A day in Dollywood - Dolly Parton’s amusement park
When I was planning my spring break vacation this year, going to an amusement park did not even cross my mind at first. I am simply not a fan of visiting amusement parks during holidays, simply because the lines are just too long, which always makes the experience not so enjoyable for me. I mean, I am aware that I can always buy a fast pass and skip the line, but I would rather go to an amusement park on a Monday and enjoy no lines at all without having to pay for a fast pass.
So when I was looking into possible places for my spring break, I picked a place, called Gatlinburg, Tennessee, because several people recommended it to me. They said it has great nature for hiking and the city itself is supposedly pretty cool. And only later, when I was researching things to do in and around Gatlinburg, I realized that a city, called Pigeon forge, which is situated only twenty minutes outside Gatlinburg, is a home of an amusement park, called Dollywood.
Dollywood is named after a famous country singer, Dolly Parton, who is originally from the Smoky mountains area. She owns the park, and also occasionally performs there. But I cannot even imagine the enormous crowds at the park when she is there.
Upon checking the park’s website, I noticed that there are only a few rides that I would enjoy, but the park is supposedly famous for its live shows, and people recommended the park because it apparently is ‘something special’. and despite the fact that it was a holiday weekend, I decided to check Dollywood out. After all, I knew that I would never be able to forgive myself for being so close to an amusement park and not going there.
As you can see, this park gives a lot of attention to a beautiful decoration.
Where is Dollywood situated?
Dollywood is situated near a small town of Pigeon Forge in Tennessee. When I was driving through Pigeon Forge, it reminded me of Las Vegas - weird buildings, games and shows. If you have a chance, definitely stroll through the city, it is totally worth it.
If you do not buy preferred parking, you will have to park on the bottom parking lot and take the tram up to the park entrance. In most parks, getting preferred parking is not worth the money, but Dollywood is a big exception. Preferred parking only costs nine dollars extra if you buy it online, or fifteen dollars if you buy it at the gate, and you will be able to park right next to the entrance. Also, guests who bought preferred parking, get to enter the park through a separate entrance.
When is it open and when is the best time to go there?
The best time to visit Dollywood is, just like in any other park, in the middle of the week. But I visited the park on a Saturday during spring break, and I have to say that the crowds were not nearly as bad as I expected. Well, maybe I was just lucky, but I loved it.
Dollywood always opens at ten o’clock in the morning, and the closing time of the park depends on the time of the year, but it usually closes between seven and ten o’clock at night.
Admission prices and fast pass options
Dollywood is a pretty expensive park. But, on the other hand, they offer a variety of shows that you will not find in any other parks. A daily admission to Dollywood costs sixty nine dollars, which shocked me when I first saw it. But, like I said, with all the shows and some decent rides, I can justify spending that much money on a daily theme park ticket.
And a bonus - this is not widely advertised by Dollywood, but if you purchase a regular After 4PM ticket, you can visit the park the next day for free! Just do not throw that ticket away - without it, they will not let you inside the park.
If you are visiting Dollywood on a busy day, you might want to purchase the so - called Time Saver pass, which is an equivalent of a fast pass in other parks. And during my visit, I could tell that the park employees give much bigger priority to the Time Saver pass holders than they do to regular guests. For example, on Tennessee Tornado, they let two trains of Fast Pass holders on, and only after that, they would load a train of visitors with no fast pass. Well, good for you if you have a fast pass, but I was just a little mad for having to wait for so long to ride on the ride.
Rides
Despite the fact that Dollywood is more about the shows, it still has some pretty decent rides. I will describe then in order I did them, not based on how much I liked them.
Lightning rod was the main reason I wanted to visit Dollywood. But what makes it so special? Well, the Lightning rod is known as the fastest wooden roller coaster in the world. It is also known by the fact that it is frequently closed due to the problems with its launch system. Before my visit, I read several online topics regarding this roller coaster, and despite the fact that I know the chances of me riding it are low, I was still sad when a status popped up on the Dollywood app, saying ‘closed for the day’. Well, next time, I guess.
My life goals include coming back to Dollywood and getting on this ride. As you can see, quite a few people were standing in line, hoping the ride will open for the day, but it unfortunately stayed closed.
