Dollywood Discussion Thread

[swfan1988]

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE HELP!!! I can't tell you guys how appreciative I am! If anybody every needs help planning a trip to Silverwood (or any other park in the coaster desert for that matter) let me know and I'd be glad to return the favor! I can't begin to exclaim how awesome the help is! I'll post a report on my thoughts after the trip for sure!

Definitely the takeaways are:

-Go to Lightning Rod first, then mystery mine, then firechaser or dragonflyer, than everything else

-Crowds might be mixed. I think well be there either on a Friday or Saturday in August depending on how the rest of the trip goes.

-Be wary of crowds and the time the sun sets

-Bins for the rides where it matters

One more question I have is, do you guys have any advice for Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/National Park? I know I am staying in the Pigeon Forge area because of Dollywood, but my group and I are also there to check out everything else the Smokey's have to offer.

Thanks again for the help! This is one of the many reasons that makes TPR so great!

[tndank]

Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg is nice. Cades Cove is a nice drive.  Plenty of good hikes in the mountains if you're into that. Dinner shows around the area. Hatfield and McCoys is typically the best food at those places from what I've heard. 

[teacherkim]

On 7/22/2021 at 7:26 PM, swfan1988 said:

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE HELP!!! I can't tell you guys how appreciative I am! If anybody every needs help planning a trip to Silverwood (or any other park in the coaster desert for that matter) let me know and I'd be glad to return the favor! I can't begin to exclaim how awesome the help is! I'll post a report on my thoughts after the trip for sure!

Definitely the takeaways are:

-Go to Lightning Rod first, then mystery mine, then firechaser or dragonflyer, than everything else

-Crowds might be mixed. I think well be there either on a Friday or Saturday in August depending on how the rest of the trip goes.

-Be wary of crowds and the time the sun sets

-Bins for the rides where it matters

One more question I have is, do you guys have any advice for Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg/National Park? I know I am staying in the Pigeon Forge area because of Dollywood, but my group and I are also there to check out everything else the Smokey's have to offer.

Thanks again for the help! This is one of the many reasons that makes TPR so great!

Pigeon Forge is pure tourist hoop la (not saying there aren't fun things to do there just be aware it is hillbilly Vegas) The Old Mill restaurant actually is very very good but there will likely be a 1-2 hour wait, although lots of little shops and stuff to look around in while you are waiting.  Gatlinburg is Pigeon Forge's more sophisticated cousin. Shops and most restaurants are just a cut above quality wise to PF. Agree that the aquarium is very good. Pancake pantry is great for breakfast and Anakeesta has a chair lift up to a cool mountain view along with a single rail alpine coaster, zip line, rope walk, restaurant, etc. If you want to go up there and do any of that strongly suggest you buy tickets on their website ahead of time or you will spend a long time in line. 

 

Just outside of Gatlinburg (I mean maybe 5 minutes from the main drag) there is a Sugarland Ranger station for Smoky Mt Park. They can give you all the info on trails and lengths/difficulties of hikes. Just google it and you will find it. If you have time do try to spend at least part of a day in SMNP the contrast between the natural beauty of the park and the mess of "civilization" that is PF is rather jaw dropping, lol. Gatlinburg is kind of a bridge between the two. There are good alpine coasters in both GB and PF, again you can google them and find them all.

[TEDodd]

On 7/22/2021 at 7:26 PM, swfan1988 said:

I know I am staying in the Pigeon Forge area because of Dollywood, but my group and I are also there to check out everything else the Smokey's have to offer.

Everything? How many weeks you going to be there?

Seriously, there's a lot between Sevierville south to the National Park. 
I've been there for a week at a time more than a dozen trips and still haven't seen/done everything I want to. And there's new stuff coming all the time.

I've only hiked a few trails in GSMNP. A few river floats, but still haven't done any whitewater there.
A few zip lines but more on the list. Haven't done any mountain biking yet. I haven't been skiing or tubing at Ober Gatlinburg.

Lots of attractions and shows I haven't seen yet.

Never mind all the tourist trap shopping stuff.
 

[BitterOldHag]

Don't forget:

- Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride (PF) - One of the silliest, cheesiest dark rides you will ever come across.  Grossly overpriced, but that's Pigeon Forge for you! 

- Earthquake The Ride (Gatlinburg) - If you thought Jurassic Jungle was bad, wait till you ride this.  It makes no sense whatsoever and has several things that will make you shake your head and say "what the f... was that?"  Absolutely loved it though!

- Hillbilly Golf (Gatlinburg) - a cute mini golf course where you ride an incline railway to the top and then work your way down.  There are 2 courses and each is very "old school".  Still a good time.

- Mysterious Mansion (Gatlinburg) - A scary and well-maintained walk through Haunted House located just behind the Parkway in Gatlinburg.  The staff is friendly, the few actors working there do a great job popping up in unexpected places, and there's even a neat beginning where you have to figure out how to proceed.  Might be too intense for kids.   

 There's also a new "Soarin"-style attraction that just opened at The Island complex in Pigeon Forge.  It looks outstanding and will definitely be on our list when we return to the area. 

Also, as others have mentioned, the Old Mill Restaurant (and also the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe) are fantastic.  The desserts alone are worth making a stop.  But the lines are crazy all times of day.  Two other large restaurants we liked were Local Goat in PF (a sports bar restaurant with tremendous food across from the Titanic museum), and Applewood Farm Grill, which I believe is actually in Sevierville.  When you are seated, you are given a basket of deep-fried "apple fritters" and a "apple julep".  Both are simply delicious.  Much of the food is allegedly scratch made too and their fried chicken is probably the best in the area.

OK, I'm done ranting.  Just enjoy your trip.  You'll love it whatever you end up doing!    

