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🔵There are two main types of mountain coaster tickets:
🔵Wristbands can be either:
🔵The best type of ticket for you will depend on your budget and your plans for the day. If you are only planning on riding one or two coasters, then a single ticket may be the best option. If you plan on riding multiple coasters or visiting multiple attractions, then a wristband may be a better value.
🟢How are the coasters different from one another, or are they all the same?
Answer: Different! Read on to learn more.
Most of these rides share one common feature: the brake. Each ride has one or two handles that you push forward to move forward or coast, and pull back or release to brake and slow down.
Weigands are more sophisticated than other rides in that each cart is "aware" of where the next cart is. If you get too close to another cart, it will automatically brake to avoid a collision. Weigands also have "brake zones" at the end of the course and before the next lift hill (if applicable), where the carts will automatically brake.
🚨If your lift hill happens to stop, remain seated and calm. It will start up again momentarily. DO NOT TRY TO REMOVE YOURSELF FROM THE CART.
INTENSITY/THRILL LEVELS
I often see remarks on social media about some of the coasters with 2,3,4 lift hills, that they are 'not thrilling' and brake a lot, as compared to the coasters with one or two lifts. It would leave some people who were seeking Higher Thrills disappointed. That is true, that the multi-lift coasters brake more. They're usually more spread out horizontally, as they do not have the vertical real estate that's needed to create one big lift hill. If you're looking for the higher thrill mountain coasters, then seek out the ones with one big lift hill vs. many smaller hills. If you're looking for milder thrills, then seek out the ones with multiple lift hills. There's a column in my spreadsheet for Number of Lift Hills.
Makes and Models of Coasters
The Smokies are home to several Weigand mountain coasters, which come in two generations: Generation 1 and Generation 2. Both generations are visually similar and offer a similar ride experience.
🔷Here's a Weigand Gen 1, below.
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| You'll find these Gen 1's at Rocky Top Mtn Coaster, Smoky Mtn coaster, Goats & Moonshine Mtn. |
🔷Here's Gen 2
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| You'll find Gen 2 at Skyland Ranch, Lost Mine, and at Anakeesta |
🔷Anakeesta has a single rail coaster and they've recently opened a dual rail....a Generation 2.
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| Single Rail Mountain Coaster at Anakeesta in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. |
What other types are there??
🔷The Powered Coaster at Rowdy Bear
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| Hill not required. This one is powered the whole trip around the course. |
🔷The Suspended Coaster with Shooting Targets, also at Rowdy Bear
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| Ready, aim, fire! Compete against your buddy for high score. |
🔷At Ober, two more styles are waiting for you!
🔹This is the ADG's version...similar to the Weigand model.
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| You ride a chair-lift to the top of the course, disembark, and slide from there. No lift hill like the others. You can race here, unlike all the others. |
🔷This is the Mountain Glider, located in Gatlinburg at Ripley's Mountain Coaster
🔷This is what you will find at the Wilderness at the Smokies resort. Now Open as of 10/31/2023.
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| courtesy of Wilderness at the Smokies |
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| Rendering of the Cloud Coaster at Wilderness at the Smokies |
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| Here's an another Cloud Coaster somewhere in the world. There are only Eight of these in existence. It must be pretty amazing; it bends your arms backwards! |
As you can see, there are many different options available, each with its own unique features. And with the Smoky Mountains being home to the highest concentration of mountain coasters on the planet, this is the perfect place to experience them all!
Are there restrictions on height, weight and age? Yes. These are pretty consistent across all of the coasters in this area.
Let me know what you think about these in the comments! Good Luck!!
That's why I've put together this list of the best restaurants in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, based on Average Ratings from Google, Yelp, and TripAdvisor. I updated the list on October 2, 2024.
I've included a wide variety of restaurants to suit all tastes, from American to BBQ to pizza to steak houses to Mexican, Asian. There's also an all-day breakfast place, a diner, and a higher-end restaurant in Sevierville.
The list is sorted by my Average Rating, so you can easily find the best-rated restaurants in the area.
From the article:
Get ready to go back in time for your vacation. Way back in time.
The Wayback is a groovy, retro-themed hotel mostly for adults opening in Pigeon Forge between Flapjack's Pancake Cabin and the Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride.
Inspired by old roadside motels in Palm Springs, the hotel is hoping to provide a "vibrant escape amidst the high energy of downtown Pigeon Forge."
The 134-room hotel is expected to open in early September, according to general manager Marty Rothchild, and is developed by Sevierville-based company Aatmos. It's a Tribute portfolio hotel, part of the Marriott family.
Marriott Bonvoy is Marriott's loyalty program for frequent guests. This hotel is geared towards its members, who enjoy a variety of amenities as part of their stay. Non-members are also welcome at this hotel, but they do not receive the same amenities as members. I wanted to point out this distinction so that you can make an informed decision about whether to become a Marriott Bonvoy member before booking your stay.
2) Country Cascades - Row 25 on Spreadsheet - Recently announced a new $14 million dollar expansion to its indoor water park offerings. It's scheduled to open in 2025. You can read more and see renderings here: WATE TV news
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| From the Jack Kirkland collection |
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| From the Jack Kirkland collection |
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| From the Jack Kirkland collection |
UPDATE 12/27/2022 - Hi Everyone, Dollywood has updated their operations schedule for Tuesday and decided to remain closed Today, Tuesday, December 27th, 2022.
