Thrillography: Thrillography Goes to Dollywood Opening Weekend 2015 Trip Report!

Hello. :}

In our last update, we were treated to a be-all, end-all media event for a be-all, end-all roller coaster, Fury 325 at Carowinds! Due to the highly topical nature of the event, I decided to rush-release the update, rather than post in sequence.

Fury 325 was actually the tail end of a fabulous 5-night adventure in The Great Smoky Mountains, where some friends and I took in a great, big helping of Dollywood's opening weekend!

Dollywood is celebrating 30 years this season and looks marvelous and wonderful as usual. I'm pleased to report that Rockin' Roadway was not retired this season for future development (although anything is possible at this point). However, I didn't ever actually end up in Jukebox Junction to take pictures on this visit because I'm a horrible, horrible person and forgot.

The good news is that there's lots of Pigeon Forge and Dollywood love ahead! Let the banjos play!

With each visit to the Smoky Mountains comes its own series of firsts; not the least of which on this visit is my first time staying in a real-life log cabin, y'all!

You may remember Kaitlin's and my visit to Dollywood this past September; it was then that my good friends Dave and Jody Madore invited us to see their brand new Dollywood cabin. Dave and Jody graciously invited me to stay with them for Dollywood's opening weekend in their Smokey Mountain palace!

The views are still awesome. :}

Let's make our way down the spiral staircase of death and greet everyone.

The gang's all here! (well, almost. We've got a few more coming later):

Josh, Tony, Dave, Jody, and May. The latter four we met at Knott's Berry Farm last year, but Josh is a new friend (some of you may know him from SFNE Online, the leading news resource for Six Flags New England). Everyone say hi!

Since Jody is incubating a small human, she won't be riding any coasters with us. However, she'll be cheering us all on from the sidelines! For dinner we made a b-line for the Apple Farm,

and then made our way over to The Island. :}

No, not for margaritas.

We're here for moonshine!

(but none for Jody and baby Cadence! Sorry, girls! ;} )

And to see the water show, which I like to call the redneck Bellagio.

Staring at the fountain is a fun way to kill fifteen minutes. Thirty if you're drinking.

Which we were.

Bottoms up!

All stocked up with jars of delicious moonshine, we headed back to the cabin to rest up for passholder preview day at Dollywood!

Good morning, Dollywood! Thanks to some downed trees, Thunderhead is now visible from outside the park for the first time ever!

We were greeted by Dollywood's work-in-progress parking lot, some of which had yet to receive any paint since having been sealed. This first-come first-served lot between handicapped and preferred parking was a total cluster-flux mess. There were cars parked every which way!

Past the newly expanded handicapped parking is the newly expanded valet lot, which may or may not be receiving paint lines. Sadly, this past season was the last season for street-side parking on Dollywood's access road, which is now re-aligned and re-painted to eschew street parking. Fortunately, the access road is now less congested as a result.

Ok, enough about the parking lot (for now). Time for some real Dollywood action!

After getting our passes processed, our crew got in line for Dollywood's first "running of the bulls" of the season.

We are drowning in a sea of disgruntled-looking rednecks.

Even ducks take part in the running of the bulls. And to where was everyone running, you ask?

The Celebrity Theater, of course!

There may or may not have been a rumor that Dolly Parton was going to be greeting guests after the season's first showing of Rhythm of the Dance, Festival of Nation's Irish Highland dancing show (Btw, if you dig world culture, Dollywood's annual Festival of Nations is for you. It boasts of food and entertainment that can only be enjoyed during Dollywood's first few weeks of operation each year).

No amount of beer, whisky, and/or moonshine the night before can keep these people in bed when the chances of seeing Dolly Parton in the flesh are this favorable.

They're so favorable, in fact, that the line went from the Celebrity Theater, down past the Grist Mill...

…and about half way up Craftsman Valley! I hope the theater can hold everyone!

If you know me, you know I'm not much of a show person. And, having already seen Dolly both at the Celebrity Theater and in concert during Coaster Con XXXV, I wasn't sure if I was motivated to stand in that crazy line.

Fortunately, Dave and I are in the same boat. While everyone else waited to catch a peek at Dolly in the Celebrity Theater, Dave and I hit the coasters (which were completely devoid of people).

How do you know you're at Dollywood opening day?

When the rides are deserted and the Celebrity Theater has a line to Georgia and back.

