PKIguy14

I believe Dollywood's Thunderhead will operate during their winter event, so PKI's wooden coasters may be able to operate.

Pet Cemetary would be cool, as well as Sleepy Hollow. I'm not a big fan of sci-fi stuff so I don't like aliens, but there are a lot of people that do. I don't think they could use Scream, because it is a Mirmax movie, which is owned by Disney. They do own the rights to Friday the 13th, though.

I don't think the park would turn into just one giant movie themed area like MGM anytime soon, as only a few rides are actually themed to movies. What would they do with The Racer, Vortex, Beast, and other rides?

I agree that Thunderhead is better.

Good trip report, although when I went there, I liked the Fire side of DD better. Also, the only water ride I got to ride was Jurassic Park, although the other two there looked really fun also. You should consider going in October sometime like I did, the queues were totally empty during the day, except during the Halloween Horror Nights.

It was nice to meet you too. I would love to come back a lot but I live 2 hours away, but I'll definately be there at least once more before the season ends. I'll probably be up there within 2 weeks or so.

I'll remember that name and talk to you the next time I go. (should be in a week or so)

I think they are trying to promote VH1's I love the 90's.

I live in Nicholasville (10 mins south of Lexington) so it takes us about 1 1/2 -2 hours to get there, depending on weather and traffic.

Well, actually Nicholasville, but I just said Lexington because nobody probably knows where Nich is.

My family and I got to the park at about 11 AM after 1 1/2 hours of driving from Lexington. I made them head straight to The Beast because I wanted to see the new special effects. The only thing I really noticed was the new documentary and the noises on the lift, which are kinda muted by the noise of the chain. Even if the effects weren't that noticeable, The Beast is still a great ride. We were able to ride 3 times without having to get out of our seats. Next, my dad and I rode The Vortex, also a walkon. It was a lot better now that my head isn't between the restraints and I really enjoyed it. Next was Flight of Fear, which had a 30 minute wait. This ride was amazing as it always is. I tried looking for King Cobra's cars in there but it was dark so I couldn't see, and I would've felt like such an idiot if I asked them to turn on the lights so I could see them, and they probably wouldn't do it anyway. After FoF, I rode The Racers a few times, and then ate lunch at Subway, and headed over to International Street because my parents wanted pizza. While they were eating, I went on the Eiffel Tower. I met PKI Diana (who is really nice). She was the only employee I was able to pick out because I didn't want to ask different coaster crews if they posted on this site because most of them probably don't and I didn't want to look stupid if I was wrong. After that, I met my brother and his friend and we went to Runaway Reptar, where my brother got in an argument with an 8 year old girl because she line jumped. We then went to Scooby Doo and the Haunted Castle. It was my first ride on that, and I scored a 390, which I think is bad. We then headed to Delirium and Son of Beast and Top Gun. They all had really short lines. After hitting AZ, we headed to Boomerang Bay. Tazmanian Typhoon is by far the best water slide they have. I tried the body boarding thing (used to be called Wipeout Beach, I think) and I wipedout after like 5 seconds. That was kinda embarrassing, but I got over it. I went to the wave pool for a while and then went to the new racing slides (sorry I don't know the name). The lifeguard said dive, and I didn't because I was afraid it would hurt, and I got stuck (also kinda embarrassing). Boomerang Bay was getting ready to close by then so we took the path back to HB land where I rediscovered an old classic: The Beastie. I used to love that ride but I hadn't ridden it in like 5 years so I decided to ride it. We met my parents and ate again, then my parents and I rode Son of Beast. I then rode Face/Off and Delirium by myself because my parents don't like that ride. It was 9:00 by then so we all headed to The Beast for a nightride. The Beast's crew at night is really awesome. They get everyone excited about riding. I was able to squeeze in a ride on FoF and 2 on Racer before the park closed. The Racer's crew at night is also really cool. The fireworks went off, and I got in the car and slept the whole way home.

I would replace Son of Beast's trains with GCI Thunderhead Trains. They are so comfortable and smooth and the restraints are great. The bad thing about that though, is that 1 trains only holds 20 people where a SoB train holds like 36 people, I think. I would also lengthen the brake run with another block brake so it could run 3 trains on the course.

