Tennessee and Coasterfest

[Beast1979]

Well, hi yall!

If you have read my previous topic you'd know I was headed to Tennessee this weekend, and more specifically, Piegon Forge. I planned to spend much longer there then I actually did, you can thank Jack Frost for that, and later, you can thank Jack Frost for a bit more. But for now, just read and enoy.

DAY 1

Friday, November 21, 2008

Getting there

We got home from School and had ahead of us a 5 hour drive through red neck country in a 1997 Jeep, which is probably hauling some of it's last loads.

Ya see why after a while you can go a bit crazy in here?

Little Joe knew exactlly where to go, South.

It's Florence, Yall!

It wasn't before long when the sun fell and we had to drive along side the mountains in the Dark.

Dinner. Yep, we like it that way.

This is how we keep ourselves entertained. A laptop, an ogre, and a donkey.

From 6 to about 8 there was nothing but farms, but right around 8 we got to Knoxville and Piegon Forge. We couldn't see any of the mountains though cause it was to dark!

Joe had resorted to slapping himself with a sock to keep entertained in the last half hour.

At 9:00 we finally reached our Destination!

Not a hotel,

But a Cabin.

And a roomy one, too.

We stayed in one of the many cabin complexes in the Suburban Knoxville area.

It came with a Pool Table included!

Joe and I have to share a bed? At first yikes, but when we see how cold it gets, hurray!

After driving for 5 hours strait, this outdoor hot tub was great. And you just HAD to see the stars out there. It was beautifull.

Direct TV ended up giving us some headaches.

Each cabin had their own name, ours was Mountain Breezes.

Puppy Poker.

Day 2 Coming VERY soon!

[Beast1979]

DAY 2

November 22, 2008

Dollywood

Joe and I started the day out early playing some pool. As it turns out I stink.

While the cabin itself was great, it's contents were sometimes faulty or malfunctioning.

Soon you could get your first glimpses of outside and the Smokeys.

Everything, EVERYTHING was built on the side of a hill.

Basically, the key to these Cabin Complexes is find a nice sized hill, about 500 or 600 feet, load it with tons of cabins, each good in size, and you've got a Smokey Mountain hotel!

I was carefull not to overload on breakfast, and after seeing some of the drops on Blazing Fury it was a smart idea.

Sunrise in the Smokeys

It's a great sight.

If you've seen the movie "Arsnec and Old Lace" you'd understand.

I have to say the Smokey Mountains are Beautifull sights, and they are huge.

We had some directional troubles.

The entire area was very rural and run down, with very little signs of a strong community.

Giant Parking Lot! Is there EVEN an Amusement park here?

Yep, there is.

Lol, "Doggywood".

This is the first time of many times you're gonna hear it from me, it was COLD!

Here's trooper mom with the reindeer.

We took a short walk and I got my first views of the famous Dollywood.

But first we had to get our Q-Bots.

While there, Trooper Mom saw one of the people who stood as a Cindy Brady for the Brady Reunion!

More in a moment....

[Beast1979]

How many theatres were there? TONS!

So after every single one of the ACE'rs got their Q-Bot we just stood there for a good 15-20 minutes in the Cold.

Eventually we made the Trek out to Blazing Fury.

But first we had to cross Craftsman Valley

FIRE IN THE HOLE!!!!!!

People have been telling me for weeks that Blazing Fury was great, yet I was still blown away with the ride.

Here is our guide.

We were given first normal rides, then Lights On rides, then Total Blackout rides. I have to say normal was the most fun, but total blackout was great.

What can I say about the ride details? Well the Que and station are themed to a Fire Station, the first 2/3 of the ride you go past scenes of a town ablaze, and then you go into a series of 3 drops. That's all I'm saying without giving the ride away.

I clocked 7 & 1/3 rides on the Fury before ERT was over. And 1/3 you ask? On my very first ride, just before the first Great Drop, the ride stalled and we had to be evacuated. So yea, 1/3.

The heck with Diamondbacks ravine, THIS is the kind of hill you build a coaster on!

Like the rest of Piegon Forge, Dollywood went all out for Christmas. I think this is for 3 reasons: 1. They have nothing better to do. 2. They are in the Bible Belt. 3. They are compensating for their lack of snow and cold weather.

But today, it, was, COLD!

Me and Dollywood.

We never looked at the Scavenger Hunt for more then 3 seconds. It was to hard and I wanted to ride coasters

Now it's time to watch a show!

Blazing Fury left me soaked so this was my oppertunity to dry off.

Time for "Christmas in the Smokeys".

Since we got exclusive seating we sat there for half an hour looking at Snowflakes on the wall.

More Soon....

[Beast1979]

It was basically a melody of all of our favorite Christmas classics for the first half,

With some great acting and singing.

