Photo TR: From Dollywood to Holiwood

ytterbiumanalyst · June 16, 2017

^ Absolutely. For our family of 5, even with Memorial Day weekend prices, the actual room itself was $70 a night. Now, that's only if you go to the park each day and get a TimeSaver each day, which in our case was true. We would have done those things even if we stayed in another hotel, so having them included in DreamMore was a big selling point.

ytterbiumanalyst · June 23, 2017

Day 5: Everything's Better Down Where It's Wetter

It's fitting that I took a bit of a break from writing this TR, because we definitely needed a break after 3 days at Dollywood. It's a really great park, and I absolutely loved it, but it was time for a more low key day. We stayed in downtown Chattanooga, and Wednesday was devoted to just walking around downtown, enjoying the city, and exploring the Tennessee Aquarium.

We stumbled across this fun little exhibit.

Noted.

Art gives me hiope for the future.

Yep! We're in the South!

This is a bus stop. There were several fun public art things like this all over downtown.

Goal for the day.

Who knew Tennessee had earthquakes? We found out the hard way.

The aquarium is right up on the Tennessee River

Inside the aquarium there be sea dragons.

The top floor had a lot of natural light.

This guy prefers the artificial light.

Sunfish!

Lots of not-fish at this aquarium.

The girls loved touching the sturgeon.

Another room with lots of natural light. There are probably two dozen alligators here in a huge exhibit.

By the way, this aquarium does have fish too.

Prehistoric turtle shell.

Yay turtles!

Back to the fish.

Another touch pool, this one with rays.

Me and you...

Lots of cool tropical plants.

Including some carnivorous ones.

Inside of a pitcher plant or Georgia O'Keefe painting? You decide.

I love penguins.

Sharks!

Coral reef

Jellies are super cool.

Nice, peaceful deep ocean exhibit.

Haha! I interrupt your idyllic ocean scene!

This is an Alaskan king crab. This guy is huge.

This is a lionfish. Thanks, Eric Carle.

Om nom.

They killed SpongeBob! You bastards!

There was a pretty cool sea-inspired art exhibit near the end.

Only you can prevent coral reef fires! Next up: Lake Winnie!

Edited June 23, 2017 by ytterbiumanalyst

boldikus · June 23, 2017

Another nice update!

cparkes92 · June 23, 2017

Chattanooga looks like a very nice city! I've driven through it three times on I-24 and the most experience I've had off the freeway was stopping at a gas station right next to a pay-by-the-hour motel because its gas prices were 20+ cents cheaper per gallon than any other station near I-24.

bert425 · June 23, 2017

that looks like a fairly nice Aquarium (and as we are "Aquarium" folks.. I notice things like that).

how many hours did you spend there?

which of course, translates to : should we put it on our list when we finally make the Dollywood trip?

ytterbiumanalyst · June 23, 2017

We took it slowly and were there about 4 hours. It's enormous, and honestly one of the best aquariums I've ever been to. It's up there with Shedd in Chicago. It's in two buildings, one for freshwater and one for saltwater. The saltwater building is essentially one giant tank, which you experience on multiple levels and from different angles as you go through the building. If you're into aquariums, put this on the list.

Philrad71 · June 23, 2017

that is just a gorgeous park. . tho some areas seemed to have quite a few elderly folks sitting in your pics.

is that just the particular pics? or is the age range for Dollywood skewing older?

(I would think with the coasters, they would be getting more of a mixed to younger crowd. . so I'm curious).

I think that a lot of the older folks come for the shows more than anything else, Bert. When we went into the shows (especially during the Christmas event), the majority of the attendees had silver hair.

Great report, Andrew...really like the looks of DreamMore and that aquarium!

TBpony414 · June 25, 2017

We took it slowly and were there about 4 hours. It's enormous, and honestly one of the best aquariums I've ever been to. It's up there with Shedd in Chicago. It's in two buildings, one for freshwater and one for saltwater. The saltwater building is essentially one giant tank, which you experience on multiple levels and from different angles as you go through the building. If you're into aquariums, put this on the list.

That aquarium sounds fantastic!!! We are planning on going to Ripley's Aquarium near Dollywood next month as unfortunately we won't be driving towards/by Chattanooga. Maybe some day we'll get to the Tennessee Aquarium. I bet we could easily spend 3/4 of the day there!

Nrthwnd · June 25, 2017

Aquariums Rule!!!

Great TR Andrew.

ytterbiumanalyst · July 4, 2017

Day 6: Lake Winnie’s Boat Chute and Indiana, Too

New state credit! We crossed the Georgia-Tennessee line, a cartographic demarcation so unremarkable that no one would ever name a country band for it, and entered the grounds of Lake Winnepesaukah (pronounced “Winnie”). We gave our cans of food to the ticket agent for a cool $5 off each ticket, which was the best discount we could find. Many others were doing the same.