Before 99 (the year it became the Paramount Action Zone) it was Adventure Village for a few years, not sure how many though. I think Congo Falls also used to be called Amazon Falls.

It was really noisy but it gets you excited about the ride. When you're on it, it gives a hand chopper effect.

Maybe the Stepford Wives will be a big hit.

I would like to get at least one ride with the lights on, but I've never been able too. I just want to see the track and supports and Cobra's trains.

I think The Beast is better than Thunderhead, but Thunderhead comes in a close second. The Beast has the length and setting in the woods, with the crazy helix. Thunderhead is out in the open, but it has great airtime, keeps its speed throughout the entire ride, and has insane twists and turns.

Ok, I know this isn't a PKI trip report but everyone here either works at the park or has been there 100 times and knows everything about it, so hopefully you all want to read my Dollywood TR. So, I got to the park around 11:00 AM, and the parking lot was filled up to the second to last section. I hate that parking lot. It is very long and narrow so you either have to walk 2 miles to get to the park or wait in the lines for the trams. Very badly designed. Upon getting off the trams, we noticed the line for the season pass processing center was huge, so we just scanned the voucher for the season pass they gave us and went in the park. I can't believe I have a Dollywood season pass and not a PKI pass, and Dollywood is farther away from me. I immediately headed for the new coaster, Thunderhead. Just walking up the hill, you know you're in for a great ride. After a 20 min wait, I boarded the back seat. I love those trains. They're very open, and the restraints are very comfortable. I don't know if those are possible to hold people in on SoB, but they should consider restraints like those sometime in the future, although it probably won't happen. That ride is my second fav. wooden coaster ever. (Beast is my first) Thunderhead never loses speed throughout the ride, it is an airtime machine, and is always crossing over and under the track. I love that ride so much! After Thunderhead, my family and I went to eat. After lunch, we went to the Smoky River Rampage, which is a ride like White Water Canyon. I like how every ride is themed to the 1800's. The Rampage was fun, but nothing extremely great. After the Rampage, we needed to kill time while waiting for the next train, so I rode the carousel twice and then rode the swings. Zephyr is way better than Dollywood's swings; Zephyr holds twice as many people. The train ride was great. It allows you to see through the park and surrounding areas, and I think its a lot longer than PKI's train, but I haven't ridden PKI's train in many years. Next, my parents and grand parents wanted to go watch a steel drum band, so my brother and I went to ride the Tennessee Tornado. It is a very unique Arrow looper. It features a tunnel drop down the side of a mountain straight into a 110' loop, I believe the biggest loop Arrow has built. It then dives up, then back down into another vertical loop and a side winder, a few more turns and the ride is over. It is also very smooth for an Arrow, and never has a long line, despite always only running one train. The bad things are it is very short, and you have to walk up like 40 feet to get to the station. After TT, we rode the blazing fury. It is a little kids' roller coaster, but I still like it. It is indoor, and themed to a fire that swept the whole city. Its pretty fun. After that, we rode Daredevil Falls, which is just a log flume, but themed to being stuck on a winding river course and getting lost and going over the waterfall, then I rode Thunderhead a few more times and we left. It was a great day at Dollywood.

I think the most over rated ride is TR:TR. Delirium and The Beast deserve all the hype about them, they really are that good, but I just don't think TR is very fun at all. The theming is good, but I don't like the ride. When you go upside down, there are no forces on you so all your weight is on the restraint, which protrudes a little farther than it should between your legs.

I don't know about the rides at PKI but I think on the Travel Channel they said the Riddler's Revenge computer will not allow a train to leave unless all the restraints are down. Maybe PKI's rides are this way, but I don't know.

I think a water coaster like Roller Soaker and Super Saturator would be cool and most teens and adults would like that too.

My first PKI coaster was The Beastie, although my first big coaster was The Racer.

I don't think they will because coasters are a major draw. They may send their SLC or Boomerang over to Michigan's Adventure or Worlds of Adventure sometime.

Well I would think that since it will probably be kinda chilly outside and most people aren't really concerned with Kings Island in early April cause they've got school and stuff to worry about, that PKI probably won't be very crowded.

You might be a coaster freak if you own four or more roller coaster books and have an entire folder of favorites devoted to coaster sites.