And for the second half it was religious singing.

There were a couple of down home country favorites.

But for the most part the second half was religion.

Now I'm ok with some religious ties, I mean that's what Christmas is about, right?

They did some hymns, too.

There were a lot of angels in the show.

But hey, when you sing this well we listen.

I have to say, as far as Amusement Park Shows go, that was pretty dang good!

A Huge Dolly Parton picture in the front of the Theatre.

Wanna Try out some of the rides in Timber Canyon? No, they're closed.

So let's do a little shoppin, a little window shoppin.

Walking around Dollywood is a hike, not only is it huge but it's also built on hills!

Scenery Addage.

Everything there was Smokeys.

More Soon....

[Beast1979]

Hey, my Q-bot clicked! Thunderhead is open!

Timber Canyon, Try 2!

Gingy bread man!

I see a woodie!

A Beautiful woodie.

Time to ride Thunderhead.

I love GCI's.

I bought a Dollywood Sweater, which came in real handy.

Yummy station Fly through

For a good majority of the Day Trooper Mom wore 4 layers.

I should've taken advantage of the short lines because after a while Thunderhead drew amazing crowds.

Here I am ready to go in the front seat.

I word of caution, the turns on thunderhead can get COLD!

The lift hill goes so fast it's not even funny.

Going through the station is great feature.

Coming back. Where'd my hair go?

While it's kinda sad to say, Thunderhead is now my #1 woodie, over The Beast.

Beautiful Wood!

It uses the Terrain a lot more than it's given credit for.

[Beast1979]

Lumberjack Lifts!

Sit yourself in bucket seats

And lift yourself to the top, 25 feet high.

[Beast1979]

Lumberjack Lifts!

Sit yourself in bucket seats

And lift yourself to the top, 25 feet high.

I did it! My hands hurt so bad.

Timber Terror anyone?

Ok, you know what?

I do NOT like this ride.

It's Delerium reversed, and SLOW!

No one screamed, no one laughed, no one many any sound of any sort. Just, silence.

Mmmm, Mystery mine!

What, closed?

Aww, POO!

This Bird just wouldn't Shut Up.

You walked underneath the ride, and the Wood supports looked cool.

Now THAT's what I call a ground hugger!

[Beast1979]

Edit: More Pics!

Hey, what's that over there?

Mystery Mine was said to reopen as soon as it warmed up.....

But there's the Problem. It DIDN'T warm up!

Kudos to anyone who has taken this picture before!

For some reason the Crowds weren't spred out over the park, some areas would be packed shoulder to shoulder and some areas would be dead. I really like the Wilderness Pass area, and I don't know why....

Maybe it's because of this Beautiful hunk of Arrow? (I never thought I would ever say that).

Time to Ride the Tennessee Tornado

When I found the lack of Seatbelts I rejoiced in happyness. Trooper Mom was curious why, so I demonstrated what it's like for a man when you hit the brakes.

Here I am ready to conquer another ride!

I like the color of Tennessee Tornado, plus the support structure looks cool.

Another ride conqured by the Ride Warrior, Jackson!

It was surprising how smooth and pleasureable to ride Tenn. Tornado was. It was very intense like other Arrows, but it lacked the constant head banging, and was overall a great ride.

Time to eat.

Here. This was a VERY nice sit down resturaunt with good food and friendly service. At this point I forgot I was in an Amusement Park because there was simply so much more then just rides!

Ok, I'm sorry, but I missed this one. I'm gonna have to come back sometime later and make sure to ride it.

Walk up Craftsman Valley and be amazed.

Heck with the Cincinnati Zoo, go Dollywood!

More this Afternoon....

[Beast1979]

Fire in the Hole, Again!

Tennessee Tornado, Again!

Hey, I finally made it on Mystery Mine!

Phsyce! I didn't get this credit today.

Timber Terror was broke.

But Thunderhead is open!

Let's get 2 rides on Thunderhead.

Be Very Carefull when riding Lumberjack Lifts, you might come off with hands warmer than the air....

Such a Shame....

It looks like such a great ride!

But for now,

Lets get 6 rides on Tennessee Tornado.

Then let's end it on Thunderhead.

We hit the giftshop before we left, we thought it would only be for a little bit but it turned out we didn't return.

Remember what state you're in.....

Today was full of memories worth repeating.

Leaving Dollywood.....

To end the day we cuddled up on the sofa,

And watched some Indiana Jones.

[Thrill_Biscuit]

Waaaaaaay awesome! Wow, I never saw anything like the lumberjack lift thing (imagine if Drop Tower were so self-powered!!!) :-D Great PTR!

[Beast1979]

DAY 3

November 23, 2008

Going Home

Another 5 hours in the car!

Amazing

The Drive up to our cabin was terrible

You know those pics of mountains just going on, and on, and on? Well, it's better in person.

