Returning to The Elusive Lightning Rod - is it as Good as we Remember? Dollywood Vlog April 2023
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- čas přidán 20. 04. 2023
- After being closed for over a week, we managed to catch Lightning Rod right after it reopened to the public, and were surprised at how it was running. It definitely was not as good as we remembered. But at least it was operating!
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I’m sorry, but the fact that it rolled back as Sarah was walking up is just hilarious. What an epic saga of Sarah vs. LRod 😂
Oof what's her luck with the most unreliable of Intamins?
ONE OF THE SCARIEST ROLLER COASTER IN PARC ASTERX, FRANCE ! ! ! !
czcams.com/video/WHYXTkC9V8Y/video.html
Lightning Rod is like that one famous kid in school who peaked in Sophomore Year then fell off and went anonymous as they got older.
So Lightning Rod is Draco Malfoy and Thunderhead in Neville Longbottom
Wow am I Lightning rod?
Every time I’ve been to Dollywood this thing has been up nearly the entire day, and I just can’t get enough. Really can not agree with the people saying it’s overrated.
@Enzo Discovery The best part of the ride has been the demise? In my personal experience, it has never been down more than 15 minutes, and its still insane. This thing has no demise.
@@CaIebGG I'm happy that you have been very lucky with Lightning Rod's uptime. However an objective examination of the coaster's reliability shows that RMC's design was too much too soon. The ride was elite when it ran in it's original form, but it is now a shadow of it's former self.
@@KazDM it is still elite. Downtime does not make a ride “a shadow of its former self”. The ride is still incredible😂
@@CaIebGG But there have been multiple changes to the ride. In fact there was more downtime when it opened. They retracked the whole thing, and the launch used to go all the way to the top, sending you flying over the crest of the hill and making the rest of the course much faster.
Completely agree with you! I never got to ride it in its opening year. My first rides came in 2019, and while I didn't have it as my # 1, I could totally see how it could be someone's # 1. Downtime is irrelevant in regards to how good a ride is, and this is still one of the best in the country, even if some influential youtubers have grown sour on it, either because of frustration (due to downtime) or because they've ridden it so much.
To be fair, it doesn't always run in top form. Considering when Taylor & Sarah were riding this, after an extended downtime, I can see it riding weak at that time. But give it some time running consistently, and I think it'll be back at full strength.
2:35 that was actually golden lol
I feel like converting the wooden launch structure into a steel support structure will decrease the percentage of getting a rollback. In theme park crazy’s video on Lrod he explained that because wooden structures tend to bend more than steel, the lsm’s can misalign with the train, so you end up getting a rollback. If you use steel beams or even a truss it’ll keep the structure more firm, and decrease the amount of misalignments with the lsms.
At SeaWorld Gold Coast when I was a teen if there was no line up for Corkscrew, as the train returned to the station they’d ask “wanna go again?” We’d go “Yeah!!”, and the train would roll straight through the station. Six times without getting off - it was awesome!
Once we went through Lake Compounce's Thunder Rapids raft ride three times that way. Had to go out to the car and change our clothes afterward.
When I was at Dollywood for my 3 days I got 25 consecutive rides on Lightning rod as it was almost never down! My last 2 rides were extremely memorable as I waited about 2 hours for my last rides and the crest over the hill made me cry as the sun beamed through the clouds and trees.
The analogy sarah used for Lrod comapring it to big foot is so perfect
When I last went to Dollywood, I could not get enough thunderhead, that second half was just redone and was smoother then all the steel coasters they have. Unfortunately I didn’t get a run on L Rod. So I guess it remains in my bucket list till I get to Tennessee again.
Shoutout to Tennessee Tornado for having my favorite first drops of all time.
Ahhhh I cannot wait to go to Dollywood!! It’s certainly a major girlboss bucket list park for me. Hopefully LR is running more reliably when I go this summer 🥶 not counting on it tho 😅
Fr.. can't wait for the vlog buddy
Dude you’re gonna love the park. Hopefully LRod is running well for you like it has the majority of my visits
I went way back in 2005 and so much has changed since then. So many new roller coasters.
"have fun you lucky bastards!" hahaha
0:50 When you think you are going to get on it.
Launch Track: “Aww hell naw!”
Seeing the empty LRod queue makes me envious- the only time I visited was fall break, one train ops + queue spilling out entrance + 7 minute dispatches = 3 hour line
This literally makes me want his top 25 even more
PLEASE DO ONE SOOOOOON!!!!!!!
