Our original plan was to ride The Goat Coaster Sunday night, just as we had done with several other mountain coaster in the area. While that did happen, our time inside the Goats on the Roof gift shop lasted a little too long afterward. We ended up missing out on the nearby Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. We’d have to squeeze it into our Monday plans before heading home.
After stops at a few other nearby attractions, we finally made it back over to the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster, which you can read about in, “Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster – Night Turns into Day.”
Since we were so close to The Goat Coaster after finishing up at Smoky Mountain, and it being a Monday morning, we rode over for another quick ride. And am I ever glad that we did! Just like with the Ripley’s Mountain Coaster, experience the differences in the coaster during the day and at night was well worth it. It’s wild having such a different experience on the same ride.
Views of Mother Nature
Less than 24 hours before we had experienced this coaster in almost total darkness. Other than an occasional Halloween prop, all you could see was the animated lights wrapping around a turn, or twisting around a tree. If anything, those lights often distracted you from the dip in the track or S-bend quickly approaching. If you want to find out what I had to say about that ride, be sure to check out the trip report going over our first visit to Goats on the Roof, “Goats on the Roof – Day 1: The Goat Coaster During at Night.”
This experience would be vastly different, mostly due to the views. While zipping through trees, bushes, rocks, and other things you’ll find on a mountainside, it was actually the view coming off the mountainside that impressed me the most. More on that in a bit.
The Goat Coaster
Getting things underway I sat back and took in the views of the long lift up the mountain. The night before I was on the lookout for the different Halloween props and watching the animated lights along the way. This time, Mother Nature was all around and that is what I focused on. Although it was October, the leaves hadn’t yet turned orange yet, so it was still a very green scene before me. That also meant that leaves would block out some of the sky overhead, giving me feeling of being deeper into the woods.
Once I got to the top the sheer abundance of trees surprised me. I couldn’t make them out the night before due to the dense darkness and lights impairing my view. The only ones I made out then were the ones adorned with lights, or by some of the lit props. This ride, however, showed me the top of the mountain wasn’t as barren as I thought. I like that in a mountain coaster.
Speaking of bare, it wasn’t until I was most of the way down the mountain that the trees began to part ways. That’s when I got my biggest surprise -the mountain view before me. Not only could I see some of the way down the mountain I was on, but I could see the rising mountains off in the distance too. Talk about picturesque! This is one of my favorite views from all of the mountain coasters we experienced and it’s the reason why I put it in the hero image for this trip report.
Other than the awesome views, this ride was no different in the speed department as it was the previous day. I just got to whiz by trees and bushes and alongside the mountain drops that I could actually see this time.
Final Ride Counts
The Goat Coaster (1)
Worth the Revisit
Both rides on The Goat Coaster were amazing. You can’t go wrong with either a night or day ride. If you only have time for one, however, I’d say go during the day and experience those awesome views. The light packages at night are nice, but the views during the trip down the mountainside are unmatched. But if you can, I say do both. I know both Sam and Jen were glad that we came back for a second ride too. Just be sure to give yourself some extra time in the gift shop afterward. There’s a lot to look at and you don’t want to be late for your other plans.
Goats on the Roof Photo Gallery - October 21, 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): n/a
Sam
Admiral
New Credit(s): n/a
Jen
Captain
New Credit(s): n/a
