Dollywood Discussion Thread

[coasterbill]

I'd much rather go to Great Adventure when it's 35 degrees than 100 degrees. 100% No question...

[JJLehto]

14 hours ago, boldikus said:

You're in NJ, have you not once been to HITP?

Riding rides in the winter is just like any other winter outdoor activity (skiiing/sledding/snowboarding/barhopping/etc), you just bundle up to stay warm. And drink alcohol... also to "stay warm".

Nah man, I can say I never had any want to do that lol I like cold, but doing rides? I'm good fam. Barhopping though, different story!

[boldikus]

Sorry but you haven't truly lived until you've ridden Nitro in 19 degrees temps.

[coasterbill]

Don’t knock it until you try it.

Coasters aren’t as cold as you think if you avoid row one. Sky Screamer and Wonder Woman are a million times worse.

[Garet]

Living in Asia with 365 day open parks, I've definitely learnt to appreciate winter rides over summer any day. I did a bunch of parks in Europe in summer with no problems but here when it's 35C and 100% humidity... no thank you. Works out for me though since parks seem to empty out in the Winter. A snowstorm blew through Tokyo Disney around 10am and everyone just bailed on the park. They'll camp out hours before a parade in rain and heat but on that day I could stroll right into the shows and parades at showtime and be front row:

 

[tndank]

At a 2019 event we did Tshirt rides on Lightning Rod at 36 degrees at night.  Cold but doesn't last too long. 

[bill_s]

You don't have to go down to 19 degrees. Here in VA we have lots of over 40 in Dec., so that the parks cut coasters at 40 is only annoying. On New Year's Day eve it was in the 60s, 2 days later I shoveled snow and began 3 days without power.

[u4icmusic]

Season Pass Holders. You can make online reservations for opening day, March 12 through May 11th, 2022. They still haven't opened up reservations for a season pass holder day for March 11th yet, but hopefully will soon. They are tearing down the cave walkway, adding more booths to pay for parking and widening several walkways throughout the park. No word on retracking Lighting Rod that was supposed to be completed during the off season.

[SSL]

saw in my facebook feed a couple days ago that the old mine tunnel by the train station has been removed.

[bert425]

I think Dollywood actually will happen this year for me. . .  from Winterfest, was given a free day admission (and the folks I was with gave me theirs. . so I have 4 passes (ie: 2 days for Spouse and I)).

So absolutely NO excuse *not* to try to get a visit in. . maybe fly on Friday, stay in Gatlinberg (that's close, right?), and go to the park Sat/Sun. . fly back Mon.

certainly looking into this seriously now.

Nick can't ride much, but with so many shows/non-ride things at Dollywood, and free admission?  yeah, think it's finally time to attempt a visit perhaps over the late summer.

[tndank]

Allegiant from Houston and Austin can often be very cheap with coupon. I've flown RT from Knoxville to Houston for under $20 in the last year. 

[teacherkim]

3 hours ago, bert425 said:

I think Dollywood actually will happen this year for me. . .  from Winterfest, was given a free day admission (and the folks I was with gave me theirs. . so I have 4 passes (ie: 2 days for Spouse and I)).

So absolutely NO excuse *not* to try to get a visit in. . maybe fly on Friday, stay in Gatlinberg (that's close, right?), and go to the park Sat/Sun. . fly back Mon.

certainly looking into this seriously now.

Nick can't ride much, but with so many shows/non-ride things at Dollywood, and free admission?  yeah, think it's finally time to attempt a visit perhaps over the late summer.

Gatlinburg is only about 15 minutes  from the park and is the older more sophisticated cousin of Pigeon Forge, much better place to stay in my opinion. Text or email me when you are planning and I will give you a heads up on some places to eat and/or other things to do. IF you have the time you might want to schedule an extra day or two for non park things. Just keep in mind that you will have to fly into Knoxville, it will be a good 45-60 min drive down to the PF/Gatlinburg area, and not all the airlines fly into that airport. 

[teacherkim]

2 hours ago, tndank said:

Allegiant from Houston and Austin can often be very cheap with coupon. I've flown RT from Knoxville to Houston for under $20 in the last year. 

Good to know. I never look into Allegiant because it doesn't operate out of the main STL airport and I would first have to drive an hour to get to the one in IL that it goes out of.

Edit: I just checked for s**ts and grins. Allegiant doesn't even give you the option of going STL (really Belleville, IL) to Knoxville. Can only go American, United or Delta and have to change planes.....which is why we usually end up driving  So if you can get a cheap, direct flight to Knoxville, jump on it.

