Dollywood Nov 22

[BP317]

Dollywood is a Herschend park in the middle of the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee. It used to be called Silver Dollar City, not knowing all the specifics behind it now it is themed around a country rock star chick who grew up in the Pigeon Forge area in the Smokey Montains. Dolly Parton is huge in Tennesssee, that whole Pigeon Forge area grew into a vacation destination town (similar to the Dells) around Dollywood and theres random billboards and stuff with Dolly Parton all over the place .

The park wasnt really a "ride park" until fairly recently, they had an awesome steam train attraction, an indoor coaster/dark ride and probably some flats, all of the mainstream rides were added in the past few years. Like SDC this park is run pretty much by old people (who do a great job) and its big on families & older guests. We went during the Smokey Mountain Christmas celebration and the lights and stuff around the park at night were amazing. I went to SDC during their Christmas event last year which was very similar so it was cool seeing the similarities & differences.

I enjoyed Dollywood more than SDC mainly because the enthusiast in me, I just thought Dollywoods rides collection was way better and I could spend more time at Dollywood. The steam train is amazing, Thunderhead is amazing, Tennessee Tornado is awesome (yes I liked an Arrow looper more than Wildfire the B&M looper) and Blazing Fury is way better than Fire in the Hole, then theres Mystery Mine of course (which was closed during my visit).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gm7MQ1LANvc&fmt=18


Dollywood has a really awkward long, narrow parking lot. I guess it makes sense its hard to find huge plots of level land in the mountains.



Random parking lot tram. When we were leaving at night our tram was full and some large middle aged womans family got on but there was no room for her, so some small old man let her sit on his lap, and hilarity ensued.



Knocked over disability parking sign.



I think there was some sort of ACE event going on, there were lots of patch jackets in the park.



In case you were thinking about interviewing anyone, Dollywood prohibits that without consent from the PR manager.



It was blistering cold all day, between 25-35 degrees and it got way colder at night. The coasters did not open until 1 due to weather and Mystery Mine did not open at all because it needed to be 40 and at the time we asked it was 38 .



The parks exit/main gift shop. This park has a lot of purchase outlets. A major draw for many old people is all the stuff they make at the park that they sell.



Wouldnt be a Herschend park without lots and lots of ECVs.



The coasters werent open yet so we walked around and explored the park for awhile.



It did get moderatley crowded later, the only ride with a long line though was Thunderhead because it was running 1 train.



Thunderhead is better than the other GCIs ive been on (Renegade & Evel Knievel) by leaps & bounds. My #3 wood behind El Toro & Beast.



I was looking at the Topple Tower and this dude just randomly climbed out of the middle of it.

[BP317]

Mystery Mines station/lift/drop is housed in this huge building.



Some random animitronic buzzard in front of Mystery Mine speaking about how he doesnt get along with his wife. Not quite sure what this has to do with anything, but found it hilarious.



Unfortuntaley this sight would remain unchanged all day.



I dont get it?



They have a Mack Splash Battle.






Obviosley it was closed due to winter.









There is an automatic dryer you can stand in for $3 next to River Battle.






Thought this midway looked cool with the mountain on the left.



Dollywoods dark ride/roller coaster hybrid is great. You go through an endless amount of random scenes of stuff burning then theres some drops and it goes Matterhorn and splashes down.



Our first ride on Blazing Fury they turned off all of the lights/effects, so it was just going through pitch black hallways for like 3 minutes then the coaster part comes out of nowhere. Scary as all hell. The rides much better with the scenes on .






Yes these are real bald eagles, very cool.






Being in the south, this place is big on religion. Theres a church inside the park that they have actual services in.



This was the only black guy we saw in the entire park, and he's not even real.



Theres a shop where they make actual wagons, they sell for hundreds to thousands to dollars. This is proof they actually sell!



Icycles.









This is by far the best train at any park ive been to.









There is a "Country Fair" themed area which is where most of the flats are.



Such as the Zamperla Disko.






Veggie Tales coaster.



Did I say this park has certain religious influences?






Dollywood has really good food, I had one of the beef sandwiches.









Tennessee Tornado is a very smooth Arrow with huge inversions.






Found it kindve funny how theres a door hanging from the cieling. Pretty creative theming there.









Thunderhead is long, fast, and furious.






If anything, the Topple Tower looks cool.









=(









Polar Express is their Christmas 4D theater ride.



It had by far the longest line in the park, and broke down while we were in line so we didnt ride it.






Autopia?






Cool looking path.



If your wondering what Rapids rides look like in winter.



Lots of ducks.



We went to Nascar Speedpark the next morning to ride the coaster since its down the street from Dollywood. It wasnt open yet, so we didnt ride it.






This sign was right next to one of the big crosses.
























After seeing the sign that said hell is real we drove by it.

[Jackluver18]

That big cross and that billboard you have pictures of, we've driven through Tennessee to get to Georgia and passed those plenty of times

[bobbinbop20]

wait is that chang in the last picture?

[BP317]

Yes.

[Demon_07]

I've seen plenty of those white crosses through Tennessee. Nearby is my alltime favorite fireworks stand (Forget it's name, Patriotic Palace maybe?) has 2 ferris wheels (For show) antique fire engines and old games. Across the street on a hill is another ferris wheel behind some trees.

[onyxhotel08]

One word...different

[ben_the_bear]

It seems like you didn't get to do that much. I think it's cool that Dollywood, SDC, and BB are open in the winter, but personally I'd wait until summer so I could do other parks in the area.

[onyxhotel08]

There really doesn't appear to be that much to do there...WTF?

[ben_the_bear]

^ No, they just picked the worst time of year to go to an amusement park.

[BP317]

There is plenty to do there, including that whole Christmas event thing that the park was open for. Dollywood looked great at night, spent a lot of time checking that out. The steam train is like 15-20 minutes long and well worth at least one trip. Just because one of the coasters was closed and the place doesnt have 10 coasters doesnt mean theres nothing to do (which is amazing because I hate country music and Dolly Parton creeps me out).

[w00dland]

I love Dollywood. Papas is right, its a park that has a lot of things to do that aren't roller coasters. The shows at this place are incredible, I went during the international festival in the spring and saw some sweet shows. Thunderhead is amazing, Tennesee Tornado is good stuff, and Blazing Fury is definitely a surprise.

One note about their employees: They may all be a little older, but these employees are people who actually care about their jobs, and that makes Dollywood one of the best parks I've ever been to when it comes to operation. The 60 year olds move faster than the 16 year olds most of the time...

[ben_the_bear]

That's just how Dolly rolls. She has many members of her extended family working at the park. Some of them even have their own shows.

And from what I've seen on other sites, I think the xmas thing looks cool, it's just that personally I wouldn't choose to go that time of the year, because all of the other parks in that area are closed (alabama adventure, lake winnie, waterville usa).

[viper1988]

I went with Papas and made a video too

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMhBGu-GA24

Yeah Dollywood is a Great Park with Awesome food and Quality Rides...not to mention that unique southern feel.

There is plenty to do there all we really missed out on was Mystery Mine (Cold),Buccaneer Battle(Cold), and Polar Express Show thing because it had like an hour and a half line!

[ben_the_bear]

I know other people who went a week or two after you and they ended up missing much more than just Mystery Mine. At least you guys have a coaster to go back for. I'm gunna hold off until summer to go there because their water rides look pretty cool. Plus I wanna do all the parks nearby there.

I'll check out your video when it's not 2 in the morning