While the entrance isn’t nearly as grand as Dollywood’s, the kids immediately got excited for all the rides that were immediately in front of them. This isn’t really a park where you have to have a plan of attack, so we just kind of did whatever we wanted to. First up was the Parachutes. This is a ride that everyone truly loves. We did several of the small rides in this area—whale, boats, cars, bumblebee, Matterhorn. Much fun was had.

And then it was time for the boat chute. This is the ride that we, and many others before us, came to ride. It’s the original attraction on the lake, and honestly, it still holds up. Fans of flume rides, rejoice in this one. It starts in a long, long tunnel, then emerges to go up a traditional chain lift, such as would have been seen on any wooden roller coaster of the time. On our ride, the chain had jumped out of its guide, so they had simply stopped the ride (no evacs) while a guy got out of the booth at the top of the lift, walked down the hill, and put it back in its place. He returned to the booth, started it up again, and there we went. Fans of common sense, this is a place for you!

The ride isn’t very tall, but wow, when it comes off that chute, it glides right over the lake with an impressively big but not soaking splash. This is one of the best flumes I have ever ridden, and it’s worth it to come to this park just for the Boat Chute.

That was it for that side of the park, so we turned and went down the boardwalk area. There are plenty of shops here, along with the Wacky Factory dark ride. I tried to convince my 5 year old that it wasn’t a scary ride at all, but she wouldn’t go. Honestly she would have loved it.

In the back of the park is a carousel, Wacky Worm, playground, and antique car ride. The playground was closed the day we were there as a work crew were changing out the mulch. The antique cars were fun, not much of a layout, but it went through some woods and was quite relaxing. The car ahead of us broke down near the end, so while one of the operators opened up the hood, another directed us to get out of the car and just walk straight to the exit. No bullsh*t safety theater stuff here. Clearly I’m capable of walking across the grass to a gate in a chain link fence, so that’s exactly what they instructed us to do. And neither I nor my kids got hurt! For those keeping score, that’s now 2 incidents that aren’t a big deal treated like they aren’t a big deal.

That done, it was time to go for the big rides. My wife took my youngest back to the small rides at the entrance, and I went with the older two around to the other side of the lake. First up was the Alpine Way sky ride. It went right over the lake, and then back again. Super great ride, and anyone who’s a fan of skyrides should get down here now.

Cannonball was down for a few minutes (this one they did close the line; they’re into common sense, not recklessness), so we went over to Wild Lightning. Pretty standard mouse, but a good one. Cannonball was testing when we got off, so we went to the bumper cars. Not bad at all; they weren’t fast, but they moved at a good pace, and there was no centre concrete. They just told everyone don’t hit head on, and people didn’t. Amazing what happens when you trust people to use their brains.

My wife and youngest met us at this point, and Cannonball was about to open, so we got in line. Oh wow this thing is awesome! Feels like a miniature Screamin’ Eagle. I suppose I probably will always compare these Allen out and backs to Screamin’ Eagle. It is the last and biggest of them all, as well as a ride I grew up with. Cannonball has a lot of the same elements, with a big drop into low airtime hills and a series of several ejector hills going into the brake run. We rode this several times, and it is so much fun.

There are a couple of other big rides between Cannonball and Soak Ya, including a great Larson drop tower and a paratrooper. What will interest most of you on this board, though, is the Conestoga. Hoooolllleeeyyy sssssshhh************t! You may think you’ve been on one of these before, but you haven’t been on one like this. It moves so fast that the whole queue gets a big blast of wind each time it swings by. Hold on tight, and put your feet on the braces in front of you. You will be whipped around and swear this thing is trying to kill you. Enough promo, just go. You’ve got a classic wooden coaster, a really old and still awesome flume, a skyride over a lake, and this hellish beast. What more reason do you need? Just go. Right now. Go now.

We collected everyone and headed for the train. This is the standard sort of train you usually find in zoos and small amusement parks, but the scenery was nice. We finished off the day with the Monster and the Fireball, and then headed out across state lines. Twice, as it turns out, as we went back into Tennessee to hit I-24, but that road dips into Georgia briefly. It’s very scenic, especially for an Interstate.

The original plan was to drop by Beech Bend on the way for the new coaster and slide complex, but we decided we needed to take it easy and just went on to Indiana instead. We had rented an RV at Lake Rudolph, and everyone was more interested in hanging out at an RV campground. I’m not going to argue with saving $130 today, as there’s not a point if we’re too tired to have fun. We’ll be back in this area again soon, as it’s only about 5 hours from home.

