Photo TR: From Dollywood to Holiwood

Day 1: Hours of Driving Punctuated by Pandas

With school letting out very early this year for an unseasonably warm winter, the opportunity presented itself to take our family vacation a bit earlier in the year. We chose the week of Memorial Day to go all over Tennessee and then end the trip at Holiwood Nights. Now, this is a lot of driving, and our kids are still pretty small, so we broke up the driving into small chunks. We took off on Friday May 26 as soon as we were off work and drove to Memphis that night. US-63 is a beautiful drive through the Ozarks hills on a winding two-lane road. If you can avoid the motion sickness enough to appreciate it, that is.

We got up Saturday morning to our first destination: The Memphis Zoo. This is a remarkable zoo, very large and well laid out, with lots of highly detailed exhibits. The real draw here, though, is that it’s one of only a handful of zoos in all of the United States that has giant pandas. The pandas, Ya Ya and Le Le, have an elaborate home built with traditional Chinese architectural designs, and it’s a treat to walk through the space. By the time you reach the centre of the exhibit and see the pandas for yourself, you are fully immersed in the environment.

There are a few rides here, but nothing substantial, and in fact, I didn’t see anyone in line for any of them. We had plenty of theme park days on this trip, and updates to this trip report will feature plenty of photos, but for now, enjoy your vicarious journey through one of America’s best zoos.

Cool Egyptian themed entrance.

There's just something enduring about dick-shaped stone monuments.

Plenty of photo ops throughout the zoo.

This is a river cat. Note the stripes on its head but spots on its body. Never seen one before.

Lots of big cats here. My girls are cat fans, so they enjoyed this exhibit.

There were quite a few exhibits that allowed you to see the animals unobstructed, usually relying on slopes at the front of the exhibit to prevent animals from reaching the visitor observation areas rather than glass or metal bars.

Very elaborate habitats.

Red panda!

Cats are cats, no matter the size.

Meerkats!

There were a bunch of LEGO statues all over the place.

Some cool topiaries, too.

The rides section. Operators were present, but no guests were interested.

The zoo has a lot of komodo dragons--I think abut 6 or 8.

We got to see a tortoise feeding. The keeper was available for questions, and that kid got to feed them! The biggest one weighs 350 pounds!

And now...the panda exhibit!

My kids always like these music playgrounds.

Thanks for a good time! Now on to Dollywood!

Very nice! Looking forward to the rest of your trip report!

Off to a great start. Stoked for part two!

Very interesting so far. Love to see more, keep it coming!

Day 1 Continued: To Sleep, Perchance to Dream More

We left the Memphis Zoo in the early afternoon to give ourselves plenty of time to get to Pigeon Forge. Storms were coming, and we were already going to be losing an hour going into Eastern Time. This was my kids’ first time in another time zone, and my oldest was very interested in why it was a different time where we were going. Science lesson!

I was very impressed with the wide, well marked roads leading from the Interstate to Pigeon Forge. It’s like they expect there to be lots of traffic and have planned for this eventuality! Branson, take note. One thing that’s not great, though, is the drivers. Wow, do people in Tennessee drive awfully. Compared to the dream that is Los Angeles traffic, Tennessee is downright awful. Unlike California, in which everyone pretty much minds their own business and gets where they’re going, Tennessee drivers are aggressive and vindictive. They will not hesitate to get back at someone they feel has slighted them. It’s like the whole state still holds a grudge for having lost a war or something.

And so as I switched from the middle to the left lane on Veterans Parkway two blocks before the DreamMore entrance, I was immediately tailgated by a man in a heavily modified large red pickup truck. All traffic was moving at the speed limit, and I wasn’t just driving in the lane. I had an imminent left turn to make. This was a montrosity of a vehicle, with an extended cab and extended bed. It had a wraparound graphic of an American flag and on the dashboard and roof, LED lights that alternated similar to a police car’s lights. And so this jackass redneck flashed his police-esque lights at me as he tailgated me for the great crime of getting in the left lane two blocks before I turn left to my destination. I swear, some people just love to stereotype themselves.

We arrived at DreamMore a little after 9, which was a bit too late to get our tickets. We did a bit of exploring around the hotel, but we were mostly very tired from two days of driving and went up to the room. The kids really liked the bunk bed, and we loved all the room amenities. This room had outlets and USB ports everywhere. When traveling with three kids, we have a few electronics, and we could charge them all each night. Also, the toilet paper was embossed. I can safely say this is the only hotel I’ve ever stayed in that had embossed toilet paper.