I rode this in August this year, without knowing ANYTHING about the ride; It's launch hill, the whole back half, and it was my first hybrid coaster I've ridden! We went on a school day, so we hadn't seen it operate yet, and every ride was hop on so my friend and I got the front row seats. Dude, I was cussing nonstop up that lift hill, and didn't stop screaming with my hands up the entire way through. Ya'll might not think it's the best ride in the park anymore, but it easily became my favorite coaster right now - even beating my home park of Holiday World's Voyage (I know that's controversial, and yet I stick by it)
I feel that doing the lift structure with steel lattice or truss would have fixed a large part of the problems the ride had, maybe even to go back close to og speed, I didnt get all the Ibox at the end of the ride instead of emphasizing the lift
The way sarah said
“Have fun ya lucky bastards”
So glad you guys managed to get on it! 🎉 Keep up the amazing content 😊
As a guy who has ridden maybe 10 coasters, but wants to ride all of them…. I bet “slow” is still insane to me.
We went in 2019, 2020, and 2021 and never got less than maybe 5 or 6 rides on it. We’ve had amazing LR luck.
Totally agree with the pothole after the first wave turn in the back row. I only have 1 lap on LR from summer 2021 and still remember that jolt lol
They fixed it. Wasn’t there when I rode it the same day they were there. I was in the front tho.
Was there today. While I was there LRod was down. It started testing...
Got a rollback on the train, instead. Train made it up to Thunderhead and broke down. They rolled it back to the station backwards.
Really glad you got so many rides I’ve been lucky visited the park twice from the UK and had multiple rides. I definitely think it’s a night ride though especially when you can’t see what’s in front of you it just feels faster. Thanks for the great update.
Sending good vibes from Winnipeg 😎
I have only been to the park once. I was on and got a rollback which needed my night at Dollywood. It was a great day but a bad way to end the day. It was my only chance to ride it as it had been up and down all day.
Love you two.
I went last year for the first time expecting Lighting Rod to be the best ride at the park, but it was kinda disappointing, and that "pothole" Sarah was talking about I absolutely felt when I rode it. Thunderhead on the other hand, was INCREDIBLE! Easily the best ride in the park IMO.
That’s incredible. Dollywood’s my home park and it’s literally back to 2016 levels of downtime this year. I’ve only gotten two rides this season (on the same day, it’s been closed for the day every other visit I’ve made). I just pretend like it’s not there most visits 😂
Higher chance to go on that bobsled in great escape than at lighting rod
That's simply not true. Lightning Rod closed for weeks to months at a time in 2016.
@@ItsDannyRobbins Is it though? Season’s only a month in, but it has already been closed for weeks at a time, and even when it isn’t closed for weeks at a time it’s basically only sporadic openings for a few hours at a time if you’re lucky. I guess we’ll see as the season progresses, we can only hope things improve
I agree with that wood top 3!
Great ride, top 5 for me, so the fact that enthusiasts are saying Thunderhead is now on its level if not better.... color me very very intrigued. Can't wait to go in June! I swear this thing better be running lol
Avoid August. That is when costers at DW are likely to be closed. Not due to mechanics. But because of yellow jackets that have nested. DW will not disturb Yellow Jacket nest. Therefore if YJs are active the coasters are not.
That'd be a good name for their next coaster, " Yellow Jacket"!
gosh this ride looks awesome
the pothole after the wave turn has been there for awhile now, it was there when I went to Dollywood last year. not a big deal but I hope they fix it up at some point
When i went to the USA last year to visit dollywood, i was lucky enough that lightning rod was open all 3 days i visited dollywood. The longest we waited was about 10 mins i think. That jolt after the wave turn is really terrible but the rest of the ride is amazing. I think we rode it about 15 times in those 3 days and i'm really happy that it was open, because we traveled 20,5 hours to dollywood just for lightning rod 😂 But it was worth it. It was my favourite at the park, then wild eagle and number 3 is thunderhead. It's my 2nd favourite coaster after Zadra
Saw you guys in the station that day!
Driving up from Orlando next Wednesday and Thursday to make use of our passes. Glad to see it got some operational time but I’m still not getting hopeful about it being open.
LR is a game changer, and is relentless. Thunderhead, while probably the best GCI, is no competition. I liked Tennesee Tornado better than Thunderhead.
I don't compare wood coasters with steel, but I was blown away, again, by Tennessee Tornado a few months ago. I've ridden most of the large Arrow loopers since the early 80s & TT is far beyond them all. Even though it's a bit short it's an incredibly enjoyable, smooth coaster with an awesome loop featuring hangtime. Love it! But Thunderhead is a wood coaster & it would be in my top 10, possibly top 5 if I did lists anymore! Presently it's running spectacularly & it's intensity just begins to approach, barely, the insanity of Voyage.