Final stats:

Tennessee > Georgia > Tennessee > Georgia > Tennessee > Kentucky > Indiana

New state credits:

GA > All of us except Julie

KY > Just the kids

IN > All of us except me

We followed the sign's instructions to the letter. The best letter is the G.

The kids loved this area with all the small rides.

You can tell this whale is free by the way he's attached to the ride.

Oh, what's that I see over yonder?

Very cool to see parks respecting their history.

Matterhorn was a pretty great specimen of this ride type.

This is such a good ride. I love how it's right in the lake.

We're going on the Boat Chute! Everyone get happy!

The lake is definitely a central focus of the park.

They have paddle boats, too.

The park's dark ride. It's not great technically, but it's really great kind of because of that. Hard to explain. Just go.

The carousel was large and decently well cared for. Some paint was peeling in places, but with the way they're keeping up other rides, I'm sure this will be done before long.

The worm was as wacky as advertised.

The playground was closed.

As was the mini golf.

Fun boardwalk area.

Onward to the sky ride?

Foreshadowing.

OMG! We're on a sky ride!

Fun stuff in the lake

Fun on the shore too.

Skloosh!

Turning around

Hi!

And the return trip.

Conestoga! You have to ride this!

Oh-zone! You will say "oh" (it's required).

The paratrooper is one of my oldest's favourite rides. We have to ride one of these whenever a park has one.

Don't shoot!

And now some photos from a relaxing train ride.

THROUGH THE TREES!!!

Waterpark and Cannonball

Back side of the Boat Chute tunnel

Skyride porn

Matterhorn

And back to the front again.

Bye Lake Winnie! Thanks for a good time!

And I leave you with the most Southern thing we experienced all day. These were your only choices of tea.

djcoastermark · July 4, 2017

Love the TR of lake Winnie. Never been there, but it's on my list as a stop on my travels up to ohio. Just curious, are the Fly O Planes back up and running ? They were a fave of mine as a kid at geauga lake, way back when, and I think they are the last ones left in existence.

ytterbiumanalyst · July 4, 2017

They were not running when we were there, but that was about a month ago now.

ytterbiumanalyst · July 6, 2017

Day 7: BEST WATERPARK EVAR!!!!!!

We spent the previous night in our rental RV, then got up and boarded the shuttle to Holiday World. We bought the 2-day tickets, so we were prepared for a whole day of splashin’ in a safari! After renting a locker, changing, and applying some free sunscreen, we lined up for rope drop. First up was Zinga—still the best Tornado slide—followed by Jungle Racer. I always enjoy these mat slides, only Holiday World actually had the balls to build one big enough to handle the people who want to ride it.

Now it’s time for Wildebeest and Mammoth. My daughter liked Mammoth better than Wildebeest, but liked RiverRush best of all. My son loved Wildebeest, and it is one tormented even-toed horned ungulate. I think I prefer it to its proboscid cousin, but I love them both, and it’s hard for me to choose. They’re both favourites, so either one is good. I think I’d go on Wildebeest because it’s a bit more favourite. But if Wildebeest were broken down, I’d say that’s okay, because Mammoth is my favourite anyway. It’s like another favourite, but not as much. Not as much favourite, but they’re both good.

We hung out at Safari Sam’s Splash Land for a while, and all the kids love this area. It’s huge, and there’s about a dozen different tiny slides. Next up was Bakuli and the lazy river. Wow, this slide is just so fast. Easily the best bowl slide.

Lunch time! We tried out the new burgers at the Wildebeestro. I had the Blue Brew burger, while Julie had the Sriracha burger. Both were really great. Plus none of it’s too expensive, and yep, free soda here too!

After lunch we waited an hour before swimming, and spent that hour on water slides instead! We’re rule following people. I was eager to try Hyena Falls, as it was down when I was here two years ago. Wow, the Laughs slide is awesome! Two people shall ride this slide, no more, no less. Three shall not ride, neither shall one, except that one be paired with another to form two. Four is right out. Once two, being the second number, be formed, those two shall collect their tube and proceed to climb the hill and have a blast on this slide. Amen.

The other slides in this complex are pretty fun too, but wow. Laughs is the clear standout. Well worth walking halfway to Ohio to get here. Only a few more now, so on to Watubee, Otorongo, and Zoombabwe, before winding down at the wave pool.

About this time the Holiwood Nights festivities were set to begin, so we changed, toweled off, and headed back into Holiday World. We gathered at the Hoosier Theatre for instructions, knockoff jingles, and general separating us from the plebian masses who do not belong to coaster clubs.

ERT! It began with a great hors d’ouvres, which is maybe a bit misnamed, as you can really get a lot of stuff here. The wings were fantastic, the hummus and veggies were great, and all the desserts were amazing. Plenty for everybody. Then on to Wildebeest, Mammoth, and Bahari Wave Pool for ERT until 8.

