Dollywood had always been a top tier bucket list park for me, and I finally got to check this park off the list in December. I was especially excited to see all of their Christmas decorations and holiday theming. The...
Continue reading...lightning rod
Lightning Rod Chain Lift Review and Reaction
I recently rode Lightning Rod at Dollywood for the first time since its launched lift was converted into a traditional chain lift for the 2024 season. Here’s what I thought of the new ride experience. First, some backstory. The world’s...
Continue reading...Pumpkins and Coasters Galore at Dollywood Harvest Festival 2023
Dollywood’s annual Harvest Festival is an autumn lover’s paradise. The theme park is filled with over 12,000 pumpkins (many of those being real), seasonal food and drink offerings as well as a huge offering of live music. By night, the...
Continue reading...Dollywood’s Lightning Rod Launch to Become Traditional Chain Lift in 2024
Breaking news out of Dollywood — the theme park today announced that Lightning Rod’s launched lift hill will be converted to a “high-speed chain lift” for the 2024 season. The wood-steel hybrid Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) coaster will also receive...
Continue reading...What’s New and Different at Dollywood in 2022
Last month, I kicked off my 2022 coaster season in the best way possible — with a trip to Dollywood. While there are no new rides or attractions opening at Dollywood in 2022, there were still plenty of updates and...
Continue reading...The Coaster101 Podcast: Theme Park Hot Takes, Part 1
Last week on social media, we asked our audience the question “What is your most unpopular controversial theme park hot take?” Spoiler alert: The responses didn’t disappoint. While there were too many to cover in one episode (or even multiple...
Continue reading...The Coaster101 Podcast Goes to Dollywood
The 2021 Offseason was an interesting one at Dollywood. Not only did Lightning Rod become the first RMC coaster to get “RMC’d,” but Mystery Mine received some track work as well. And what about that new Mountain Coaster Go-Kart contraption...
Continue reading...Lightning Rod 2021 New Track Review
Last month, Dollywood introduced a new-and-improved version of the park’s record-breaking Lightning Rod coaster. What originally opened as the world’s fastest and only launched wooden coaster now sports sections of steel track in place of its original wooden track —...
Continue reading...8 New Dollywood 2021 Experiences and Enhancements
Following its 35th anniversary season celebration in 2020, Dollywood this week shared details about changes and upgrades guests will experience at the park in 2021 when it opens to the general public on March 13, 2021 (after a season passholder...
Continue reading...The Coaster101 Podcast Episode 23: Lightning Rod’s New Track and Dollywood Events
Lightning Rod at Dollywood has had a rough operational history. The highly rated launched wooden coaster closed in September for the rest of the 2020 season. The rumors have been flying but Coaster101 got the scoop on what’s going on...
Continue reading...Lightning Rod at Dollywood Receiving New Track in 2021
Attendees of this weekend’s Smoky Mountain Coasterfest event at Dollywood — organized by the American Coaster Enthusiasts (ACE) Southeast Region — were treated to a question-and-answer session with a well-known member of the Dollywood team. We’ll call him “Lloyd.” Lloyd...
Continue reading...Five Changes You’ll See at Dollywood in 2019
Wildwood Grove is obviously the flagship addition to Dollywood in 2019, but there are some smaller changes at the park that you won’t see advertised on a billboard. Below are five changes found at Dollywood in 2019 (so far). 1....
Continue reading...
Recent Discussion