gad198 Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 I'm happy to see that the coaster is moving closer to opening. The thing I worry about with this ride moving forward is its reliability. I can't think of many coasters that were delayed like this that eventually went on to become reliable later. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 I can think of a handful. Flight of Fear at Kings Island did not open until June, and other than some minor issues, has become a fairly reliable ride. Hard to believe that the ride is 20 years old this year. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Several years ago, I would have agreed... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted April 27, 2016 Share Posted April 27, 2016 Are RMC coasters unreliable? Asking to find out myself. I don't seem to remember hearing anything about mass downtime once they open. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gad198 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 I'm not suggesting that RMCs are unreliable. I've simply observed that for whatever reason they seem to be prone to small bits of downtime more frequently. The delays typically haven't been too long - 20 to 30 minutes on average - but we've personally witnessed them on multiple coasters. Iron Rattler seems to run the best of the bunch, but New Texas Giant, Outlaw Run, Wicked Cyclone, and especially Goliath seem to have issues with this. I asked a Silver Dollar City maintenance worker what ride in the park gave them the least trouble, and he without hesitation he said "Wildfire", the B&M sitdown coaster. The word he used to describe Outlaw Run was "finicky", and I think that sums up the RMCs pretty well. The launch on Lightning Rod does come with a benefit - increased capacity. RMC lift hills are normally really slow, so the quicker launch will help the capacity out quite a bit. I just really hope that the launch doesn't hurt the ride from an uptime standpoint, but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if Lightning Rod has some teething issues for a while after opening. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Thanks for your reply. I think many coasters have the occasional delay of 20-30 minutes long, doesn't matter the manufacturer. I don't think Dollywood has a lax'd maintenance department and I'm sure that if there are delays during testing, they'll get the ride up as quickly as possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragsterguy21 Posted April 28, 2016 Share Posted April 28, 2016 Most new rides have trouble their first year. I remember Banshee used to shut down a lot and it got annoying. However some rides happed to have almosg no downtime their first year. I know my comparisons are both b&ms since they are the only things Cedar Faif invests in. Fury 325 was up the entire time when I went go Carowinds. Also I only remeber seeing Rougarou down once the entire time I was at Cedar Point out of my 8 visits there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joncars05 Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 Has anyone on here heard or know of any Lightning Rod updates they would like to share? I'm headed down there in mid June for my first visit ever and the lack of updates coming from either RMC and/or Dollywood are making me think Lightning Rod may not be opened in the next month. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengals fan Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 http://www.dollywood.com Lighting Rod now itechnical ride rehearsal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 Is that a fancy name for a soft opening? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengals fan Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 That is what I was thinking. That is good news I will be there first week in June. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oldschool75 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 RMC lift hills are normally really slow, so the quicker launch will help the capacity out quite a bit. You might want to check out Storm Chaser 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 It was more like a soft, soft opening. According to reports they were inviting small groups of people in the park to ride for one lap. It was never actually open for people to ride as they pleased. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted May 24, 2016 Share Posted May 24, 2016 And the guests not so invited? Probably not pleased. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ride On_17 Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 I saw on social media today that someone claimed that the park was handing out ride vouchers near the ride entrance. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 ^^ True. My friend was waiting around for Lighting Rod to open as he had heard that it may soft open....at one point, they started handing out a pass that you'd hand in at the top of the stairs/station. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AintNutinElse2Do Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Went Monday, basically saw a line to the side at the ride exit. Waited a few minutes then realized that the people around me had a card. I asked the people around me about the card and they pointed me to the guy handing them out. He was asking for fun facts about the coaster. Of course most of the facts I would've jumped on were already taken by those in front of me. Also he ran out of cards, but he gave a few people a "passphrase" then he told everyone to come back later since the line was getting too long. So I said hey man it's just me I won't add too much to the line. So he asked for a fun fact and I just mentioned it was a Rocky Mountain Construction coaster and with my passphrase I was off. While waiting to be ushered up the people in front of me were confused about the cards people had so I explained the situation but as this was all done poorly I just let them in on the passphrase and let them join me. While I didn't get to go through much of the que it was pretty nice, and the views from the station are amazing. Had a 3 train wait from there and was assigned row 6. Off I went. Oh, you want to know about the ride? It has one element that blew me away, and probably not the one your thinking about. Other than that you'll just need to get down here and form your own opinion. I need a few more rides and hopefully in a different row to fully develop my own complete opinion and ranking, it's great just trying to decide how great it is. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengals fan Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 I am at Dolly Wood now and Lighning Rod is down.Lighning Rod has been hit by Lighning 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freaks76 Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Isn't that ironic. Don't cha think? 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex lover Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 I am at Dolly Wood now and Lighning Rod is down.Lighning Rod has been hit by LighningMaybe a Chance that it was struck by a airtime machine in Kentucky?Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I497 using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Perhaps, Morgan. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vortex lover Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 There is a POV of Lightning Rod, however I do not want to post it here because it was most likely recorded without park permission. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stashua123 Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Isn't that ironic. Don't cha think? Its like rain on your wedding day! Its a free ride!!!!!! When you've already paid...! Sorry couldn't resist. I saw that unauthorized(not going to post the link) POV, the. ride. looks.... amazing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AintNutinElse2Do Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 From what I've seen and heard the lightning strike hasn't been confirmed by the park. That said there was a pretty significant storm hit the park last week, search Dollywood Flood on Facebook to see some crazy pics. So it's definitely possible. However the next day a visitor reported seeing workers trimming trees around the non-inverting half loop so to me it seems just as likely that on a recent construction site on a hillside with lots of trees nearby they could just be trimming trees and possibly removing more that may pose a danger to the ride/riders. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengals fan Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Working on lift hill about 6 men most of the day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
freaks76 Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Isn't that ironic. Don't cha think? Its like rain on your wedding day! Its a free ride!!!!!! When you've already paid...!Sorry couldn't resist. I saw that unauthorized(not going to post the link) POV, the. ride. looks.... amazing! Well you went alot farther than I was going to. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Lightning Rod was not struck by lightning, rather the electrical systems were likely shot during the flooding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creed Bratton Posted June 7, 2016 Share Posted June 7, 2016 Sorry for the double post but this is from the company that did the electrical systems. Sent from the cellphone Zach Morris used in Saved By The Bell using Tapatalk 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bengals fan Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 Chugh43 is correct it was flooding damage. At 6 tonite it was running without riders maybe tommorow it could be open before we leave for home in Cincinnati 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AintNutinElse2Do Posted June 8, 2016 Share Posted June 8, 2016 ^I hope you get to ride it. Might just be the best ride in the park. Still torn on that, I need to ride it more 3 times just isn't enough. A good problem to have. Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G530AZ using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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