dstephe9

Old smoky moonshine has the best parking! It's the cheapest, you can always get in and out easily, and there is a bathroom!! Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Looks like the fires must be keeping a lot of folks away from the area.. LR only has a five minute wait and everything else is a walk-on Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Exactly, most parks call them cups but like I posted, Dollywoods are insulated and nicer so most call them mugs at Dollywood.. but same thing.. Splash Countries are more like the Disney Resort mugs with the chip, only a little larger.. but like posted, they don't have a straw.. but you can refill them on your own like Disney Resort mugs. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Looks like browsing Trip Advisor, people do mention showing their receipt at the gate for free reentry parking.. Dollywoods site mentions nothing of it. So it would be a good question to ask when you arrive if you do plan on leaving and returning The post I found is from 2011 but looks like it worked for someone Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

It was two years ago when they made me pay for parking at Splash Country with my gold pass.. they asked what park when I came in and when they saw the pass I was told it was good for Dollywood Only.. Now I just say Dollywood when I come in and have never had an issue ha-ha. Like I said, I normally go to both parks on the same say anyways so I don't feel bad about it or anything But you are correct, Dollywood mugs do at least get a discounted refill at Splash Country it just seems like it was more than 99cents.. Like you, I only go once a year or so unlike Dollywood which I'm at weekly it seems Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

On a side note, looking at the Dollywood mug page it doesn't mention anything about free refills all day if you buy so many.. so that might not be a promo they run all the time.. Just something to keep in mind.. I will tell you that the mugs you buy now are good for next year.. they usually release the new mugs in October. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Mug Info https://store.dollywood.com/tickets/add-on.aspx?Category=dollywood-park-products And no, Blazing Furry is only 2 per row or 6 per car (only 3 rows to a car correct? Minds drawing a blank and it shouldn't be as I ride this ride more than anything at the park.. GF loves it) Also I have seen people get the "previous year mug" price with splash country mugs at Dollywood.. not as big of a savings but still a savings.. I don't have a splash country mug, I just use my Dollywood mug there so I haven't tried it myself.. Might also depend on the associate working the booth as well, they might just mistake those mugs as old Dollywood ones. I didn't get 99cent refills at splash country with my Dollywood mug but they were still discounted though (I believe previous year mug price).. I might be using it at the wrong places though lol. And as for leaving for parking, I have just read that you have to pay parking again when you come back.. not sure though as I have a gold pass.. I have read on tip sites that having to repay for parking makes it not worth leaving. I do know that my gold pass wasn't good for Splash Country parking! (When they ask what park your going to) So now when I come in I just say I'm going to Dollywood which is true, I usually do both when I go to Splash Country.. I only do splash country when they give Dollywood Season Tickets holders that huge discount towards the end of the season Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Oh yeah, mystery mine is 4 seats also ha-ha Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

