Dollywood Trip Report: July 22nd, 2012

[MDMC01]

Hey all, this is MDMC01. I recently went to Dollywood and I'd like to share my experince with you all. Although I have written previous trip reports on my Facebook page, this will be my first KIC trip report; enjoy!

After getting to the park around 9:30, I got a locker for my stuff and headed up the hill to Mystery Mine. MM was great; I was the only one on the train! I then decided to ride Wild Eagle. Having never been on a wing coaster before, I didn’t really know what to expect. The seating arrangement was not as scary as I thought it would be (I thought your body would be more exposed, like on Slingshot); it was sort-of like riding Flying Ace Aerial Chase, only the track was beside you. Overall, it was pretty fun. After this, I decided to try the Adventure Mountain ropes course. This was pretty interesting and was a bit freaky at some points. After my first run, I decided to try again because I chickened out on one of the obstacles the first time around.

After the ropes course, I rode Blazing Fury. Last time I came to the park, this ride freaked me out a bit because I didn’t know what to expect. I was still a bit creeped out by the pitch dark sections of the ride. After Blazing Fury, I decided to ride Tennessee Tornado. This ride is awesome and reminds me of a cross between The Vortex and Flight Deck. It’s short but sweet. I ended up riding a second time again. After Tornado, I made my way to Daredevil Falls. While on board, I noticed it didn’t take as long to get the lift (the last time I rode, it seemed to take forever!).

After getting only a little bit wet on Daredevil Falls, I decided to head to Barnstormer. Although it was a standard Screamin’ Swing, it was pretty fun. The bummer is that after the ride hits its highest point, it starts to slow down. I then headed over to the Country Fair area to ride Dizzy Disk and Lemon Twist. Dizzy Disk was fun, but the restraint always kills my back. Lemon Twist was pretty fun as well.

Having circled the park once, I had pretty much done everything I wanted to do for the day. I then decided to head to Thunderhead to give it another shot. Last time I rode, I thought Thunderhead was sort of rough as I was banged around from side-to-side. I decided to ride in the very back- probably not the wisest choice. Once the train got over the hill, I was pretty much out of my seat more than I was in it. Although Thunderhead was still a good ride, I will NEVER ride in the back again. After getting roughed up on Thunderhead, I decided to get something to eat. I had an amazing pulled pork sandwich at Hickory House BBQ.

After eating, I decided to walk around the nearby eagle enclosure before making my way back to Tornado again. After putting my stuff back in the Tornado lockers, I rode again. It was around this time that the park got a lot more crowded, so lines were a bit longer. After this, I rode Wild Eagle again. It was a bit rougher this time as I sat in the very back on the end seat. I then decided to try River Battle, which was awesome. I got completely soaked! I then decided to cool off on Mystery Mine again. As with Wild Eagle, I got an end seat and it was bit rough at times. I finally rode Tornado two more times to dry off some more. As I was walking out, I realized Dollywood had a roller coaster mueseum.

Unfortunately, I did not have time to walk through it.

For those keeping score, here’s my total ride count.

Adventure Mountain (1^st time): 2

Barnstormer: 1

Blazing Fury: 1

Daredevil Falls: 1

Dizzy Disk: 1

Lemon Twist: 1

Mystery Mine: 2

Tennessee Tornado: 5

Thunderhead: 1

River Battle (1^st time): 1

Wild Eagle (1^st time): 2

Like I’ve done in past trip reports, I’ll list the best rides of the trip. They are: Tennessee Tornado, River Battle, Mystery Mine (the 1^st time), Thunderhead

Finally, I apolgize for the lack of pictures. As mentioned before, my stuff (including my cell phone which has a camera on it) was in lockers for most of the day.

-MDMC01

[jcgoble3]

Sounds like it was a good day! Thanks for sharing!

[The Interpreter]

You said you rode in the back end of Wild Eagle. which side, left or right?

And thanks for the report! How far from the gate did you have to park?

[MDMC01]

Both times I rode on the right side.

How far from the gate did you have to park?

I got dropped off at the park.

[The Interpreter]

Ah. Thanks!

[beastrider97]

Dollywood is a great park! Glad you got to do the ropes course on this visit, I've only done one other and it can't even compare to Dollywood's! I would love to see something like that here, but I think the crowds KI gets would be too much for it.