Originally Posted By Rsey103 My family and I recently rented a vacation home in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee and visited Dollywood theme park. (www.dollywood.com) It was my first visit to the park. Dollywood is privately owned by Dolly Parton and The Herschend Family Entertainment Co. of Norcross, GA. (www.hfecorp.com) Adult admission: $53.65. Parking: $8.00. (We purchased our tickets after 3 p.m. and were able to come back the next day for free, bringing the cost more in line with what the park is worth.) According to the map, there are 10 sections in the park: * Showstreet * Timber Canyon * Wilderness Pass * Craftsman’s Valley * Dreamland Forest * Rivertown Junction * The Village * Country Fair * Jukebox Junction * Adventures in Imagination Each section has no distinct design or theme, letting you know where one section ends and another one begins. With the exceptions of Jukebox Junction and Adventures in Imagination it all looked the same to me. During our visit, there were no parades, no fireworks (they’d probably catch the hills on fire), and no walk-around characters. They did have a Brendan Fraser look-alike at Journey to the Center of the Earth. The “fast pass” program here is called Q2Q and involves an additional fee. This was not required as we were able to pretty much walk on at every attraction. The steam train at Dollywood consumes 5 tons of coal per day and was once used to carry supplies for the construction of the Alaskan Highway (or ALCAN Highway) during World War II. (The Alaskan Highway connects the contiguous U.S. to Alaska through Canada.) A new addition to the park in 2009 is “Sha-Kon-O-Hey!,” a stage musical commemorating the 75th anniversary of the creation of Great Smokey Mountains National Park. Dolly Parton wrote 8 original songs for the show and they’re performed with a live band. A family in the Depression Era leaves the Great Smokey Mountains to find work out west. They pack up their truck and sing and dance and talk about their memories in the mountains. I found the Cirque du Soleil-type acrobatics and aerial stunts odd given the theme of the show. And why was there a summer tree and an autumn tree on the set at the same time? One unusual thing about this amusement park is there’s a church inside. Not a prop or a set, but a real church. The Robert F. Thomas Chapel conducts Christian services every Sunday morning at 11:30 for park guests. I think it was designed to look like the little country church that Dolly Parton grew up singing in. (The store across the street sells Bibles.....) One of only two dark rides in the park, Blazing Fury is a holdover from previous owners. It starts out slow, moving through a town that is inexplicably on fire—then becomes a roller coaster. The AA figures (if you can call them that) look like department store mannequins. The trees look like the plastic trees you can find at Kmart at Christmas time. There were obvious (unsuccessful) attempts to rip off Disney’s POTC, Haunted Mansion, and Mr. Toad. Blazing Fury was the tackiest, cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen anywhere. We rode it 3 times. When my niece asked our server at Aunt Granny’s Buffet, “How are the chicken and dumplings here?” he smiled and said, “Well....I’ve had better.” My niece passed on the chicken & dumplings (smart girl). Two in our group felt ill the rest of the day after eating from the salad bar there. The food in this park needs to be improved. It should at least be brought up to the quality of food they serve at the Dixie Stampede dinner show, which is pretty good. (www.dixiestampede.com) With the exception of photos, nobody in our group was tempted to buy any Dollywood merchandise the two days we were there. I did kind of like the German cuckoo clocks and some of the furniture in the Woodcutter’s shop. At Dollywood, all guests exit the park through the Emporium. (Can you imagine having to exit Disneyland through the Emporium at the end of the day?) Park employees were friendly and helpful. (I wonder what they do January-March when the park is closed?) I lost my cell phone on the Thunderhead roller coaster and thought I’d never see it again. The employees returned it to me before the end of the day. (It still works.) I don’t listen much to Country music, but I do love a rags-to-riches story. My favorite attraction in the park was the Chasing Rainbows Dolly Parton museum and Tour Bus. I liked seeing Parton’s costumes, Grammys, and Kennedy Center Honor up close. There were costumes and sets from the “9 to 5" movie as well as costumes that were made for “9 to 5" on Broadway. I liked how Parton turned it around and used the space to pay tribute to the people who have influenced her life and career. The “coat of many colors” that inspired Dolly’s 1971 song about growing up poor in the TN mountains was on display. It looked like something you might see in a shop window on 5th Ave in New York City today. Now when I hear that song I’ll no longer feel sorry for Dolly having to wear that when she was a child. The tour bus has made over 100 non-stop trips from Nashville to Los Angeles, getting 7 miles per gallon. It has never been stopped for speeding or a traffic violation of any kind, they say. I took a cute picture of my niece in Dolly’s bathtub. I might go back to Dollywood if friends and family want to. But, personally, there was no attraction, show, shop, or restaurant there that I particularly need to repeat. If I could speak to Dolly and the Herschend Company, there are three suggestions that I would make— 1. Improve the food at the park! (Those Tennessee hills are full of good Southern cooks. Employ them.) 2. You have a lot of outdoor rides but not enough indoor ones. Add more dark rides that families can ride together and escape the heat. A haunted house ride would do wonders for the place.... 3. Cool it. Make the park more comfortable by using cooler colors in the design (do the streets have to be black?) and by adding more shade and mist fans. _________________________________________ A fact about Dolly Parton that you might not know: She gives a book every month to every child in Sevier County, TN from the time they are born until their fifth birthday.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I've been to DW a couple of times and have found the food to be some of the best in the amusement park industry. But, it wouldn't surprise me if you got a bad meal or two. I like Disney food too but get the occasional bad meal there. You found the dark ride the chessiest thing you've ever been on...the proceeded to ride it 3 times? Odd. Not sure if that was a compliment or criticism. If you don't like country music you visited the wrong part of the country...but I have found Dollywood entertainment to be some of the best in the business and they tend to win a lot of awards for their shows. Christmas at Dollywood is fantastic.