They do not have dining plans.. they do have a sports bottles but the refills are only discounted and not free.. they are 99cents.. I belive if you buy so many cups, like 5 maybe, you can get free refills for a day but after that refills are 99cents.. the bottle is insulated though and much nicer than six flags.. a lot of people actually collect the Dollywood cups. It's a lot of trouble to leave the park and eat.. BUT only because they parking lot is much further spread out than six flags.. I do know people who pack lunches and eat in their car but as for fast food you would have to drive all the way back to town.. just keep in mind, depending on what lot your in, it might take 15 mins or so to get back to your car and back.. it all depends on how many trams they are running and if your in lot D,E, or F you will need a tram. Also, it's about a 5 - 10 min drive back to town after you leave the parking lot for food.. unless you have a gold pass, you will have to pay for parking again as well. (As pointed out this might not be true.. I have just read of people being charged again so until someone confirms don't hold this as truth) Dollywood has much better food than the other parks you mentioned.. food that is not only cheaper but food that is much better quality.. if you have a mug, a decent meal at Dollywood is under $10.. About $7 if you have a gold pass.. I go to Dollywood just to eat all the time.. Another thing to keep in mind is that most of Dollywoods Coasters are two seaters.. I know the larger theme parks like Six Flags and Carowinds have a few 4 seaters.. Dollywoods only 4 Seater is wild eagle BUT don't try and get on opposite sides.. it doesn't work, try to keep your entire party on one side! Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Got a survey today about new characters and a few new restaurant concepts (mainly a fresh bakery).. In the past, the survey's I get usually end up being true and happening. Wonder if there is one planned for GA? I'd love a fresh bakery there like Dollywood and Disney have! I know they have the candy shop but still a full bakery would be nice Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Thank you. I see exactly what you're talking about. So TEMA def made an incorrect call, then Ober corrected them, and then TEMA corrected the previously reported information - that's completely understandable and what should be expected in the early hours of a disaster of this enormous caliber. For me, this has nothing to do with the state of journalism, as it was put. Journalists, who are humans, are operating off adrenaline, pressure, usually low personnel, and there will be mistakes made in reporting the early stages of any disaster, as I put it before. It aint the first time. I'm not going to believe anyone had ulterior motives in mind when they posted the wrong information...to the point where they need to be punished or blamed. Yeah, but if there is a command center with fire trucks stationed in the lower ober parking lot, they should have really confirmed with them first.. but maybe they were out of reach, I don't know. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk Thank you! Does anyone know without a shadow of doubt???? No, but that's the point.. TEMA shouldn't say it was destroyed until they knew without a shadow of doubt and they failed. Eitherway, its on both TEMA and the news for causing so much confusion.. Im just glad a lot of what we thought was gone is still around for us to enjoy

Thank you. I see exactly what you're talking about. So TEMA def made an incorrect call, then Ober corrected them, and then TEMA corrected the previously reported information - that's completely understandable and what should be expected in the early hours of a disaster of this enormous caliber. For me, this has nothing to do with the state of journalism, as it was put. Journalists, who are humans, are operating off adrenaline, pressure, usually low personnel, and there will be mistakes made in reporting the early stages of any disaster, as I put it before. It aint the first time. I'm not going to believe anyone had ulterior motives in mind when they posted the wrong information...to the point where they need to be punished or blamed. Yeah, but if there is a command center with fire trucks stationed in the lower ober parking lot, they should have really confirmed with them first.. but maybe they were out of reach, I don't know. I mean, I guess they could have been firetrucks only and no real people stationed there but that doesn't make sense to me. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I completely agree. Saying Ober Gatlinburg was destroyed and then being all "oops!" is like saying that Disneyland was destroyed, and then all "oops! Sorry." Like, how do you get that factoid wrong? Yes, it's a natural disaster and there are lots of things going on that are beyond our comprehension of seriousness, but to say a huge area like that is destroyed and you're wrong about it? IMO, that's just being irresponsible. The initial update should have NEVER been reported in the first place unless it was 100% certain and fact checked. There were way too many "oops" posts in this whole scenario and it just makes me doubt the legitimacy of the news more and more. And I already had like 0 faith in it. What's even worse about this situation is that the guy who reported Ober was still standing was stuck up on the Mountain according to his interview on one of the news stations. He said the lower ober parking lot is actually one of the fire command centers with fire trucks stationed at it and he stayed there for the night! And that several other people had been stuck up there and stayed in the mall (the structure in question).. So obviously TEMA didn't get their information from the command center up at Ober! I mean, I'd hope they didn't get it from them anyways.. it's not like the lower parking lot is miles from their structure. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

http://www.tnema.org/news/tema/?p=2721 This is the post that updates their original statement In my opinion though TEMA should never have to post an update like this. They should confirm and verify before they announce anything.. in their defense, and older version of this update said they had been told it was destroyed by people in the field that had seen it but who knows. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Like I said earlier, I plan on being there Saturday evening.. probably earlier now! My GF and I did have plans to eat Bubba Gump and walk around Gatlinburg and then head to Dollywood at dark.. I doubt Gatlinburg will be open so it'll probably the the island and Dollywood now ha-ha or just Dollywood Heck, we actually had plans to go today as well but after I saw they planned to be closed I rearranged my work schedule to be off tomorrow only to find they extended the closing.. probably hit up zoo knoxville or something tomorrow if it's pretty Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

