Dollywood | Lightning Rod | Launched RMC

[Boris1981]

No news yet - I will be at the park this weekend and bring back whatever update I can.

Did you get any infos about the coaster during your trip?

 

[Hyde]

Snoo and I had the chance to visit the park over the weekend for my Bachelor Party (yay!). Daily work was happening on the LSM launch both Saturday and Sunday, with crane activity and folks moving up and down the lift.

[facebookpost]https://www.facebook.com/CoasterForce/posts/10153456304803639[/facebookpost]

In other news, USA Today released a story last week, making mention of a target for opening in late April. So possibly over the next two weeks? http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/ex ... /82717528/

Dollywood planned to debut the coaster in late March soon after the park opened for the 2016 season. As one of the most anticipated thrill rides of the year, I made my way to the foothills of the Smoky Mountains hoping to give Lightning Rod a whirl. Unfortunately, the prototype ride developed some snafus with its launch system and was not operating during my visit. The park is hoping to open the coaster by late April.

 

[Boris1981]

Nice pictures and thanks for the update!
Hope that late April/spring rumor is true.

 

[ECG]

Snoo and I had the chance to visit the park over the weekend for my Bachelor Party (yay!). Daily work was happening on the LSM launch both Saturday and Sunday, with crane activity and folks moving up and down the lift.

[facebookpost]https://www.facebook.com/CoasterForce/posts/10153456304803639[/facebookpost]

In other news, USA Today released a story last week, making mention of a target for opening in late April. So possibly over the next two weeks? http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/ex ... /82717528/

Dollywood planned to debut the coaster in late March soon after the park opened for the 2016 season. As one of the most anticipated thrill rides of the year, I made my way to the foothills of the Smoky Mountains hoping to give Lightning Rod a whirl. Unfortunately, the prototype ride developed some snafus with its launch system and was not operating during my visit. The park is hoping to open the coaster by late April.

Yeah. They're busting their butts trying to get the launch working correctly. RMC is also having to do some additional work and have sent their best guy down there to stay on top of things, but they're still not able to say exactly when it will be ready. Hopefully it will be sooner rather than later, but two weeks? That's really pushing it a bit.

 

[Jarrett]

Next Son of Beast. Calling it now.

Just kidding. But in all seriousness, this really bites and I really hope they get it working soon. This seems like one of those things my girlfriend would do for her PR crisis communication homework and I really hope this doesn't become a huge problem for the park.

 

[shawnoc]

It's like any new tech, there is going to be issues. They should speak to Alton Towers, they are specialists with issues with new coaster tech.

 

[Snoo]

The ride sure is pretty in person.

 

[Hyde]

This seems like one of those things my girlfriend would do for her PR crisis communication homework and I really hope this doesn't become a huge problem for the park.

I'll go ahead and put my BA in Communication to action:

[CrisisCommunicationMonologue]

Crisis Communication is often views as a simple formula: "X incident happened, so we much have Y response." If you are willing to take a deeper dive however, Crisis Communication is focused on the shaping of Meaning that arises from an event or activity. And since "Meaning" is a social construct (that is, determined by shared assumptions of a group of people, and not having one wholistically true definition in reality), Crisis Communication is focused on how to prepare and executive a series of actions to steer the Meaning of a crisis. A top scholar in Crisis Communication, Timothy Coombs, describes three threats as they relate to managing crisis for an organization:

1. Public Safety
2. Financial Loss
3. Reputation Loss

So the challenge for Dollywood is to frame the conversation around Lightning Rod's delay in a positive light, so as to mitigate possible loss of revenue or reputation. A major advantage Dollywood has in this case was both time to prepare for the delayed opening, and the fact that there has not been injury caused to park visitors (e.g. Smiler at Alton, NTG at SFOG, Raptor at CP). I would argue that Dollywood has been able to accomplish a successful communication strategy thanks to the following factors and actions:

1. Defining Lightning Rod as a (rightfully) state-of-the-art world attraction. Communicating the complexity of the launch system and the first-of-its-kind-ness (hah, fun word) of Lightning Rod helps Dollywood emphasize the precision required for the construction of the ride. The definition on Dollywood's home page summarizes their approach best:

Lightning Rod will not be open to the general public at this time due to extended ride commissioning. Lightning Rod is an innovative ride featuring new technology never before used on a wooden coaster. The ride manufacturer asked for additional time to commission the ride.

