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1 Rating Posted by: Red Rascal on 12/31/2004 6:15:00 PM

Times ridden: 1 ~ Ride experience: 7 ~ Layout: 7 ~ Fun factor: 8 ~ Landscaping: 10 ~ Evaluation: Dollywood Express is a nice, long and relaxing, not to mention nostalgic, ride through the woods. I found the ride to be fun and different than other train rides that Ive been on, in that there isnt much to see. When riding a train for enjoyment and relaxation, and not to get from point A to boint B, Id like to see things other than woods and parking lot. It would be much nicer if they added some kind of storyline to the ride to make it more fun. Its sad when you have to pass the same scene twice, and see everything over again a second time. Thats probably the only downside to this ride. Aside from that, Dollywood Express offers guests some relief after a long day of walking. They play songs sang by Dolly herself and say a joke or two here and there. Theres a great feeling that you get when youre pulled by a historic locomotive that one cant find at every amusement park. The train itself is marvelous, but the ride experience lacks a lot, or it could be that my ride was in the dark and I didnt see everything Dollywood Express has to offer.

No Story Line, what the crap? Did you not listen to the announcer?

I did, and there was no story, no theme, no nothing. All he said was a joke or two, introduced the conductors, and said "to our left, we can see [a bear]." I cant possibly see how some of you view this as the best train ride ever at an amusement park. Cedar Points CP & LE RR is the best example of what an amusement park train ride should be, I think.

O.K if there is no story to it then how do you explain the gun fight, when the (actors) pull people off the train and make them part of the act! And it DOES deserve a 10, and I thought TPOLKMikes review was bogus, yours is even worse!

There was no gun fight, no one was pulled off of the train, and there was no act, plain and simple. The ride doesnt deserve a ten in my book. This is my opinion of the ride, not yours. I can care less if you agree with it or disagree, the rating, and review, stay the same.

The Cedar Point train just passes through that Skeleton Town thing. I wouldnt call that a story. That train would be better if the park didnt cut the hell out of its budget to where they can only afford to maintain two locomotives.

Ive never been on an amusement park train that had a story line. The trains at W.Disney World, Busch Gardens (Tampa and Williamsburg), & Six Flags in Atlanta dont have storylines...they just take you around the park and point out the sites and attractions.

One of the reasons I like the train at Dollywood is because it actually leaves the confines of the park. Most trains just loop around the walkways and rides, while the Dollywood train heads out into the woods and winds back around the mountain above Tennessee Tornado.

Dollywood use to have a train robbery, but it was stupid (in the later years anyway) so they stopped doing it to increase capacity.

I gave the Dollywood Express a ten just because of the train itself. Dollywood has full-size steam locomotives that were used by the army during WW2, while most parks (like Disneyland and Cedar Point) either have 5/8th scale replica locomotives or puny little factory and plantation engines.

Hopefully my post will remain paragraphed...

See, if I were to rate the locomotive itself, it would easily get a 10. The ride is boring, it passes by a few rides and the bear exhibit thing. Cedar Points train is much better to me because it goes next to and underneath the rides, which makes the ride exciting. To tell you the truth, I had more fun on MiAs little Chance train. If they added a few themed buildings or whatever here and there along the rides layout, it would boost the rides experience greatly and add more fun to it. Right now, the only thing that makes this train ride stand out is its locomotive, other than that, theres pretty much nothing special about the ride.

The train does have themed buildings along the track...didnt you see the cabins, the depot up by the (upper) switch, the horse stables?

Dont remember it. It was pretty dark when we rode it (around 7pm). There was something I noticed by the turnaround (when you start going towards the bear thing a second time), but didnt know what it was.

This ride is perfect as is, and they only make one round at "dark" and that is at dusk if you consider that dark, and if you couldnt see a building at dusk then you are blind!

It started getting dark around 6. I dont think you know this, but in winter, it tends to get darker earlier than in summer. Or perhaps youve never visited the park during winter. The train ran till the park closed; that day it was 9.

Well, Im not calling you a liar, but when I went in November the train quit running after dusk! And I know abut the whole time change, I only live about an hour and a half away!