It was probably jsut a funnel cloud or the park was in the path of said storm that the Tornado was spotted in. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

A tornado warning (SAME code: TOR) is an alert issued by national weather forecasting agencies to warn the public that severe thunderstorms with tornadoes are imminent or occurring. It can be issued after a tornado or funnel cloud has been spotted by the public, storm chasers, emergency management or law enforcement, or more commonly if there are radar indications of tornado formation. So usually if there has been a warning a tornado has been spotted but might not of touched down Not saying there was or wasn't a tornado there but if there was a warning then it is very possible one was in the area Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

TEMA posted on their site about Ober being destroyed and that post now says "update" so yea they reported it incorrectly on their official news feed.. that's where the ober stuff came from.. again, the original post is now gone but says post updated because of the video that surfaced Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Lightning Rod getting burnt down would have been the cherry on top of 2016 Luckily everything is going into the off season so tourist wise, it'll give them time to rebuild.. I know the area is so much more than tourism BUT tourism is the biggest source of income in the area for both the city and residents.. it's very important so hopefully they can get everything back very quickly, if not, the damage this fire has done might last much longer. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I'm sorry, no. Acting as if criticizing trusted sources of information for doing a horrendous job somehow means we don't understand the severity of the situation or feel sympathy for those involved is ridiculous. You can understand the severity of the situation, praise the firefighters, police, volunteers and all first responders for their heroic efforts and sympathize with everyone involved while still being critical of the fact that trusted news sources got just about everything wrong and reported things that were entirely wrong as fact. If you don't have quality sources for information then you don't report the story as fact. Period. To be fair to the news agencies, it seems like they were getting a lot of this information from TEMA which really should have been credible so the blame may be more on them than the people who reported on what they were saying. TEMA has no obligation to rush to release information without verifying anything, they're not a news agency. It's not their job. The fact that people want information does not give them any obligation to provide it when they haven't verified their claims. You can't excuse legitimate sources of information getting just about everything wrong just because people are desperate for information. People have been way too forgiving of complete bullsh*t being passed off as news lately. I agree, like I posted earlier TEMA rushed a lot of their information it seems and TEMA should be a credible source.. but TEMA keeps saying they had gotten their info from the "field" so whoever that was, was also incorrect Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

I'll be there Saturday Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Without the little raid we got Monday, I'm sure it would have been much worse, maybe even for Dollywood.. that rain at least gave the fire fighters an upper hand even if it wasn't enough to put the fire out Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

So looks like hillbilly golf has even survived and only has a little damage according to WBIR.. Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Knoxville has been getting dumped on all morning so I'm sure it's helping up in Gatlinburg Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

While I agree the media is concerned about being the first to report, people as humans also want to be first to know so it works both ways. For example, people started posting on the Aquariums Facebook last night "why are there no updates on the animals".. well there are no updates because people aren't allowed in.. like previously said, these areas were closed off to people after the evacuation.. TEMA, Sevier County Emergency Management Agency, and the city reported a lot of the places that "burned" that were false.. I would personally consider TEMA and Sevier County Emergency Management Agency, as well as the city a reliable source.. Even though the actual wording they used was more like "It is very likely that Ober was destroyed" they should have never said a single word about it until they knew for sure. I have a marine biologist friend that works at the Aquarium, and he said it was like pulling teeth to get their few "Emergency People" into the Aquarium to check on the animals.. No one was allowed in or not, not even the media.. With that being said, the real local media never really reported what has burned. I know one is linking to a crowd sourced map but that's nothing official.. it's all these bottom feeding news sites online spreading the false info like "wildfire" and everyone on Facebook this morning spreading false info.. I don't know how many post I read that said "oh no the strip is gone, everything, bubba gumps, old smoky moonshine, the shops all gone" Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk