Lightning Rod is a Rocky Mountain Construction wooden roller coaster at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Marketed as the world's first launched wooden roller coaster, the ride, themed to hot rod cars from the 1950s.
Design[]
Lightning Rod was first unveiled by Dolly Parton at a presentation at the Dollywood amusement park on August 7, 2015. Lightning Rod will be the first wooden roller coaster in the world to use a launch system instead of a traditional chain lift hill. The ride's top speed of 73 miles per hour will also make it the world's fastest wooden roller coaster. The ride, estimated to cost $22 million, represents the largest single investment in the history of the park, and it is another component of a multi-year, $300 million expansion that began in 2013. Lightning Rod opened in Summer 2016 after delays.
In late September 2020, Lightning Rod closed again for a re-tracking of various sections of the layout, re-opening in March 2021. In September 2023, Dollywood announced that it would close Lightning Rod between October 30, 2023 and spring 2024 so it could replace the ride's launch system with a high-speed lift hill.
Trains[]
Lightning Rod's trains are themed to hot rod cars from the middle 20th century. Each train will have six cars, each seating four people (in two rows of two riders), for a total capacity of 24 riders per train.