Scott And Carol Present - A Look At Dollywood's Lightning Rod

The marquee outside the Pines gives you all a good idea why we were at Dollywood today. Once the invited guests were situated, anyone walking by on the midway could come into The Pines theater   and enjoy the festivities. 

PR Guru  Pete Owens kicked off the festivities, announcing Dollywood was adding another coaster. Since it was obvious that something big was climbing the hillside behind the Human Resources Department, and Dolly Parton was in town for her concert benefit, it was decided to let the world in on the secret.

And anytime something big happens at Dollywood, you can count on Miss Parton being in the park. There are benefits to being the person who everybody thinks of when Dollywood is in the news.

To tell us a bit about Lightning Rod, Dolly asked Dollywood's President and General Manager Craig Ross for some assistance. When you announce the first launched wooden hybrid roller coaster, it is definitely a two person job.

Here is a short excerpt from the media event, in case you were not able to watch the live webcast.

These really cool banners were hanging around  the Pines Theater stage.

This is an aerial overview of the area Lightning Rod will occupy.

State Commissioner of Tourism Development Kevin Trippett was kind enough to speak on tourism in the area. Un-recorded, he also talked about how Dollywood was being such a great partner to the citizens of Tennessee when they pledged the $300 million investment in Dollywood, without any public funding being used. There will be a lot of dollars from outside Tennessee flowing into the state with visitors coming to Dollywood.

This graphic shows Lightning Rod's haulin' details.

And in this video Craig Ross describes those haulin' details with a little more detail. You can tell how excited he is to finally announce those details, because everybody wants to be a trendsetter in whatever business they have, and for Craig and Dollywood, this is a great day.

Construction is already well underway on Lightning Rod. Unfortunately, the rain that came through earlier in the day made it too hazardous for us to go on an onsite construction tour. This is a shot from the associate parking lot, and the crane is towards the top of the launch/lift hill. You are basically looking at it from the side, and the train will be traveling from left to right over the crest.

Here are a couple of views of the station area. Right now it appears to be a big hole with some cinder blocks in place. Somewhere the 1500 horsepower motor will fit, and in accordance to the immersive level of theming Herschend Family Entertainment Company has established for past attractions, it will be heavily themed and beautiful.

These views can only be seen from a back area of the park, limited to associates and invited guests...

but only for now!

Once the construction is complete,

and this fence comes down guests will get to see Lightning Rod in all its glory! 

This the park side  view of the construction of the launch run where riders will accelerate up the hill going 45 miles per hour, from just behind Red's Restaurant.

Even though it was off limits to press this day, the Rocky Mountain Construction team is hard at work.  Notice the precast footer, different than past coaster construction. It is pre-made, and set in place as a finished product. No hauling wet concrete around with this system.

  

Digging a hole for the footer, this view is looking straight up the launch/lift hill. We will be going back to follow the progress for Lightning Rod, the 2016 record breaking attraction at Dollywood during the coming months. Congratulations to Dollywood, Rocky Mountain Construction, and Alan Shilke for advancing roller coaster thrills in a new way.

Lightning Rod to Strike at Dollywood in 2016!

In an announcement of epic proportions, Dollywood revealed their 2016 launched wooden coaster to the world today, to be known as Lightning Rod.  The coaster will be the world's first and fastest wood launch coaster when it opens in March of 2016, and will also be the park's largest single investment at a cool $22 million.  The ride will be built by Rocky Mountain Construction.

The attraction will start in the park's Jukebox Junction area, which pairs nicely with its cars themed as "tricked out 1950s-era hot rods."  Soon after departing the station the trains will be launched upward more than 20 stories at 45 miles per hour - quite a way to start the ride!

© Dollywood

The launch will leave trains at the top of the hill seen on the far left of this image, and after a small drop they will be faced with a 165 foot, 73 degree plunge down the side of the hill and into the trees.  At the bottom the trains will hit 73 miles per hour, giving the ride the fastest wooden coaster title.

The ride will then navigate the landscape on the top of the hill, zooming through elements like a giant 90 degree banked wave turn, a 90 degree outward banked top hat and a "twist and shout" element.  As with many other Rocky Mountain Construction rides, the track will feature many extreme moments of banking - and in total about 20 seconds of air-time.

© Dollywood

And element that looks absolutely wild will get the trains back down off the top of the hill, and that's the quadruple down seen here.  Trains will head down this hill through several moments of air, twisting as they hop downward as well.  We've never seen an element quite like this before, and needless to say this has coaster fans everywhere drooling quite a bit.

The end of the ride will see a couple more small hills and then a highly banked upward turn that Dollywood is calling a "non-inverted half loop" leading into the final brakes.

