Wing Coaster

Enjoying the Smoky Mountains at Dollywood

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Dollywood

Timber Canyon

The Timber Canyon themed area is home to two of the theme park’s largest roller coasters, as well as the small children’s roller coaster Whistle Punk Chaser.

Thunderhead

The largest roller coaster in the Timber Canyon themed area is Thunderhead, a wooden roller coaster built by GCI in 2004.

The ride on Thunderhead starts with a short pre-lift section consisting of a right turn and a small left turn. Shortly afterwards we enter the lift hill which takes us up to the starting height. With the best views over the Wildwood Grove themed area, we then descend in a steep turn. While climbing a hill, we first turn left and then right. We then cross the next valley and immediately climb another hill. A wide right-hand bend takes us over several hills and through the station. We then ride over hill and dale to the other side of the track, where we enter a sweeping helix. After two more turns we reach the final brake of the ride.

Like Troy at Toverland, Thunderhead is a really good wooden coaster. The GCI coaster is a merciless fun machine, especially in the rain, giving the layout an even wilder feel due to the limited visibility. In short, a truly great coaster!

Drop Line

Due to an incident on a similar tower from the same manufacturer, the Drop Line freefall tower was unfortunately closed during my visit.

Mystery Mine

Mystery Mine is one of the first Eurofighter coasters from Gerstlauer. The ride has a very impressive setting and is designed to simulate a ride through an abandoned mine.

The ride on Mystery Mine starts with a small drop out of the station. The ride then goes up to the first vertical lift. Interestingly, the ride doesn’t go straight down, but through a series of small drops. Where before there was a big drop followed by an Immelmann turn, now there is a left turn. This is followed by a fairly steep descent and the steep bend that leads to the block brake. After a Bayernkurve we return to the building where we enter the second vertical lift. At the top, we narrowly avoid an explosion by plunging into an overhanging and twisting drop. Back in daylight, we ride through a 1. 5-fold roll and finally into the final half loop. Shortly after we reach the brakes.

Mystery Mine is an interesting mix of roller coaster and dark ride. All the turns are extremely tight and make full use of the Eurofighter car’s capabilities, to the regret of the passengers, as the ride characteristics are not the best on this ride. However, the high-speed finale of the ride makes up for all the effort. All in all, a fun rollercoaster.

Wildwood Grove

Wildwood Grove is a very nice themed area. In addition to the large suspended family coaster Dragonflier, there is the ship swing Giant Tree Swing and the flying scooter Mad Mockingbird, where you can control your own flight. 

Dragonflier

When the Orkanen roller coaster opened at Fårup Sommerland in Denmark, it was met with great amazement. The layout, which was specially designed for the park, was built on a lake and dives into a tunnel immediately after the first drop, while the rest of the track runs largely at ground level over the lake. When Dollywood then built a ride with the same layout, a tunnel was also included. After the first drop, the track leads us very smoothly through an overbanked turn and over a small speed bump into a wide helix. We immediately cross the station building to land in another helix on the other side. A compact right-hand bend leads us into a small depression. After another bend, we enter the station building and our very entertaining ride unfortunately comes to an end.

Wilderness Pass

FireChaser Express

Firefighters are considered heroes in America. So it’s no surprise that Herschend Family Entertainment’s two major theme parks have a roller coaster and even an entire themed area dedicated to them. Dollywood is home to the FireChaser Express family roller coaster.

The ride on the FireChaser Express begins with a launch out of the station. After two sweeping turns, we reach the coaster’s lift hill. Once at the top, the track first takes us through a right turn and a dip. After a left turn, there is a larger drop, which then turns into a steep turn. We then go over two hills at some speed. We then cross another dip and climb a slope.  After passing a block brake, the track takes us through another left-hand bend, which again drops off quite steeply. Now it’s over hill and dale to the other side of the track. After a fun ride around a bend, we ride over a switch to the next block brake. Here we are treated to a little show. As the fireworks go off, we back out of the area, then ride over a short hill and through a Bayernkurve. After a steep descent we reach the final braking section. Shortly afterwards we reverse into the station.

FireChaser Express is the perfect family rollercoaster. The impressive height and the great location in the park make the ride even more interesting and the backwards final is a real highlight.

Wild Eagle

One of the most impressive roller coasters at Dollywood is the B&M Wing Coaster Wild Eagle. The ride looks even more impressive from a distance thanks to the track layout on a mountain ridge. But before the ride begins, passengers can expect a Dolly Parton song on a loop and really bad jokes from the staff.

After a left turn we reach the lift hill. Once at the top, the descent is unusually straight for this type of coaster. After a steep descent we enter a huge loop. A short left turn then leads us into a zero-G roll. With a lot of momentum we enter the classic Immelmann and then a long corkscrew. Finally, the ride takes us over an airtime hill into the double helix finale of the ride, before coming to a stop in the coaster’s braking section.

