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Dollywood announces new Barnstormer ride for 2011
Dollywood will be kicking of its 2011 season next year with the introduction of the new Barnstormer ride, a $5.5 million family thrill ride situated in a barnyard-themed area which also includes play areas for younger guests.
Taking its name from the daring aerialists and stunt pilots of the 1920s, the Barnstormer features two pendulum arms with seating for 32 riders. Seated back to back, riders travel progressively higher on each swing of the Barnstormer’s massive arms, reaching a maximum speed of 45 miles per hour and 230 degrees of rotation. At its peak, the Barnstormer reaches 81 feet in the air, taking riders high above the treetops. The Barnstormer will rest amid a traditional red barn on in an area called the Owens Farm, a nod to Dolly Parton’s family’s rural upbringing.
While the Barnstormer fills the air above the barn, children’s play areas will dot the landscape around the barn. With a fun, barnyard theme, children can enjoy a 22-foot by 16-foot bi-plane play area as well as a pigpen water play area.
The Barnstormer will be adjacent to the Mountain Slidewinder, which has been one of the park’s most popular rides since it opened in 1987.
Barnstormer Facts
Ride Speed: 45 mph
Travel Direction: 230-degree pendulum arc
Passenger Capacity: 32
Ride Vehicles: 2 pendulum arms that seat 16 passengers each
Ride Duration: 60 seconds
Capacity: 450 passengers per hour
Minimum Height Requirement: 48 inches
ADA Accessible: Yes, with a custom-designed ADA seat
Adventure Mountain - A Fun-Lover's Inside Scoop
After going through a short queue, you approach a harnessing station where an attendant fits you with a full body harness and then sends you ahead to another attendant, who connects you to a safety rope. One end of the rope is clipped to your harness; the other end is inserted into an overhead network of slotted metal tracks that run throughout the attraction. This system allows you to walk somewhat freely to and through each of the different courses, but if at any point you lose your footing, the top of the safety rope stays anchored in the track system and prevents you from falling. At no time are you ever disconnected from an overhead track. To change directions, you have to maneuver your rope onto a different track that’s running in a different direction. Just imagine the way an electric cable car stays attached to those overhead wires via a metal rod.
I got suited up and climbed a set of stairs (navigating my safety rope along the overhead tracks) leading to the main platform, where you can choose from three different courses. The Geyser Gorge course gets you wet at one point with sporadic gushes of water spewing up out of the manmade mountain. I wasn’t dressed for or in the mood for getting soaked, so I headed to the Rocky Top Trail course.
All the courses have common elements. You make your way out to the furthermost point of the course and back, crossing from platform to platform via your choice of bridges. Some bridges consist only of a single length of taut rope, with overhead or side ropes for handholds, while others consist of rope bridges with wooden steps for footholds. Some bridges and footholds are wobblier than others and require more dexterity in terms of hanging on to handholds. Other bridges are simply narrow beams of wood. The cool part is that each crossing gives you three or four bridge options, with varying levels of skill involved. Those who aren’t so daring can take advantage of wider metal cross bridges or traditional stairs.
The Rocky Top Trail course is distinguished by its relative steepness. Some of the bridges on the way up the hill are harder to navigate because of the slope involved. The Black Bear Cliff course was my favorite. About halfway through it, you have to walk along a narrow metal beam out to a simulated cliff face. Then you have to make your way around to the other side of the outcropping by shimmying along an outer ledge that’s only about eight inches wide. At one point, I found myself about 25 feet off the ground, back up against the mountain, standing on the narrow ledge, with only the safety rope preventing my fall.
I have a modest fear of heights, but Adventure Mountain wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle. I even made myself take on the most precarious of crossing bridges and never lost my footing. I had full trust in the safety gear, which took a lot of the fear out of the equation. Those with a more severe fear of heights might have more trouble with Adventure Mountain, but it’s certainly worth trying in any case.
I was among the first to go on Adventure Mountain that day, so I didn’t have to wait for others in front of me to cross. That being said, I completed each course in about 15 minutes. On busier days, you should probably expect each course to take a few minutes longer.
For the record, you have to be at least 42 inches tall to participate. Those shorter than that can go on the kiddie course, called Camp Teachitoomee. Those 42 to 48 inches tall can go on the bigger courses but must be accompanied by someone age 16 or older. Close-toed shoes are required for this attraction.
Driving to Dollywood
The entrance to Dollywood is just off Veterans Boulevard in Pigeon Forge. If you are already in town, or driving in from Gatlinburg, start at traffic light #8 on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge and head east on Dollywood Lane. At the first traffic light, Dollywood Lane splits off to the right, but if you stay straight and continue through the next traffic light, the name of the road becomes Veterans Boulevard. Drive just over two miles to the traffic light that marks Dollywood’s main entrance on McCarter Hollow Road. Once on McCarter Hollow, you’ll either want to stay to the right to enter Dollywood’s parking area or turn left to get to Splash Country’s parking lot.
If you are coming in from Sevierville, start at the intersection of Dolly Parton Parkway and Veterans Boulevard, on the east side of town. From there, Veterans Boulevard takes you south five miles, directly to Dollywood’s entrance. This route is, by far, the more expedient way of getting to the Dollywood property.
No matter which route you choose, you’ll see plenty of road signs that will help point you in the right direction.