Lightning Rod

On Friday August 7, 2015, Dollywood formally announced their highly anticipated addition for the 2016 season:  Lightning Rod.  This wooden coaster will be built by Rocky Mountain Construction and will be the world’s fastest wooden coaster.  It will also be the first wooden coaster with a launch. 

In addition to the launched lift hill, the hot-rod themed ride will feature a top speed of 73 mph, 20 seconds of airtime, a 165 foot drop, a non-inverting loop, two 90 degree turns, and a ridiculous quadruple down element.

The coaster will be located in the Jukebox Junction section of the park and will take advantage of the scenic Smoky Mountain terrain that encompasses Dollywood.

My Initial Thoughts:

• This ride looks awesome.  I’m a sucker for launched coasters, and there's nothing better than an airtime filled wooden coaster, so to have those experiences combined a single attraction is a dream come true.
• I’m glad they went with the name “Lightning Rod”.  It’s much better than the name “Shot Rod” that the park also trademarked.
• I’m a little surprised that they didn’t add any inversions.  I don’t think it will take away from the ride at all, but inversions seem to be a staple for RMC coasters.
• I wonder how intense the launch will be.  Most of the launched coasters I have been on have had the launch parallel to the ground, so it will be interesting to see how the angled lift will affect the intensity of the LSM launch.
• This is a very minor gripe, but I would love to see some tunnels added.  How cool would it be to experience that quadruple down in complete darkness?

Lightning Rod is going to be a great addition to an already amazing park.  I highly recommend a trip to Dollywood if you’ve never been.  I’m looking forward to getting back there and experiencing this awesome ride.