Dollywood, Lake Winnie, Holiday World 3/13 - 3/16

I will be going Lake Winnepesaukah in Chattanooga TN, and Dollywood in Pigeon Forge TN, for the ACE 2005 Spring conference in 6 days. I will be borrowing my Mom's camera, and taking numerous pictures and hopefully a video of the parks. If anyone else is going to this event, let me know so I can find you there.

EDIT: I have decided to drive 200 miles out of my way for a side trip to my favorite theme park, Holiday World. After riding Thunderhead, I can't decide if I like it or The Raven better, so I decided to drive over to Indiana to refresh my memory. I will have lots of coaster pictures from Dollywood and Lake Winnepesaukah, and a park review of Holiday World that you won't want to miss. Stay tuned.

well, only 7 reads and no replys... I guess that's the international sign that nobody cares.

I care..if you take pictures
But yeah, that place looks like a fun little park. Cannonball looks like fun

A ha... I see... I just need to switch the names of the parks. Probably no-one has heard of Lake Winnepesaukah, but I know everyone has heard of Dollywood, with Thunderhead and Tennessee Tornado. And I will be taking as many pictures and video clips as I can.

This convention is turning out GREAT so far. At 8:00 pm, we had a rocking ERT session on Thunderhead, and tomorrow is Day 2 in Pigeon Forge beginning with a tour of Dolly's new water park, and some ERT on Tennessee Tornado. Thunderhead is now in my list of top 5 wood coasters, and Cannon Ball at Lake Winnie was a lot of fun, with all of my fellow crazy coaster enthusiasts. I will be writing reviews of all the parks very soon.

As a new note, I have decided to take a side trip to Holiday World on my way to Ohio, which I have edited into to my itinerary for this trip report...

As another side note: I will be getting my own camera within 10 days, so I will have a real park review complete with a full set of photos and a video for my trips to Hersheypark, Dorney Park, Mount Olympus, and hopefully Knobel's if I have enough money left to go there.

[coolbeans326]

.... Borrowing your mom's camera, that's a first, most people borrow from thier dad's, lol, I can see your going for originality with this one.
If I borrowed my mom's she'd like, go crazy, or something.

Looking forward to those pictures for the picture donation thing [:D]

Did you get any good pictures of the dollywood and lake winnie parks?

Yep. I got 4 pics of Thunderhead, 3 of Tennessee Tornado, and 3 of Cannon Ball at Lake Winnie.

UPDATE: The trip is over, and I will be posting a park review of all 3 parks tonight. I have the scoop on just how good Thunderhead is, and a special insight to the potential 2006 coaster addition at Holiday World. (EXCLUSIVE! I had an interview with the General Manager of Holiday World, and I drove around the employee parking lot "un-noticed" to investigate the construction area.) Also, the review of Dollywood will have coverage of the ACE question and answer session with Chris from Great Coasters International.

Hey CJD, Is this you first ACE event? I've need in ACE since the begining. Well almost, club started in 79 we joined in late 79-80. Been to way to many events. Was going to this event but they just don't do stuff for the little ones and the cost for them is still to much since they can't ride most of the stuff. I'm waiting for next years con. the will be taller to ride most of the stuff.

I have been to Coaster Mania, Timbers Fest, and the Spring Conference (obviously... lol.) I'm only 19, so I just got out of the house with my own finances last year. I try to get out to as many events as I can, but I have a limited budget and limited time so it is hard to do. My trip to Holiday World wasn't really with ACE, but it was only 3 hours out of the way, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to drop by my favorite park...

I really only went to corporate amusement parks as a kid, like Disney, Cedar Point, Universal, Six Flags, and King's Island, but I went on a mission last year to ride as much of the top 5 wood coaster list as I could, so I got out to Timbers Fest and visited Holiday World. Now, like most ACErs, I'm a wood freak. The Legend, The Raven, Shivering Timbers, Thunderhead, that's what I'm talking about. I'm going to try to get out to Knobel's this year if I can afford it, but I can only visit so many parks in a year with my limited budget. ACE events are great... we always have a blast riding the classic woodies, and it's so much fun to be with people that don't just care about height and inversions, and are just at the park to cheer and scream and have a great time. We're all crazy... lol.

mmmm...Holiday World. Also went there last year for the first time, and also really love Raven. Too bad I'm 6 1/2 hours away, or I would've met ya...

Hey, and also, when are you planning on visiting Mount Olympus, because I know that I'll be going up sometime this summer, likely late June/early July.

I really don't know when I am going to squeeze Mount Olympus in. I will probably be going sometime in mid-to-late July on a Thursday or Friday. I can't get there any earlier because I will have to financially recover from my trip to Hersheypark and Dorney Park, which is 3 weeks from now. So July 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, or 29 is the window of a trip to Mount Olympus. Let me know if this matches your schedule.

Yeah, well, if I can get up there one of those days I certainly will try, but I'll talk to you about it when those dates get nearer, because I just don't know what will come up and such.

Spill the beans about Holiday World !

I'm 3/4 done with writing the HW post. I will get it up within the next 2 days.