Lightning Rod wait times
Lightning Rod at Dollywood averages 14 minutes. It is shortest at 2pm and worst at 5pm. It has run 91% 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 14 minutes of queue across its recorded readings, peaking around 19 minutes, with the longest queues near 5pm, 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 1pm with 14 minutes, and is at its shortest at 7pm with 5. 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 5 minutes at 7pm against 14 at the 1pm peak - 9 minutes for turning up at the right hour. The longest queue it has ever held is 50 minutes.
Lightning Rod by day of the week
Average wait by day
14 days with a recorded queue
- Mon8m
- Tue3m
- Wed6m
- Thu12m
- Fri13m
- Sat21m
- Sun7m
Tuesday is the quietest day for Lightning Rod, at 3 minutes against 21 on Saturday.
Does Lightning Rod break down?
Uptime and closures
91% of opening hours · 14 days recorded
↑ improvingRunning 91% of the minutes Dollywood was open, across the last 14 recorded days.
Last 14 days uptime
- 85%
- 88%
- 99%
- 94%
- 98%
- 85%
- 94%
- 51%
- 99%
- 99%
- 89%
- 100%
- 93%
- 100%
Lightning Rod ran 91% of Dollywood's opening hours across 14 recorded days, and is improving. It ran without a recorded stop on Friday 2 Oct.
Longest Lightning Rod queues on record
Peaks in the last 14 days
Every one a real date · tap through to that day
- 1Saturday 26 Sept50m
- 2Friday 25 Sept35m
- 3Saturday 19 Sept25m
- 4Thursday 24 Sept20m
- 5Sunday 27 Sept15m
- 6Monday 28 Sept15m
- 7Friday 18 Sept10m
- 8Sunday 20 Sept10m
The worst queue recorded for Lightning Rod was 50 minutes on Saturday 26 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.
PlusYour first park day on Plus is free
Pick the day you are going to Dollywood and Plus covers the whole of it: your rides in the best order for that date, live re-planning in the park, and an alert the moment Lightning Rod drops below your number.
Free account, no card. After that, passes from £4.99 for a day or £29.99 for a year, paid once, never renewing.
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 14 minutes of wait over recent weeks, and is typically busiest around 5pm and quietest around 2pm. Over the last two weeks it has been open around 91% of the park's operating hours. It's typically quietest on Wednesdays and busiest on Saturdays.
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 91% 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 Wednesdays, and busiest on Saturdays based on recent weeks - visit on a Wednesday for shorter waits.
How long is the line for Lightning Rod usually?
Over recent weeks, Lightning Rod has averaged about 14 minutes, with lines usually longest around 5pm. 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 91% 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.