Thank you for not being immediately reactionary about Lightning Rod like so many others. I keep saying of course it's slow, it's March. If it's still slow in July, maybe there's an issue, right now, hang on. Regardless of speed, being open all day is amazing.

Crazy take here: l-rod with a lift chain runs a lot faster than a launched l-rod that's broken down

ElToroBaby’s first words should be “Like, Comment, Subscribe”

For the doubters out there, remember when Storm Chaser was one of the slowest-ending RMC’s when it first opened, then it slowly became a pacing monster once the wheels warmed up? Yeah, only time will tell for Lifting Rod.

I've ridden it already and literally nothing has changed from the ride experience in 2021

I appreciate the reassurance that the lift hill is fast. It’s difficult to not feel disappointed at the loss of the launch (it’s one of my favorite roller coaster elements), but it’s great to know that Lightning Rod hasn’t lost its shine.

It's a shame that it was unreliable, but it's better to have it be more reliable and last for decades to come even if the launch is gone.

El Toro Baby is gonna have more park credits by 6 than i've had my entire life SHEEEEEESH

I do wish the put back the OG decorated front cars on the trains, with all the steel track and the lift train weight shouldn’t be as much of an issue as before

4:47 LMFAO the kids flipping off the camera 😂 😂

Best part: the the buc'ees inflatable: "bless you sir, bless you - bless everything you're about" - i was dying

The clips you showed already had it running faster than the first POVs that came out so im not worried anymore

I get what you mean when being jealous of Dollywood home parkers. Most rides looked open in your video, and it just looked like a normal day at Dollywood. I saw a Great Adventure vlog from opening weekend and half the rides are closed, every single ride is on one train ops, and the new for 2024 additions don’t look close to being finished. Classic Six Flags.

Gotta say, as much as I'm gonna miss the launch after having Dollywood as my home park for 5 years and riding it more times than I can count, it does make me happy to see two trains on track and them rolling trains. Not only is it gonna be more reliable now, but the capacity looks better than ever

El Toro Family is so wholesome. 😭😭

We need a Problematic roller coasters video on LRod!!!

I hate to say that the best brisket I've ever had was from that Buc-ee's.

We took the exact same trip last week. Dollywood and Buc-ees! It's what all the cool kids do for Spring Break.

Hopefully I make it out to Dollywood this year to try out lightning rod with the chain. I have hope that over time, it should be speeding up as the ride continues to operate

Thank you for this. I've been waiting for someone to deliver a quality video that actually talks about the before and after. As someone who also has never ridden it and might go this May, I'm excited to hear that it's running super well.

Good to hear that its lifting and tracking good! The lift hill looks slow off ride. But they pretty much all do.

El Toro Ryan, El Toro Wifey, El Toro Baby, AND BMeh the Antagonist?🤯this has got to be an awesome vlog!!

Definitely excited to get back to this park, it’s one of my favorite parks now, great video as always.

Watching Lightning Rod slowly climb the lift hill in this video feels like an ElToroRyan joke edit that Dollywood made in real life. Not a bad thing whatsoever, but it is really funny to see happen.

Impromptu trips are some of the best! The brisket breakfast tacos and the venison sausage at Buc-ee's are my favorites.

Thank you for hyping me back up for Lightning Rod! I’m glad to finally see a positive perspective on the new chain lift.

I'm excited to see B's reaction given that it's his first ride Edit: your reactions are exactly what I was hoping for. It seems like my baby still lives! Although, I was pretty hopeful it would.

It was so cool to meet you in line at Big Bear! Keep it up, love your videos man!

Dollywood is my home park and I’m lucky to say I got to ride it multiple times in its opening year. I’m glad it is reliable now but I wanna shed a single tear over losing the launch 😢 I went a LOT in 2017, 2018, and 2019 and the ride was open pretty much every time. I guess I just got super lucky

Is the quad-down the same?

It's so odd to see this coaster actually running.

Came back to rewatch this after my first trip to Dollywood, and MAN Thunderhead is maybe the biggest I've smiled while riding a coaster. It is soooo good

Its so strange watching it crawl up the lift. I got 2 rides on it last year before they changed it. Definitely an incredible experience.

I somehow managed to ride lightning rod on a family trip to nashville last year(stopped at dollywood on the way becasue it was a bucket list park of mine) and a week later they announced it was gonna remove the launch. such crazy ride and experience

I got two Buc-ees credits here in Florida last year - actually discovered the first one (Daytona) by accident because I needed to swing by a Supercharger and that one happened to be the most convenient. Supposedly the one going in Ocala (not far from me) is going to hold the title of the world's largest when it opens.

