Dollywood
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Located in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, this park started in 1961 as Rebel Railroad. In 1970, the Cleveland Browns football team purchased it and renamed it Goldrush Junction. The park was bought by Herschend Enterprises and became Silver Dollar City-Tennessee in 1977. Dolly Parton became a co-owner of the park in 1986, and the name was changed to reflect her involvement.
In 2005, the VeggieTales Sideshow Spin coaster opened. It is a 190-foot long family coaster from L&T Systems. For 2007, Dollywood built Mystery Mine. It is a Gerstlauer "Euro-Fighter" model that is heavily themed as an abandoned mine. (Details below.)
In 1971, the River King Mine Train, which was actually a pair of nearly identical Arrow mine trains, opened at Six Flags St. Louis. One track was relocated and ran here as Thunder Express from 1989 to 1998. It was moved to Arkansas and opened in 2002 at Magic Springs and Crystal Falls as Big Bad John.
Mystery Mine
Press Release: Dollywood Announces $17.5
Million Coaster (July 7, 2006)
VeggieTales
Sideshow Spin
I hope to return to Dollywood to photograph these two new coasters!
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