In short, book this hotel! All the included extras make it very much worth the cost, and it was really very affordable, especially considering this was Memorial Day weekend. I’ll have more to say about DreamMore in the next few installments, as we continued exploring everything the resort has to offer.

Breathtaking.

Thanks! We're sure glad to be here!

Just inside the main entrance.

And look what was waiting for us in the room!

The kids loved the bunk bed.

Conference area corridor

Concierge desk

Lobby, or "the living room" as they like to call it

Another seating area in the lobby

The Pantry serves Starbucks in the morning and pizza later in the day.

Song and Hearth is the very high quality restaurant downstairs. A bit pricey, but absolutely worth it. We ate breakfast here the next day, so stay tuned to this trip report.

Elevator area

There were a bunch of these pithy sayings from Dolly all over the resort.

The corridor carpet was full of butterflies.

They do not miss a single detail! This is the way to experience Dollywood!

OMG! Embossed toilet paper!

The only reason for that truck to be tailgating you is if you where guilty of having a Hillary for president bumper sticker or something. . Ok other then that sounds like you found heaven at DreamMore! It's a tribute to Dolly and all things southern.

Being a Tennessee resident myself, I can confirm we have some sucky and outspoken drivers. Where I am (Nashville) isn't that bad, but East Tennessee? I'll just say I'm not surprised.

I have nowhere near the budget to book a room at the DreamMore, but man does it look nice. I've heard nothing but good things about it and would love to stay there at least once. I'm so used to doing day trips and staying at hotels on the strip.

See this is how I want to experience Dollywood! Totally staying @ this place when I do eventually get there (it won't hurt that the other half has an affinity for butterflies borderlining on obsession). I've looked into it before when considering a DW visit, and the place looks really nice, and looking at room rates again (what I did right after I read this update) they're seemingly pretty reasonable for what you get.

I'm assuming we'll get to this with the next update, but they do have trams over to the park, right? Like we wouldn't have to move our car from the resort if we wanted to do the park/waterpark? Can you get trams into Pigeon Forge for touristy stuff there? And since I know there is no booze in the park should I assume no hotel bar either? LOL! There is drinking in Pigeon Forge, yes?

Sorry for all the questions, but a DW trip is near the top of my bucketlist, just have to get a few other trips outta the way first. I think the other half would *LOVE* DW and the surrounding attractions. Can't wait for more!

I haven't noticed the drivers down here being that bad, but then again I'm from Massachusetts where we pride ourselves in being Massholes on the road. Everyone I've seen down here doesn't go 20 over the speed limit, change lanes without blinkers, or play games of chicken at merges/stops.

This is my first time seeing the interior of DreamMore, and WOW. I've literally got chills. It's so BEAUTIFUL! I will absolutely make sure to plan for a stay at the DreamMore whenever I finally get a chance to go to Dollywood someyear. Can't wait for the next part of your report!

Yes. If I was staying at or near Dollywood, THIS is the hotel I would want to stay at!

DreamMore looks wonderful. And YAY for red pandas!

Looking forward to more of your trip.

I'm assuming we'll get to this with the next update, but they do have trams over to the park, right? Like we wouldn't have to move our car from the resort if we wanted to do the park/waterpark?

Shuttle buses, not trams, but yes. You don't have to move your car at all, and the resort has free parking!

Can you get trams into Pigeon Forge for touristy stuff there?

No, the shuttle only goes to Dollywood and Splash Country. If you want to go into Pigeon Forge, you'll need your car.

And since I know there is no booze in the park should I assume no hotel bar either? LOL!

You should not assume that! They have a full bar, and even their own signature drinks! The Front Porch Swing (a rum-based fruity concoction with pineapple juice as the primary mixer) was my favourite. Reasonably priced especially considering it's a resort, with beers about $4-5 and specialty drinks about $8-9.

There is drinking in Pigeon Forge, yes?

I think so, but (spoilers!) we never went into town. The resort had so much to offer, and it was so relaxing just leaving the car there and taking the shuttle. We went for the true resort experience and just spent that part of the vacation completely on Dollywood properties.

I've been so focused working on my TR from Coastermania! that I missed you had started this one.

it's great so far, and loving the pics!

this is exactly the type of trip we love, with "culture" stops mixed in with the Amusement/Theme parks.

can't wait to read the rest!