© Dollywood

Detailing more of the coaster's theme, the park says that "Lightning Rod puts riders in the driver’s seat of Johnny Rev’s newest hot rod. After months of tinkering, Johnny invites Dollywood guests to step behind the wheel for the first test drive of his flashy new creation. Like any proper hot rod, massive header pipes and an imposing injector scoop peer out from the train’s flamed bodywork."  The themed trains will feature 12 cars, each seating two riders for a total of 24 passengers.

This is the full announcement teaser that was released today along with the ride's announcement.  In total, the ride's track stretches 3,800 feet and there will be 12 separate moments of air-time given to riders over the 3 minute, 12 second ride.

Watch this post for more information coming soon from Scott & Carol, who were at the park for today's reveal!

Dollywood Welcomes Us All to Their 2016 Attraction Announcement

Dollywood has a big announcement to make on August 7th, and they're inviting all of us to watch as the details unfold.

The park has set up a live streaming page on YouTube, available at this link.  You can head there on Friday at 10:30 a.m. eastern standard time to watch the park's expected-to-be-huge 2016 ride announcement.

The park is already spreading the #Dollywood2016 tag for social media posts, and released one image promising that "something lightning fast is coming!"  Undoubtedly, many are expecting some form of new roller coaster to be the big attraction, though that's all speculation until the park makes its full announcement.

I know I'll be watching!

New S&S Coaster Creation Arriving in New Jersey in 2016

Ocean City, New Jersey will offer next year's Summer visitors a high-intensity new thrill at Playland's Castaway Cove, the park has announced.  Debuting in 2016 will be GaleForce, a unique new roller coaster that is being designed and built by S&S Worldwide, Inc to fit in an extremely small space at the park.

© Playland's Castaway Cove

Here is the full layout for GaleForce, which will replace two of the park's existing roller coasters.  The ride will utilize three separate LMS launches to get the individual trains (seating 12 riders in three rows of four) going up to 64 miles per hour.  Due to the small space the ride will utilize, the three launches will feature two forward and one backward.

After the third launch the trains will climb up to 125 feet and immediately plunge down a beyond vertical drop.  The rest of the layout contain quick turns and rises that appear to keep trains from fully inverting, though there will be some serious banking involved.  The park notes that in total GaleForce will offer seven thrilling elements, most of which are highlighted in this preview video:

This news story has some additional details about the ride, and the planning that went into its creation.  It also mentions that the park will be adding a second new coaster that will at least partially interact with GaleForce, though they are not giving any details yet.

From the video the ride looks to pack quite a punch, I'm looking forward to trying it out next year!

Cedar Point Teases 2016 Attraction Announcement Date

© Cedar Point

Cedar Point has unleashed the above image on its website as well as all of its social media sites, revealing that all we wish to know about the park's 2016 attraction will be clear on August 18th, 2015.

The teaser created an instant wave of speculation, based off of the stormy appearance of the image behind the text.  An e-mail the park sent out notes that August 18th will be "a historic day" when "all will become clear for 2016," a reference to the dark and cloudy sky in the teaser image.  Cedar Point has yet to give any official hints as to what the new ride will be, or if it even is a ride for that matter.

That hasn't stopped many from guessing, and according to this Plain Dealer story, most are thinking a large B&M dive coaster or a highly themed dark ride will be added.  Both sound like great ideas, as far as I'm concerned.

One last note on the countdown clock on Cedar Point's homepage - it ends much later than most would expect, at 9 p.m. on the 18th.  Looks like an in-the-dark announcement for 2016!

NewsPlusNotes July 2015 Poll Results + Best New U.S. Coaster Poll

This past month we asked our readers who they would choose to build their dream roller coaster, if the opportunity should present itself.  Not likely, I understand, but we've all got to dream a little here and there!

Even with several new manufacturers making quite a splash in recent years, Bolliger & Mabillard came out as our readers' number one choice for a dream coaster design.  And it was actually by a significant margin, as nearly 37% of all the votes cast went for B&M.  Since the company started in 1988 it has gone on to open nearly 100 different coasters around the globe.  

Coming in second place is another leader of today's coaster market, Intamin.  They gathered 25% of the total vote, coming in significantly ahead of the remaining choices.  Intamin is known for their wide variety of coaster types, innovative attractions and rides that aren't afraid to show their intensity.

One of the newest companies to hit the market have done so in a big way, and that's Rocky Mountain Construction.  They came in 3rd place with 14% of the poll.  They haven't even surpassed ten rides yet, but are already highly regarded among ride fans.  Here are the full results:

As you can see, there is a significant drop off after third place.  Fourth place went to The Gravity Group, famed wooden coaster builders, and fifth place another wooden ride supplier, Great Coasters International.

Now, for August's poll - one of the most active of each year.  August is the month we ask which of the new-for-2015 U.S. roller coasters is the best.  As with most years, there are a few standout rides to pick from, so which will it be?  Think it over and vote on the left!