I'm hopefully going to be experiencing Lightning Rod for the first time when I visit at the end of May.
The funny thing is, I went on a dead day last month, and rode the thing 12 times and got 8 rides on thunderhead, and it never closed or rolled back all day 🤣
The past seven times I have ridden Lightning Rod it has closed as soon as I return to the station! Therefore, Taylor and Sarah, I am the cause of your problems, and I sincerely apologize…
Finally got a chance to go to Dollywood this week and yes, LRod was down for 6 of the 8 hours I was at the park. (Although 2 of those hours were because a kid got hit in the face by some dumbass’ phone flying out of his hands. And broke the kids nose.)
That said I did get one ride at the back, and it definitely lived up to its reputation. It was running fast and loose and that launch was full speed. Unfortunately by the time I got back in line after my ride it had a rollback and was closed again. So living up to both reputations.
Best ride of the day went to an after-dark back-row TN Tornado. Empty train except for me and one couple in the front row. Did that ride twice in the day and the late night run was a night and day difference. (No pun intended) It ran much quicker and actually got me close to a gray-out on the second loop. Great air time in the back row with the empty train and almost made me forget it was an Arrow with how smooth the ride was.
When I went on vacation there for two days it only broke down once. I’m pretty lucky you could say
the launch "nothing quite like that in the world" you've done space moutain at DLP!
I need that guys EPCOT shirt NOW!!!
At 3:50 y'all are loving on Thunderhead as better than Lightning Rod and the best ride in the park! Someone said it's running better than it ever has. YES! I was there in October 2022, just months ago. My 5th time at Dollywood since Thunderhead opened in 04. I've always loved it & rate it highly, but it feels more intense than ever now! Did I hear it's had recent work? Anyway, in 2 days I rode it around 30 times & couldn't get enough! The night rides reminded me of the intensity of Voyage! It was unreal! Astounding! powerful! I was in shock! I really like Lightning Rod and rode it about 15 times those 2 days, but Thunderhead now rules Dollywood, one of the best roller coasters in the world!
I guess I'm lucky. I live local and have never seen it do this. This is a great coaster for amazing air time. Thunderhead is to rough for this 67 year old lady. Wild Eagle is my favorite Dollywood ride. But I do enjoy Lightning Rod. It's just to short of a ride. So looking forward to Bear Mountain.
watching this as I just literally returned from a trip to dollywood where lightning rod didn’t open! 😑
4:20 nice save lol
My favorite part of this channel is when you video yourself riding the rides.
Last year I went on it 4 times and it didn't go down at all (that I know of lol)! I'm so sorry for your guys bad luck with Lightning Rod!
I rode it one time and as soon as it launched, it rained it it felt like NEEDLES
I have been to dollywood three times. Once was the year before it opened due to bad planning. The next was the year after closed to be redone. The last was more recent, and it was closed. In that time I have been on Gwazi, Vengeance, among other RMCs, I am not even wanting to rife it as I think it might be atop my list anymore, I just wanna ride to ride it for gods sake (and the quad down looks so fun). The theme park gods don't like me 😅 but actually 🙃😞
I rode lightning rod 7 times in october of 2022. I must say its a good ride, although it has constant down time
This is amazing compared with my last experiences on these two coasters: when LR was incontrovertibly one of the top coasters in the world and Thunderhead had become such a jackhammery joke that it had no line even on a crowded day.
Thunderhead was super average for me, but so was Lightning Rod. I want to experience this great Lightning Rod I hear about.
@@Marty_NZ Lightning Rod was not my absolute favorite but at its peak it was clearly a world-class coaster. The airtime was violent, and my favorite aspect was that it had the most exhilarating pacing of any coaster I’ve ever ridden. I haven’t ridden it in a while now so can’t speak to its current state. I do hear very different things from different people, though.
@@StamfordBridge yeah, it's starting to become the most controversial coaster in my opinion. To think this was Taylor's number 1 in his last top 25 video, and now Thunderhead is apparently better, crazy talk! I just love how I did quite a few RMCs in the same trip so there was no recency bias involved, yet Lightning Rod was a solid second worst RMC of my trip, only to be beaten out by Jersey Devil. Still by no means a bad coaster, in fact it's still really good. Just doesn't hold a candle to the others. Blows my mind.
i have been to dollywood once and got 13 rides around august. its all luck based.
