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Feature article
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New ‘Mystery Mine’ opens at Dollywood
By J.H. Osborne
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PIGEON FORGE — Dolly Parton plans on staying in the dark — or, rather, out of the dark — when it comes to firsthand knowledge of just what goes on deep inside the old abandoned mine up in Timber Canyon at Dollywood.
But for thousands of riders, Dollywood’s newest attraction is a mystery no more.
Parton was on hand early Friday to officially open “Mystery Mine,” a $17.5 million steel roller coaster that’s been in the works for two years.
The first 56 rides on Mystery Mine’s official inaugural run were auctioned off to raise money for the Dollywood Foundation.
The $35,000 will go to the Foundation’s Imagination Library — a program that provides free books to children, including thousands in the Tri-Cities region.
Parton, dressed in a well-tailored, black leather “mining” ensemble with rhinestone choker, belt and trim, greeted the winning bidders on the ride’s boarding platform.
And she said that’s as close as she expects to get to Mystery Mine’s 1,811 feet of track — which includes two inversions, two vertical lifts, and an 85-foot 95-degree vertical drop.
The ride, which reaches 60 mph, lasts two minutes and 30 seconds and features state-of-the-art special effects and audio. Mystery Mine’s tag line is: “What if there is no light at the end of the tunnel?”
Asked if she’d be climbing into a “mine car” herself, Parton offered a quick and plaintive “No.”
“I have too much to lose,” Parton said. “My hair, my eyelashes, my fingernails — Lord only knows what might spill out if I rode on one of these things.”
Joking aside, Parton said she’s proud of all the attractions at Dollywood, including the rides. “I’m still a big ol’ kid at heart,” Parton said. But she said she avoids the rides, partially to avoid motion sickness. “That’s the true mystery,” Parton said. “That they thought I’d get on this.”
As the first set of riders was about to roll away from the platform and into the “mine shaft,” Parton asked if any of them wanted to borrow her hair for the trip. Last year was a record-breaking season for both Dollywood and its companion water park, Dollywood’s Splash Country.
More than 2.4 million visitors passed through Dollywood’s turnstiles, and the tally at the shorter-seasoned Splash Country passed 430,000. “We were obviously blessed with excellent weather (in 2006),” said Dollywood Public Relations Manager Pete Owens. “But the mix of family attractions and great festivals and shows is resonating with families who want a place to go that is family-friendly. ”
Dollywood’s 2007 season began March 31 with the park’s Festival of Nations — with a spotlight this year on “Celebrate Ireland” — which continues through May 7.
Owens said park attendance was up the first week of the new season but dropped a little when cold weather revisited the region a week later.
At $17.5 million, Mystery Mine marks the largest capital investment in Dollywood’s history and added one acre to the park.
In keeping with Timber Canyon’s lumber camp theme, Mystery Mine is set in an abandoned coal mine where eight passenger mine carts immediately plunge riders into darkness before journeying through the ruins of an early 1900s mine.
Its Timber Canyon address puts Mystery Mine in good company, coaster-wise: Thunderhead is in the same area of the park. The latter coaster has twice been named “Wooden Coaster of the Year” by Amusement Today.
Mystery Mine riders experience several high-speed twists as ries of adventures including a fall from a collapsed trestle and a plunge into an abandoned tunnel.
Mystery Mine is the park’s latest multimillion-dollar ride addition. Dollywood added the $7 million Thunderhead in 2004 followed by a $5 million, 3.5-acre expansion in 2005 that brought 10 new family rides to the park’s Country Fair area. In 2006, the $6.5 million Timber Tower ride opened, also in Timber Canyon.
For more information, call 1-800-DOLLYWOOD or visit dollywood.com.
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