The Wild Eagle Wing Coaster is particularly impressive due to its breathtaking location. The layout has some great elements, but at the end it seems a little too long due to the double helix finale. All in all, Wild Eagle is a very solid coaster.

Craftman’s Valley

Craftman’s Valley is the most beautiful part of Dollywood. As in its sister park Silver Dollar CIty, numerous artisans showcase their skills in this area. In addition to many already manufactured goods, you can also buy individual products and watch them being made.

Tennessee Tornado

Tennessee Tornado is Arrow’s latest looping coaster. It is also the only looping coaster from the manufacturer that was developed with a different design philosophy – so there are no copy & paste elements like on their previous rides.

After a ride through the coaster’s maintenance hall, we immediately climb the coaster’s lift hill. Once at the top, we enter a very tight turn before plunging down into a large tunnel. Back in daylight, we immediately enter an oversized loop that is slightly tilted to one side. After a steep turn we enter the second, more classic loop. Finally there is a quick change of direction in a sidewinder. Our path then takes us through a very sweeping turn, before the final climb towards the brakes. The transition is very abrupt, which makes for some great airtime, especially in the front of the train.

Tennessee Tornado is a really nice looping coaster with unusually sized loops. While the airtime is very pronounced as you enter the braking section at the front of the train, the drop at the back of the train is much more of a pull. All in all, a great ride!

Blazing Fury

The Blazing Fury indoor roller coaster is based on the Fire in the Hole dark ride from its sister park Silver Dollar CIty. Passing various scenes, the ride continues uphill in a large oval. We watch as the residents try to extinguish their village before we cross a collapsing bridge, giving the ride a rollercoaster feel. A second descent follows when we have to dodge an oncoming train. Shouting “Fire in the Hole”, we crash into a dynamite store, which fortunately can be extinguished. Shortly afterwards, the train slows down and the lovely dark ride comes to an end.

Daredevil Falls

The Daredevil Falls log flume is a beautifully slatted super flume by O.D. Hopkins. The ride has a single drop with additional water fountains that set the scene nicely. However, you won’t get particularly wet on the ride.

Owens Farm

Owens Farm is home to the big Barnstormer Swing. Made by S&S, the Screamin’ Swing is one of the most beautiful flat rides in the park and offers a terrific ride.

The Village and Country Fair

The Village and Country Fair themed areas are located close to each other. Most of the theme park’s family attractions are located in these areas, including the Waltzing Swinger wave swinger, the Lemon Twist tea cups ride and the Aviator Sky Rider, where you can control the flight of your own car. The main attraction in this area is the film Heartsong, which is shown in the Heartsong Theatre and features a flight over the Smoky Mountains and several scenes with the young Dolly Parton. Basically, Dolly hasn’t changed in all these years, but the film technology has, which is why the film looks a bit old-fashioned today despite the many special effects. The fantastic flying scene at the beginning of the film would really come into its own in a flying theatre – an attraction that unfortunately does not yet exist here in Dollywood. In any case, you shouldn’t miss a visit to the Heartsong Theatre.

Dollywood Express

The Dollywood Express takes us on a longer tour of the park. Unlike the train ride at its sister park, Silver Dollar City, the train does not stop for a comedy show in which the train is robbed. However, the views of the park and the Smoky Mountains are well worth the ride.

Rivertown Junction

The Rivertown Junction themed area is home to the Smoky Mountain River Rampage rapids ride. Here you go through a neatly designed canal with all kinds of obstacles. Fortunately, the ride wasn’t too wet on the day I visited, as the water here was quite cold.

Jukebox Junction

The Jukebox Junction themed area takes you back to the 1950s. In addition to the main attraction Lightning Rod, you can also take a ride on the beautifully designed vintage car ride Rockin’ Roadway.

Lightning Rod

Like Silver Dollar City, Dollywood is home to one of RMC’s masterpieces. As the first wooden coaster with a launch, Lightning Rod takes its passengers up the mountain and then back down over a series of wild elements.

Even before I could take my first ride on Lightning Rod, the ride came down for several minutes. While waiting, I struck up a conversation with another rollercoaster fan, with whom I quickly became friends. As a big fan of the Kangaroo Chronicles, I was delighted to meet a variety artist who travels around America’s stages as Showtime Steve. In this sense, I am the kangaroo. His act of balancing two ladders on his chin is pretty crazy.

After a bend, we immediately enter the launch section of the track, which takes us up the hill quite quickly. However, the following crest is crossed at a more leisurely pace. After another hill, we start to descend relentlessly. We then shoot up a hill, where we experience the greatest airtime when tilted 90° to the side. Following the terrain, we then enter a wide right-hand turn, at the top of which we briefly turn in the opposite direction. Back in the valley, the track climbs up over several hills. This is followed by the quadruple down, visible from the park, where we find our way back into the valley over four airtime hills and are mercilessly lifted out of our seats. Finally, we climb a steep turn. After another descent we finally reach the braking section of the coaster.