Day 2: Song and Hearth for Breakfast, Song and Dance for Tickets, and Songs from the Heart for Family

Sunday morning the first item on the agenda was to get Dollywood tickets. I had been told when I checked in that tickets would be available at 8AM, so I went down to the concierge desk at that time. No one was there. I waited just a minute or so, then one bewildered concierge asked what I needed, and I replied that I wanted to buy tickets. She said they wouldn’t open until 9, and that they don’t have any computers up yet. Turns out what I was told the night before was ticket misinformation #1 (ominous foreshadowing…).

Okay, so we’ll head to breakfast instead, then buy tickets afterward. Song and Hearth was incredibly awesome! It’s a buffet breakfast with an omelet chef and a pancake chef. Yes, you tell these men what you want them to make, and they do, and it’s delicious! I got a Denver omelet variant with extra veggies and my daughter got a birthday cake pancake! They also have the best bacon ever, lots of pastries, it’s great.

After breakfast, I went to get the tickets. We have Silver Dollar City season passes, so we get a 50% discount on undiscounted tickets. The way I read the policy online, that wouldn’t apply to the three-day tickets we wanted, but just to be sure, I asked the concierge. In hindsight, it would have been better to have just kept my mouth shut and gotten the resort discount, which was more than the advance purchase online discount.

What actually happened is that she told me, “Don’t you get free tickets?” Misinformation #2, but I knew we didn’t; I was just asking if the discount applied to the three-day tickets. To be clear, those are considered to be already discounted, so they aren’t undiscounted tickets and you don’t get an SDC passholder discount. To be super, super clear, I wasn’t trying to get a discount I didn’t deserve; I was only asking because I wasn’t certain if the three-day tickets qualified as undiscounted, which I now know they do not. So she called over to Dollywood guest services to ask them, and after she got off the phone, told me, yes you get 50% off those tickets. Misinformation #3.

Fantastic, I thought, 50% off! I picked up our TimeSaver passes from the concierge, and we boarded the shuttle bus to Dollywood. I then went to the ticket booth there and showed my SDC season passes we had brought with us just in case, and asked for my 50% off three-day passes (which, I remind you, I was under the impression was a discount we were entitled to, having just been told that by the DreamMore concierge). The ticket agent looked puzzled, which was not at all a good sign. She called over to guest services, and they said no such thing exists. Awesome. I could get three-day tickets at full price, or three one-day tickets at 50% off for SDC season passholders. After running the math, we figured out it would be more even with our discount to get three individual day tickets than it would for the three-day tickets—and to get the resort discount, I would have to go back to DreamMore. We were already at Dollywood, and I really was tired of this run-around, but on the plus side, I finally had accurate information! Fine, whatever, we’ll just buy the tickets here and finally start our day.

That snafu aside, Dollywood was a fantastic place, and that ended up being the only snag in our entire trip. Could have been much worse. I probably could have called ahead and gotten the right information straight from Dollywood, but I really did expect DreamMore’s concierge to know, and she just didn’t. I get that they probably don’t get a whole lot of SDC passholders at DreamMore, but it really should be a thing that they at least have a QRG for. Water under the bridge, and it didn’t ruin my trip or even my day, but it was a genuine frustration, and I think that is worthy of criticism.

We started off our day with the water rides, since everyone can ride those together. We went on Smoky Mountain River Rampage first, then Daredevil Falls, then Mountain Slidewinder. The last was my oldest’s favourite ride. She never got to ride SDC’s Wilderness Waterboggan, since it closed in 2008, and she was born in 2007. For me, it was a nice blast of nostalgia, and probably my second favourite ride after Mystery Mine (spoilers!).

I tried Barnstormer after that, but no one else wanted to ride. I looked in the queue, and it was *gasp* 10 minutes! F*ck that—I have TimeSaver Pass! Got on immediately, back hanging out with family after that. I love these things. Granted, we never really needed it, and never saw a line longer than 20 minutes the whole time. But we have it, and we’re going to use it!

We headed down Craftsman’s Valley next. This is the very SDC area of the park. There were storms in the forecast, so we skipped Blazing Fury, planning to come back to it later once the rain started. Spoilers (wow, I’m just ruining everything for you)—it never rained, but I totally forgot to come back to this area later, so we missed Blazing Fury that first day. All right, I’ve spoiled so much for you now, I might as well say I did get to ride it on Tuesday, but I swear that’s the last spoiler until the next one. Honest.

