After being worked on during the off-season, Lightning Rod is set to return at Dollywood with a new high-speed lift hill replacing the original launch system that led to pervasive downtimes when the park reopens for Passholders on March 8th.
What’s Happening:
- Dollywood has taken to social media to reveal that their popular roller coaster, Lightning Rod, will reopen with the park on a special passholder preview day, on March 8th.
- The attraction, known for its thrilling ride experience as well as notorious amounts of downtime, closed just ahead of the end of the 2023 season at the end of October to replace the original uphill launch that starts the ride with a high-speed chain lift to help with those aforementioned downtimes.
- Lightning Rod, the popular wooden/hybrid coaster at the park, was originally revealed to open mid-March, after the kickoff of the 2024 operating season at the park. With today’s news, the popular attraction will open with the rest of the park.
- Themed after a tricked-out 1950s-era hot rod, Lightning Rod originally launched riders from zero to 45 mph more than 20 stories up its lift hill to one of the ride’s first airtime moments. At the crest of the hill, riders face twin summit airtime hills before tackling the daring first drop. Lightning Rod races down the 165-foot drop and propels guests along its 3,800-foot track to a top speed of 73 mph.
- Though the launch has been replaced with the high-speed chain lift, Dollywood has ensured fans everywhere that the ride experience aboard the popular attraction will remain the same.
- Located in Dollywood’s Jukebox Junction, Lightning Rod gives riders nearly 20 seconds of airtime across its unique hybrid track structure, which includes both a wood stack “Topper Track” and a steel “Ibox” track atop a massive wooden frame. The coaster train comprises 12 cars, carrying two passengers each, for a total of 24 people per train.
- Lightning Rod returns on March 8th, and Dollywood states that “it will be open and more reliable for guests to consistently enjoy all season long.”
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