Originally Posted By dlkozy Just saw Dollywood on the Food Network-they have Master BBQers that BBQ at Dollywood. It looked good-anyone know how it tastes?
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I have never had a bad meal at Dollywood...including the BBQ. But, everything does have a southern flair and if you don't like real southern food then you won't be happy with that.
Originally Posted By brotherdave I've been to Dollywood twice and found it to be a lot of fun with some really good 'vittles' there! Some of the best food that I've had in a theme park. However, anyone can have a bad meal anywhere, so I can understand. Remember, it's not EPCOT, it's 'down home country cookin'. Personally, I try to stay away from salad bars anywhere due to other people's hygene. You never know who was there ahead of you and what disease they may be carrying, especially on their hands (everyone has to use the same serving utensils). I sympathize for those that felt ill afterwards, it's no fun to be sure, especially on vacation. Overall, I'd rate Dollywood very high on the theme park scale. If Disney parks were a 10, I'd have to list Dollywood as an 8 (comparable to Busch parks in quality). It's spotlessly clean (at least when I've visited the park), some of the friendliest employees ever (even if they are sometimes a bit slow in loading the rides), and some of the prettiest and 'authentic' looking landscaping and theming in a wooded environment. By the way, Blazing Fury is sooo much fun and is my favorite ride in the park along with Thunderhead. Yes, the animated characters are pretty mannequin-like and 'cheesy' (in a good way!), but as dark rides go, this is one of the best outside of Disney & Universal. It kind of blends theme park style effects with old-fashioned traditional dark rides. The collapsing covered-bridge effect is truly awesome! Mix in some coaster-like hills and a log flume style splashdown, it's really a lot of fun!! Given that this ride was built in-house in the early 70s, I give it truly high marks for inventiveness. Fun, wild (at times) and wet! Also, Thunderhead is absolutely one of the best wooden coasters ever built. It always ranks high on most coaster enthusiast and amusment park polls. I haven't ridden Mystery Mine yet, but I know that it's received good reviews by many. Most rank it as a 'fun' ride, as opposed to a traditional-style wild wood coaster like Thunderhead. If you're ever in or around Eastern Tennessee or the Great Smokey Mountains, I'd highly recommend visiting this park.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 Well, in my mind no way no how is that park an 8 compared to a Disney 10... I don't think they have the intention for it to be that.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper I find that Disney fans, in general, underrate non-Disney parks and overrate their own parks. I've worked in several and there is plenty of criticism and praise to go around.
Originally Posted By brotherdave I think we have some similar viewpoints, Skipper! Some people view Cedar Point as the GREATEST amusement park ever (such as pollsters in Amusement Today's Golden Ticket awards), other's view Disney that way. Me, I love them all. Some are just a little better than others. And there's no right or wrong answer. I think Dollywood ranks pretty high on my list. Rsey103 may not. It's all relative on what you like and expect, and how many parks you may have visited outside the worlds of Disney. My home park of Kennywood ranks pretty high to me, too. But it probably won't to a seasoned Disney fan who might not like traditional amusement parks much.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Oh, and although Cedar Point is fun, it's not as high on my list as Dollywood. It's more somewhere in the middle.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Thanks for sharing Rsey103. I have heard great things about Dollywood (and I love Dolly, Country and Bluegrass). We were hoping to make it there some day, but perhaps we will give it a miss now. How did it rate compared to Knott's Berry Farm of old? I used to love what KBF used to be, and I have heard favorable comparisons of the two.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper Dave...I was an old school Knott's fan (the 70s) and I would say Dollywood certainly brought back some of those memories. Dollywood is in a beautiful setting (the mountains after all) and that certainly helps. But honestly, the Dollywood staff is amongst the friendliest you will find in the industry. That makes a HUGE difference to me. They seem to genuinely enjoy being there. If you can get to Dollywood during Christmas you won't be disappointed.