Tennessee Tornado was the first coaster of the day, and it was highly anticipated. Though to be honest, I was highly anticipating all the coasters here (well, except Whistle Punk Chaser, but my daughter was anticipating that one for me). No Time Saver needed on this one; it was a walkon in the regular queue. This thing is great! It’s super smooth, and I didn’t expect the third inversion. I had seen POVs, but I guess it didn’t register that what I thought was a second loop was in fact a batwing.

Next up was Firechaser Express, and one of two coasters that really benefited from Time Saver. You go straight up to the station and get to pick your row if you ask nicely. Brilliant little ride; not big or fast, but great fun. The show element really added a lot.

Wild Eagle was my son’s first wing coaster. He is just over 50 inches now, and he loved this ride.

We continued up the loop to River Battle, which was fun, but I think SDC’s River Blast has better interaction between boats, due to being a bit more compact. This was the only ride that is duplicated at both SDC and Dollywood, that I thought SDC’s version was better. Dollywood really is the “2.0” and has major improvements over SDC in almost every area.

Mystery Mine time! OMG, this is the best coaster here (except maybe Lightning Rod, but with it being down during my entire visit, couldn’t say). I loved just how f*cked up this thing is. It banks right and turns left. It drops beyond 90 degrees. It actually gets more intense as the ride goes on. It tells a story. There is so much to love about Mystery Mine. Time Saver Pass made it very easy to ride over and over. It was the only one other than Firechaser that really benefitted from the pass, as the line was consistently around 20 minutes.

Drop Line is a great tower. The rotation on the way up gives some great views of the Smokies, and the drop is fantastic! Whistle Punk Chaser is elongated just a bit compared to Grand Expo Coaster, so the final turn isn’t as tight, and it doesn’t slam into the brakes as hard. Thunderhead was really fun, maybe a bit rough but nothing too uncomfortable. My son loves wooden coasters, and had a good time on Dollywood’s only operating one.

Across the front of the park now for dinner at Red’s, then the Dollywood Express and the Heartsong show. Red’s was not great; I do not recommend, but it did make kids less hungry at least. The train was awesome; they told the story of the locomotive, but also stayed quiet a good deal as well so you could enjoy the scenery. SDC’s train used to be just like this, but lately it’s just a long advertisement with puns. Dollywood’s was much, much better.

The Heartsong show was really cheesy, but the kids liked it. We didn’t realize there would be weather effects, and I had my phone on the seat next to me. I scrambled to cover it when the rain started. We finished off the day with fireworks, even though it really wasn’t quite dark enough to see them properly, and headed back to the resort. It was a great first day!

Time Saver passes!

The long sought after tickets

These little tables are such a great idea!

What's around this bend?

Ooh, pretty.

And closed.

We are staying in a fancy resort. We are fancy people.

I loved the props in this section.

Ah, now that looks familiar.

This was the first of many SDC references around the park.

We went chasing waterfalls.

The water clock is identical to the one at SDC, only this one didn't have the date align with today's date. Not sure why.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?

I think I am, Brain. Let's run past this sign and go for rides!

I loved the Craftsman's Valley area. Very SDC-ish, but felt different at the same time.

One of the eponymous craftsmen.

This was a Sunday morning, so there was a church service, er, servicin', er, in the, er, church.

Daredevil Falls was awesome! Not really a log flume, but not really not a log flume either. It's just a beautiful bastard.

Storms a-comin' in this here barn!

The kids loved this playground, as well as the splash pad on the other side. We actually hung out here for quite a while both of our Dollywood days.

Ermahgerd! Ergles!

There were more eagles to be seen just beyond the stage.

And also this raven.

Ooh, this raven lives north of here (ominous foreshadowing).

This looks to be a leftover from something else. Is this where Flooded Mine used to be?

Ah, the signs. I am at a Herschend park.

This is a great photo of Blazing Fury. I did not ride it this day, even though I intended to. Whoops.

I loved all these little standing tables for snacks. Takes up less space, encourages people to finish and move on so more people can enjoy them. Great idea!

Ducklings!

This was not staged. My son jut got up on that rock and sat there just like that.

Nice! This is just on a random path.

Train time!

Train shed! (Yes, I'm a nerd.)

Feet tired, we headed for a show.

More rain in here than there was outside.

Sigh.

On to Market Square to see...

...fireworks in the not-exactly-dark.

Thus ends a great first day at Dollywood!