I have to disagree with these statements about Lightning Rod. I finally made it to Dollywood for my first ever time back in March. Both days I went were in the 30s and 40s, but it didn’t matter. I thought Lightning Rod was incredible! I got 7 rides over the two days I was there, and while my first two were a tad slow, the rest of them were pure insanity. The sheer speed, airtime, and pacing, plus the crazy terrain makes this my favorite RMC (I’ve ridden Steel Vengeance, Twisted Timbers, Goliath, and Twisted Colossus for comparison) and is my number 2 out of the 152 credits I have (non RMC rides it beats include Fury 325, Intimidator 305, X2, Skyrush, Phantom’s Revenge, Thunderhead, Magnum XL-200, and Maverick, among others). Such an amazing ride!
Also my favorite RMC it’s so weird to see people say it’s overrated
@@CaIebGG It makes no sense to me. I’ve timed POVs from all the years the ride has been open (and all conditions) starting from the first drop and they all timed around 40 seconds! The slowed launch only affects the Dolly. It’s still one of the greatest coasters ever built!
@@garminkidIn my experience, and as one myself, roller coaster enthusiasts just love to talk about the good old days. For me, Lightning Rod will always have a spot in my top 10.
@@CaIebGG Well said
Hey guys, I am probably going to get a lot of hate from saying this but I find you guys as such an inspiration to me and you are what REALLY got me into being an enthusiast in the first place, and I thank you for that.
You’re so welcome! I don’t know why you think that’s something people would hate you for, we’re happy to hear we could help play a part in you becoming an enthusiast :)
I don’t know why I worded it like that, but I don’t mean it in that way. Thank you for a reply
2 years later and the train is still rolling backwards!
We got like 12 rides in last October across 2 days. The ride only shut down the first day to a good ol medical emergency.
Lol that launch system RMC used
I was just at Dollywood two weeks ago and missed out on Lightning Rod. I was so mad
I went to Dollywood for the first time last year, and while L-Rod is definitely great, it was somewhat disappointing. Haven't rode a TON of RMCs - I've done Wicked Cyclone, Twisted Timbers, Twisted Cyclone, and Outlaw Run - and I'd probably put it behind Outlaw Run and Twisted Timbers. Still great, but I wish I had been able to check it out when it opened.
Thunderhead is a great, and underrated coaster, but it's still not better than Lightning Rod.
However, you really can't separate your frustration with Lightning Rod. Its reliability really is *that bad.* And stressing over even getting a single ride can taint your trip to Dollywood.
Thunderhead in contrast has no such stresses, and is tied with Tennessee Tornado as best ops in the park.
Sorry for braking it! That rollback was great though!
You just gotta catch LRod at the right times, it’s best to catch it at the start of the summer when it’s hotter
Y'know, I do wonder if eventually L'rod is going to be "un-nerfed" I'm sure there are things they could do both as technology progresses and as they have more time and data. I suppose the issue with it is maybe the slop is too sharp and that's why it ends up rolling back a lot.
It took me all week going to the park to finally get to ride this ride. It was worth it but needs to be fix permanently or close it until it work all the time.
If my dating life were a roller coaster it would be lightning rod
She was flying when i was there for Christmas
I was there in early April and it was closed my whole trip 😢
this is truly unfortunate LMAO (i’m at the beginning right now) HAHA.
I rode it last year (consecutive years now) multiple times, and I love this coaster! Towards the end of the day it was hauling and is absolutely world class! Thunderhead is cool, but it’s standout moments are lame by comparison, and for me it doesn’t even come close.
Sarahs 3rd Ride!
2 trains most of the day last sunday apr 16th
No, spoilers Brian!!!
I’ve gotten 18 rides on a two day trip last year, with almost ten rides each day. Too much of a sucker for rmc to drop it below thunderhead
About two weeks ago I got in the line for lightning rod 5 times and each time it broke down before I got on😢
The first time I went it was open but some A-hole was smoking in line so we had to evacuate
The first RMC'd RMC.
I think the reason it rollback is because the train nor track have weight sensors that could adjust the launch to better more force forwards the trains instead of rolling back
It’s still sad that enthusiasts have to fight to ride Lrod. Even with the retrack and launch slowdown, it still looks hard to get the credit 😢
Taylor: "Not running up to normal speed"
Normal speed: 0mph
LOL
Yall need to go to the sister park Silver doller city and ride the absolute work of art named outlaw run. (Speaking of rmc woodies)
I've been many times! It's amazing! -Taylor
Dollywood is my home park and I rode Lightning Rod before it went down and it is slow at first but when you ride it at the end of the day front or back row it feels how it did back in 2019. Honestly still my number one RMC and coaster in general. Some how better than Steve. Also thunderhead the second best ride at Dollywood is now as good as mystic Timbers. But lightning rod later in the day is like Steel Vengeance and Maverick in one coaster.
