jimmiemac02

A really great and quiet day at the park (and Splash Country) today. I started off at Splash Country and by the time I left, there were still less than 500 people in the park. RiverRush was a walk on. After I finished at Splash Country, I hopped over to Dollywood. I had though there was a tram that would take you to Dollywood or a way to get to the parking lot from Splash Country, but I was told to exit the park and come back through the toll booths. Dollywood was also really quiet today. It didn't start off well as I walked to Thunderhead and saw there was a 5 minute wait on the app. Unfortunately I was greeted with a line all the way down the stairs with 1 switchback full and it was only running 1 train (about a 30 minute wait). I came back later in the day and it was a walk on (and yes, I agree it needs a little bit of work this off season). Something really funny happened on River Rampage. We came up to the waterfall and it turned off, our boat passed 1/2 under the waterfall when it suddenly turned back on and soaked half the boat. Needless to say, the girl that it soaked wasn't too happy about it.

Had a really great week of camping at Knoebels this week. Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday the park was absolutely packed. Monday, it rained all day and stopped at about 4pm. The park was so empty Monday night, Phoenix was a walk on with one train! Once I saw that all the rides were walk ons, I sprung the sundown special. I did bargain night Wednesday and because there were so many people there, I barely rode $12 worth of rides before closing. We ate breakfast in the food court every morning, it was really good (especially the cinnamon rolls). My dad and I also tried perogies for the first time, they were interesting. We also had a dole whip, a sundae from the old mill, dinner in the Alamo, spaghetti on Wednesday night, and BBQ chicken on Sunday night. All the food was great and fairly priced (which is 1/2 the reason we drive 11 hours to Knoebels every year)! No one touched Over the Top while we were there (which I'm sure Knoebels is not happy with their purchase since it's still not working). On Wednesday, since it was so crowded, we made a side trip to the Pioneer Tunnel Coal Mine. Our tour guide had worked in the mines for 10 years and had some really cool stories to tell. If you're vacationing at Knoebels, I highly recommend checking this place out!

Top 5 (in no particular order): Walking Taco Pork Chop on a Stick Fried Cheese on a Stick Waffle Ice Cream Sandwich BBQ Chicken from the Oasis I'm also headed to Knoebels in the near future and noticed Downdraft is listed as "Closed" on the website. Anybody know anything about it?

Since when are "the people at Red's" a reliable source for information? I only trust the Dippin' Dots guy across the street.

I live in the south and I don't drink sweet tea, but I know a lot of people who do. I wonder why they decided to take it out. I saw the Gazillion Bubble Show for the first time a few weeks ago and I thought the same thing. This is definitely one of the best shows that has ever been at Dollywood.

I was looking to go to Dollywood the week of the 18th and looked into DreamMore pricing and found this. Anybody know what is going on? Why is the rate so high Wednesday and Thursday?

The reason for the line at Fury is the unusually large amount of school groups that are in the park today. There were lots of buses in bus parking when I got there at 9:30 and security was a mess. By the time I left, buses were still coming in and it looked like bus parking was almost full. Also, I am happy to report that all the effects on Boo Blasters are working again!

So I was in line for Zephr and I hear a loud ker-chunk. I look over and ElectroSpin was stuck. I left before it got fixed. Good morning at the park though, until the school groups invaded.

My source of information on the backstage tour was Pete and Barry (I think that was his name, he's the senior maintenance guy). No, they do not sell TimeSavers at the ticket window. The process is not streamlined and still takes the same amount of time as to purchase a Q-Bot.

Yes, they are only connected by two little points and they are very prone to fall off especially if you are wearing a jacket with long sleeves.

^^^I was at the park today and didn't even notice him. That's a really weird location. It was a great opening day at the park! The crowds really didn't come in till about 2 pm due to the drizzling rain in the morning. This morning we got a backstage tour of Lightning Rod. I learned a few things: -the trunks will return to the trains eventually -the main problem was with the launch system (they did a lot of reprogramming over the off season) -they added an extra set off brake fins on the underside of the train to help with the rollback -the handles were added day before yesterday because people wanted something to hold onto -the transfer lift was made by Larson (yes, drop tower Larson) Other Improvements: -Timber Canyon path widening really helped with the crowds today -Extra set pieces were added to the path (see pics below) -Thunderhead's station looks wonderful with its new paint job -The merge point at FireChaser Express now has an attendant that assigns seats but the good news is that if you have TimeSaver (more on that in a moment) you won't have to wait 15 minutes to get on because there are only 2 trains worth of people ahead of you instead of 7 or 8 TimeSaver: The way it works is you get a wristband with 10 tabs. 8 have butterflies, 2 have Xs. The 8 with butterflies can be used for any ride except Lightning Rod and Dropline. The 2 with Xs can be used for any ride. The tabs are very very flimsy and can fall off at any time. Many people in our group lost tabs and forfeited the skip the line pass since the host at the entrance has to physically remove the tab from the wristband. FireChaser Express merge point New signage New signage Timber Canyon path set piece #minewatch2018 New sign found near Daredevil Falls TimeSaver pass with flimsy tabs

Spring Break for Sevier County schools is April 17th-21st. Which makes sense because that is when a) enra ends its run and b) bring a friend tickets start to be valid...

Don't stay in the Comfort Inn right next to the park. It's a dump.

Found this on instagram. The turf and barn just look a little out of place to me, but more shade in that area of the park is always welcome.

1) Yes, if you buy a 2017 season pass, you get the rest of 2016 free. 2) Season pass processing opens a little earlier than the park, (someone correct me if I'm wrong) but I think you can get this done either in the park or at the front gate. There is one office next to the ticket booths and there is another office inside the park in Adventures in Imagination (just look for the huge picture of Dolly, you can't miss it). You can also get this done at the Pigeon Forge information center at traffic light #8. They open at 9 am I believe.

A few notes from my visit tonight: It's a Wonderful Life was a great show! It even got a standing ovation. The park was dead today, we didn't wait for any rides and none of the shows were full. Lightning Rod was closed all day. I didn't ask anyone why it was , but it was definitely warm enough for it to be open. Talking to one of the hosts at Barnstormer, it was evident that many people had canceled their reservations at DreamMore due to the wildfires. Hopefully they will rebound soon. Cinnamon bread was good as usual. I think the lights had been scaled back from years past. It was like they put all their lights at the front of the park and then ran out once they got to the back near Tennessee Tornado and Firechaser. Waltzing Swinger was being put back together. It appeared that they should have it up and running within a couple of weeks.

FYI Dollywood's website states that the Dollywood Express will resume operations on Friday December 9th.

When I was that age, I liked Twas the Night and O Holy Night, but hated Christmas in the Smokies. So it really does depend on the kid and how long of an attention span they have.

That's really interesting. There is a 5k at Dollywood on Friday that could be contributing to crowds, but I doubt it.

That only applies if you're using the payment plan. If you pay for it all at the same time, there isn't a fee.

I'm interested to see more details on the GREAT Pumpkin LumiNights event. I'm guessing this is why they are open so late in October.

Here is the new logo for "The Flying Cobras" New Logo

You have the right idea here, but the actual "insult" is "Bless your heart."

Is Lightning Rod out of tech rehearsal at this point? I don't see the banner on the website. EDIT: Also on the Dollywood website, they list the Dollywood Express as "currently closed for maintenance."

So the domed theater and the ride vehicle that had HWLR-02 written on the side. What specific rides are those? And thank you very much for the pictures, this park has made it onto my bucket list since it is so unique!