Awesome update!

You should not assume that! They have a full bar, and even their own signature drinks! The Front Porch Swing (a rum-based fruity concoction with pineapple juice as the primary mixer) was my favourite.

the Memphis zoo is beautiful.

and it looks like you had a great day to go. . you said it was a Saturday?

and the crowds were that light?

sheesh... adding Memphis Zoo to my list of places we need to visit. (not sure I understand why the lego exhibits. . .(seems not permanent?), or the music playgrounds, but i love that kind of stuff, and we would have easily spent the whole day there).

do you remember admission cost?

Oh, it was very busy, to the point that traffic was backed up on the road to get into the parking lot. One, we went very early, at opening. Two, the zoo is huge and the entrance is right in the middle, with easy access in all directions, so the crowds spread out well. It's just designed to handle the crowds. Admission is $15 adults/$10 children, and if you're a member of any AZA accredited zoo (which we are), then you get a 50% discount on admission. $5 parking.

And yes, the LEGO exhibit is not permanent; it's just there for about another month.

Dollywood is beautiful, and remains on my (now shorter) bucket list.

it's going to be a struggle to get Nick to go, as he's not a Dolly fan, or a Country Music fan, so that would really cut down on the number of shows we'd even consider going to (tho to be fair, at Cedar Point a week ago, I only watched one show, and that was because they were allowing us to watch the preview, so we sat and watched).

but what a beautiful park.. it's like a giant version of Frontierland (or Western Junction). . with that odd "hollywood streets - Six Flags Themed" section near Lightning Rod.

but wow it looks great.

not a lot of standard flats tho?

Not outside the children's section. They have an S&S Screamin' Swing, Barnstormer, which is the best flat, and they have Lumberjack Lifts (a rider-powered drop tower of sorts) and Drop Line (Mack drop tower) over on the other side of the park. That's it, other than the Country Fair section, which has about a dozen flats for kids. I'll have more photos on my Day 4 update, as we didn't go to the Country Fair section until then.

And yeah, with the park's focus on Dolly Parton, pretty much all the shows are country, bluegrass, or gospel--which makes perfect sense, given that Dolly herself plays that kind of music. The park is still beautiful even if you never see any shows, and there's not a single bad ride.

Not outside the children's section. They have an S&S Screamin' Swing, Barnstormer, which is the best flat, and they have Lumberjack Lifts (a rider-powered drop tower of sorts) and Drop Line (Mack drop tower) over on the other side of the park. That's it, other than the Country Fair section, which has about a dozen flats for kids. I'll have more photos on my Day 4 update, as we didn't go to the Country Fair section until then.

 

And yeah, with the park's focus on Dolly Parton, pretty much all the shows are country, bluegrass, or gospel--which makes perfect sense, given that Dolly herself plays that kind of music. The park is still beautiful even if you never see any shows, and there's not a single bad ride.

I thought the drop tower was a Funtime Skyfall? http://www.funtime.com.au/data/index9.htm Either way, I wish the two sister parks had more standard flat rides like Wild Adventures and Celebration City. Maybe if both parks at least got a vertical swing of sorts?

You are correct, thanks.

Great report. Sorry about the snafu but as you said at least it was your only one. Looks like they got rid of the wristband timesavers that everyone complained about in the beginning of the season. Looking forward to your opinions of Holiday World!

Great report so far, Andrew!

Sorry you didn't get to ride LR, but sounds like you had a really good visit, other than the ticket SNAFU.

I agree with Bert, the Memphis Zoo looks really nice!

Looking forward to the rest!

Day 3: In Which Part of the Multiverse Does White Water Look like This? Asking for a Friend

On Memorial Day, we went to Splash Country and discovered that the Herschends actually know how to make a waterpark. Like a really good one. A really, really good one. Like the best one I’ve been to that’s not in Santa Claus, Indiana. This is surprising to me because I grew up with White Water in Branson. So I was floored that Dollywood’s waterpark was big and had lots of slides that were really good and that I wanted to ride again and again. Let me reiterate that I am accustomed to White Water in Branson as a baseline for expectations on Herschend waterparks. To give you Easterners some idea of this feeling, imagine you have only ever been to a Jersey Shore boardwalk that isn’t Morey’s, and then you go to Knoebels. This was kind of the waterpark equivalent of that.

