The Anakeesta Chondola provides access to a mountain top amusement park that opened in 2017.The bottom terminal is located inside a building in downtown Gatlinburg.Groups of two cabins and 26 chairs each alternate along the line.There is a mid-station exactly half way.Tower 1.Side view of the bottom terminal with gondola door actuators.A Sigma cabin.Departing the return station.Line speed is only 200 feet per minute and even slower when the gondolas are in the four loading areas.Riding up just below the midpoint.The cabins have one side open for ventilation.The mid-station is for loading of zip line guests.Lift line seen from the summit.Leitner-Poma Alpha drive station.Tower 12.The top terminal with Anakeesta branding.Cabins are short to avoid needing to run in a trench. The tradeoff is they are not level/walk-in.Drive bullwheel.Breakover towers 12 and 13.Lower end of the top station at Firefly Village.Cabins ascending.Riding down.Even the chairs have guide wheels like the gondolas.The light side of the mid.Tower 7.A tall three section tower.Towers in the parking lot.Entering the bottom terminal building.View up from the loading area.The top station seen from downtown Gatlinburg.View up the line just below the mid.Carriers at T5.Tower 5 looking down.
I think the cabins only get the one open side in the warmer months. In the winter it is replaced by the usual windows. On TripAdvisor there were complaints about there being only 8 cabins resulting in long wait times since more guests wanted to ride the cabins than the chairs.
Makes me wonder, when you go to places like this, do they force you to use the restraint bar? I’ve had a mixed bag with summer/foot passenger lift rides. At Lagoon Park in Utah, they actually have locking restraint bars that are operated by the lifties on either end. I’ve had lifties at other places tell me to “pull the bar down please”, and I’ve also had the experience of “There’s a bar above you if you need it”. Then of course there are lifties that don’t say anything.
These types of places they generally put the bar down for you, even if it doesn’t lock. Kind of annoying for those of us used to the more casual ski resort scene.
As long as you don’t do anything stupid, nobody should fall out of the chair, safety bar or not. I personally wouldn’t bring babies or toddlers on lifts, but that’s just me. I feel like one of these days some teens will be screwing around on the chair and then fall off it. Of course, the only logical thing for the parents to do would be to sue the mountain for their irresponsible children.
Yeah, many amusement park lifts (from any manufacturer) have grey seat pads. Windham had them on the Whirlwind Express in the summer, though the new Westside Six has the standard black pads.
On a ski lift black pads make sense for the same reason grey ones make sense on this lift: black pads heat up in the sun which is nice for cold skiers.
This lift looks like it could have a detachable gondola, as they would be able to run it faster and have everyone in a gondola. I would also increase capacity.
Is it really necessary to make this lift detachable? It’s not a lift for lapping terrain… It doesn’t appear that this lift needs the capacity either. It’s not that long of a lift anyway.
Their is also a truck that can take people to the top and back down if you wish to not do the lift which was fun going back down but for me scary going up. I would never take small children on the lift because they could fall if you could not control them. Also better hold onto their shoes as we saw a child lose a croc yesterday.
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I think the cabins only get the one open side in the warmer months. In the winter it is replaced by the usual windows. On TripAdvisor there were complaints about there being only 8 cabins resulting in long wait times since more guests wanted to ride the cabins than the chairs.
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Why is it so much better to ride a cabin than a chair?
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Being enclosed, I think?
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I’m going to guess people worried about falling out, kids especially.
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Makes me wonder, when you go to places like this, do they force you to use the restraint bar? I’ve had a mixed bag with summer/foot passenger lift rides. At Lagoon Park in Utah, they actually have locking restraint bars that are operated by the lifties on either end. I’ve had lifties at other places tell me to “pull the bar down please”, and I’ve also had the experience of “There’s a bar above you if you need it”. Then of course there are lifties that don’t say anything.
What did they ask you to do when you went there?
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These types of places they generally put the bar down for you, even if it doesn’t lock. Kind of annoying for those of us used to the more casual ski resort scene.
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As long as you don’t do anything stupid, nobody should fall out of the chair, safety bar or not. I personally wouldn’t bring babies or toddlers on lifts, but that’s just me. I feel like one of these days some teens will be screwing around on the chair and then fall off it. Of course, the only logical thing for the parents to do would be to sue the mountain for their irresponsible children.
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The grey seat covers on these LPA chairs look really good. Why isn’t this used elsewhere? Are they grey to reflect heat versus black seat covers?
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Yeah, many amusement park lifts (from any manufacturer) have grey seat pads. Windham had them on the Whirlwind Express in the summer, though the new Westside Six has the standard black pads.
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On a ski lift black pads make sense for the same reason grey ones make sense on this lift: black pads heat up in the sun which is nice for cold skiers.
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Four loading areas? You mean three?
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had you seen any detachable chondolas with sigma cabins and omega chairs?
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This lift looks like it could have a detachable gondola, as they would be able to run it faster and have everyone in a gondola. I would also increase capacity.
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Is it really necessary to make this lift detachable? It’s not a lift for lapping terrain… It doesn’t appear that this lift needs the capacity either. It’s not that long of a lift anyway.
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Their is also a truck that can take people to the top and back down if you wish to not do the lift which was fun going back down but for me scary going up. I would never take small children on the lift because they could fall if you could not control them. Also better hold onto their shoes as we saw a child lose a croc yesterday.
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Roughly Parallel to this lift about 850-1000ft to the left is the still standing abandoned Fun Mountain Riblet Double. It crosses the same road.
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That’d be cool to see, what happened to that lift?
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It was part of a small amusement park called Fun Mountain. The land where the park was is now a parking lot, but the lift remains intact.
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