PIGEON FORGE, TN - Dollywood today announced the addition of Lightning Rod, both the world’s fastest wood coaster and the world’s first launching wood coaster. Set to roll to the starting line in March 2016, Lightning Rod adds another groundbreaking roller coaster to the park’s already impressive portfolio of world-class attractions. The thrilling $22 million ride also marks the single largest attraction investment in The Dollywood Company’s history.
Themed after a tricked out 1950s-era hot rod, Lightning Rod launches 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-ft. track to a top speed of 73 mph, the fastest speed for a wood coaster in the world.
“Lightning Rod reminds me so much of those colorful cars cruisin’ up and down Main Street in downtown Sevierville back when I was in high school. I remember all those souped up cars; but what I remember most were those good lookin’ boys behind the wheel with those flat top and ducktail haircuts,” Dolly Parton said with a laugh.
“I’m truly excited about this ride because it will let our guests experience something just as fast as those hot rods I remember,” she continued. “Even better, it’s the fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, so I think we’re going to see a lot of people coming from all over to peel out on the Lightning Rod.”
Located in Dollywood’s Jukebox Junction, Lightning Rod rockets riders around its massive wooden structure on an adrenaline-charged lap through the trees in the hills and valleys surrounding Dollywood. During the ride, guests experience nearly 20 seconds of airtime. The coaster train is comprised of 12 cars, carrying two passengers each, for a total of 24 people per train.
Dollywood’s development team has tapped Rocky Mountain Construction (RMC) as the ride manufacturer. RMC is no stranger to out-of-the-box coaster projects, having designed a number of innovative attractions around the world. Lightning Rod employs several unique features including the lift hill launch, twin summit airtime hills, a 90+ degree banked breaking wave turn, a 90+ degree outside banked turn, and a non-inverting half loop.
Lightning Rod puts riders in the driver’s seat of Johnny Rev’s newest hot rod. After months of tinkering, Johnny invites Dollywood guests to step behind the wheel for the first test drive of his flashy new creation. Like any proper hot rod, massive header pipes and an imposing injector scoop peer out from the train’s flamed bodywork.
Lightning Rod is the newest member of The Dollywood Company’s collection of award-winning attractions. In March 2012, Dollywood opened the $20 million Wild Eagle, the country’s first wing coaster. The company introduced RiverRush, Tennessee’s first and only water coaster, at Dollywood’s Splash Country in 2013. FireChaser Express, the nation’s first dual-launch family coaster, was added at Dollywood in 2014. Dollywood mainstays Thunderhead, consistently among the world’s top five wood coasters, Mystery Mine, Blazing Fury and Tennessee Tornado round out the park’s list of innovative coasters.
Dolly Parton has formally opened the doors of the latest addition to her growing Dollywood theme park empire, the "DreamMore" resort, which offers fans of the existing theme and water parks a Dolly-themed place to stay.
Parton told CNBC that she has been dreaming of having her own hotel for years, and the opening of the DreamMore resort on Monday forms part of the group's plans, announced in 2013, to invest $300 million in the complex over the next 10 years.
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Dolly Parton
"We've been trying to build the resort ever since we started Dollywood 30 years ago. I've been wanting to have a resort. But there are great places in this area that have great rooms an' all and we didn't want to compete with them either so we tried not to be hoggish about it, we want everybody, but it was time. It was time we had our own place," Parton told Tania Bryer, host of CNBC Meets.
Along with the opening of the new hotel, Dollywood CEO Ted Miller also hinted at another large addition to the park next month.
"Dollywood's DreamMore Resort will be included in the investment as will our announcement on August 7 which will reveal the largest single attraction added to Dollywood in its history," Miller told CNBC, without revealing the details of the announcement.
Having put off the building of the hotel complex for a number of years after the global financial crisis, construction of the 307-room DreamMore, which will be is next door to Dollywood, started over two years ago.
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Musician Dolly Parton attends the Opening Weekend Celebration of Dollywood on April 24, 1993 at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
"We almost did it several times. We were just about to build the resort when the economy went down the tubes and so we had to pull back again. So now, it was just the right time. But it's always a risk, you never know what the economy's going to be but you can't live in fear," she said.
The legendary country singer and entertainer is reported to be worth between $450 million-$500 million during her career which spans 50 years covering singing, acting, writing and business launches including the theme park.
The songwriter joined forces with Herschend Family Entertainment group in 1986 to rebrand their existing "Silver Dollar City" theme park into the Dolly-inspired "Dollywood".
Parton said the lawyers and accountants that were advising her at the time thought she had "lost her mind".
"I had such a burning desire to do it, I thought -- I'm doing it I don't care how smart you think you are. I know you're my Hollywood lawyers and accountants and all that, but I think I know a little bit more about me than you do. And so I went ahead and done it. Got rid of them. And it proved that I was right to go ahead with my plans," she said.
Dollywood is now Tennessee's most visited tourist attraction, drawing more than two million visitors every year.
Part of the singer's vision for the complex was to provide employment for local people, but she puts her success partly down to her faith.
"I pray every day that God will put all the right things, all the right people and the right projects in my life and to take all the wrong things and the wrong people out, and I really pray and believe that he does so I have to swallow my pride and take those things as answers," she added.