Blazing fury is a lame indoor ride, which has a promising start. I mean, you cannot really expect much from an indoor roller coaster, but since the theming of the Blazing Fury was so good at the beginning, I was somehow expecting more from that ride. Blazing fury only has two drops, and neither of them was very steep. But since the ride is almost in the complete dark, the suspicion and anticipation of the drops still make it for an interesting ride.
The next ride is themed around the stunt pilots that were swarming above the local fields quite a few years ago. The ride is called Barnstormer, and it is basically just an enormous swing. The ride looks nothing special from the distance, and it might appear boring, but I can assure you that this ride will make your stomach turn.
Seriously, I went on it after eating lunch, and I was not sure if I will be able to keep the food inside me. The downside of this ride is that it only lasts for a very short time, but on the other hand, I am not sure anyone would be able to handle it for a ling time, it is just too powerful.
If you always wanted to ride one of the ‘first of its kind’ roller coasters, Dollywood has your back. Wild eagle is the first winged roller coaster in the United states of America. I love winged roller coasters, because when you ride them, it feels like you are flying, and every seat on the train will give you a different sensation.
I rode Wild eagle six times, and the best seat is either front row on the right or back row on the left. Teh only downside of the Wild eagle is how short it is. From the distance, it appears as a fairly long roller coaster, but I could not believe how fast the ride was over. Well, the good thing is that this ride never had a line that would be longer than thirty minutes during my visit.
A part of a Wild Eagle's track... and the hot dog stand.
Tennessee Tornado is, just like the Wild eagle, short but sweet. However, when I was there, they were only running one train instead of all three, which made a wait that was supposed to be only thirty minutes, one hour and a half long. And it did not help that the ride operators kept letting a lot of fast pass holders on before everybody else. Tennessee tornado is the second fastest roller coaster in the park, and before riding it, I never thought that a loop can make me go dizzy. Too bad the ride is so short because I loved it.
Firechaser express is supposedly a family roller coaster, themed around firefighters. I am saying ‘supposedly’, because this is a launched roller coaster, and it packs quite a few Gs. When you are buckled and ready to go, the ride operator will announce that there is a fire and you have to go, and then you are launched.
You will eventually stop inside a firework store, and then you will see fire, and the big rocket will then detonate, blasting you backwards until you reach the station again. I loved this ride and I wish I went on it one more time, but the lines were just too long.
Mystery mine is a roller coaster that positively surprised me. This is an indoor / outdoor ride, and you can see the outdoor part from the street. It looked quite fun, so I decided to give it a try. Once we buckled in, the ride operator said: dear parents and grandparents, if your kids told you that this ride does not have steep drops - it does. If they told you that this ride does not go upside down- it does. I thought this was super funny, but I did not expect big drops since I did not see them on the outside.
Waiting in line at Mystery mine is never boring - you can distract yourself by reading the funny facts, such as this 'average wages' board.
Once the train starts moving, you will be presented with some special effects, and then you will see a ninety degree hill! When I saw it, I freaked out just a little bit. The drop that followed, was pretty scary, and there were also two inversions on that part. Then, the train went indoors again, and I was sure the ride is over.
But no - I saw another ninety degree hill that was way bigger than the previous one. I realized that these hills were cleverly hidden in what looks like a mine building from the outside. This was an amazing drop, and a few more twists and inversions followed before the train went back to the station.
I loved the Mystery mine, I just wished it was a little smoother. My head kept banging into the restraints during the sharp turns, which resulted in a not so nice pain in my neck that lasted for two days.
A part of Mystery mine's track. As you can see, the track has some extremely sharp turns, which, in the combination of small karts, offer quite a rough ride.
Thunderhead is a big and fast wooden roller coaster, and I was surprised because it was not very painful. Wooden roller coasters are usually very rough, but this one is a nice exception. It is long and it has a lot of steep drops, which results in some nice air time.
The drop tower was nothing special, but it allowed me to see the park well from above. This is a gyro drop tower, meaning it will spin around on the way up, which will allow you to see everything around you. This is also one of these drop towers that make you wait for a really long time at the top, and drop you when you least expect it.
I am glad that the ride, called River rampage, was the last ride I went on during my visit. Why? Well, because River rampage is a water ride, and I was soaking wet after the ride. Seriously, I was leaving a wet trail wherever I walked after getting off the ride, and I am so glad I had spare clothes in the car.