The Lightning Rod is a world class ride. The launch up the hill is pretty awesome. The rest of the layout is also very impressive and fits perfectly into the topography. The quadruple drop towards the end of the ride is awesome. Unfortunately the last turn ends with a drop that is a bit too high.

Pictures Dollywood

Conclusion Dollywood

Like Silver Dollar City, Dollywood is an amusement park that is second to none. What Dolly Parton has created together with Herschend Family Entertainment since 1986 is impressive. The park has its very own charm, which is not only due to its location in the Smoky Mountains, the great atmosphere and the remarkable attractions, but above all to the people who work here. You simply feel at home. I for one can hardly wait to go back to the Smoky Mountains.

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Click here for the next report of the Stumbled Runner tour. 

Dollywood / The Stumbled Runner Day 4 and 5

The Flight of the Fēnix

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The changes of Toverland

I haven’t been to Toverland for a long time. A lot has changed in the time since my last visit. There is now a new themed area with roller coaster and boat ride, and a brand new entrance area called Port Laguna. This connects the themed areas to each other and serves as a sympathetic hub to return to in the afternoon for the cliff diving show. It’s a very quiet area, which is very much in keeping with all the hustle and bustle in the rest of Toverland.

This also eases the situation in the first hall – the former entrance area – which a full-grown amusement park fan doesn’t really get to see any more, unless he or she really wants to ride the Toos Express (formerly Boomerang) or the dinghy slide. So this is an opportunity for Toverland to transform the hall even more into a toddler’s paradise in the future.

Meanwhile, the second hall also saw some thematic changes. The log flume became Expedition Zork (although nothing has really changed here) and the Woudracer Bobkart ride was redesigned as the new Maximus-Blitz-Bahn and made weatherproof by adding a roof over the outdoor track. In addition, the ride has been given a new queue, which is now themed after an Austrian inventor. Fittingly, there is now also a beer garden, which, however, mainly serves local beers.

In the outdoor area, the new roller coaster Fēnix is hard to miss. Together with the quiet (yet impressive due to its indoor part) water ride Merlin’s Quest, it forms the Celtic-like themed area Avalon.

Fēnix

Once you have left the queue, which is well worth seeing, behind you and decided which side to take, the ride on the Fēnix wing coaster can start straight away. In a right-hand bend, the Firebird first leads us through a dark hall, which also houses the roller coaster’s maintenance track. Above this, an ice dragon gives us a nasty look and fogs us up a bit. Shortly afterwards we climb the ride’s lift.

Having reached a height of 40m, we can enjoy the view for a while, because unlike other wing coasters, we don’t immediately turn around our own axis, but first ride through a wide right turn. However, it happens here too, as it does on most wing coasters, and we tackle the dive drop. Here we first turn upside down before we plunge to the ground. We now pass the first valley with full force and immediately fly over an airtime hill. After a second valley with a lot of pressure we turn direction in a quite high Immelmann, whereupon we make a right turn and enter a curve close to the ground. We then remain there for a few seconds, with a fair amount of blood pumping into our legs. But far before we reach the critical values, we already climb a zero-G roll and are turned very smoothly around our own axis. Back on the ground, we quickly pass under a footpath before gaining some height in a left turn. We immediately lose this height in a right turn before we reach the starting height for the braking section in a gentle bend. Shortly afterwards, we enter the large station hall again.

Fēnix is an extremely entertaining wing coaster that knows how to surprise with its close-to-the-ground manoeuvres. It is a little different from other roller coasters of its kind, but that is by no means a mistake. Instead of long, drawn-out inversions, you mainly go through curves close to the ground, which leads to a lot of pressure in your feet. However, you are still far away from grey out and other discomforts, which is one of the main criticisms of the ride.

Another point of criticism – and here I agree with each of the critics – are the incredibly steep stairs on the ride, which is especially evident in the exit area of the ride. For sure they were designed according to the current standard, but it turns out that Dutch stairs are basically ladders deep down. Apart from that, Fēnix is of course a great addition to Toverland.

Pictures Toverland

 

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Toverland

Spooky Thorpe Park Hell Dream

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The changes of the past five years

What has Merlin made of the Island like no other in the last five years? The last two rows of the Swarm roller coaster are going forward again, the Disco roller coaster X has been redesigned into The Walking Dead – The Ride, parts of Amity Cove have fallen victim to the birds of Angry Birds, the Logger’s Leap log flume is rotting away, as is the Slammer Sky Swat – which is now officially awaiting its demolition – and Saw: Alive is at least operated from time to time (the same goes for the relatively new Maze I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!). In addition, there are a lot of closing days during the season and also the distinctive soundtrack of the island was exchanged.