PS I have been on Lightning Rod 196 times
This was the experience I had when I went to Dollywood for my very first time back during opening week of this year! My morning rides were a little slow but my evening rides were hauling! It’s my favorite RMC out of the 5 I’ve done (Lightning Rod, Steel Vengeance, Twisted Timbers, Goliath, and Twisted Colossus) and my overall #2 out of 152 coasters, sitting behind only VelociCoaster. Incredible ride!
I see that they still haven’t fixed the pothole after the wave turn. :( That alone really takes this ride down a solid two or three notches for me!
Reliability seems to be somewhere between Hypersonic XLC and Ring Racer.
It's a shame you guys have had such bad luck on this ride, it was running so well all last year
Dollywood should update their policies for a launch failure to be capable of relaunching once without a full evacuation. As long as the relaunch is successful, operations can continue like normal. Similar to a rollback on formerly Top Thrill Dragster relaunching the full train and continuing operations unless there was some other kind of issue.
Idk how I feel about Lighting Rod..The first time it was amazing! night ride and couldn't really tell what was happening. Second time during the day it was okay...seemed kind of more rough than I though it would be. Last summer it was honestly not fun. Rough and uncomfortable had a headache. Did NOT have the same feeling after many rides on SV. SV is intense but not rough. Idk not the most fun.
Also makes me sad that I never got the OG experience. I know people have said "except that it went faster up and over the first hill its the same" Ive seen the breakdowns how the ride isn't slower overall than before, and how better equipment/diff angles make it look slower/less insane etc etc but idk, it seems it just isn't quite the same. Not the first time I've gotten to ride just to find its been neutered/simply isn't the same as it was. Lesson learned, I try to go opening season always now lol but yeah sad I'll never know the true LRod. I even heard at first they hoped they'd return it to its original speed but clearly not..nor can they get it to run reliably :(
I’m worried about the Amusement Park industry as a whole. Parks are losing guests left and right and many parks are still having issues with staffing.
I mean … listen, lightning rod is a great ride. There’s no debate. HOWEVER, I can see why people would think it’s overrated etc.
thunderhead is running laps around it right now though.. lightning rod isn’t in its prime anymore, and that’s fine. It’s still plagued with sensor issues, launch issues, etc.
I really don’t know what else there is for Dollywood to do other than continue to put temporary bandaids on it.
They are going to do EVERYTHING they can to not take the ride out.
I wonder if they could swap the LSMs with drive tires like Hulk. That thing has a CRAZY launch and is also very reliable. My other idea is that they just give up on the launch in general and install a chain lift, but I’m not huge fan of that despite the fact that the ride would probably be reliable with a lift hill.
hey guys, we are currently planning a 4 week trip to the US next year. Would end of April/beginning of May be a good time to visit the parks in Orlando/Tampa regarding the crowd size? Spring break should be over, right? We would visit the parks during the week.. thanks for your advice
I feel like that strategy seems perfect. Not quite peak summer temps yet, less crowds because of going during the week, and just after spring break season winds down
I just rode Lighting rod and it felt like a low tier RMC, felt like i had taken a crazy pill after all the hype
I do wish the launch was more intense than it was before, it doesn't look as fast, as it kind of NEEDS to use the chain lift at the top. Before, the chain lift was kind of useless
If they’re having trouble with roll backs hear me out, why did they slow it down??? I went may 2018 and rode it 4 times, don’t recall it going down when I tried to ride.
Luckily the only time i've ever been to Dollywood Lightning Rod was open and ran smoothly all day so I got to ride it twice. Guess it's just luck.
it really sucks that this ride has issues so often, meaning it might not be around for a super long time. lightning rod is my favorite coaster of all time (and thats saying something, considering i live in florida less than an hour and a half drive away from iron gwazi) and i get truly sad to see that the ride is down so often
Lol, they aren’t going to ever get rid of this ride. If anything they will just add a chain lift and take the humps out, I honestly think they should do that anyway
@@mattcollins3591 thats true. but even then i dont think it would even be capable of being considered the same ride anymore. the launch was sort of the reason why it was created in the first place, and getting rid of the main feature that sets it apart would drastically change the ride experience to the point where i dont think i could even consider it the same roller coaster anymore
I've missed Lightning Rod twice
cant they replace the launch?
Thunderhead is the best head.