No complaints here! We got first choice seating on Tennessee Tornado, FireChaser Express, and Wild Eagle before we were summoned by the rest of the crew for lunch.

And yes, they got to see Dolly. :}

Happy 1st birthday to FireChaser Express! Still just as adorable as last year.

Weather-wise, things weren't exactly ideal for passholder preview day. Fortunately Dollywood has no qualms about running their coasters in the rain.

And who needs good weather when you've got good chicken?! :}

And good pie!

And good music!

The Chinese knick-knack stand made me nostalgic about my Fabulous Far East adventure!

As it turns out, the people operating the stand are from Taipei, Taiwan. They were pleased to hear of Kaitlin's and my wonderful trip to their home country!

Passing back through Showstreet and heading toward Thunderhead, we now see the park's new auxiliary entrance for guests staying at Dolly's DreamMore Resort.

The walk to Thunderhead is a bit brighter these days, with most trees left of the midway now gone.

While this weather isn't so great for taking pictures, it's absolutely perfect for riding Thunderhead!

Thunder's slick rails made up for its half-empty trains. Most of the people that had come to the park had bailed at this point due to the weather.

Mystery Mine got some off-season love this year, with not one, but TWO additional fire cannons at the top of the first drop, and some new projectors during the dark ride portion of the ride. The exit stairs have been re-routed and re-built, allowing for better views of of the finale. :}

NEW VANTAGE POINT ACTION!

While other parks are content to shut rides rides down for even the tiniest spot of moisture, Dollywood will run all of their rides (even water rides) in 50 degree rain.

Six Flags Over Georgia refuses to run their Gerstlauer Euro Fighter, DareDevil Dive, under even the mildest wet weather conditions. Gerstlauer rides have a reputation for skidding their brakes in the rain, but Dollywood's pair of Gerstlauer coasters seem to run wet without any problems. :}

Josh and Tony are ready to be heroes on FireChaser Express! The rest of the train, on the other hand, seems less enthused.

No visit to Dollywood is ever complete without a ride on Klondike Katie!

The mountains are full of that blue smoke today!

Someday perhaps in the not-to-distant future, we'll look back at the train's upper loop and recall a time when there was't something big back here. ;}

Just a mere ten years ago, there was nothing to speak of here! Just trees, and a brand-new Thunderhead just to the right.

Speaking of Thunderhead, there's been some clearing of land over by where the extra bits from Adventure Mountain are being stored, which is directly behind the coaster.

There's also some land development to the right of Thunderhead's lift hill. Who here has any good rumors to share?!!?

After our Dollywood time, the crew and I went grocery shopping! When you're in a cabin with a kitchen, you might as well use it, right? :}

Next door is Pigeon Forge Traders, which purveys a wide variety of super-legit merchandise.

Look at these super legit bear claw replicas.

They've also got a classic Coke cooler with some old-school beverages in it that are actually genuinely legit.

After groceries, we went moonshinin' again. Because this is Pigeon Forge and that's just what you do.

Old Smoky Moonshine is the standby moonshine distillery around here, but this time around we checked out a brand new distillery: Old Forge Moonshine.

Old Forge is the new kid on the block, offering its local craft moonshine since July of last year. While some of the moonshine flavor usual suspects are present (blackberry; apple pie), Old Forge completely slayed us with three unique flavors: french toast, chocolate, and my personal favorite, coffee. If you like moonshine (or any of the aforementioned flavors), get yourself to Old Forge Moonshine Distillery right now and enjoy a complimentary moonshine tasting!

After heading back to the cabin and enjoying a delicious Italian dinner courtesy of May and Jody, we called it a night! Tomorrow is Dollywood's official opening day!

Good morning, Smokey Mountains! Today is a great day; Dollywood is open for the season, and our group is finally complete!

Because we have MICHAEL!!! :D

And with Michael came some nice mid-day weather.

It sure was nice of him to bring us some blue sky. :}

For lunch today is one of my favorite foods in the Smokey Mountains, Dollywood's Lumberjack Pizza! Home of the 1lb slice!

After two days of icky weather, it was nice to finally have some photogenic weather.

And Thunderhead is blazing fast full trains and lumber that is still damp from this morning.

After riding the Shenzen's Wood Coaster (a.k.a. the 8th wonder of the world), it's so nice to come home to the ride's kindred spirit here at Dollywood. :}

Wild Eagle has a kindred spirit in southern China as well, in the form of Chimelong Ocean Kingdom's Parrot Coaster. Maybe next time. ;}

One of Thunderhead's trains spent most of the end of last season in pieces, but today both trains are running!