Here's a good view of the peak our complex was on.

Most of Tennessee and Kentucky is Rural.

We couldn't even get fast food untill 11:00 am because they were out for Church.

I thought this was cool, seeing something like Tasmanian Typhoon with a closed funnel.

Just hill after hill.....

Caption Needed?

Back in Florence Yall!

And we're home in good old Cincinnati.

That's All!

Thank You For Reading!

[StalkerChick]

yay!! I'm glad it looks like you had a great trip!! I <3 the Tenn Tornado too! it's so much fun!! did you go mining at all? in the little shops? thats fun too.

[normal]

those are some nice pics of my home park

[kiruler102]

HEY!!!!!!! you shouldve stopped by my house and said HI!!!! you passed right by my exit at the Florence YALL sign that is the most AWESOME sign ever. A bit of history...... before the sign said florence yall it said florence mall but then they changed it due to the festival they used to have every labor day weekend.

[The Interpreter]

Actually, the story is a bit more complex. When it was first painted, the sign did say Florence Mall, but a dispute over a local sign ordinance had the frustrated mall owner change it to Florence Y'all. The owner eventually won the sign dispute, but by then the sign was very famous, having even been featured in what was then the very popular Reader's Digest.

Goes to look for citations for the younguns....Back:

http://laughingsquid.com/florence-yall-wat...rence-kentucky/

http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2001/04/0...owers_loom.html

[tigellinus]

Hey, can you think of any reason why the pics are not showing up for me?? (bearing in mind I have yet to view this thread on any of my home computers)

[luff]

Good Job on the trip report. Thunderhead also shot up to the top of my list when I rode on it the first time this summer.

Did you get a chance to go on Dizzydisk? I am not a big fan of spinning rides, but had a blast on it with my son.

[XGatorHead 8904]

Thanks for the great TR Jackson! I'm glad you chose not to do the scavenger hunt like so many people suggested you not do. There's so much to do at Dollywood without worrying about that. But how could you miss the train???

After reading your other topic on the trip last week, I hinted to my wife that it would be nice to go down there for Christmas time, and she agreed. Now the problem is finding a good weekend in December (there's only two weekends we don't have something already), and deciding if we want to chance the possibility of snow. They've added so much since we were last there in '01 or '02, but going this time of year we probably wouldn't get some of the rides. Maybe we'll wait for summer. Thanks for the idea!

[Beast1979]

I can say that snow would make the park pretty but the rides are something you should not miss, try to find a relatively warm weekend.

[The Interpreter]

Hey, can you think of any reason why the pics are not showing up for me?? (bearing in mind I have yet to view this thread on any of my home computers)

Most probably a corporate or employer firewall...to prevent congestion on the network and/or abuse of employee time and/or possibilities of contracting virii and/or malware.

[Beast1979]

Or just to prevent their workers from watching porno while they should be typing up a 20 page document on the effects of runoff water to the footings of the new building they were making for the company.......

Or is that just a easier version of what you just said?

[The Interpreter]

Sounds more like something CoastersRZ might have said!

Terpy, who is flattered...or sumthin'

[Beast1979]

Ahh I think we both have our priorities strait and wouldn't have to make such a decision.

[tigellinus]

Yeah...I figured...I mean, this is the company who does have both myspace.com and facebook.com blocked!?! (although, the facebook work-around is easy)

I'll have to check out this PTR during the elongated holiday/weekend.

[coaster_junky]

is it just me or does this guy have three arms?

[skaterboy22101]

is it just me or does this guy have three arms?

there is a guy behind him

[skaterboy22101]

Or just to prevent their workers from watching porno while they should be typing up a 20 page document on the effects of runoff water to the footings of the new building they were making for the company.......

Or is that just a easier version of what you just said?

wow wow wow wow your 12. you shouldnt know what that is

[Gordon Bombay]

Great picture to end the story with Jackson!

[Beast1979]

I did my best on the Cincinnati Skyline pic, IMO it is one of the most photogenic cities out there, and I've been to NYC.

[tigellinus]

Finally checked out your PTR with the Photo's!! Haha!

But anyway...awesome PTR! Even though MM was a bust, getting multiple's on TT, TH, and BF in a short amount of time was still an overall success...you'll get MM one day, and personally, while I think it's a fun ride, it's definitely not an enthusiast "MUST" like S:ROS, X2, Voyage, etc.

Btw, did Trooper Mom go to Purdue? My long time on-off girlfriend went there!

But anyway, good TR, and will Trooper Mom ever ride anything?? I can't imagine during all those dozens of D-back quickie trips on lazy Sunday's in June or carefree Wednesday nights in July to KI next year that just Troop'ing with NO riding is going to be a legitimate strategy!?!