Wow I was just there March 17th, on my birthday, never been to Dollywood, and Lightning Rod was the 1st coaster for the day, it was AMAZING!

The antagonist said that Thunderhead was a bad ride. My last visit was 2016 so I can't confirm but the KZfaq community last year said it was so much better due to a retrack. They were saying it was close to the best in the park. I wish you guys rode it and or commented about it appropriately for your take on the retrack. But thanks for all the other updates. Haha I commented when you were at bucky's. I resumed the video and you ended up throwing it in at the end hahahahaha

That safety refrence with Buc-ees was hilarous. Although you are wrong, Buc-ees has way much more safety.

Going to Dollywood next week, so excited! We went for two days back in 2021 and LR was down the entire time we were there! Looking forward to finally checking it out!

It's good to see eltoro back in action😊

Hey Ryan sorry for yelling at you from the Big Bear Mountain brake run mane 😂

i'm very fortunate to have a home park like Dollywood. I've ridden lightning rod hundreds of times over the years, and I will say, it IS slower than it was before. obviously, you don't have the same thrill that you got from the launch. however, overall, I think it's a change that needed to be made. the downtime of the coaster was never a problem for me, since I'm a passholder, but many people visiting from out of state had grievances. i think that the lower intensity of the ride makes it much more enjoyable for the GP. you can still get a super intense experience on the ride in the back row, which I just did yesterday. overall, w change

Very entertaining and fun to watch. Thanks for posting this.

ElToroRyan proving once again proving he’s the best coaster KZfaqr!

This is my home park and I just went today. I never got to ride Lightening Rod before the change because it as it was ALWAYS closed. Really happy about the change and got to ride it today.

Three hours out of the way, you know in the neighborhood, with a baby that sounds like the wildest ride. Congrats.

Another amazing video, always love watching them! My fav parts are always when the trains go onto their brake runs and you edit it so it makes the video 1000 times better to watch IMO 😂😂 anyways… should we nickname the baby “Baby Toro”? Though it may sound cute lol

Good review of the new Lightning Rod. I'm a passionate & focused wood coaster guy, but Lightning Rod was very special for a hybrid (a _true_ hybrid). What _made_ it unique was the launched lift. The rest of the ride is fantastic, but that launched lift was _the bomb!_ I'm also a traditional amusement park hobbyist and most theme parks turn me off. Dollywood is one of few theme parks that I actually enjoy being at, a beautiful, friendly, clean park with a great variety of coasters. It's unfortunate that an enthusiast would ask "why?" when El Toro Ryan said he was jealous of this being his home park. I wish a few words would've been given about what makes Tennessee Tornado such a special, fun, smooth Arrow coaster. I also wish Thunderhead had been ridden instead of Buckey's.

hell yeah! im literally going tmrw for my spring break from school, it’s also my home park, and i was worried it’d be a lot slower on the quad down and stuff but it’s good that it hasn’t really changed.

You have a baby now! Congratulations bro 👏🏻🎉

More disappointed in the B Meh nerf than the Lightning Rod nerf. He didn’t even try to steal ElToroBaby once throughout the entire video! Like what the heck man smh I expected more from the one and only Antagonist.

I'll be interested to see how your preferences at theme parks change with kids - I have 4 kids age 9 and under, been going to parks with that familiar stroller setup since 2019. Things like skip the line or child swap are a must to make any trip worth it when you have to trade off watching kids (Cedar Point is the best parent swap setup)...also things like the family care centers that Cedar Point or others have are a game changer. How easy is it to set up camp in an area for the kids, what rides they are tall enough to ride, how can you use meal plans the most efficient way, etc. And then you end up with a 6 year old on Millennium Force who is doing his own ranking and asking how many coasters he has on his list - super fun!

It aint a road trip without a stop at Buc-ee's! We spent about an hour at the one in Alabama last week, it was so busy. I guess our kids need to hit up Dollywood one of these days! Thanks for the video!

Part of me wishes the launched hill had so much speed going over the top that replacing it with a chain lift wouldn't be possible. Hard to imagine it's just impossible to make a reliable launched lift, in 2024.

I just missed Dollywood’s opening (I wen to Gatlinburg back in February) but I did get on a couple mountain coasters. Did you manage to ride any?

whooooooooo! Love the EltoroRyan VIDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m here boys, wifey and baby! Can’t wait for the Orlando videos to come out.

buc ees tip: if u ever go back to a buc ees get the club melt. shit is so good

Looks absolutely awesome. Can’t wait to ride it at least 20 times in a row. Outstanding All Around

Love this Congratulations and many blessings “El Toro Baby” merch coming soon 😂🚁🎢💯

I love that I was able to ride this in 2016 with the original crazy launch

You know, I thought Ryan having a kid would make him grow up and mature, but apparently I was wrong. Never change, Ryan, never change.