2. Linking the delayed opening to ensuring rider safety. Harkening back to Coombs' three threats, by positively linking a delayed opening to a threat, you are able to actually mitigate two threats of crisis: Boosting your reputation for taking the time to ensure safety of a ride.

3. Good communication to visitors. Dollywood has taken steps to actively communicate with visitors about the status of Lightning Rod. Throughout our weekend visit to Dollywood, we were alerted to the delay of Lightning Rod's opening through:

- Dollywood.com website banner
- Dollywood Phone Help Line (I was calling to confirm the coldest temperature at which rides can operate - 40 degrees Fahrenheit is the answer)
- Lunch Board signs in front of the Dollywood entrance:

Again, Crisis Communication is about shaping the meaning of an incident. I have every right to be upset about Lightning Rod being closed - Dollywood has no control over that. But what they do have is the ability to alert guests to the delay, and explain the reason behind it's closure.

4. They know their audience. We all know people who have planned trips to visit Dollywood this year for the sole intention of riding Lightning Rod. HOWEVER, the majority of park goers are visiting the park for other attractions, shows, and motives. In many ways, Lightning Rod is not a deal breaker for those who visit Dollywood. And if it is? The park is taking steps to help reschedule those guests, such as the delay of the Thrills in the Hills event for later in the season.

[/Monologue]

 

[jay37415]

word on the street is that they placed the trains back on the track earlier this week. Hopefully they are doing some night testing. and we really are looking at a late April date.

some pictures got posted on Instgram of the (beautiful) station. see for yourself..

 

[Boris1981]

I am also hoping that late April rumour is true, if anybody is down there this weekend, I will be happy to see some testing stuff/pictures

 

[WindyCityTy]

Someone last week posted (maybe on Instagram) a photo of the cars being placed back on the track which is great to see. Hopefully that means they are getting ready to test soon, if they haven't started already. It's winding down to 5 weeks until I leave for Tennessee. I'm trying not to get my hopes too high for Lightning Rod being open but it's hard not to.

 

[jay37415]

A little tidbit of information I got from a park employee that I am following on Instagram.

Each day the coaster is delayed, RMC is loosing money on the project. That leads me to believe that Dollywood has a clause in their contract with RMC that says if it is not open by a certain date, then the contractor is fined each day it is behind. Similar to clauses DoT puts in highway construction contracts.

So it is safe to assume that RMC is working feverishly to get LR up and running and hand the keys over to DW. (pun intended). A lot of people are speculating that the opening date will be the weekend of Dolly's homecoming (may 6) but I just think that they want it running ASAP.

And TY- if you've never been to the park before. try the cinnamon bread.

 

[DelPiero]

^
To be honest, I wouldn't think that any company providing cutting edge technology would agree to Late Delivery/Completion Penalties. RMC have enough interest and business to refuse this project, and probably would have negotiated that clause out. If they did agree to it, it would be watered down, certainly not a daily penalty, and they would probably have copied that clause into the terms with the Launch provider.

 

[Gazza]

I think liquidated damages clauses are pretty much standard though...It's up to RMC to factor in potential delays to their programme.

 

[Chris Brown]

Imagine if this project caused RMC to go bust like arrow with X and SFMM

 

[Hyde]

^ I wouldn't think so. Remember, what is at issue are non-RMC LSM components from Velocity Magnetics.

 

[Chris Brown]

I know I know, was hoping to send a few RMC fanboys into hysteria but you rumbled me too quickly!

 

[DelPiero]

I think liquidated damages clauses are pretty much standard though...It's up to RMC to factor in potential delays to their programme.

I wouldn't know in the Coaster World, but in my profession we will exclude them for certain products, but will accept them for others.
They certainly wouldn't be daily accumulations though, they are usually weekly, and also capped at 5/10%.

 

[Ben]

I can't say for sure with RMC but some coaster companies put special bank agreements in place for that, just like, trust me I've drawn one up for one well known coaster. That one was 10% which is standard when putting those agreements in for construction projects.

I agree though, I think RMC would have agreed not to offer one - or would in turn have had one from the people doing the magnetic launch.

I'm being incredibly vague but yh.

 

[Lofty]

^ Yeah. Part of me thinks that RMC wouldn't have agreed to such a factor of their contract.

Although, a lot of parks have this form of clause in general contracts due to potential revenue loss by the product not performing. This was the case with The Smiler as far as I'm aware.


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