River rampage is one of those water rides with round pontoon boats that accommodate up to six people, and usually it is based entirely on your luck when picking a seat, on how wet you will get. Since the ride rotates all the time, and you will be passing water cannons, waterfalls and geysers, it is impossible to predict the best seat.
Therefore, I decided to pick a seat that was the most dry among the six of them. You probably are smarter than me and already know that I made a big mistake by choosing that seat. The first half of the ride was not too bad, except for one of the rapids, which send a huge amount of water into the boat. And then our boat was approaching a waterfall. You know, these waterfalls that stop right before you are supposed to go under them?
Well, when we were approaching, the waterfall stopped… and suddenly started again. Needless to say that we were soaking wet in just a matter of a few seconds and all I have to say is that I was glad I had my phone in a waterproof bag and I was wearing three layers of clothing, so the cold (and rather stinky) water did not get to my skin all at once.
Once we exited the ride, we realized that we were the only ones that got soaked. It was either extremely bad luck or a glitch in the ride. Well, I cannot say that the ride was not fun, but if I knew I will get soaking wet, I would not ride it.
You will find some body driers after you exit the ride, but please do not get too excited about them. They claim to dry you in a minute, all you need to do is stand inside. The driers cost five dollars, and from my experience in other amusement parks, I have to say that they do not work. Well, luckily, it was a sunny day and I was able to dry just by walking around and sitting on the sun, but still…
Apparently, a must - do thing in the park is ride, called the Dollywood express train, which takes you on a journey throughout the park. You do not have to pay extra to do it, which results in terribly long lines. Also, this is an authentic train that still burns coal, and you can not even imagine how much smoke it produces. The first time I saw it, I was sure there is a fire somewhere in the park!
Zip line is another Dollywood attraction that is very popular, but you have to pay extra for it. This is basically a zip line that will bring you from one side of the park to another, and you will be able to see all the attraction from the bird’s eye view.
Dollywood also has a fairly big water park, but the water park season did not start yet, so I was not able to visit it. However, most online reviews state that the Dollywood’s water park is excellent, and some even say the water park is better than the theme park.
Shows
Dollywood is more famous for its shows than it is for its rides. And during my visit, I was able to see four amazing shows. The shows at Dollywood typically last between thirty and forty five minutes, and there is no extra charge to see them. However, make sure you arrive to the theatres where the shows are performed, early enough.
The seats usually fill up as early as half an hour before the show starts. One of my friends that has been to Dollywood before, suggested to spend two days at the park and dedicate one day to the rides and the other day to the shows. I think this is a great idea, especially if you are planning to take advantage on the half day ticket offer, where you can enter the park the next day for free.
I was lucky enough to visit Dollywood during their so - called Festival of nations, which hosts shows and performances from different countries all over the world. The shows that I saw were the following:
The national Siberian dance company was the first show I saw. I did not have very high expectations, because, after all, you are not paying anything extra for the shows, but I was blown away. The performance starts with boys and girls, dressed in traditional Siberian clothes, dancing a slow dance. Because the girls’ dresses are long enough to touch the floor, it looks like the girls are levitating.
The next two dances are way faster, and I was impressed about the boys’ dance moves. It was a mix of running, break dancing and goofing around, and the audience loved it, including me. And then my favourite part happened - the chicken dance! The performers were dressed in cocks and chicks and the cocks tried to make the chicks like them. It was hilarious!
The last song involved all of the performers, singing in Russian, and it was pretty mesmerizing. The audience gave them a standing ovation at the end. Well, they totally deserved it.
Jig Jam was a show that was happening outdoors, in a small pavilion cose to the park's exit. The band involved four (really cute!) singers, and they performed a mix of bluegrass and Irish traditional music, and also some covers of the famous songs, such as Walk of life by Dire straits, and Paradise city by Guns n’ Roses. I usually do not like that type of music, but their variations of the well - known songs were just so good that I stayed for the whole show, even though I originally intended to stay for just a couple of songs.
Invaders - the Caribbean steel drum orchestra was the last show that I saw at Dollywood, and the music was so catchy that it made me want to stand up and dance. The musicians showed some pretty impressive dance moves while playing the Caribbean steel drums, and I almost wished I could join them on stage, even though I am a terrible dancer.
Where to eat?
The restaurants at Dollywood mainly focus on southern comfort food and barbecue, but since I was there during the festival of nations, I was able to try a few foods from different parts of the world. I had cannoli from Italy for breakfast, a (too) spicy Cuban pulled pork sandwich for lunch and Ecuadorian tamales for dinner.
