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I have some disappointing, but not unexpected news to share out of Dollywood's sister park, Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. They are closing their version of Blazing Fury, which is named Fire In The Hole at SDC.
I've seen a lot of concerned posts on social media from Dollywood fans who have wondered out loud whether or not this would affect Blazing Fury in some way. The answer is no, it will not affect Blazing Fury and I will share why I believe that is the case after I offer some details of the two rides.
The two roller coasters are nearly identical. Both were built in-house in the 1970's by their respective Maintenance and Construction departments. Fire In The Hole was built first and opened in 1972, then Blazing Fury opened in 1978. The story that goes along with each ride is similar but customized for each location. For example, Fire In The Hole's theme-story follows the tale of the town of Marmaros, an Ozarks hill town, and the fire stems from some vigilantes known as the Baldknobbers. The theme-story with BF is (dramatic pause) vigilantes who set fire to a Smoky Mountain town! So, similar story line, but no Baldknobbers at Dollywood. I'm not sure who the vigilantes are in Blazing Fury, they are not a well-organized group like the Baldknobbers.
At some point, Fire In The Hole's layout was modified to the current layout, which matches Blazing Fury. Both rides have trains that are powered by two 7.5 hp motors through the course, until gravity takes over for the three drops. I think FITH has a couple of extra scenes that BF doesn't have, but overall, they are essentially the same ride.
So, Why is Blazing Fury safe from removal - for now?
Blazing Fury received a lot of love and attention after the 2014 season ended. The splash-down finale found on both rides, was removed from Blazing Fury and the last approximately one-third or so of roller coaster track was replaced with I-beam track from Rocky Mountain Construction. What prompted that work was that as each train passed through the water, it would then carry and drop more water along the rest of the layout, causing wet conditions that, of course, lead to rot and deterioration in a wooden environment. When it opened in 2015 it was so much smoother and yes, the splash-down ending was cool, and I miss it. If that's the small trade-off for preserving the ride, then so be it. I think its safe to say that BF will be around for the foreseeable future.
There's little doubt that Fire In The Hole is/was suffering from these same circumstances and the decision has been made to close this attraction. But, that's not the ending of the story! It has not been officially announced yet, but construction is well underway of a 'sort of' replacement for Fire In The Hole. SDC has commissioned Rocky Mountain Construction - the same group that replaced Blazing Fury's track - they are building a brand new indoor powered roller coaster at SDC. The building itself is already up and some track has been installed, so it should be ready to open in 2024. The park will probably wait until they're ready to start selling season passes for next year and at that time, they will release more details about the new ride. At that point we'll know if it's themed to a burning town like FITH or it may have an entirely new story line. I have a feeling it will be fire themed because this new building is located adjacent to Firemans' Landing - an area of the park that is themed to Fire Fighting.
So, the not-so-obvious-good news is that the park made an announcement about a beloved attraction closing, which really is great because it gives opportunities to say goodbye to the memories that were created by families for over 50 years. Sometimes parks just close rides and remove them and never say anything, or very little, which is obviously harsh and a missed opportunity.
Some Pictures of the two rides below.
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| Blazing Fury's opening year advertising - New Loom! New Ride! |
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| This is the layout of Fire In The Hole. You can see that the panel was edited after the layout of the ride was changed. The yellow track on the right side is the station. |
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| This is the same panel (pre-2014) at Blazing Fury. Source: TPR |
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another portion of the pre-2014 Blazing Fury panel. Source: TPR |
For more pics, check out Theme Park Review's older photo collections of both rides as well as this impressive Flickr collection. Back stage areas are included in the collections.
I mentioned in my very first blog post, my Welcome Post, about how change is a constant variable in amusement and theme parks and that rings true once again with this news from SDC. These parks are, after all, for-profit businesses interweaved with personal experiences and nostalgic memories and it's hard to say goodbye to stuff like that which touches on so many different emotions. I'm glad the park is choosing to say farewell with enough advance notice for folks to say goodbye on their terms instead of after the fact...and the park has something similar in the works to begin new traditions and memories, so this is the best possible way to send off a loved attraction.
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