SFOG / Dolllywood / Pigeon Forge Insight

Thanks for the input guys. Now I have to learn a little more about this hand-stamp to ride situation. I have so many questions (I was working MF when we initiated Ticket to Ride, so I know what chaos and misunderstanding this sort of restricted queue access can cause).

How does one go about getting multiple rides? Is there a designated time frame when you can ride without a stamp? Can you get more than one stamp at a time? Do you have to wait until the first stamp ride time expires before getting another one? Are you SOL if the limited number of stamps for the day run out?

I checked out the park website and it gives very little information. I'll contact the park tomorrow and see what kind of reply I get.

Rihard said:

How does one go about getting multiple rides? Is there a designated time frame when you can ride without a stamp? Can you get more than one stamp at a time? Do you have to wait until the first stamp ride time expires before getting another one? Are you SOL if the limited number of stamps for the day run out?

I checked out the park website and it gives very little information. I'll contact the park tomorrow and see what kind of reply I get.

Since this ride had JUST opened (I think Media Day was the Thursday before Memorial Day) - there's a decent likelihood that they've switched to another system in trying to figure out a good balance between waits and capacity management. As it functioned when we went, the driver on the trolley announced that riding DDD would require a hand stamp that we could get at the ride's entrance. Bart mentioned there was more information at the main gate....I was in 'Benderland bliss and wanted one ride ASAP on DDD so I could get on with the 'Bending (small Futurama reference included with your daily admission). I vaguely recall something about "get your hand stamp now" while we were getting our SPs processed. Small aside: SF is no longer giving away the things, they went from $45 last year to $70 this year - but I digress some more.

Got to DDD entrance after hearing the park was only open until 7pm, and got stamps for 6:00-7:00pm. Probably should have asked if they were "ride all you want during the hour" things, but at 6 people per train, it seemed unlikely they wanted you riding more than once. Don't come before 5:55 we were told. Coming back *after* some Mindbender and Goliath (far and away the best B&M coaster ever IMO), we walked right in and got on in...15 minutes. Got a front-row ride thanks to another guest being thoughtful when the "grouper" tried to split 2 of us into two different rows in a wildly unsuccessful try at making odd numbers fit evenly into rows of two. No check-mark on our stamps or anything....hmmm. Having overheard some discussion with another guest, seemed like they preferred us to move along. Went off for one last Goliath lap and figured we'd try at one last ride before closing. Row 3 score, for front and back (I even scored one bonus lap when a threesome came along after closing and talked their way onto the ride). I assume those people got in the park too late, and all the stamps were gone - they DID run out (sometime around 3:30-4pm is my guess since we got in around 2:30).

Short version - if the park isn't specifically preventing you from re-riding, assume it *is* allowed. Also, like Disney, getting there early is your only guarantee of being able to ride - they were not on "the VQ system". ;)

Wowza! I hadn't even thought of trying to squeeze multiple rides in an hour on one stamp. Sounds a little sheisty, but if the park isn't doing anything to prevent it... Hmmmm.

You also made another question come to mind. Can you request a specific return time? I doubt it, but you never know. I'll try find out some official answers from the park tomorrow.

Seemed to be given out sequentially, one to a customer, one per day. I don't think you could get a second assigned ride time, or "request" a specific ride time. If there were a way to get back to eight riders per car (4 rows of 2?), that would help quite a bit.

If everyone really only took one ride per stamp, the ride would probably have been empty for the last 15-20 minutes of each hour...we were just helping keep capacity numbers up. ;)

I left a voice mail with guest services this morning and received a return call less than an hour later. They explained that the park will only issue the hand stamps for Dare Devil Dive when the ride queue is completely full. So far that has only been on high attendance days like Saturdays. He said this week has been slow enough that they haven't used the stamps at all.

Stamps are issued to guests one stamp at a time. You cannot collect another hand stamp until the ride time for the previous stamp has expired. You can not request a specific return time. You can not ride more than once in the assigned hour because the line will be too long to allow for that (those are his words).

There you have it. Kudos to Six Flags guest relations for the quick reply.

The Brewery is awesome and get the Sampler!!! No need to get the fast pass at Dollywood and don't miss the Slidewinder!

I second that. Don't miss the Slidewinder. Don't sit in the front either if a toddler is riding behind you, because it is very uncomfortable trying not to squish him or her.

I see a lot of people suggesting the Q2Q at Dollywood is not really necessary. I will be there on a Sunday in July with a group of 9 people. We will mostly be interested in the shows. Does that change anything in that case?

I'm mostly wondering if getting seats at the shows is questionable at all due to demand and therefore Q2Q is necessary. Or is it just a matter of convenience to avoid the lines?

They have a special area sectioned off near the front exclusively for Q2Q users, so if you want a good seat, and you have the bot, you don't have to show up early to get one. If that is important to you, you might want to get it.

Q2Q is not really too expensive either.

When I went, we got pretty good seats without Q2Q, and the park was moderately busy.

If your going for shows, then I would get it. The shows almost always are full and have long lines waiting for the doors to open. Having the Q2Q allows you to have great seats without waiting. If it important for you to all sit together, I would still get there a bit early.

Thanks very much for the advice. :)

Carrie M. said:
I see a lot of people suggesting the Q2Q at Dollywood is not really necessary. I will be there on a Sunday in July with a group of 9 people. We will mostly be interested in the shows. Does that change anything in that case?

Changes everything - older crowd (think Sea World on Geritol) from what I've seen. Sundays after church will get pretty busy. ;)

Not necessary *if* you were interested in the coasters. The shows are what grandma and grandpa kettle come to DW for. I haven't really been for the shows, though....yet. :)

Gotcha, Gator. Thanks for the follow up.

We're gonna grab our canes and walkers and join the blue hairs at the shows, so we better go with the Q2Q. ;) :)