We ran immediately to RiverRush, which I liked, but not quite as much as the two at Splashin’ Safari. My daughter had the exact opposite opinion—River Rush was her favourite of the three. She tends to dislike intensity, so it makes sense. We then went to Big Bear Plunge, the faster of the two raft rides. It’s big, it’s intense, it’s fun.

Fire Tower Falls is one of those super steep body slides. I sort of enjoy these, I guess enough to always try them, but then I walk away thinking it was merely okay. They give me rugburn on my back, but I never can say no. I guess what I’m trying to say is my name is Andrew, and it has been 13 days since my last body slide.

SwiftWater Run was a fun bowl slide. I loved that they allowed double tubes, for extra speed to get up high along the walls. Not as fast as Bakuli (I don’t mean to compare everything to Splashin’ Safari, but, you know…).

Next up were the three mat slides. Yes, three. Slick Rock Racer is the standard three-hill mat racer with pretty good airtime. Mountain Twist does what it says on the tin. It’s as twisty as a tube slide, but with mats going down face first. Really awesome! The newest slide is Tail Spin Racer, and it basically takes the best of both of these. It is really tall and feels very fast.

The older complexes still hold up well, too. Raging River Rapids is a fun raft slide. Wild River Falls is a four-slide tube complex, with two of them allowing double tubes. The entrance and exit is up on an upper level, and to get down and back into the rest of the park, you can walk, or—you can take the Butterfly! Two short slides that start near the exit to Wild River Falls and end down on the main level of the waterpark. Such an awesome solution to a unique situation.

After all this, we decided to head on back to the Cascades so my youngest could play there while I and the two older kids rode RiverRush a couple more times. We did, and it was awesome again. When we were done, we went back to meet up, and we were apparently not the only ones who wanted to experience that pool. For just at that moment, a black rat snake came up out of the adjacent woods and down one of the slides!

Let the screaming commence.

Everyone ran as fast as possible, the water splashing in all directions through the heavy footsteps, fleeing Kaa as primates must needs always flee a serpentine nemesis. And lo, amid the cries of “SNAKE!” and “EVERYONE OUT OF THE POOL!” did two brave souls appear, uniformed in the traditional polo shirt and khakis of gunslingers of yore, and brandishing the weapons most feared by snakes—a really long pole and a snake bag labeled “Snake Bag.” As they strode toward the ferocious legless beast, we frightened onlookers were reassured by their obvious professionalism, as evidenced by the fact that they had a snake bag literally labeled “Snake Bag.” Clearly this was not our heroes’ first rodeo.

Theirs was not to reason why. Theirs was but to catch that guy.

And so with bated breath we took in the ranchers’ resolution to enrope our reptilian rascal. The hope rose as they closed in on the vivacious villain, and the despair and fear broke forth in gasps as the jet-coloured consumer of rodents broke forth from its trap. Late in the twelfth round, the snake obviously more wearied than the staff, it suffered the knockout punch and was forced into the ever-so-appropriate Snake Bag.

Cheers erupted from the newly hatched fans of this impromptu spectator sport as our heroes carried their trophy, still alive and wriggling in its Snake Bag, toward the edge of the park. These are heroes, who do not engage in such cruelty to kill, even be their adversary of forked tongue, even be it devoid of aural implements.

And lo, did their good deed fail to go unpunished, for the great basilisk lept forth from the Snake Bag to duel these gunslingers again! And lo, did the guests shrink back from the fray, but our heroes, made of sterner stuff, did immediately re-engage. A second time did they fight, and a second time were they victorious, as for a second time the snake was placed in its apropos Snake Bag and for a second time the populace did cheer.

Hurrah! Hurrah for the snake-catchers! Hurrah for Dollywood!

Nice entrance.

I like the ambiance the buildings give off. It's different from the usual generic waterpark vibe.

Bag check.

Turnstiles.

Nice locker/shower station.

Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots! Shots! Oh. Not those shots.

Very cool scenery here.

We certainly did! Great theme park, great staff, great snakes.

And the park got busier after this, and I feel weird taking pictures in waterparks, so here are some closeups of my family!

Our heroine removing the snake!

And our hero arrives to assist her!

Get in your Snake Bag!

We went to all the trouble of labeling it.

Aw! It appeared to be caught!

Sorry the photos are all from behind our heroine--it was just where we were when it happened.

Gotcha!

holee crap.

that snake would have gotten me out of the water for the rest of the visit! (even if it's a non-poisonous one).

freaky!

were the kids enthralled, or terrified?