that might’ve even included a new train stop. At first glance this coaster seems to wall it off for good.
The endless disappointment and crying over this not being a high-thrill ride has me in stitches, btw.

It seems to feel a lot like Firechaser Express. I know it has three forward launches instead of lift hills but the rides overall layout feels similar. It’s definitely not as unique as Dollywood normally builds their new coasters.

I don’t know why any Park with any kind of attendance buys those 1 train coasters from Vekoma like Dragonflier. At least a Zierer Tivoli or Mack Blauer Enzian 1 train coasters can handle 20 car trains for capacity.

I have not been to Dollywood either since 2016. About four trips there and Lightning Rod never ran. I always blamed it on their stupid decision to watch the coaster instead of a lift hill.

But I thought the park look pretty hideous overall with the deforestation. When they built Wilderness Pass it looked like a strip mine and they didn’t replant anything to replace what was removed

The train used to run in the woods and they completely cleared out all of the trees up to the train. They could’ve left a bank of trees in between easily. Additionally they did the same thing with the Preferred parking lot. They built it right on top of the park with no berm or trees in between.

From the pics I have seen since then they removed any tree any where in the vicinity of the coasters. I just don’t think it’s a nice looking park so much anymore. Silver Dollar City however still looked great and felt woodsy on my last trip there except they did build Time Traveler right beside Thunderation with no trees between.

It’s ok if you make fun of me for wanting charmland but I enjoy a park with great atmosphere thst doesn’t feel barren. Dollywood isn’t totally barren but the last several years have made it feel a lot more that way.

With a sometimes apprehensive 12-year-old autistic kid, Dollywood seems pretty appealing with this addition. We haven't traveled much in the last three years (beyond Disney Cruises), and this is coming into the realm of possible now. It's a bit of a long haul, but it might be worth it.

super7*:

It seems to feel a lot like Firechaser Express. I know it has three forward launches instead of lift hills but the rides overall layout feels similar.

Dude, I think you're on to something.

Guys, check out the two POVs. They are practically the same ride, frame by frame. Make sure you hit play on both at the same time while listening to Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon.

First Firechaser...

And then its "twin" Big Bear Mountain...

I dare you to find just 3 differences between the two.

Jeff:

With a sometimes apprehensive 12-year-old autistic kid, Dollywood seems pretty appealing with this addition

This 100%. My daughter is going on 12 but doesn't want to ride anything over 100 feet or with an inversion. From my experience Big Bear Mountain may be more comparable to Manta at SWSD than Cheetah Hunt. Manta and the new ride have similar speeds and drop heights but Big Bear Mountain is significantly longer. That's good for our family as all of us loved Manta but my daughter had zero interest in Cheetah Hunt once she found out it had an inversion.

Why did _______ build _______ when they already have ________?

Cedar Point / Millennium Force / Magnum / Gemini

Holiday World / Voyage / Legend / Raven

SFMM / Green Lantern / X

Canadas Wonderland / Leviathan / Behemoth

Carowinds / Fury325 / That dead Nascar guy

SFMM / West Coast Racers / Twisted Collossus

Kings Island / Orion / Diamondback

Play along at home kiddies!

I would argue that the original intent of Lightning Rod was to be more of a "family" coaster, I remember hearing interviews with RMC after the announcement saying things like "It doesn't go upside down because it doesn't have to." Perhaps LR ended up being more extreme than originally intended, and Big Bear is a "course correction."

Lightning Rod was the World’s Fastest Wooden Roller Coaster”. That claim was plastered everywhere. Now it’s neither.
It’s ok though, it’s still one of the most thrilling coasters anywhere, I believe as intended.

RCMAC:

Lightning Rod was the World’s Fastest Wooden Roller Coaster”. That claim was plastered everywhere. Now it’s neither.

I'm working on a trip report at the moment from Silverwood, who are in the process of converting both their wood coasters to steel using RMC's 208 RetraK. They might market otherwise, but it's fairly unequivocal IMHO. Take a look at the video of Tremors – new track runs from about 1:05 to 1:35.

This is going to become more common, I think.