[TEDodd]

1 hour ago, BitterOldHag said:

 and Applewood Farm Grill

One of my favorites. And don't forget the Farmhouse Restaurant a little farther back.

A lot of the same items, but different menu and feel. 

https://www.applewoodfarmhouserestaurant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021-AWF-ALL.pdf

vs

https://www.applewoodfarmhouserestaurant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021-AWG-ALL.pdf
 

[u4icmusic]

Unfortunately I missed the drone and fireworks show for this summer. I went several times while they were doing the show, but I could never stay until it got dark out, usually because it was so dang hot and it wore me out. I was planning on going list last Friday or Saturday night, but on Friday morning I received my second Moderna Covid vaccine and I pretty much felt pretty bad and ended up not going to Dollywood. I've seen the videos of the show on youtube and really would have liked to have seen the show live, but it wasn't in the cards for this year. Hopefully they will bring it back next summer or do another version for Halloween or Christmas.

[IronWolfman]

Queue-Times is showing that the park has reported Wild Eagle as down since mid-afternoon last Thursday (July 29). Anyone know anything about this? I know it was closed for a time earlier this year, and wonder if they're having similar problems. Gonna be visiting this Saturday so hopefully they can get it back up!

EDIT: And nevermind, appears it's reporting as back up. Guess it just a few-days kind of problem.

[SSL]

Yes, if you look through the past several days of ride openings and closures, it's (and I don't mean Eagle) down again. yep.

[prozach626]

This is exactly why parks buy Intamins instead of B&M's. B&M's aren't reliable, and it's why Cedar Fair won't work with them anymore.

[bert425]

^ I dunno.  the two B&Ms at SFFT (Goliath and Superman) are always running - typically with 3 trains in the case of Superman.

I've always found B&Ms super reliable.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Apparently you haven't experienced the dreaded B&M Rattle. The coaster shakes so violently that it causes extreme discomfort and a strong impulse to post about it on the Internet. It affects 100% of B&M coasters, but only specific seats; specifically, whatever seat the coasterboy was in just now.

[SSL]

1 hour ago, prozach626 said:

This is exactly why parks buy Intamins instead of B&M's. B&M's aren't reliable, and it's why Cedar Fair won't work with them anymore.

I didnt mean Wild Eagle. Eagle has been working fine since they fixed it.

[prozach626]

4 hours ago, bert425 said:

^ I dunno.  the two B&Ms at SFFT (Goliath and Superman) are always running - typically with 3 trains in the case of Superman.

I've always found B&Ms super reliable.

It's satire.

[bachir]

18 hours ago, SSL said:

Yes, if you look through the past several days of ride openings and closures, it's (and I don't mean Eagle) down again. yep.

We were at the park on August 2.  Heard Eagle had been closed for a few days.   It opened about mid day on August 2.  However, they were only running one train, so the wait was over 120 minutes.   

[TEDodd]

28 minutes ago, bachir said:

However, they were only running one train, so the wait was over 120 minutes.   

I haven't seen that since the year it opened and lines went out past the statue/sculpture.

[IronWolfman]

Visited for the first time on Saturday and Wild Eagle was running one train the whole day. Lightning Rod did not open. Aside from that, was an amazing day! Really great ops across the board, and a solid ride lineup.

[SSL]

2 hours ago, IronWolfman said:

Visited for the first time on Saturday and Wild Eagle was running one train the whole day. Lightning Rod did not open. Aside from that, was an amazing day! Really great ops across the board, and a solid ride lineup.

Lightning Rod hasnt been open in over a week...

[TEDodd]

4 hours ago, SSL said:

Lightning Rod hasnt been open in over a week...

it ran Sun and Mon, Aug 1st and 2nd. So technically today, Aug 9, made rne 7th day, so only a week not over.

park closed Tue, so doesn't count. Maybe it'll be up Wed. I wouldn't call it over a week til then.

 

But I am curious what happened Aug 2nd to have it down most of the last full, week of the season.

 

Over all it's had a great year though.

[sdcfan88]

5 hours ago, SSL said:

Lightning Rod hasnt been open in over a week...

Ah so its back to normal.

[prozach626]

COVID is surging, mask mandates are coming back, and Lightning Rod is acting like a pile of shit. Looks like things are almost right back where they were a year ago.

[ytterbiumanalyst]

Two of those three being fixable ain't bad.

[u4icmusic]

New partnership at Dollywood to improve staffing levels.

 

https://www.facebook.com/KyleGraingerWVLT/videos/998503780983234

[ytterbiumanalyst]

That all sounds fantastic. They're really doing this right.

[jedimaster1227]

Dollywood has announced that they are building on-site housing for employees that could support seasonal hosts throughout the year.

https://fox17.com/news/local/dollywood-building-on-site-housing-for-750-employees-at-pigeon-forge-park-holtz-builders-tennessee-gatlinburg-smoky-mountain-travel-industry-events

Dollywood leaders have announced plans to build on-site housing for more than 750 employees at the iconic theme park in the Great Smoky Mountains.

The company will be partnering with Holtz Builders, a Wisconsin-based builder, to develop a $20 million residence hall-type housing facility. At 136,000 square feet, the four-story building is expected to be complete next spring.

Temporary seasonal hosts—including students—are among residents who can stay at the facility through a variety of Dollywood's hiring programs.

Dollywood's VP of Human Resources said Smoky Mountain traveling continues to grow, and the company is eager to hire and house workers as needed.

"The Smoky Mountains region has proven to be one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country, and with the growth of businesses and attractions in the area, we need more employees ready to support all of those jobs," Tim Berry said. "Employee housing is a crucial piece of the employment equation in this area, and we are glad to partner with Holtz to create this new opportunity here at Dollywood."