After finishing up our first day at Dollywood on Friday we made our way over to Rocky Top Mountain Coaster for a night ride. Our plans for Sunday had us at Dollywood again, followed by night rides on The Goat Coaster at Goats on the Roof and then the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. Our plans didn’t quite work out when it came to the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster, having to go back and ride it on Monday instead. I’ll talk more about that when I publish the trip report for that experience. For now, let’s take a look at what was supposed to be our only stop at Goats in the Roof, which instead turned into the first of two stops during our trip at this weird and very unique place.
Finally Experiencing The Goat
One of my biggest regrets in 2019 when I left Pigeon Forge was not riding The Goat Coaster. We made stops at both Rocky Top and Smoky Mountain, but we didn’t have time for some to ride the others. I had heard so many good things about the coaster and the whole Goats on the Roof experience as a whole. There was no way I was going to miss out on this time. Little did I know, we’d go twice.
This trip report will only cover our nighttime stop. Unlike the Ripley’s Mountain Coaster trip report where I included both our daytime and nighttime rides, I’ve broken this one into two pieces because they happened on separate days. With Ripley’s we went back a few hours later to ride it again. So that made sense for me to keep as one trip report.
Anyhow, let’s talk about The Goat!
The Goat Coaster
Like most of the mountain coasters we experienced in the area, the nighttime light package for The Goat Coaster really stood out, even from a few hundred feet down the road. The mountain was pitch black except for the animated colors along the track. It looked wild.
The coaster’s station had some fun Halloween theming and there were bits and pieces of it scattered throughout the ride itself too. It was just enough to celebrate the season, but I wouldn’t go as far as to say that the ride featured a Halloween overhaul. The lights, while beautiful and fun, resembled Christmas lights more than anything.
If you’re thinking that the lack of theming made this ride less enjoyable to me, you’d actually be wrong. Unlike some of the other mountain coasters that advertised their Halloween makeovers, Goats on the Roof did not. While I can’t say this for a fact since this was my first and only night ride experience on The Goat Coaster, I’m betting this ride is pretty similar to what you’d get on a summer night. And that is fine by me.
Where this coaster shines is in the course and the speed you’re able to build up. This is one of those coasters that takes you all the way to the top and let’s you haul all the way down to the parking lot. That is what I love. And with this ride being in the middle of nowhere, it was a very dark journey down the mountain. Most of the lights you’d see headed down come from the long lift hill you just left. A few other sections have some lighting décor as well, but for most of the ride you don’t see those S-bends and dips until you’re right on top of them. I loved that!
They also played some music on the speakers throughout the entire course. That was a nice touch, although it did cause YouTube to flag my video. Oh well!
While I loved that night setting for all the surprises it provided, I wondered what it would look like during the day. I love buzzing by trees, over creeks, and between bushes during the day when it comes to mountain coasters. Little did I know that I’d be heading back over to ride it again the next day and see all those things. For that though, you’ll have to wait for the Day 2 trip report.
Final Ride Counts
The Goat Coaster (1)
Scouring the Gift Shop
I knew the gift shop at Goats on the Roof was going to be an experience in itself. I had no idea, however, that this gift shop would start as soon as we stepped out my car. There was stuff for sale everywhere. While we weren’t looking for lawn furniture, we were looking for something to remember this awesome experience. I hoped for some pins, but alas they had none. A shirt was in order and I found one for The Goat Coaster. I also found a fun one for Jason that I knew he’d like. Sam and Jen cleaned up on several items as well.
We ended up spending so much time looking through all the merch that we ended up arriving 10 minutes late to the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster just down the road. They had just closed. We thought they were open for another hour, but had read the time wrong.
I had hoped to experience that ride at night as well, but that wasn’t going to happen on this trip. Instead we’d add it to Monday’s calendar, which also gave us the chance to come back for The Goat Coaster a second time. I really wanted to see what that course looked like during the day and since we’d be right down the road again, why not? More about both in future trip reports.
Goats on the Roof Photo Gallery - October 20, 2024
If you would like to use any of the images in the gallery above for your commercial and/or non-commercial projects, feel free to do so. I ask that you credit We Were Inverted whenever they’re used. I also ask that you do not alter the image or remove the watermarks. If you need any images/video resized or without the watermarks, please contact me directly.
CREW MANIFEST
The following flight crew members attended this park, & earned the respective credits below:
Patrick
CAG
New Credit(s): The Goat Coaster
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): The Goat Coaster
Jen
Commander
New Credit(s): The Goat Coaster
