Dollywood’s Splash Country guests can climb to new heights of fun and adventure with the addition of Bear Mountain Fire Tower, a new $2 million interactive, multi-level water-filled attraction scheduled to open in 2005. Themed in the spirit of the many fire towers that dot the East Tennessee landscape, Bear Mountain Fire Tower will be located adjacent to Big Bear Plunge which opened in July of 2004.
Each level of Bear Mountain Fire Tower will feature various water-based activities including a 1,000-gallon bucket situated atop the highest level. After warning bells sound indicating that a fire has been spotted, the large bucket spills, setting off a chain reaction of subsequent, smaller buckets. Bear Mountain Fire Tower’s firefighting theme is complete with hand cannons, hoses and buckets which allow every member of the family to engage in some friendly, water-based exchanges. Sliding poles, escape chutes and ladders are just a few of the tower’s many other fun-filled attractions.
Big Bear Plunge is Dolly’s waterpark’s new $1.4 million white water rafting experience that takes passengers on a 548-foot-long ride through dark caverns featuring winding bends and steep drops reminiscent of challenging river expeditions. Open 10-foot-wide channel sections send the five-passenger rafts downriver through the tree tops—reaching a peak elevation of 70 feet—before plunging into total darkness in a nine-foot-diameter tunnel that winds through an “S” curve. Accompanied only by the sounds of gushing water and echoing screams, the rafts are then dropped into a 12-foot-diameter tunnel featuring extreme banking, propelling the rafts upward around a seemingly never-ending sweeping curve. Finally, the rafts re-emerge into daylight where they unexpectedly plunge down multi-bump cliff drops into a 21- by 70-foot splash pool.
Carefully situated in the natural terrain of Dollywood’s Splash Country’s 25-acre mountain "hollow," Big Bear Plunge anchors Big Bear Ridge, a new themed area reminiscent of the Smoky Mountain’s turn-of-the-century logging industry. Taking its name from the Smoky Mountains’ popular American Black Bear, Big Bear Plunge will be located adjacent to the Downbound Float Trip—the water park’s lazy river—and the Mountain Waves wave pool.
Dollywood’s Splash Country guests can take the plunge—the Big Bear Plunge—when the water park introduces its new $1.4 million attraction in June 2004. Big Bear Plunge, a white water rafting experience, takes passengers on a 548-foot-long ride through dark caverns with winding bends and steep drops reminiscent of challenging river expeditions. Dolly said,
“With our Big Bear Plunge, we’ve brought all of the thrills and excitement of white water rafting right here to Dollywood’s Splash Country. It’s a great way for families to enjoy one of the most fun outdoor adventures we have to offer here in the Great Smoky Mountains.”
Passengers will take in the scenery as open 10-foot-wide channel sections send the rafts downriver through the tree tops before plunging into total darkness in a nine-foot-diameter tunnel. Accompanied only by the sounds of gushing water and echoing screams, the rafts are then dropped into a 12-foot-diameter tunnel before they are propelled upward around a seemingly never-ending sweeping curve before crashing through a wall of fog. Finally, the rafts reemerge into daylight where they unexpectedly plunge down multi-bump cliff drops before splashing into the pool at the ride’s conclusion.