Thunderhead is still giving the best rides of its life. Just look at all of that happy, moist wood. :}

Mystery Mine, on the other hand, is becoming increasingly uncomfortable during its transition. Fingers crossed for lap bar trains for the ride's 10th anniversary…?

Despite its flaws, Mystery Mine consistently has one of the longest waits in the park. Granted, it doesn't quite devour crowds the way that Wild Eagle does.

Or even its marvelous and swift-loading little brother.

And Tennessee Tornado only has a wait on the busiest of days; the park almost never elects to run the ride's second train because its such a short ride.

Blazing Fury, on the other hand, is running 3 trains today! The ride continues to see great atmospheric improvements with each passing season.

There's a ton of hustle n' bustle in Craftsman Valley today!

Including a Festival of Nations special: a drum circle!

Michael and I had a tough time trying to walk by the Grist Mill without getting cinnamon bread. We decided not to resist. :}

After cinnamon bread, we took on Barnstormer! You know the park is busy when both sides are running!

Michael and I then headed back over to Wilderness Pass to meet up with the rest of the group.

While Michael and I were running around on our own, Tony and May got engaged! Congrats, guys! :D

How nice that the weather cooperated for the proposal. :}

After a few more rides, we all headed over to the Village area to see the opening day parade!

And sadly, the sun and blue sky just couldn't hold out for the occasion.

There were several performers in the parade, including a marching band,

The casts of the various Festival of Nations shows,

and all of the Festival of Nations midway performers.

These cool springy-jumpy-grasshopper looking guys are from New Zealand. :}

The bagpipe ensemble is from Scotland, obviously. :}

There are even nations represented that most people around here probably haven't heard of.

Finally, we have the Irish Highland dancers,

and Miss Dolly herself to finish off the parade. :}

After the parade, we did the loop and caught a ride on all the coasters,

and then went to one of my favorite restaurants for pizza!

Pizza and calzone! ^_^

The next day was devoted primarily to hitting up the region's new mountain coasters: Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster and The Coaster at Goats on the Roof!

Unlike my visit in September, Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster actually has a parking lot instead of a pile of dirt.

And we're joined by Mark and Kevin from Coaster Crew! Everyone say hi!

Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster is carved right into the mountain landscape, just to the left of the Parkway!

Like the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster, Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster allows on-ride cameras and other electronics. :}

And that means lots of XTREME GATLINBURG MOUNTAIN COASTER POV CRAZINESS!

Here we are at the top! It's densely wooded up here, just like SMAC.

Bright squinty sunlight selfie! I bought some sunglasses at Dollywood on Thursday; they lasted a grand total of two days before I accidentally sat on them. >.<

Mark and I rode twice. He operated the brakes while I took pictures on the first ride, and then we switched. :}

Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster is shorter than SMAC, but it's still chock-full of wild twists and turns!

And it even has an on-ride photo!

From here you can get a good idea of where the GMC is located. Directly across the street is the Baymont Inn & Suites Gatlinburg On The River. To our right is Davy Crocket Mini Golf, and to our left is Hillbilly Mini Golf! :}

Coming in for a landing! Thanks for being awesome, Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster!

Next up: Mountain coaster #3! The Coaster at Goats on the Roof (a.k.a. Goat Coaster).

For those who've never been, Goats on the Roof is a general store and confectionary that has goats on the roof, naturally. :}

And just this spring they debuted their massive mountain coaster project, Goat Coaster!

Goats on the Roof was having a sale on sunglasses. I'm proud to report that these ones are not currently broken.

The Coaster at Goats on the Roof is much longer than the Gatlinburg Mountain Coaster, and has a wilder layout than the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster.

While SMAC is full of gradual transitions and long straightaways, Goat Coaster is full of back-to-back hairpin turns!

The area around the ride is the least-densely forested of the three mountain coasters, but that's probably what allowed for a wilder layout.

Almost to the top!

EXCITEMENT

Everybody wave to the nice Goat Coaster associate!

Nice view! Here we go!

Look at that shiny new steel!

Leaning into the turns on Goat Coaster is particularly useful in maintaining speed. Otherwise, you'll just grind into the edges!

Just down this road a little ways is SMAC, and at the end of the road is the Parkway! It dead ends right across from The Island.

