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From dollywood.com:

 


Lightning Rod is closed today. The ride manufacturer ordered all of its roller coasters closed until further notice as a recalled mechanical part is replaced.

 

Expanding details:

 


Lightning Rod is closed today. Rocky Mountain Construction ordered all of its roller coasters closed until further notice as a recalled mechanical part is replaced. Please watch for updates.

 

All of them? Anyone with a report from SDC, KK, or one of several SIX parks?

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Nothing from the following sites or Facebook accounts on their respective RMC's-

 

Kentucky Kingdom

SDC

SFMM

SFDK

SFGAm

SFNE

SFoT

SFFT

SFM

 

EDIT: Nothing on RMC's main webpage or FB account.

EDIT2: Take this how you want, but Screamscape (I think I hear salt shakers) is saying that RMC made that order.  

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This is not a ringing endorsement of that manufacturer.

 

 

I dont see an RMC at KI anytime soon

 

I agree with marth555. If an RMC shows up at any Cedar Fair park in 2017, I would assume that it is only because the project was too far along to call it quits. This is the sort of thing that Cedar Fair has been avoiding with its choice in manufacturers.

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^

You may want to read the post above yours.

And yet, things can and sometimes do change. Better to underpromise and overdeliver. Especially right now. Not good to build expectations at this point.

Yeah I didn't see that! We posted nearly the same time so I missed his post because I was writing when he submitted his post.

I do hope they get things ironed out. Because this ride is just awesome when its running. But when it's experiencing downtime after a certain amount of cycles and failing to open on time during the day, it's frustrating. I'm hoping this 3-5 day break will allow them to work on the ride and possible figure out the issue. Maybe they can have their EUREKA!!! moment here and did the ride for good.

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^

You may want to read the post above yours.

And yet, things can and sometimes do change. Better to underpromise and overdeliver. Especially right now. Not good to build expectations at this point.

Yeah I didn't see that! We posted nearly the same time so I missed his post because I was writing when he submitted his post.

I do hope they get things ironed out. Because this ride is just awesome when its running. But when it's experiencing downtime after a certain amount of cycles and failing to open on time during the day, it's frustrating. I'm hoping this 3-5 day break will allow them to work on the ride and possible figure out the issue. Maybe they can have their EUREKA!!! moment here and did the ride for good.

 

 

New rides will always have their Downtime

 

Banshee on Opening Day experienced Downtime...

 

Didn't Diamondback have an issue as well?

 

The ride is new, especially with them trying new things on their restraints, they do not want a Texas Giant incident on their OWN trains.

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^

You may want to read the post above yours.

And yet, things can and sometimes do change. Better to underpromise and overdeliver. Especially right now. Not good to build expectations at this point.

Yeah I didn't see that! We posted nearly the same time so I missed his post because I was writing when he submitted his post.

I do hope they get things ironed out. Because this ride is just awesome when its running. But when it's experiencing downtime after a certain amount of cycles and failing to open on time during the day, it's frustrating. I'm hoping this 3-5 day break will allow them to work on the ride and possible figure out the issue. Maybe they can have their EUREKA!!! moment here and did the ride for good.

New rides will always have their Downtime

Banshee on Opening Day experienced Downtime...

Didn't Diamondback have an issue as well?

The ride is new, especially with them trying new things on their restraints, they do not want a Texas Giant incident on their OWN trains.

Yes those rides have experienced downtime. The difference is both Diamondback and Banshee opened without delay. Lightning Rod was supposed to be opened in March. It was delayed until the middle of June where it "opened" yet still suffered from downtime around 50% or so. (I am not going to count this 3-5 day delay against LR because it is a manufacturer issue affecting all rides built by RMC) That is the big difference. Banshee had 2 million riders in its first year. LR is still struggling to operate for half of a day, 3 and a half month after it was supposed to open. This isn't just a "first day" jitters issue with LR.

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Ugh, on that Toilet Paper Residue site there's a picture from an Instagram account showing lots of smoke at the start of the launch. My heart will ache if this turns into a Timber Tower situation. Don't know Huss to blame this time.

Edited to add picture so you don't have to go to that Bob Avery site. Also hope this counts to give proper credit as it shows the Instagram account holder who took the picture. b1b9e12330701101ad852134aae5319c.jpg

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This is not a ringing endorsement of that manufacturer.

 

I'm glad that this was brought out, because this is one of the most overlooked things in this whole situation.  There are a lot of people who are only looking at this in a vacuum - i.e., how these issues are affecting this particular ride.  What some may not realize is that the whole industry is watching this saga unfold.  There are two main issues here:

  1. Whether RMC is directly at fault for these setbacks are not, it's happening on one of their rides.  Park operators aren't going to spend time to try and decipher which of the various parties associated with this ride are at fault.  Most park operators simply see that this is an RMC coaster and it's not working as it should.  This is a hit to their reputation - whether it's fair or not is another issue.
  2. RMC is now competing directly with the B&Ms of the world now.  RMC coasters from the ground up now are being priced at $15 million and above.  The reality is that there are only so many parks that are going to install a coaster in this price range, and RMC is competing against the best coaster manufacturer in the world - B&M.  Parks want to know exactly what they're getting when they build a coaster at these price levels, and your reputation and past work goes a long way in determining who gets future business.  Just ask Intamin.

RMC rides are just really finicky.  Outlaw Run and Goliath both suffer from frequent bouts of downtime.  Three of their four 2016 rides are closed at the moment.  Their trains are pretty restrictive and not really all that comfortable to ride in.  I really like RMC coasters (all 6 I've ridden are in my top 30 coasters out of nearly 300) and I hope that they can right the ship, but their track record right now is cause for concern. 

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Doesn't seem like there was too much of a fire actually. Seems a motor overheated, not sure if one the LSM or kicker tires but see...

http://www.local8now.com/content/news/Dollywood-spokesman-explains-smoke-seen-at-Lightning-Rod-383831761.html

Edit: Seems Dollywood has recently filed a trademark for Camp DW. Looks like it will be kid activities. However I wonder if a campground is in the future resorts plan.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hearing that it's closed again. The official word is its back to technical rehearsal. It's been a rough "season" for the marque attraction for '16. If you add up all the actual run time for lightning rod since it "opened" it might add up to a week total. Oh. And don't call out Robb Alvey on TPR for not practicing what he preaches about being rude. He'll kick you off his little "chat site" quick as he can. Do as I say don't do as I do says Robb. I've never been rude or disrespectful. I guess he didn't like me pointing out that his essentially calling me stupid for highlighting the miscommunication from Dollywood about all the delays was uncalled for and exactly the type of behavior HE kicks others off for - Its a JOKE of a site anyway.

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I'm estimating the total amount of time the ride has been up since "opening" is about 30% of the time. 

The current down time I've heard rumbling from is due to another restraint recall. 

At this point, I'd see Dollywood not paying for much of the ride at all. 
 

I'd look to see if it opens officially (without major downtime) before the 10 pm closes end. If not, I'd bet that they'd reintroduce the ride for 2017.

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