I’m so glad I got to ride this with the launch. It was AWESOME.

Congrats on El Toro Baby!!!! 😎

congrats on the new baby!

Good to hear it still slaps. I had my first trip to DW in October to ride the launch and got 19 laps; it was epic.

Something that started bugging me when it opened: How did they get chain dogs on these trains? I would assume that the braking system hasn't changed, which means the fins would still be in the same place, but that's also where the chain dogs would seemingly be. I'm assuming there's some modularity to these trains and things probably got moved around ever so slightly, but still makes me wonder. I would love to see a before vs after of the underside of these trains

heading to Dollywood June 3rd and 4 for my 1 visit. can't wait to ride Lightning Rod for the 1st time.

That 1-2 punch lookin’ 🤌

I’ll always miss that launch. It was amazing. You were halfway through the ride before you knew it. I’ll count myself lucky I got to experience it ~4 times

Yeah, she is tired! I have never been so tired since I had my son lol Great video!

I don’t miss trying to go to theme parks with 2 babies. If you wonder why I have a new theme park channel after being non exsistent for a decade plus, then try going to coaster parks with small kids, even with a partner it’s a ton of work. Poor El Toro Wifey having to push the stroller while everyone else had a great time ❤ Disney world works out really well. Everything else is a challenge.

See, I thought I was the only one who got off Ternader, in the front, dizzy. I love it!

Oh man I would love a long video about Lightning Rod, rode it Summer 2023, front row, total core memory. Looking forward to the breakdown of this one, it may be a problem but I love it

Congrats on ElToroBaby! I've recently become a father myself, and my wife (also coaster partner) and I thought visiting amusement parks would be out the question with a baby, any tips/tricks for traveling to parks with a little one?

You need to come back in the peak of summer to see how it's running

I hope they put new trains on the ride with as much theming was the ride had on opening in 2016

Even if the ride experience was degraded, I’d still say the chain lift is an improvement. If I’m paying my hard earned money for a day at a park I want the rides to be reliable.

Someone losing something on the quad down at 6:18 Doesn't look like the forces have changed all too much so far. :P

Hey Eltoro Ryan, do you know if you will be able to make it to SF New England this year?

Tell B he can get it! HaHaHa Great vlog also.

My girlfriend is from eastern Tennesse and she's taking me there for my first time this May and of COURSE we're going to Dollywood and this just got me even more pumped

I was gonna ride it but I didn't know it was open! I was going to head there from SFOG but had no idea the reno was complete. ;-;

8:20 ryan debating over what is the better homepark, me having to do it with efteling.

You should’ve done the break run visual/sound effect on Lighting Rod’s lift hill. Missed opportunity.

Do all the break runsale the same loud noise 😂

I just went to Dollywood today and I never got to ride the past versions of it but comparing the speed on the quad down it seems pretty similar and it is very forceful still.

Can you do a video talking about my home park Six flags STL? Its a dissapointing place full of ancient but still decent rides, vekoma boomerangs, and cheap cheap tickets. The boss desperately needs RMC'd and I think its exactly what the park needs to be decent again.

0:51 Hilarious! 😂

Why didn't they do a cable lift do you think? Imagine this coming off the lift hill with El Toro type speed. Would have been closer to what we had with the launch IMO.

I got 2 rides in 2016 & 1 in early 2017.. so I somehow lucked out and got 3 OG rides. Then did.. 2021 recently so just need to get this version of the ride haha kinda weird cause Lightning Rod's announcement is the ride that made me finally decide to try out Dollywood & now it's not a launch and not a wooden coaster lol (hybrid)

Most of the guys that they have working in the station at Lightning Rod actually look like I would see them working in an auto shop fixing a car. Lol.

Decided to try ride op part time this season at my local park! 😄

OG Lightning Rod and Do-dodonpa, two bucket list coasters I will never get to ride.

Did you get to do any snowboarding when you were in Boone?

Was this on 3/17? Sad I missed you. 🐐

Well looks like lightning rod is off my bucket list now. I wish I experienced the 45 mph launched lift.

ElToroBaby is in preparation to learn about block zones 😂😂😂

Well at least im not the only person who never got to ride Lightning Rod with the launch. Hopefully i can get there this year.

the homie's nostrils started to warp reality at 13:40 lol