Starting in 2008, Dollywood will be the scene of a battle.The park's next featured ride will be the River Battle, a water raft ride that will give passengers a chance to soak targets along the way - or each other.
The $5 million attraction will be in Timber Canyon, alongside this year's new ride, the Mystery Mine roller coaster. Its nine rafts will hold up to eight passengers at a time as they ride around a 500-foot channel. Each of those passengers will have access to a water gun they can aim at more than 100 targets, including some that can shoot back at the rafts - as well as other riders and at observers on the shore. The ride will have an hourly capacity of 800 passengers.
"When I was a kid, me and my brothers and sisters used to sneak away and start up a river battle of our own, but I never dreamed that kind of childhood fun would end up creating a great ride like my new River Battle," said country music superstar and park owner Dolly Parton.
Park spokesman Pete Owens said they hope the ride will be ready to go when Dollywood opens March 21. Construction on the new ride hasn't started yet.
Plans at the park also include a 750-foot walkway that will connect Timber Canyon to Craftsman's Valley. The project will entail moving 170,000 cubic yards of soil and rocks. That represents the park's largest earthworks project since the track bed for its steam train was completed in 1960.
"The addition of River Battle continues to expand on the award-winning attractions we offer in the Timber Canyon area," said Ken Bell, senior vice president. "In addition to creating a fun new ride for our guests, we will improve the flow of traffic as guests will be able to access two vital areas of our park via the new connector."
Construction on the walkway has already started - with the size of the project, they felt like it had to, Owens said.
When it's finished, he said, people will be surprised how short the trip is from Timber Canyon to Craftsman's Valley. "It is surprising to see from the air how close those two valleys are," he said.
The announcement of the River Battle ride comes shortly after the Mystery Mine was named 2007 Best New Attraction by themeparkinsider.com.
Owens said each year the park tries to add some new, different activities - from thrill rides like Thunderhead and the Mystery Mine to family attractions like the additions at Country Park and the Timber Tower.
"This is getting back to the family attractions, and adding a bit of an interactive element to Timber Canyon, as well as a way to just cool off," he said.
Information courtesy of The Mountain Press