You may think that nothing happens during the off season at Dollywood, but you’ll be surprised to learn they work on all kinds of stuff! Specifically, the Dollywood roller coasters get all kinds of updates. Keep reading to find out more about the Dollywood roller coasters being updated during their off season:
Updating Dollywood Roller Coasters
Dollywood has a director of rides maintenance that ensures guests are safe and rides are working properly, especially during the off season. There is a maintenance shop within the park that is used for working on rides throughout the park. It is 10,000 square feet, and it services all of the main roller coasters.
Every year, all of the Dollywood roller coasters are disassembled for maintenance. They undergo Non-Destructive Testing, then are inspected, and reassembled with new fasteners. There are three major kinds of NDTs, including magnet particle, dye penitent and ultrasound. At Dollywood, they use magnet particle testing. When the metal car on a roller coaster has a magnet current through it, the team will spray metal particles onto the frame, and if there are any cracks, the particles will outline the crack so they can fix it.
Each roller coaster train takes about 4 to 5 weeks to completely do each train. When Dollywood roller coasters are waiting to be worked on, they are parked and waiting on custom-built carriers. Once they go through all of the testing and reassembling, they are returned to the ride.
Special Maintenance on Coasters
Some roller coasters have special maintenance protocols compared to the other ones. For example, the Dragonflier has its own custom-built racks to hang the chassis on so they can be disassembled, serviced, and reassembled easily.
Wild Eagle and Blazing Fury are two of the roller coaster in the theme park that aren’t taken to the maintenance shop. These roller coasters have their own workshops. When you’re on Wild Eagle at the end of the ride before you head back into the station, you’ve probably seen the building to the right. Blazing Fury’s shop is located in the center of the ride. All the rest of the coasters go to the maintenance shop.
Most Recent Roller Coaster Updates
This past off season, some of the coasters have been updated. For the last few seasons, the wood on Thunderhead’s track has been replaced. Lightning Rod is debuting its hybrid track structure in the spring of 2021. Blazing Fury has also gotten some track work done, and Mystery Mine is having some of its track replaced to make the ride smoother.
Dollywood isn’t still in their off season though. The theme park just opened March 13, so you can go enjoy all of these Dollywood roller coasters! Be sure to check out these things you should know about Dollywood before you go!
Wondering what else you should do when you’re in Pigeon Forge? Here are some attractions in Pigeon Forge you should check out!
