Dollywood can’t seem to catch a break. The park’s record breaking, and one of a kind coaster, Lightning Rod has been open for just a week, and now, due to a manufacturers recall, the ride is down once again.
The park had a notification on it’s website, stating that the problem was with all Rocky Mountain Coasters.
Lightning Rod is closed today. Rocky Mountain Construction ordered all of its roller coasters closed until further notice as a recalled mechanical part is replaced. Please watch for updates.
Similarly, Wildfire at Swedish Park Kolmarden would be delayed, as the park posted a similar message on their website:
Wildfire will not open today due to technical problems.
Producers have drawn attention to a risk of a manufacturing defect on a part that’s sitting in the trains.
We haven’t discovered something wrong with our train, but for us it is a matter of course to follow the instructions from the producers of the track. We are so sorry for those who looked forward to go wildfire today and next few days and working very hard to as quickly as possible to get the track, however, we expect that it will take at least 3-5 days.
Rocky Mountain Coasters have been instrumental in the wooden coaster renaissance, that has brought amazing new rides to life. Wooden coasters now have steeper drops, hugely overbanked turns, and amazing inversions and maneuvers that were not possible before.
The coasters have found their home to several parks, including Outlaw Run at Silver Dollar City, Twisted Colossus at Six Flags Magic Mountain, Wicked Cyclone at Six Flags New England, The Joker at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, Storm Chaser at Kentucky Kingdom and New Texas Giant at Six Flags Over Texas.
It’s a bit alarming when Dollywood says that all coasters have been closed by RMC, and many other coasters are still running that were made by the same company.
Six Flags had said that they had not been notified, but were going to look into. Kentucky Kingdom cleared it up best when they posted about it on Twitter.
What's your source of info? That is incorrect. According to president of RMC, it does not include StormChaser @TravisCoaster
— Kentucky Kingdom (@KentuckyKingdom) June 19, 2016
It appears to be a problem with a piece that was only installed on two of the newest coasters. The problem appears to be with a piece that was installed on only Lightning Rod and WildFire, and are not affecting other rides. Those rides could be up and running by next weekend.
So, despite what the news reports and announcements are saying, the coasters from Rocky Mountain Construction are not “unsafe”, and you can still ride them without any fear…well, without any added fear anyway. There are only two coasters involved in the recall, and they were shut down as a preventive measure.
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