WINGS OVER DOLLY
The very 1st coaster of its kind built in the United States delivers a brilliantly graceful ride.
I'd experienced a couple "wing" coasters prior to my Dollywood visit and was excited to see what custom creation the geniuses over at Bolliger & Mabillard had whipped up for the Tennessee theme park.
(( for those unfamiliar with coaster jargon, Wild Eagle basically has you sitting on either -_side_- of the rails themselves, as opposed to sitting directly on top or underneath them. with no track above your head or below your feet, the ride experience is much more freeing, not to mention less jarring. it's a total trip!! ))
As our 2nd major ride of the day, we hopped on shortly after the park opened its queue to guests. With less than a 10 minute wait, I insisted that we take the back row for a spin. The SUPER comfy self-tightening vest restraints locked down, and we began the climb up the 210ft chain lift.
I was surprised that for such a towering lift hill, the first drop was only 135ft. Still, the trains get up to a modest 61mph prior to entering a large vertical loop. From there, a gentle zero-G roll gave some nice hangtime that was immediately followed by an immelman maneuver (don't ask).
The 4th and final inversion was a corkscrew leading to a brief helix, a small airtime hump, and finally the brake run. Once cycle lasts approximately 2 minutes and 22 seconds, though you spend more than half of that time climbing the (considerably) steep 45° lift hill.
::notable ride elements::
*110ft vertical loop
*zero-G roll
*immelman
*corkscrew
Wild Eagle really cranks through guests at a whopping 1,000 riders per hour! This means even on days when crowds are heavy, you shouldn't have to wait terribly long to enjoy this amazing roller coaster. The seats are very ergonomic and can even accommodate larger folks.
There's a gigantic steel sculpture of a bald eagle in front of the ride that weighs 8,000 pounds and has a 42ft wingspan! It's quite impressive and makes for excellent pictures ......unfortunately, the rest of the coaster is fairly hidden in the trees and makes for difficult photo ops.
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FINAL VERDICT:
Perhaps I've been spoiled by "X-Flight" at my hometown park (Six Flags Great America) and "GateKeeper" @ the one-and-only Cedar Point. Those coasters yielded a more intense experience than this installation, but Wild Eagle was built before either of 'em.
With excellent rider throughput and a series of majestic inversions, Wild Eagle is a very fluid roller coaster that I'd absolutely recommend on your visit to Dollywood. Expert protip: snag rides on the front-left & back-right of the train for awesomely different experiences!
Eric S's Dollywood coaster rating = 4th out of 7. read more