[u4icmusic]

The longtime tunnel near Craftsman's Valley has now been removed. Dollywood is converting it to an area where guests can watch the train go by.

[Dan the Coaster Man]

Were there misters in there, or am I just imagining things? Either way it was a break from the park which was really nice. Cooler and secluded.

[TEDodd]

6 hours ago, Dan the Coaster Man said:

Were there misters in there, or am I just imagining things?

I don't specifically remember misters but it was always cool inside.

 

Certainly better than some benches in the sun. 

[megan]

That’s going to need a lot of work to look better than what was there. I’m overall disappointed with some of the choices DW is making these days. I feel a lot of what made it unique (staffing, atmosphere, quality of shows) is slipping into a corporate “growth” strategy. 

[Shavethewhales2]

I'm sure they'll make it look nice. It's a little unfortunate to lose another little quirk of the park, but such is progress. I am sure a lot of this is motivated by crowd sizes, as DW continues to grow at an incredible speed. SDC is having to do similar things all around the park to simply make enough room on the pathways to accommodate modern crowds. DW's steam train is pretty legit though and it has a lot of fans totally independent of DW and theme parks in general, so it's nice that it gets a little more emphasis. 

[Nrthwnd]

Hope they will add some 'shade' of some kind, along with those benches they're putting in.

But if the sun hits directly there, they might not be able to do it. So ..... ?

[megan]

On 2/2/2022 at 10:46 AM, Shavethewhales2 said:

I'm sure they'll make it look nice. It's a little unfortunate to lose another little quirk of the park, but such is progress. I am sure a lot of this is motivated by crowd sizes, as DW continues to grow at an incredible speed. SDC is having to do similar things all around the park to simply make enough room on the pathways to accommodate modern crowds. DW's steam train is pretty legit though and it has a lot of fans totally independent of DW and theme parks in general, so it's nice that it gets a little more emphasis. 

Oh I get it. It’s being a victim of your own success, I just hope they do a balancing act of opening up areas by shaving down instead of clear cutting. Disneyland did similar as they got ready for anticipated crowds related to StarWarsGalaxy Edge opening, but it was a lot of shortening this… widening that… but putting it back VISUALLY the same in most cases. 

[thrillseeker4552]

Looking to visit for the first time the last week of March (it would be Sunday and Monday). I know Lightning Rod is always a crapshoot and is completely unpredictable, but how is the rest of the park in the first few weeks of opening, in terms of operations, crowds, etc.? If anyone has hotel recommendations in the area that are affordable please advise as well. I'll have my own car so I'd be willing to stay a good distance away from the park too if it's significantly cheaper.

[megan]

On 2/6/2022 at 7:25 PM, thrillseeker4552 said:

Looking to visit for the first time the last week of March (it would be Sunday and Monday). I know Lightning Rod is always a crapshoot and is completely unpredictable, but how is the rest of the park in the first few weeks of opening, in terms of operations, crowds, etc.? If anyone has hotel recommendations in the area that are affordable please advise as well. I'll have my own car so I'd be willing to stay a good distance away from the park too if it's significantly cheaper.

Park is usually very slow as they ramp up operations. Used to go in March a lot and had longer lines and more waits than times in June/July. An empty parking lot doesn’t mean much when there is low/ new staff. 

[u4icmusic]

Dollywood has opened reservations for season pass holder day on Friday, March 11th.

[u4icmusic]

On 2/6/2022 at 7:25 PM, thrillseeker4552 said:

Looking to visit for the first time the last week of March (it would be Sunday and Monday). I know Lightning Rod is always a crapshoot and is completely unpredictable, but how is the rest of the park in the first few weeks of opening, in terms of operations, crowds, etc.? If anyone has hotel recommendations in the area that are affordable please advise as well. I'll have my own car so I'd be willing to stay a good distance away from the park too if it's significantly cheaper.

There are tons of low-cost motels in Pigeon Forge, but some of them are sketchy and old, so remember, you get what you pay for. If you don't care about the quality, then shoot for a cheaper price.  One of the cheap ones is Americana Inns and suites. https://www.americanainnpigeonforge.com/   Parking is expensive at the park. You can park and take the trolley for just $2.50. Park at Patriot Park for free and take the shuttle to Dollywood. Trolley's run 30 minutes prior to park opening and run until all guests leave the park at night.  https://www.pigeonforge.com/trolley/

[Taylor Finn]

Clarion Inn in Pigeon Forge proper is absolutely worth a few extra bucks though sometimes deals can be had.