Chasing Fire with Dolly: A Weekend in Pigeon-burg Trip Report - Part II

Gooooooooood morning Thrillography readers!

We have an exciting day ahead! :}

Today marks my very first event with Coaster Crew/Great Ohio Coaster Club, "Chasing Fire with Dolly," an event dedicated to the brand-new Fire Chaser Express at Dollywood!

My friend (and Coaster Crew Vice President) Tim Holloran was kind enough to personally invite me to CFwD, even though I was a member of neither Coaster Crew nor GOCC. Fortunately for me, Coaster Crew allows first-time event goers to register without a membership, so I accepted his offer!

Michael and Josh were not part of the CFwD event, so we'll be catching up with them later. For now, it's just me, Coaster Crew, GOCC, and Dollywood!

Guten tag. We beat the sun to Dollywood this morning!

I see you back there, Eagle. :}

Woohoo! It's registration time!

Congrats to Tim Holloran for designing the most epic event badge ever!

Kicking off the season is Dollywood's Festival of Nations, one of five annual festivals that the park hosts between March and December. Festival of Nations is a celebration of international foods, crafts, and entertainment!

Because this is Dollywood, we were treated to a hot chocolate and Danish bar. Also because this is Dollywood, the Danishes were basically delicious little bundles of vanilla fat.

We'll be back here for VIP seating at "La Danza de Colombia!"

But first, a VIP tour of a backstage area that is very, very important to Dollywood. Can you guess where?!

It's Dollywood's train workshop!

Here we have Dollywood's prized, authentic, WWII, coal-driven, steam-powered locomotive!

#192!

Engine #192 has been here in Pigeon Forge since Dollywood's earliest incarnation, "Rebel Railroad," opened in 1961. Rebel Railroad would go on to become "Goldrush" in 1976, "Silver Dollar City" in 1977 (at which point it became siblings with the park of the same name in Branson, MO), and then Dollywood in 1986. It all started with 'ole #192!

Here's a shot of what's inside! According to the train conductor, there's enough spare parts for #192 to build a whole 'nuther train from the ground up! Kind looks like they already did!

Alright Coaster Crew and GOCC! Time for the next order of business!

Over the mountain and through the woods to where???

TO NEW HOTNESS! IT'S FIRE CHASER EXPRESS!!! :D :D :D

Omg. This ride is adorable.

IT'S SO EFFING CUTE.

I can't handle this.

omg.

So yeah, Fire Chaser Express is now officially the most adorable coaster in
Tennessee.
the South.
the U.S.
ever.

And it packs a punch, too!

New Coaster Crew friends Chrissy and Crystal approve of Fire Chaser Express!

For a family ride, the launches are surprisingly potent. Especially the backwards launch! It's a hoot!

FCE, a Gerstlauer creation, reminded me very much of Gerstlauer's "Bobsleigh" coasters, which we saw on the ACE Central Europe Trip and the ACE Scandinavian Sojourn. Gerstlauer family coasters are full of quick dips, sharp curves, and wild bits of airtime!

Also, FCE's theming was top-notch. The park cooled off a bit on immersion-themeing with Wild Eagle, but they've returned to form with Fire Chaser Express.

Weeeeee! :D

Wild Eagle is jealous of all of the attention that its new neighbor is receiving.

You'll get your turn, Eagle!

For a 2,500-ish ft long ride, FCE is HUGE! It's a much larger attraction in person than one might expect.

I'll be honest, I miss Adventure Mountain. Having said that, FCE is a very welcome addition to Dollywood. It fulfills Dollywood's long-time need for a family coaster to complement Blazing Fury.

Alright, Fire Chaser! We're moving on for a while. We'll be back soon.

It's now time for our doctor-recommended dosage of vitamin TT!

Tennessee Tornado is still running great.

Because of how early it is in the season, most of Dollywood's trees are still naked, providing AWESOME PHOTO OPPORTUNITIES!

Also, when in doubt, "Western" it out. :}

It would seem we've now flown to the Eagle's nest! How else could we get this picture?!

And look who we found! It's Josh and M&M!

Now that Wild Eagle's fanfare has died down, the ride's grace and mildness does not seem to be subject to as much scrutiny. I, for one, enjoyed Eagle more this trip than ever before!

