Would be more interested seeing it compared to the launch as it was towards the end. The original launch was obviously the best, but the launch towards the end cut the power towards the top so you would slow WAY down before cresting the hill, i'm guessing that is much more similar to what it is now.
This ride peaked so hard in 2016, it just kept falling all the time in my rankings that I had to denote that specifically 2016 Lightning rod was elite and not now
i rode it sept 2016. i came off my legs shaking so bad i could barely make it down the exit stairs. we rode it 3 times that day. haven't been back since but i have followed the sad steady complete and total emasculation of this ride. i wouldn't ride it this way. btw two of the three times we rode it i got smacked in the head by someones water bottle or something. RIP Lightning Rod
Jeezes, they made it worse. I went there twice this year, (April and August) and only rode it once the first time in April. It CRAWLS to the top before the quadruple-down. And it just sucks now knowing what it once was. (I rode it when the launch was still there). When I came back in August, I chose not to ride this, and had much more fun marathoning Blazing Fury 10 or so times.
It's interesting how just a launch can make a ride gas or ass. Why doesn't Dollywood at least make the lift hill taller? Then it might get back to its original speed. Lightning Rod looks like 💩now 😡
Totally agree. The Coasterforce video used was from March and early in the morning. Which is why the train is so slow through the course. This is not a good comparison. A good comparison would be the launch as it was in 2023 fully warmed up with a fully warmed up chain version of the ride.
Would be more interested seeing it compared to the launch as it was towards the end. The original launch was obviously the best, but the launch towards the end cut the power towards the top so you would slow WAY down before cresting the hill, i'm guessing that is much more similar to what it is now.
This ride peaked so hard in 2016, it just kept falling all the time in my rankings that I had to denote that specifically 2016 Lightning rod was elite and not now
i rode it sept 2016. i came off my legs shaking so bad i could barely make it down the exit stairs. we rode it 3 times that day. haven't been back since but i have followed the sad steady complete and total emasculation of this ride. i wouldn't ride it this way. btw two of the three times we rode it i got smacked in the head by someones water bottle or something. RIP Lightning Rod
Jeezes, they made it worse. I went there twice this year, (April and August) and only rode it once the first time in April. It CRAWLS to the top before the quadruple-down. And it just sucks now knowing what it once was. (I rode it when the launch was still there). When I came back in August, I chose not to ride this, and had much more fun marathoning Blazing Fury 10 or so times.
yeah, sadly I was never able to ride it with the launch.😭
It looks a lot slower with the chain lift now in comparison to the launch
Heartbreaking
It's interesting how just a launch can make a ride gas or ass. Why doesn't Dollywood at least make the lift hill taller? Then it might get back to its original speed. Lightning Rod looks like 💩now 😡
I do think Dollywood should just make the lift 10-20 mph to get it up to the original speed.🙂
Yeah ok, so you compared the original high speed launch that was short lived to a cold train that was running slow. Not a fair comparison at all. Next
I might make another comparison, hopefully a better one
It just says old vs new. The video title is accurate.
Totally agree. The Coasterforce video used was from March and early in the morning. Which is why the train is so slow through the course. This is not a good comparison. A good comparison would be the launch as it was in 2023 fully warmed up with a fully warmed up chain version of the ride.