Dollywood has plenty of restaurants, and most of them display their menus with prices outside, s you can decide if you want to eat there or not without having to go inside the restaurant. I would like to give you a suggestion - do not eat lunch at peak times. If you decide to eat lunch early or late, you will avoid the crowd of people that want to eat lunch at regular times, and it will also allow you to enjoy the rides with shorter lines, because everybody will be eating lunch.
The food at Dollywood is surprisingly decent, the portions are big enough, and the prices are lower than in other amusement parks that I have visited. For example, I paid only fifteen dollars for the Cuban sandwich, sweet tea, and an ice cream as a dessert.
Shops
One of my favourite shops in Dollywood was definitely Dolly’s closet. This store is situated in a close proximity to the Lightning rod, and, as you can guess by the name of the store, it sells Dolly Parton’s style clothes. Whet I particularly like about this store is that it sells clothes in all sizes, not just small, like most other stores. The prices are not too bad, either.
My second favourite store was the one that sells cowboy hats. They are made out of genuine leather, and therefore, they are on the expensive side, but they make for a cool Tennessee souvenir. Well, since they are expensive, I would suggest you not to buy it if you are not planning to wear it.
Then I also liked the store with souvenirs. That store offered a mix of Tennessee souvenirs and souvenirs from the park itself. One of my favourite items that I saw there (which I was unfortunately unable to buy because it was too big) was a black bear, that you can put next to your front door. The bear is standing on its back legs and is holding a sign that says ‘welcome’, but you can also turn that sign around, and it will then say ‘go away’.
A few tips for making your day at the park easier
First of all, do not expect to be able to ride the Lightning rod to avoid disappointment at the end of the day. Like I already mentioned before, the Lightning rod is the fastest wooden roller coaster in the world, and of course riding this ride was my first priority in Dollywood. But because of this ride’s unique launch system, the Lightning rod has been having trouble since its opening day. Apparently, it has been closed for most of the time. But I still somehow hoped I will be able to ride it.
But what makes this ride so special? Most of the roller coasters have a chain lift hill that pulls the train up. Well, not the Lightning rod. This is a launched roller coaster, meaning you will be launched uphill, and the launch system is this ride’s main trouble. Wooden roller coasters do not have such an unique launch system.
Well, the Lightning rod’s unique system is apparently not very effective. I knew that it was extremely unlikely that I will get to ride it, but I was still super disappointed at the end of the day, since they just did two test runs in the morning and decided the ride will be closed down for maintenance the whole day. Well, people on several online amusement park forums have mentioned that they travelled across the country just to ride the Lightning rod, just to find out it is not running. At least I was not that unlucky.
Secondly, especially on Tennessee Tornado, expect the line to move reeeeeeally slowly because they only run one train and they will let all the people with the fast pass on before you. Also, the wait times in the Dollywood app are not accurate at all. When I was waiting in line for the Tennessee Tornado, the shown wait was fifty minutes, and we ended up waiting for one hour and forty minutes. If I knew beforehand that the wait is so long, I would never have waited.
Well, even if you do not get to ride the Lightning rod, you can admire some of the cool, authentic cars that are parked in the ride's area.
In addition, do not expect a lot of bigger rides at the park. Dollywood is more about shows and a typical southern experience. Of course, you still have a few decent rides, such as the Wild Eagle, the Firechaser Express, the Thunderhead and others. But real roller coaster fanatics should choose other parks that offer more big rides.
And last but not least, if you are hoping to see one of the famous dinner shows at Dollywood, prepare to pay a looooooooot of money. I mean, even general admission into this park is very expensive. In fact, it is more expensive than, for example, Cedar Point, which is considered the roller coaster capital of the world, or most of the Six Flags parks.
Well, the price of a dinner show at Dollywood is minimum eighty dollars, which is more than an admission price! And from what I read in the reviews, the food is not good at all. You can still see some of the awesome free shows during the day, and put that money that you would spend for a dinner show, towards another amusement park visit.
A few words for the end…
At the end of the day, I am having mixed feelings about Dollywood. The park is beautifully made, and the entertainment there is superb, but the park lacks bigger, more extreme rides, in my opinion. The only reason I would return to Dollywood is knowing that I will be able to ride the Lightning rod, and I sure hope this day will happen sometime in the near future.