It's still a bit nippy out. No River Battle for us!

By the time we got to my favorite coaster at Dollywood, Mystery Mine, the line was about 1.5 hours long, which is complete B.S. We decided to come back later.

Now for the tried and true star of Dollywood, Thunderhead! Still running at the top of its game!

On Thunderhead we found more friends! Two of Coaster Crew's lovely leading ladies, Steph and Ingrid!

Soon it was time to forage for food, so I explored some of the international options of Dollywood's "World Passport to Food."

Though there we many tempting options...

…classic ribbon fries won out in the end!

Mixed in with the international food options were kiosks offering various international goods. Retail paradise!

After lunch we were treated to La Danza de Colombia, which featured delightful and lively native dances of Colombia, complete with incredible authentic fashions!

At the end of the show, Dolly Parton herself came out on stage and welcomed everyone to Dollywood!

After the show, we headed over to Jukebox Junction to take a ride on the Rockin' Raceway!

Our chariot awaits!

Everyone say hello to the handsome driver of this handsome gold Cadillac-type-vehicle, Dustin!

Everyone's out driving at Dollywood today!

And look who else is out driving! It's still another Coaster Crew cool cat, Jacob!

By this point in the day, a ride on River Rampage certainly wasn't out of the question. After what had been a somewhat brisk morning, soon Dollywood was enjoying a sunny-and-75 sort of situation! :}

Here we have Dollywood's water clock, a landmark at both Dollywood and Silver Dollar City. Once used to mark the park's main entrance, Dollywood has long since moved their entrance to accommodate their immense series of expansions. Silver Dollar City, however, has never moved their entrance, thus maintaining their water clock's status as a park entrance marquee of sorts. :}

Hey, look! It's Barnstormer! You know it's a busy day at Dollywood when both sides of Barnstormer are open! Speaking of which, guess who else is running both sides...

…it's Mountain Slidewinder! :D

This would be the only water ride on the Dollywood trip, but do you really need anything else?!!? Best water ride ever!!

When walking up to the top of the Mountain Slidewinder, one must take advantage of the breathtaking view of Wild Eagle. :}

Similarly, when one is walking through Craftsman Valley, one must visit the blacksmiths and see their lovely cast iron and stained glass window! 

Okay Fire Chaser, we're back!

Waaaait! Nope, just kidding. It's Eagle time. 

Haha! Hold on! Now it's looking' like Thunder!

(Actually, we were in line for Mystery Mine all along!) :}

After a satisfying ride on Mystery Mine, it was time for some Lumberjack Pizza! 

Mystery Mine still catches a lot of heat for its shoulder restraints, but that just means shorter lines for me! :}

By this point in the day, we were mostly catching up on rides between Timber Canyon and Wilderness Pass, or Dollywood's Roller Coaster Row! 

When running around Dollywood, don't forget to stop and smell the daffodils. :}

Or in Fire Chaser's case, stop on the lift hill and wait for maintenance to come by. 

Sadly there would be no rides on Blazing Fury today (apparently there was a problem with one of the trains), but we couldn't pass up another ride on TT!

Eagle also received some more love!

And yes, Fire Chaser did re-open in short order.

I fell into a burning Ring of Fire!

Went down, down, down! And the flames went higher!

Twilight is a great time of day to catch some fun hyper-speed shots!

EPIC FASTNESS!

Okay, Eagle! Time to say goodnight!

"Don't leave yet!" said the misty Mystery Mine. "Nighttime is when I like to come out and play!" :}

We ended the day with some EPIC nighttime ERT on Thunderhead. Thank you Coaster Crew and GOCC for putting on such a fabulous event. I'd say Chasing Fire with Dolly was a runaway success!

After ERT, I met back up with the boys and we had ourselves a dinner of psychedelic proportions!

In a world full of fireplaces, Mellow Mushroom says "No. Lava lamp places."

Mellow Mushroom is famous for their whimsical atmosphere; perfect for Pigeon-burg!

And here's my dinner! Six homemade garlic butter-basted pretzels with Mellow Mushroom's famous red sauce! 

*BURP*

Hoo! That was delicious! :}

Time for me to go pass out and sleep off this wonderful food. Tomorrow, more wonderful food and wonderful Dollywood wonders await us! See you back here in a bit! :D