Originally Posted By brotherdave Dollywood did remind me some of the old Knott's, too. More emphasis on shows and crafts, less on rides. The theming is very good, almost 'authentic' in it's appearance and feel. Is it Disney? Hardly. But it's certainly better than most regional theme parks in terms of quality. The staff has to be the friendliest that I've ever encountered, including Disney. They also have 'resident' streetmosphere-like characters found throughout the park that may 'work' or 'live' in a particular section. They add great atmosphere to the park and I've never seen them break from character. I'm not going to guarantee that you'll love the park, but I think if you like theme parks on different level than Disney or Universal, I think that you'll like this. Personally, it's one of my favorite theme parks operating outside of those run by Disney, Universal, or Busch.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Hmmm, I loved the characters of old Knott's and really missed it last time. I think this may still be on the bucketlist.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 I'd like brotherdave to show me examples of theming he likes in this park. I did like the way the steam train looked as it crossed the trestle in the middle of the park. The rest of it looked like an 'authentic' amusement park to me.... They got it right at the Dixie Stampede (owned by the same company). If only they could transfer the quality of food and showmanship from there to the Park..... Going in, I thought I would like Dollywood and would be critical of the dinner show. Turned out the other way around....
Originally Posted By Kar2oonMan >>But honestly, the Dollywood staff is amongst the friendliest you will find in the industry. That makes a HUGE difference to me. They seem to genuinely enjoy being there.<< My parents visited Dollywood several years ago and said the exact same thing. And they said it never felt like "customer service" friendliness, it felt very genuine.
Originally Posted By wahooskipper No, it is a small park by Disney standards. Think Disney-MGM before the first large expansion. It is interesting that they keep creating room in order to build new attractions. I've got a secret for some folks: not every park has to be a theme park.
Originally Posted By brotherdave There are plenty examples of theme at Dollywood, it just happens to be pretty much the same theme throughout, with a few exceptions. Craftsman's Valley has a definite 'backwoods Tennesee' feel, the entrance area has more of a Victorian Main Street-style feel, the 50s area..well, you know... Granted, I wish they would replace the black asphalt blacktop that they use througout most of the park with something better themed (and cooler), but it certainly didn't feel like an 'old-fashioned' amusement park to me except in the County Fair area of the park. The flume ride is nicely themed and has some fun sights along the way. Blazing Fury is also very well themed, even with the 'mannequins'. Compare this to other supposed 'theme' parks like Carowinds, Cedar Point, or just about any Six Flags, and Dollywood looks very "Disney-like" suddenly (ok, more like old Knott's, but you get the idea). Is it perfect? No. Is it fun? YES! But of course that is relative. If you don't like Dollywood, I can respect that. To me, Dollywood was a lot of fun and worth the long drive for us to get there. We plan on going back in the next year or so... By the way, did you happen to see the "Heartsong" movie attraction?? Very well themed with some cute and nifty in-theatre effects. Not a 3-D film, but the theatre comes alive, mainly with animated butterflies flying on hidden tracks overhead and other effects. Very well done, imho.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 >>Blazing Fury is also very well themed, even with the 'mannequins'. Compare this to other supposed 'theme' parks...,and Dollywood looks very "Disney-like" suddenly...<< You might want to take another look at Blazing Fury. I read somewhere that over the years some features of the ride that told the story have been removed and not replaced.... >>By the way, did you happen to see the "Heartsong" movie attraction?? Very well themed with some cute and nifty in-theatre effects. Not a 3-D film, but the theatre comes alive, mainly with animated butterflies flying on hidden tracks overhead and other effects. Very well done, imho.<< Yes, we saw the film, but not the in-theatre effects. The lighting would highlight sections of the theatre, but nothing happened there. Those effects either had been removed or were not working. The waterfall that's in that film--I'd like to know where that is located.
Originally Posted By Rsey103 >>not every park has to be a theme park<< Dollywood presents itself as a theme park with 10 themed sections.
