Rustbucket Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 With my recent move to SC, Dollywood is just over 2 hours drive (in a decent weather I guess) from my house. I love Dollywood's atmosphere and has become one of my favorite place to visit especially during Smoky Mountain Christmas time. It took longer this time due to some precipitation on I-40 infamous winding freeway in western NC. When we got there, most of the rides were not open since the temperature was 39 degrees F. We waited in front of Lightning Rod but the operator said it will be a while before the ride will open. We decided to head to Blazing Fury which is indoor coaster ride. By the time we got out from Blazing Fury, Wild Eagle was open so we headed there. After years of riding Wild Eagle, the ride finally started to grow on me. I still think winged coasters are just a fad, but this one provides nice and reliable rides. We rode it 4 times. We saw Firechaser was open and headed there. This is an interesting little ride. Not many coasters provide backwards moving experience anymore. Our luck seem to continue. Mystery Mine was just finishing up testing when we got there. I always wished this ride was at Kings Island. There was a rumor back in the day that this ride was supposed to have been called Addams' Family Coaster when KI considered this and Italian Jobs. Obviously Italian Jobs was the winner. Whatever it was, I sure enjoy this ride. Many at KI know me as a Drop Tower junky. My last count on Drop Zone/Tower was 10,350. Considering DT will not be easy for me to get to, Drop Line here at Dollywood will be the one I will ride. This is 230 feet tall drop ride and similar to KI version, this is a gyro drop. It spun in opposite direction and actually spun twice. The second spin was interesting since the height did not change until the spin was completed. Another difference was that the 6 second delay on KI DT is not present on this one. Now for my favorite ride at Dollywood: Thunderhead. This was my favorite GCI until Mystic Timbers came along. This is still a fabulous wooden coaster with great airtime and laterals. We head toward Lightning Rod again. This time the wait was about 15 minutes. Well.... How in the world Lightning Rod and Mystery Mine have 15 and 10 minutes wait when Firechaser has 30 minute wait? Anyway, I sincerely hope they can make this ride reliable. This was the best Lightning Rod ride I have had thus far. We could not come to Dollywood without stopping to get Cinnamon bread, right? We decided to leave after having the bread since rain was moving in. It was going to be a soaker for the rest of the day. Here were some Christmas decorations around the park but it was not dark enough yet: 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyGuy4KI Posted December 18, 2017 Share Posted December 18, 2017 Looks like you had a great time! Maybe you can convince Carowinds to add a bigger DT? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rustbucket Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 15 hours ago, IndyGuy4KI said: Looks like you had a great time! Maybe you can convince Carowinds to add a bigger DT? Well, I will try to get convince them to get 416 feet tall Falcon's Fury type of Drop Tower.... I rather have a great wooden coaster at Carowinds first though. This maybe more realistic although I think Hurler RMC conversion is more likely. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.