Mountain Coasters are a sensation. I am so thrilled to see the Great Smokey Mountains quickly becoming the mountain coaster capitol of America!

Coming in for a landing!

And look! It's Michael! :}

Thanks Goats on the Roof and Goat Coaster for being amazing!

I guess we can stop at Dollywood while we're out. ;}

Eagle looks Wilder than ever before now that some of the trees concealing its might are gone.

On today's menu is FireChaser Express Dippin' Dots, still a huge hit with guests after debuting last season.

Then I got SUPER lucky at Lumberjack Pizza! Business was slow, so they gave me an extra half of a slice they had for free! AND they were out of parmesan cheese packets, so they kindly threw in a dish of the freshly-grated parm they use on their garlic knots!

This sort of thing is exactly why Dollywood is the park to beat in the Friendliest Park and Best Food categories at the Amusement Today Golden Ticket Awards.

A steaming-hot bucket of kettle corn is also on the menu!

And for dessert: Thunderhead with no line. :}

Michael had never been to The Island, so we decided to come here after Dollywood.

Would you believe it's already dinner time? This day has just flown by. :}

Michael and I agreed that tonight was a good night for a tourist-y themed restaurant with about 50 million mixed drinks and overpriced food. :}

Because honestly Michael and I love this sort of thing. That's why we're such huge fans of Hard Rock Cafe (of note, Gatlinburg's Hard Rock has moved to Pigeon Forge, which means a new Hard Rock Cafe credit is ready and waiting for me when I come back to the region! :} ).

Michael got surf n' turf (he said it was really good), and I got fried cheese curds, which were honestly excellent. I also got a raspberry daiquiri, which was extremely good and not too expensive. Color me impressed, Margaritaville! I'm going to have to keep my eyes peeled for other locations in my future travels!

After dinner, it was time to head back to the cabin. It was a very successful day of mountain coaster credit accumulation! Tomorrow I accumulate credits of a different kind…

It's a beautiful Monday morning here at Xtreme Racing in Pigeon Forge!

Xtreme Racing is home to the fastest go-karts in the Great Smokey Mountains; and that's really saying something, since the area has upwards of 30 unique go-kart tracks scattered around.

You get to create a racing profile that then tracks your performance during each race. Everyone is ranked in order of their fastest lap.

Then we all put on our helmets and take a 4-lap, 6-minute trip in Xtreme Racing's 45mph go-karts

We did three rounds; I took second place in round two! ^_^

After go-karts, we popped over to Fun Stop and Big Top. Turns out they're partners with Goats on the Roof and are doing some advertising for Goat Coaster. :}

Today we're here to get Josh and Luko's Dragon Wagon credit!

I think they really enjoyed themselves. :}

And they got 6 laps for $3, which I think is a pretty good deal. :}

And of course we had to go into Big Top because I had to get my Wizard of Oz fix!!!

We were all warmly received by Big Top's manager on duty, Kelley, who made us feel super welcome and took great care of us! Everyone should go check out Big Top and say hi to Kelley if you see her. :}

When we finally made our way to Dollywood, we found that the cluster-flux parking lot in front of cabin parking had been painted earlier that morning. Hooray for Dollywood taking care of business!

Monday was by far the prettiest of Dollywood's first four days of the season. You could not have asked for better weather!

The park was also quite quiet, of course. Not a ton of people left in town by Monday.

We pretty much had free run of the park on this beautiful day!

Once again, the first order of business is food!

Hooray for special Festival of Nations cuisine!!!

This fresh garlic pretzel with sweet pepper dip was so delicious that I basically cried when it was all gone. It was that kind of pretzel.

They were also serving these spectacular foot-long pretzel dogs. Tony seemed to really enjoy his. :}

As did Josh. They were definitely a big hit with the boys!

Since the weather was so perfect, I decided to go take pictures of Wild Eagle over by Mountain Slidewinder. On the way I met a Dollywood babe. :}

The weather is perfect for a ride on Dollywood's wettest (and most dangerous) ride, but the lack of crowds only warranted single-lane operation.

A walk up to Mountain Slidewinder is an experience all its own.

A loud warning to keep your hands on the handles of the toboggan at all times is broadcasted in a constant loop about half way down the slide. Something tells me they've had problems in the past with people…y'know…not holding on.

Oh look! Here's Eagle. Everyone say hello!

I have a hard time thinking of a coaster viewing area that is as lovely as Slidwinder's queue.

