Lightning Rod wait times
Lightning Rod at Dollywood averages 12 minutes. It is shortest at 2pm and worst at 3pm. It has run 93% of the park's opening hours recently.
Lightning Rod queue times, day by day
Lightning Rod over recent weeks
Typical waits from this ride's own recorded readings
Lightning Rod has averaged about 12 minutes of queue across its recorded readings, peaking around 15 minutes, with the longest queues near 3pm, and the shortest near 2pm. Pick a date below to see that day minute by minute.
Lightning Rod queue times by hour
Average wait by hour
Across the last 28 days · minutes
Lightning Rod peaks at 11am with 12 minutes, and is at its shortest at 7pm with 3. Riding it at the right hour saves 9 minutes on a single ride.
Best time to ride Lightning Rod
Best time to ride
Lightning Rod averages 3 minutes at 7pm against 12 at the 11am peak - 9 minutes for turning up at the right hour. The longest queue it has ever held is 45 minutes.
Lightning Rod by day of the week
Average wait by day
12 days with a recorded queue
- Mon10m
- Tue6m
- Wed7m
- Thu11m
- Fri7m
- Sat13m
- Sun20m
Tuesday is the quietest day for Lightning Rod, at 6 minutes against 20 on Sunday.
Does Lightning Rod break down?
Uptime and closures
93% of opening hours · 12 days recorded
↑ improvingRunning 93% of the minutes Dollywood was open, across the last 12 recorded days.
Last 12 days uptime
- 94%
- 89%
- 89%
- 97%
- 95%
- 96%
- 90%
- 73%
- 100%
- 98%
- 99%
- 99%
Lightning Rod ran 93% of Dollywood's opening hours across 12 recorded days, and is improving. It ran without a recorded stop on Friday 11 Sept.
Longest Lightning Rod queues on record
Peaks in the last 14 days
Every one a real date · tap through to that day
- 1Sunday 6 Sept45m
- 2Saturday 5 Sept30m
- 3Monday 31 Aug25m
- 4Saturday 29 Aug15m
- 5Wednesday 9 Sept15m
- 6Friday 28 Aug10m
- 7Friday 4 Sept10m
- 8Monday 7 Sept10m
The worst queue recorded for Lightning Rod was 45 minutes on Sunday 6 Sept.
Lightning Rod through the year
All-time average by month
From this ride's own recorded readings · minutes
Queue times are the figures Dollywood publishes for this ride, recorded every few minutes through the park's own opening hours. The hourly pattern is this ride's own last 28 days; the day-by-day rail is its last 14 days. Uptime is the share of the park's operating minutes the ride was running.
About Lightning Rod
Lightning Rod at Dollywood is a launched wooden coaster opened in 2016, the world's fastest wooden coaster at 73 mph at the time. The layout includes a magnetic launch up the lift hill (rather than a traditional chain) and a steep first drop into multiple airtime hills. Top speed 73 mph, ride duration about 90 seconds.
Lightning Rod has had reliability issues over the years with frequent closures for maintenance - check the live ride status before heading over. When it is running, queues can hit 60-90 minutes. Located in the Jukebox Junction 1950s-themed area.
Lightning Rod has averaged about 12 minutes of wait over recent weeks, and is typically busiest around 3pm and quietest around 2pm. Over the last two weeks it has been open around 93% of the park's operating hours. It's typically quietest on Tuesdays and busiest on Sundays.
Frequently asked
What's the current wait time for Lightning Rod?
The live wait time for Lightning Rod at Dollywood is shown at the top of this page and refreshed directly from the park's own ride system. Check live Lightning Rod wait times.
Is Lightning Rod open right now?
The live status badge at the top of this page shows whether Lightning Rod is open or closed right now - it updates automatically from Dollywood's own ride system. Over the last couple of weeks, Lightning Rod has been open around 93% of Dollywood's operating hours. You can also see the live status of every ride at Dollywood.
What's the best time of day to ride Lightning Rod?
Based on historical wait time data, Lightning Rod is typically quietest around 2pm. For most rides the queue is shortest in the first hour after the park opens and the last hour before it closes, with midday through mid-afternoon the busiest window.
What is the best day to ride Lightning Rod?
Lightning Rod is usually quietest on Tuesdays, and busiest on Sundays based on recent weeks - visit on a Tuesday for shorter waits.
How long is the line for Lightning Rod usually?
Over recent weeks, Lightning Rod has averaged about 12 minutes, with lines usually longest around 3pm. Wait times usually build through the morning, peak from midday to mid-afternoon, then ease off before close. Weekends and school holidays run noticeably longer than quiet weekdays. This page shows today's live wait time, the day's average, hourly breakdowns and the full history of peak lines for Lightning Rod at Dollywood.
Is Lightning Rod often closed or broken down?
Over the last two weeks, Lightning Rod has been running about 93% of the time. We track Lightning Rod's uptime and downtime automatically - see the "Reliability" and "Downtime History" panels on this page for its full record over the last 30 days, including any current closures and how long they've lasted.
Where can I find Lightning Rod at Dollywood?
Lightning Rod is at Dollywood - see the park map and full ride list for its exact location. The Dollywood page also shows which rides nearby have the shortest lines right now.
Can I get wait time alerts for Lightning Rod?
Yes - create a free alert and we'll notify you when Lightning Rod's wait time drops below your chosen threshold (for example, "tell me when Lightning Rod is under 20 minutes"). Great for timing your sprint from across the park.