All the times Ive been during the Smoky Mountain Christmas they run the train until half an hour before the park closes. Maybe it had mechanical problems on the day you went coasterdad, so they closed it early?

I dont know, I was in line and they said the train would make no more runs that dat, it was about 6:00 p.m so you are probably right!

The ride is bring? Well, if you are expecting a ride on the level of a roller coaster you will be disappointed, but the ride does indeed have a plot and some nice scenery and beautiful wildlife. You probably didnt encounter any bears or anything did you?

I didnt ride Dollywood Express, but I can understand some of Reds points. I really enjoyed the Trains and SFFT and CP because they give the great and unique views of other rides and coasters.

Bobfunland, there was no plot, period. The only bear we saw was the anamatronic one, along with a campsite, and a guy up a tree with a Santa costume on. The scenery wouldve been much better and the wildlife wouldve been out if it was warmer, and the trees still had leaves, I would think. Im sure the ride is totally different in summer than in winter, but until I ride it then, I only have the winter experience which wasnt that fun.

Larrygator, Im glad you feel the same way I do. Does the train at SFFT go through the quarry wall?

I dont see what sort of "plot" you are looking for, what do you mean?

Like a story to go along with the ride, or something to spurce it up and make it more enjoyable. The bear/campground theming is a nice start.

Red - yes the train at SFFT goes through the a tunnel into in quarry wall and underneath the outer edges of both The Rattler and Superman: Krypton Coaster

It sounds like it gives some nice views. Ive always wanted to visit SFFT; hopefully, I can get there in a few years.

I was only there for a long weekend but the RiverWalk area of San Antonio is a really nice. However, the Tex/Mex food on the RiverWalk at everyplace on the Riverwalk is sub par.

Campground theming? You mean logging & frontier theming.

I didnt mean in general, only that the piece of theming was a campground and a bear, if youd even consider that theming.

Eh.. just a question, I averaged your four preliminary ratings and came up with an 8, what gives?

The overall score is based on the ride experience alone. I just throw in the other ratings for added opinion. A ride could be excellent, but it could also have bad landscaping which, if I averaged the totals, would give a low overall score, and I dont like that.

Thats fine, but you said that the landscaping is worth a 10 yet you say there is no plot and that the stuff in the woods sucks, right? Im ok with the review, Im just confused with some of the logic behind it, thats all.

Landscaping, as in forest/woods. The only thing in the woods is the campground and the fake bear. Am I missing something?

Well, there are the moonshiners amongst other shanties back in the woods, but some of it you would have been unable to see after the sun sets. By the way, dukeis#1 (man I have such a difficult time writing that phrase) made an awesome comment in #5, Id just like to re-iterate that. RIP to the General and the Texas.

"Landscaping, as in forest/woods. The only thing in the woods is the campground and the fake bear. Am I missing something?"

Well, you rode it at night, so I think you missed a lot...

OK, then here is what you may have missed:

Collapsing shanty

Dont remember what this was

Train depot with old buggies

I think this is a long view of the General Store

A log cabin

The General Store fascade

View of Thunderhead as you pass by it

There you go, for your entertainment to show you that it is a fairly elaborate set up in the daytime. Also, Im sure you saw the locomotive so I wont throw any pics of it up there... I hope this helps 8)

Nice pics, Bob. Im afraid I havent seen any of those, except for the nice view of Thunderhead, and possibly the thing in the second link. The rating and review will probably change the next time I ride this ride, and this time, Ill make sure to ride while the sun is still out. ;^)

No prob, just wanted to point some stuff out. At least you defended it, and that warrents a :thumbsup:

Atleast he did ride it unlike -sts- on the Thunderhead

Its crazy. Some loony people want to see their favorite ride at the top, so they resort to giving better rated rides a low score just to see that happen. The funny thing is, it doesnt even work well.

Yea, thats what the "olympic" system is for. Too bad though...

I really like the Dollywood Express and personally think it deserves a 10, but since Red Rascal did defend his rating I respect it and understand his reasoning. I think Bob and everyone else understands now why you only gave it a 7.

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