Once the sun set and the waterpark closed, we headed back into Holiday World for ERT on all four coasters and a few flat rides as well. The changes to Legend have improved it a lot. Two years ago, I said I love all three, but Legend was a bit less in my mind. IT is now every bit the equal of the three others. Great job on the retracking here.

After some pizza and fudge, we had reached the end of the first day. It was long, exhausting, and awesome, and I couldn’t wait to do it again. Fortunately, we wouldn’t have to wait long, as Day 2 of Holiwood Nights was coming up right after a good night’s rest in an RV.

Our home for the weekend.

The kids' room.

Our fancy living quarters.

And the master suite.

Shuttle to Holiday World. GET HAPP---oh sorry, wrong park.

We're here!

After a quick registration and picking up our lanyards, tickets, etc., we were ready to start our day!

You can't hide from me, Big Yellow Water Tower!

Loved the itinerary.

Can you find all these dinosaurs?

It's Paula!

Yep, this is the park president handing out stickers with the new schedule. I love that no job is beneath anyone.

Now appearing stage left are two of our favourite Kochs!

"I guess they want us to sing it, don't they?"

"We are dinosaurs, we don't live no more, so it's time for us to go!"

Time to open some gifts!

What yummy bacon munchies await?

They clearly are super excited about trying these.

Big green foot!

HallowSwings at night is pretty great.

Back to Holiday World for some Legend ERT!

And Raven too!

Found a friend on the way back from Thunderbird.

(yeah, these were the least blurry ones)

Voyage at night is always incredible.

This park deserves all the applause it gets.

Wildebeestro was a hit.

Safari Sam was the star this year. His great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather knew a few dinosaurs!

...to herbivores...

...to sweetivores!

There was food for everyone, from carnivores...

Time for some ERT!

Some of us liked wave pool ERT the best.

Holiday World also gets the Official Exhausted Kids Seal of Approval--the highest honour there is.

ytterbiumanalyst · July 11, 2017

Day 8: Holiwood Nights at the World’s End

The second day of Holiwood Nights began much like the first. This was to be the very last day of our vacation, as we would drive back home the following day. Since we spent the first day almost exclusively in the waterpark, we focused the second day on the flats, especially those in the Fourth of July section.

Now, I don’t normally like spinning rides, but I did ride Firecracker, and it wasn’t too bad. My kids loved it, and I survived it, so that’s about the best review I could give it. The kids got to ride the canoes, and they had a really great time doing that. They had previously ridden the ones at Frontier City, so they were pretty stoked about these, and apparently they didn’t disappoint.

We spent most of our time in Holidog’s Fun Town. The Howler was a hit, and the kids got to be part of a dance show. They enjoyed the few rides that are there, but the playground equipment was the highlight of the area.

Afterward, we headed out to Halloween to get back on Raven and Legend, while my youngest enjoyed Rudolph’s Reindeer Ranch. The other two were too tall for those rides, but I’m glad Holiday World really makes sure they have something for every guest.

It was time for the first walkback to see Raven and Legend. I had not previously been on this tour, as when I was here 2 years ago, the focus was understandably on Thunderbird. It was really cool to see a new side of these coasters.

Once the walkback ended, we focused on the Thanksgiving section. The kids enjoyed Turkey Whirl, Everyone liked Gobbler Getaway, my youngest included, enough to re-ride it immediately. We then went to Plymouth Rock Café for lunch. Wow, is this place good. We ended up just getting a couple of family meals and splitting stuff among all of us. Everything was great, and it really did taste like a home cooked Thanksgiving dinner. Plus, free drinks!

After our Thanksgiving feast was the Thunderbird/Voyage walkback! For this one, the two coasters were a little reluctant to cooperate. Fortunately, I had already been on this walkback two years ago, so it wasn’t as big of a deal. They did allow us this time to go much closer to Thunderbird, which was very special and very much appreciated. As was the snack at the end of the tour.

We went back to Holidog’s Fun Town, then rode Raging Rapids and Eagles Flight again, and by then it was time to meet up at the pavilion for dinner. We enjoyed the downtime while everyone filtered out of the park, and then it was time for ERT again! We went straight to Voyage and rode a couple of times before it broke down. Voyage just had a hard day. Fortunately, Gobbler Getaway was opening around that time. It’s maybe my favourite non-Disney dark ride. Sorry, Holiday World, nothing here touches Pirates of the Caribbean, but I’d love it if you could!

Legend and Raven a couple more times each capped off our amazing trip, and then it was back to the campgrounds for our final night in the RV. We had a great time at Holiwood Nights and all the other places we went. Everyone agreed it was our best family vacation to date, so maybe I’m getting better at this! We’ll see what next year holds.