Dollywood Thrills in the Hills Postponed

Every coaster lover out there is anxiously waiting for the opening of Lightning Rod, Dollywood’s new 2016 coaster. As of late, the park has been battling some very upset coaster fans since they have pushed back the opening of their record breaking new ride.

The world’s first wooden launch coaster was scheduled to open this Spring but has still not happened. The park released the following statement.

“Lightning Rod will not be open to the general public at this time due to extended ride commissioning. Lightning Rod is an innovative ride featuring new technology never before used on a wooden coaster. The ride manufacturer asked for additional time to commission the ride. Keep watching Dollywood.com for future updates.“

Rocky Mountain Construction known as RMC, the coasters manufacturer, says the delay is due to the rides launch system. RMC  released an even more in depth statement which the details can be viewed here.

Multiple events such as Coaster Crews Lightning Rod Round Up and Dollywood’s Media Day have come and gone with their new coaster not operating. Now, Dollywood’s signature event dubbed “Thrills in the Hills” has also been postponed. The following notice was displayed on Dollywood’s official website and the park has yet to email or notify attendees who have purchased tickets. Our guess is either the park is waiting until last minute to see if the coaster will be ready to open, or the park is waiting to send a notice until they select the alternate date for the event. Either way, it is frustrating for ticket holders to find out this news from browsing the web… Below is the notice posted on the parks official event page.

The notice states that attendees can get a refund if they contact Dollywood. So if you have a hotel booked, you might want to go ahead and get that canceled before it’s too late!

Here’s a little tease of what the ride will be like once it does open.

We too are bummed about the delay and postponing of the event, but we also are happy to see that safety is their number one priority! How do you feel about the delay of Lightning Rod and the chaos surrounding it? Let us know in the comments below or on our socials!

For tickets, and more information about Dollywood, visit the official website by clicking here.

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