[Koallinbear]

Very excited to return for my Second Coasterfest! Dollywood put on an amazing event last year and it should be even better this year with the addition of Lightning Rod to the ERT lineup!(Hopefully ) Waited too long to book Dreammore Room and now they are booked

[FamousAmos]

My friend has dogs that will need to be watched by someone. He had to find out today who could watch them. We also needed to find a decent hotel. (we're doing Biltmore the day before). We're planning to go next year though.

[Jarsh]

Looking forward to seeing everyone that registered, although with 315 registered attendees, you'll have to speak first cause I'm gonna crazy busy, lol.

[Edwardo]

EVEryone be careful heading out and I'll see u all tomorrow!

[Edwardo]

Josh thanks for a great event! Was a ton of fun. Had a great time hanging with the guys from here.

And Lightning Rod is EVERYTHING!

[MarkD]

As this was my 1st visit to Dollywood I will say that it surpassed my expectations. Thank you Josh for getting the event together and especially thank you for the Hot Chocolate at the parade!!

To all the gang from here, thank you for taking my innocence and getting my Chicken Blessing!

[Jonathan]

Great event, great time! Very cold, but Thunderhead was as amazing as it's ever been and Lightning Rod lived up to the hype and the long wait. Dollywood has one of the best one-two coaster punches of any park in the world now. Only Holiday World may be better for me with Voyage-Legend.

[KIJester]

Hey everyone, the family & I are headed to Dollywood the 1st weekend in December for Smokey Mountain Christmas. (our first time)
I noticed that Jonathan said LR was awesome even though it had a long wait.
Do any of you recommend TimeSaver Pass or is it not that busy in December? I saw a forum somewhere that said the coasters don't run below 40 degrees so hopefully, someone on here (in the know) can shed some light on this. I would assume that no matter how big the crowds are, if the coasters aren't running, we prolly won't need TimeSaver.

Anyhow, I just want to be prepared for our trip and want to say thank you in advance for any advice you guys can give.

[Jonathan]

The long wait I was referring to was the season long wait to ride the coaster (went in April when it wasn't running yet).

Lightning Rod had a 20 to 40 minute wait throughout the day Saturday. During the parade at night it was a walk on. The other rides had little to no wait. Time Saver probably won't be necessary but as I recall it's not that expensive so it could be worth it. The park has TV screens everywhere displaying the current queue times, so you could wait until you get there to decide.

From what I understand, the coasters do not start running for the day until the temperature hits 40 degrees. Once they are running, they continue to run until the temperature drops below 36 degrees.

[Edwardo]

LightningRod isn't included in the time saver anyways so it won't help you.

[KIJester]

^Thanks again guys. This info will definitely help me. You guys ROCK !!

[arby]

To add to the above, I was there the weekend before, which I think was busier than last weekend since it was a long weekend for many families (Veteran's Day). The park was packed and the parking lot was completely full. They were parking people in the water park lot.

With that being said, the maximum wait on Friday night was 40 minutes although when we got in line it was only a 20 minute wait or so. On Saturday it hit as high as 90 minutes. I just downloaded the app and waited until the line got under 30 minutes later in the day.

[Wormy]

Everyone makes the comparison, but Dollywood is truly the Knoebels of the south, with an even better well rounded coaster line-up (sideways of Holiday World) with a wood/steel/family coaster collection that is hard to beat. While enthusiasts are still struggling with ranking Lightning Rod, it can’t be ignored as one of the most intense and satisfying coasters to ever be experienced, and was well worth the season-long wait. And the park is beautifully decorated for the holidays. Go get your chicken blessings.

[Jarsh]

Thanks guys. Glad to hear yall had a great time.

And yes, Lightning Rod is something else. Wow. No bruises, but after my 4 or 5 rides, my thighs felt like they'd been hit with a rubber mallet, haha!