Dollywood - Pigeon Forge, Tn

One place I have always wanted to visit and take my children to experience is Dollywood. Well we finally made a day trip out of it and drove to Dollywood! Now must I say we went on probably one of the busiest days that they have... MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND! But guess what... We still had a blast regardless of the crowd and traffic. We expected an experience like Six flags but Dollywood is so much larger than that. We definitely agree that we need a couple days to experience everything Dollywood has to offer. BUT here is our one day experience:

We arrived at the park at around 10:30 eastern time and the line to get to the parking was wrapped out into the highway. As many times as we have been to pigeon forge and passed by Dollywood this was the first time I've noticed traffic backed up that far to enter the park. The line moved pretty fast and we were up to the parking kiosk in no time. We did purchase our parking pass in advance on Dollywood's site and saved $2.00 doing it that way as well. We purchased the general parking for $18.00 and at the gate it is $20.00. You can also purchase preferred parking closer to the gate as well for $30.00. There is valet parking for $40.00 but if you are staying at their resort or cabins you do not have to pay for parking at all. With the general parking you have to ride a tram to the gate whereas with the others you do not. The line for the tram was quite long but I would say we were on the tram and at the park within 30 minutes. We purchased our tickets in advance and since we are farm bureau members we received $10.00 off each ticket. Military members and veterans along with spouses and children also can receive discounts on tickets as well. Also check with your employer to see if they offer discounts cause we did find out after the fact that my husbands employer offers tickets for $28.00 off gate price!!  Dollywood also offer season passes if you go more than a couple times it would actually pay for itself. 

The day we went it was actually perfect weather and not too hot but on a normal day we would need lots of drink refills and that can get expensive with a family of 5 but Dollywood had a good deal on their site where you can get one of their plastic Dollywood cups with lid and straw with free refills that day along with .99 cent refills for the rest of the season. If you purchase 1 they were 14.99, 2 for 12.99 each, and 3 or more for 9.99 each. This is a great deal especially on those hot days where you have to refill alot!!! 

This seasons special event was called flowers and food festival and they did have a really pretty setup of spring flowers and Sculptures made of flowers along with a row of umbrellas that you can walk under that was pretty neat. 

Now let's talk about the rides! I am not much of a ride person but oh my kids are. My kids are 7,10,&15 and they all stayed entertained the whole time! The lines were quite long on most rides due to the holiday weekend but they didn't mind. You can download the Dollywood app before going and once you get to the park you can check wait times on the rides and it will even navigate you in the correct direction of a ride or shop that you want to go to. I really enjoyed the app cause it helped us navigate the park alot. But do not go by the wait times stated for the rides. Some rides said the wait was 2 hours long but in reality my kids only waited 45 minutes. But we did have one ride that told us the wait was 45 minutes and we waited an hour so just know not to depend on what the sign may say. They have rides for all sizes too. My kids rode the really big loop to loop rides that took you upside down and pretty much turned your stomach inside out. 

Examples of the rides we rode:

Wild Eagle: This ride is really tall and you hang off the sides by twos. There are alot of loops and fast turns. My 10 year old rode this.

Tennessee Tornado: This is also another tall roller coaster that sends you in several loops really fast. My 7 year old and 10 year old rode this one. This was my 7 rd olds first roller coaster. She did enjoy it but said she didn't want to ride it again. 

 Firechaser express: This is the ride we waited an hour for but it does last longer than the rest. I believe this one last alittle over 2 minutes. This is a roller coaster with no loops but it does go forward and then goes backwards. My 7 and 15 years old along with myself rode this one. I did enjoy this one cause it wasn't too big. 

Thunderhead: Wooden rollercoaster... Need I say more.... Pretty much this one will rattle your brains due to the jarring but my 10 year old loved it.

Blazing fury: This is an inside roller coaster with no flips but it does get dark in some parts and there is some quick surprising drops that are not expected. We all rode this one including my husband. We did enjoy this one.

Smokey Mountain River Rampage: Water ride that resembles white water rafting. Expect to get wet! Plenty of waterfalls along the way. We really enjoyed this even though it was a cool day. 

The Country Fair section also has a lot of smaller kid rides but we ran out of time and was not able to do any of those but I would advise to check it out especially with small children. 

Wildwood Grove also has several kid rides as well so definitely an area to check out. It also includes a restaurant and a gift shop.

We had so much fun! When it was time to leave it was within an hour of park closing so when we arrived back to the trolley area we did have to wait to board a trolley to go back to our car but I would say it was less than 30 minutes.  We can't wait to go back because there is so much that we missed on our first trip there. Hopefully next time we go back we can do the train ride and be able to look at more of the eatery's that are located within the park. We did stop by one stand and we waited for maybe 45 minutes to purchase a funnel cake but oh my it was worth it cause it was freshly made and was so delicious! 

If you have ever wanted to try Dollywood I would highly recommend it but my tips are try not to go around a holiday to try to avoid the crowds, consider getting the fast passes for the rides ( this will definitely save you time at the rides), and if you don't want to stand in line to board the trolleys buy the preferred parking also set aside a couple days to see all of Dollywood and to get the whole experience. Other than that HAVE FUN!!!!