🦋🦋
Monday's forecast in Knoxville was that we would have a clipper system quickly pass through and bring about a half inch of dry snow. Well, instead, it snowed for 12 hours and we got a couple of inches of snow and some areas around here received more than that, so I am not surprised by this decision after looking at some social media posts of Dollywood yesterday. All the water features were frozen over, with large icicles dangling about. The parking lot looked like an icy mess. Today is the first day above freezing since last Thursday - it's going to take some time to resemble normal again.
If you're in the area there is still tons of stuff to do! Here's a small list of options:
Hi Everyone, please see the weather alert, below, for Dollywood for Monday December 26th.
12/22/22 Note from Jeff - If you've had to cancel your Dollywood trip at Christmas for this year because of weather, or any other reason, you can still enjoy Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas! It's not quite the same as going in person, but I have a great video I produced that you can sit and watch in the comfort of your favorite space. Check it out below. This was filmed on a really cold Wednesday back in November. I hope you enjoy it.
Hi Everyone,
I wrote a blog article not long ago about Dollywood's Future Plans. One of the many items on the list was Year-Round Operations. Dollywood included it in their 10-year plan, see below, by Ed Naughton, President of Dollywood.
Could Dollywood open 365?
Making sure there are plenty of things to do in every season will position the company to entertain year-round, Naughton said, adding it's possible the park could open theaters and restaurants near the entrance during winter.
Continuous improvement seems to be the new constant at Dollywood. Much of that change happens during a frenzied January and February.
Source: click here.
Oddly enough, or coincidentally, this week, two 'neighboring' amusement parks in the Cedar Fair chain, Carowinds and King's Dominion, both announced year-round operations. Carowinds is southeast of Dollywood near Charlotte, and King's Dominion is near coastal Virginia, in Doswell, so its winters are pretty mild for the most part.
That's great news for those who work at those parks and can now be employed year-round, and it's great for the guests who are looking for entertainment in January and February. I see lots of potential in winter operations doing things that are challenging in the summer, like snow tubing & ice skating as a couple examples.
My understanding is that these two parks will be open for weekends-only during the two coldest months of winter, which obviously is weather dependent. Other parks that stay open year-round cycle the operations of the rides in and out of service, so that routine maintenance can be performed. It would not be reasonable to expect every single ride to be in operation during the winter months. That's what happens in other year-round parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott's Berry Farm, Disney-World-Land-Epcot, Universal, Sea Worlds, & Busch Tampa.
It's interesting to me that these two parks have chosen to operate year-round. Was it a way to beat Dollywood to the punch? Done so in their own interest? It's impossible to say. Will Six Flags over Georgia follow suit? At this point I doubt it. Six Flags seems somewhat in operational disarray. Six Flags Magic Mountain has, for several years, been open year-round and recently announced that they were scaling that back, which is unfortunate for those who bought season passes who were promised year-round operations.
What would year-round operations look like at Dollywood? I don't have any insider info to know what they're thinking about doing, but based off of Ed Naughtons' comments, he said they would consider using the entrance as a sort of hub, making use of the theaters and restaurants. Chasing Rainbows Museum is not far away from the entrance, and it was closed in 2022 for a major re-thinking of the experience. Will it move closer to the entrance to align with the 10-year plan?
Drop Line can operate in temps down to 5-degrees F and Thunderhead has, I think, four trains. I believe they have the two trains from Celebration City's shuttered GCI coaster, so that means two trains could be in rehab at any given time and potentially would never have seasonal downtime, or at least not very long. Mystery Mine seems to struggle with cold temperatures, so Im not sure it would open on the coldest of days. So, Dollywood could open The Entrance area/Showstreet, Timber Canyon and maybe Wildwood Grove for winter, which would allow for seasonal maintenance in the rest of the park. As years went on, they could introduce Wilderness Pass, then Craftsman's Valley the year after that. They love to incrementally grow things, so that would seem to make sense.
Another possibility is that Dollywood adds an entire Snow Themed Area in the park that features cold-weather activities like snow tubing, ice skating, bonfire areas, stuff like that. Before it was cancelled, the Nashville combo Water Park/Snow Park was a real idea they had. They were set to partner with Gaylord, but it fell through. So, they're well aware of the types of things they could do to make a snow park work.
Like I mentioned, I have no idea what they'll end up doing. They hold their secrets pretty well. I will certainly keep my eyes peeled for any developments.
Until next time.
Hi Everyone,
I came across this fantastic article that offers lots of important information about all of Dollywood’s award-winning roller coasters. This is the type of info about roller coasters that gives me the warm fuzzies. The more I’ve learned about how roller coasters work, and how safe they really are, then for me, my anxiety melted away and I could enjoy all the other sensations you get to experience (Speed, Big Drops, Inversions, etc) when you’re not worried about flying off into a painful death!
Anyhoo, I wanted to share this with all y’all!
Source: The Ultimate Guide to Dollywood’s Roller Coasters - Dollywood Insiders
Hi Everyone, As I write this we are in peak-Christmas season, just a few days out from the big day and I am wrapping up my videos from Doll...