♫ Wild Eagle, Wild Eagle! Wild Eagle fly! ♫

There is just something cool about watching a wing coaster. They're mesmerizing.

Definitely not the most aerodynamic coasters in the world (as evidenced by the rapid loss of momentum on Wild Eagle despite its initial 170ft dive), but certainly a thing of both beauty and family-friendly thrills.

Frankly, after building three ass-kickers in a row, Dollywood really needed a flagship coaster that wouldn't send your average guest to the nearest bench or pharmacy. Both of Dollywood's newest coasters are also the most forgiving, which is probably a good trend for a park that focuses on the highest possible margin of mass appeal.

…and then there's Slidewinder, which may one day actually succeed in killing someone.

Just stick to Wild Eagle, kids. Mountain Slidewinder is a concussion waiting to happen.

Although, I must admit, Wild Eagle doesn't get your heart pounding the way that Slidewinder does. It's also the self-proclaimed best ride in the park (and by self-proclaimed, I mean the ride operators swear up and down that Slidewinder is the greatest thing since sliced bread).

And honestly, there's some truth to that. Not only is Slidewinder my favorite non-roller coaster at Dollywood, but it's also one of the best water rides ever. Basically they were like:

"Let's build a waterside and have five people ride down it in a giant rubber shoe. Surely no one will die."

In fact, Slidewinder is exactly how I ended up getting back down this mountain. You can't expect me to just walk back down!

I had a fun time taking pictures of you, Eagle!

I'll be over there for some more rides later. :}

Now it's time for a little show I like to call

"People of Dollywood Freaking Out on Mountain Slidewinder"

Hairtime, party of five!

Flying fishtail action is definitely a thing coming out of the tunnel on this one.

"…and here comes #3, swishing wildly toward the finish line!"

Wait a sec…who is that?

One of the Dollywood ride operators just rode down Slidewinder in full uniform!

I love this place.

In #20 we got a solo dad with his hands full,

and the driver in #10 looks like she's in a state of panic!

Oh hey guys! Fancy seeing you all here. :}

While we're wet, lets take a ride on Buzzsaw Falls!

SKLOOSH

If you're ever feeling too wet, the candle shop is a good place to warm up and dry off. :}

This is a perfect day to visit the Dollywood Eagles! Normally there are only two eagles in the viewing area, but right now there's four!

Dollywood's Eagles are very friendly and love to pose for pictures!

Brown Eagle is still here too, of course! It wouldn't be Dollywood without him. :}

Everyone is enjoying the lovely warmth and sun today!

Badass Brown says "I insist that everyone have a fabulous day at Dollywood!"

Badass Bald says "make sure to hold onto the handles at all times if you ride Mountain Slidewinder."

I think it's time we did a lap around the park and hit all the coasters one more time!

Time for Tennessee Tornado!

"Get ready for a ride on the fastest coaster at Dollywood!"

#arrowlooperselfie

Tennessee Tornado is so much prettier than your typical looping coaster.

Custom elements, trees, and augmented supports add up to something quite pleasing to the eye. Most coaster enthusiasts know of Tennessee Tornado as the only kindred relative to the super-customized Drachen Fire at Busch Gardens, but the two actually share one more unique sibling: "Roller Coaster," which opened in 1996 Al-Sha'ab Leisure Park in Kuwait.

Like Drachen Fire and Tennessee Tornado, Al-Sha'ab's Rollercoaster features a customized element and support package, although the ride's layout closely resembles the classic Arrow double corkscrew layout. The ride features a single vertical loop, a single corkscrew, and no brake run; just a u-turn right into the station! The ride is worth a Google; you'll see that its vertical loop looks just like a mini version of Tennessee Tornado's first loop!

Sadly, Roller Coaster only seems to operate during special events (probably due to Al Sha'ab's low annual attendance) and often sits dormant. Hopefully the park will reach a point where it's once again cost effective to run the ride daily.

We hope you've enjoyed this short lesson in roller coaster world history, in honor of the Festival of Nations. ;}

Now it's time for a little German engineering!

Rain or shine, it's always a good day to be a hero on FireChaser Express!

As mild as it is, FireChaser is a superb launch coaster all-around. With the success Dollywood has seen with this ride, I bet we can expect to see another launch coaster here before too long. ;}

While we were standing in line, we noticed that May's hair had become braided. I suspect Tennessee Tornado is to blame. It seems like something TT would do.