There are many reasons for many things, but there are some things I don’t understand completely. Officially, Merlin have now taken a much more family-oriented course, which means they’ve moved away from the thrill-ride fetishists and the associated grubby image (# Hard Gaan) – strangely enough, they’ve been selling tickets to students ever since, thus attracting the preferred former clientele in much larger crowds. Can be done, but by now I’m too old for this shit. Just like I can’t approve of employees at the entrance of an attraction encouraging you to buy Fast Passes, even though the corresponding queue is almost non-existent.

Derren Brown’s Ghost Train

But there are also rays of hope. Derren Brown’s Ghost Train is such a one. The reinvention of the classic ghost train is, in terms of storytelling, a huge hit. It’s just a shame that all visitors of the park are aware of this, so long waiting times are often a common issue. But that shouldn’t stop you from queuing here, after all the mixture of ride, Maze and VR experience is unique and about as scary as a Japanese horror movie in a 360° cinema.

The reinvention of the Ghost Train

After you have stood your legs in the queue, Derren Brown personally welcomes you in a short pre-show. It is thematically about the reinvention of the ghost train and why we love to get spooked. This all sounds promising and so we leave the showroom expectantly and climb a short staircase. Here we are held back for a short time, but it doesn’t take long until we enter the hall with the ghost train. Hanging from the ceiling, an old Victorian carriage appears, but its interior resembles that of the London Underground. Now, the VR-glasses have to be put on and when both trains are ready, the trip in the ghost train can start.

The tube ride

Actually, there are three trains, but only two of them have passengers at this stage. Thus we leave the station and ride a little bit with the tube. A man with a dog gets on and tells us a story that the scientists of the BGR in Hannover may not be able to agree with. Fracking is evil and something went bloody wrong. It doesn’t take long and a contaminated person tries to gain access to our compartment. It gets creepy and thanks to the VR-glasses we can’t help but always look directly in the direction of the action. In the meantime it is getting dark and a staff member has to stroke the passengers’ knees once through the rows. There is an accident and we have to leave the train as soon as possible.

By means of merlinary drills we are sent through a short and very nicely designed maze. This is less creepy, but somehow we have to get to the second platform of this dead-end station, where another subway is already waiting for us. But this time we are not the only passengers and each of the others has VR glasses on. The train starts to move, but this time the true story is revealed to the visitors; it’s not the fracking per se that contaminated the people, no demons did. Individually, they now get rid of passenger after passenger, before we turn to our fate in a magnificently staged transfer track scene and fall into the abyss. 3,2,1, we are back again.

Conclusion Derren Brown’s Ghost Train

So that was the reinvention of the classic ghost train and boy, that was good. The VR staging works, after all the graphics are high-resolution and don’t need real-time rendering. You just feel like you’re in a movie and not in a computer game of the early 90s. As already mentioned in the beginning, the ride on Derren Brown’s Ghost Train is not really scary and more of a suspense horror. However, this is what makes it good, which is why the ride, like any other proper ghost train, is very entertaining.

The Walking Dead – The Ride

Right next to Derren Brown’s Ghost Train is the entrance to the roller coaster The Walking Dead – The Ride, formerly known as X and X:\ No Way Out. Designed around the series The Walking Dead, the ride now shows a clear thematic reference. Zombies are simply better to convey than a computer virus or a discotheque. Basically, the same naked queue inside the building awaits you, but instead of fabulous light effects and a great music you only find desolate brown walls. The ride itself is partly nicely arranged and for fans of the series it’s definitely a great deal. At least I couldn’t do anything with it. On the equally long way back you only find naked brown walls once more, which is why you’re just glad to be back in the open air again.

Well, that was hardly worth it. You can implement well-known licenses, but then you have to exploit their potential. In fact, I wish nothing else than the lively computer virus-infested reverse roller coaster back. At least it was consistently weird and yet absolutely fun. The conversion to X was quite cool and quite optimal for the younger audience, but now as Walking Dead – The Ride it’s not even worth a ride in between. That’s a pity and for me a symbol for the developments of the last years.

Pictures Thorpe Park

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Conclusion Thorpe Park

Thorpe Park, you used to be cooler. But actually, that’s true for the entire Merlin Group. Something’s gone terribly wrong with you. Why do you want to get rid of the Tussauds image so badly lately? The island used to be coherent, now there’s only an IMAscore mash left, which isn’t good for some attractions. In addition, on both days of my visit many attractions were not running at all or only with problems. Well, breakdowns have always been the order of the day at Thorpe Park, but at least one can try to keep this kind of thing within the limits. Actually, the only thing missing now is the failure of a bigger roller coaster for a period of 2 years (Colossos at Heide Park) and the typical image of the Merlin Group would be perfect here, too.

 

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Thorpe Park