Dollywood's 10 new rides revealed

According to Amusement Today, Dollywood will add the following rides next year:

• Zamperla Disk-O, Farmer Parade, Flying Elephants, and jr. drop tower
• L&T kiddie coaster
• Chance Aviator
• Bertazzon Wave Swinger
• Technical Park tea cups
• Leisure Lab B-jet and Pepita Carousel

Sounds like a pretty good mix to me!

- Aaron K

Disk-O is a good time. I dig that ride.

So the question is, are they going to theme the Disk-O to Davey Crocket? Wasn't that one of the choices for new rides on that survey earlier in the year? Wow, that's a lot of new rides to add for one season. Looks like a good lineup.

Heres a picture of a Chance Aviator:

I can't believe someone is still buying these, they were supposed to be the next generation of flying scooters, but the range of motion is very limited. They look pretty but they are really quite boring.

which for Dollywood might be exactly what they are looking for.

The Aviator is an impressive looking piece that gives an extremely forgettable ride. It's salvageable, but fixing the Aviator would require a couple of significant redesigns to make it decent, and even at that might not make it great.

I've ridden two Aviators, one at Wild Adventures and one at Paramount's Kings Dominion, and both of them pretty much stunk.

I wonder if Chance-Morgan has done any redesign work on the Aviator. They COULD fix it (lap bars and wire rope would be two obvious improvements.......), I just wonder if they will...

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

I really want to get to Dollywood. I am hoping to make it this season. Smooth Arrow Looper, Thunderhead, and now this package of flats. Plenty of reasons to make a visit.

Does anyone know if they are removing the Swingamajig for the new Wave Swinger? The ride cycle on Swingamajig is abysmal. Compounding the problem greatly is that the average ride operator age for Swingamajig is 110.

According to screamscape (I know I know) swingamajig is listed for sale.

http://www.screamscape.com/html/dollywood.html

Edit: here is the listing:

http://www.italintl.com/detail_page.php?record_id=475 *** Edited 11/12/2004 5:16:52 PM UTC by Brian Noble***

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RideMan said:I wonder if Chance-Morgan has done any redesign work on the Aviator. They COULD fix it (lap bars and wire rope would be two obvious improvements.......), I just wonder if they will...

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When we visited the Larson factory a few years ago (they build that two piece lift pole for Chance), they were experimenting with ways to improve the Aviator. They had an Aviator on site and they had attached pneumatic pistons to the top of each vehicle to get it actually swing, since the current setup using the wings results in very little motion. I don't know whatever happened to that idea.

I agree with Dave, the best solution would be to replace the steel rods with wire rope.

That's too bad. My first impression with the picture was, "Wow, that looks really cool....how about a 200' version?"

Now what's up with that crazy swing ride in Germany?

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rentzy17 said:
What's a "Farmer Parade"...?

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It might be the Turtle Parade with a different theme.

As far as the Aviator goes, I agree that it fails in the sense of being able to control your flight. We rode the one at Wild Adventures, and we couldn't get it to do anything. On the other hand, if you look at it as simply an "in-the-air swing ride," it's a pleasant ride that appeals to a wide audience. The one at a WA had a steady line the whole time we were there, and we saw people of all ages riding it and having a good time. I think it will be popular with families at Dollywood, despite the lack of flight control.

- Aaron K

It's so refreshing to actually see a park add an assortment of family style flat rides.

Seems like all you see anymore is coasters, kiddie flat rides and the newer extreme type of flats.

Even as just an in-the-air swing ride, I don't think I would call it "pleasant." You're pinned down with a big bulky over-the-shoulder harness. You can't really do much sightseeing because the wings block your view to the left or right. A traver circle swing is "pleasant." An Aviator? Pleasant is not a word I would use to describe it. It's not uncomfortable, but to me it just didn't have a whole lot of redeeming qualities.

There never seemed to be much of a line for it at PKD or Jazzland. I think the height, circular motion, and high-tech appearance will make it a little too intimidating for the average Dollywood guest looking for a pleasant ride. And the thrillseekers will be disappointed.

They've also been plagued with technical problems since Day One. They rely on an electronic sensor to show that the OTSH is in place, and that seems to cause a lot of problems when loading.

The prototype is at SFEG. Apparently the cars used to have motorized wing controls and other extras but it made the cars heavy and probably was a nightmare to maintain.

I don't know how plagued the other rides are, but Elitch's ride runs very well, the main issue I've seen regards its parking, sometimes when everyone gets off the ride moves up a little, then the restraints won't read as clear, but that is very easy to correct and its ready to go.

As for swinging, I haven't seen many people get it going, but there are times when I've seen them move pretty well. I've never had the ability but I haven't ridden it much. Most people like it, it usually has a decent line.

One way to make it really cool would be to let the individual cars actually climb and dive (up and down) fast. However, it would be really hard to make and maintain, and safety would probably be an issue.

When I was a SFNO, I saw it and wanted to ride it really bad, but it was closed. It looked pretty darn cool, too!

Originally, the Aviator had motor-driven sails, which were WAY too heavy, also the motors had problems, and they moved SLOW. So slow that the ride action was pretty much non-existent with the motors. Fortunately I never got to ride one before the motors were removed, replaced with the T-handles. Which, by the way, if you move the T-handle to the full-dive position, you can't reach the end of the handle because the shoulder bar won't let you lean forward far enough.

The Aviator tub design is a good start. The double sail with nothing in front of you is a decent idea, and the double sail should be more responsive than the single sail on the Bish-Rocco ride...which should easily make up for the extra weight on the Aviator.

The problem with the ride, I think, is in the suspension, because of the questionable decision to use rigid suspension instead of wire rope. Not using wire rope kind of makes sense as it gives them a rigid conduit for the electrical service needed for the lights, shoulder bar sensors and release trigger, and originally, for the wing motors. What they need to do is figure out a way to get rid of that wiring so that they can use wire rope and not have to worry about the wiring.

--Dave Althoff, Jr.

Does anybody know what type of L&T coaster is being built? Will it be a compact coaster, mini coaster, or junior coaster?

Duke,

I would like to know that answer myself. I am also wondering if Dollywood purchased one of the two L&T kiddie coasters from Dreamland or Rotunda.

-Sean

All the new rides, will be brand new!!

Yeah!