Dollywood Announces "Mystery Mine"

This was brought to my attention by my sister and after doing some research, I am pretty much completely pumped up about the current direction of Dollywood. First, a little history. . .

I have always been a Dollywood supporter. I remember going to "Silver Dollar City" back in the day and riding my favorite ride at the time, "The Flooded Mine." My heart still hurts when I take the time to reflect on how they gutted the Flooded Mine for a new Log Flume themed ride. For those who don't remember, The Flooded Mine was a dark ride on water with great atmosphere and a terrific ending. I really miss that ride.

However, everything changed for the better when my sister, Melissa (or Missy, my name for her since I was born), dragged me onto "The Blazing Fury" assuring me that "there are no drops on this ride." Well, there were drops, three in fact, and the last one was a pretty big one, at least when you are 7 years old. Nevertheless, I fell in love with the ride and both Dollywood and The Blazing Fury have forever been etched into my being as classics that are unbeatable.

Recently, D-Wood has really stepped up into the big leagues with their "Thunderhead" wooden rollercoaster. This bad boy rivals any wooden coaster out there and it is simply a blast. Then, I read about this. . .

The Mystery Mine. Heck yeah. I want to think that D-Wood engineers remember the beauty and power of the original "Flooded Mine" and wanted to bring a "mine" theme back in a big way. Whatever the case, this looks like the real deal. A dark, eerie mine with a haunted past that sends riders on 95 degree drops, 2 vertical lifts, heartline rolls and inversions. Over 17 million D-Wood is spending on this ride, making it the largest expansion project in the parks history.

As you already know, I am super pumped about riding Expedition Everest in a few short days. WORD! Rex and I leave on the 24th for our Orlando run. I am excited about Everest. But I have an even deeper satisfaction for the guys over at the small little D-Wood park that are making some serious noise.