Dollywood Discussion Thread

[ytterbiumanalyst]

The rule as I read it online was you could enter at 6, the Front gate persons let us in about 10 minutes early for that as well. We def. didn't have any issues.

This sounds right to me. SDC also has the after 3, next day free, but on days they're open late, such as Moonlight Madness and Old Time Christmas, it's 5PM.

 

Really, there's enough stuff to do at Dollywood that as first time visitors we didn't consider the promotion. We instead got the 3 day tickets and spent the first day on rides, the second day at the waterpark, and the third day at museums and shows. That was really a great way to do it, and there's plenty of stuff to do to fill all three days.

[dstephe9]

The rule as I read it online was you could enter at 6, the Front gate persons let us in about 10 minutes early for that as well. We def. didn't have any issues.

Exactly, another reason to drop the after 3 promotion.. it doesn't mean the can't run different "after" promotions throughout the year.. the various hours Dollywood us now open allows for various promotions..

 

I have seen post on this forum several times where people ask about the after 3 promotion. It can be very confusing, especially during parts of the season when the park is open very late or opens up late.

 

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[ElvisLuv]

There is a rumor that they had issues with snakes however I have heard three different snakes that were inside the ride

 

1.) Water Mocassin - This snake doesn't live in this area if East Tennessee.. there is a snake that looks similar and lives in the water but doesn't have venom.

 

2.) Cottonmouth which are only west of the Tennessee river

 

3.) Copperheads which don't really like water. Yeah they will tolerate it but with all the places to live stream Dollywood, I'd doubt they would choose flooded mine

 

Were there snakes inside the ride? Probably, 25% of homes around here have snakes in them or under them.. it's not uncommon, but snakes are also territorial meaning if one water ride was replaced by another, they would just inhabit it as well

 

Folks at Dollywood will say the snake story is an urban legend. Dollywood does have snakes, I saw snakes several times this visit but none venomous.

 

So is it true or an urban legend/rumor? I'm sure we will never know the truth but I'd imagine if it were true, the snakes were harmless

 

Harmless snakes still = scary though!

 

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You do realize that the Water Moccasin and Cottonmoith are one in the same? Take it from someone that goes to war with them on a frequent basis. AnD yes, there's a water snake that is often mistaken for them. It's all about the head or when the pit viper of the two opens that white mouth and that means you are too damn close. There'd plenty of Eastern Diamondbacks over in East Tenn too.

[Djwadeknox]

Some cool info on what your season pass offers at Dollywood and other places.

 

https://insiders.dollywood.com/the-other-perks-of-a-season-pass/

[bert425]

ok.. I fully intend to go back thru recent updates to this thread, but sometimes it's just easier to ask:

 

we're looking at our 1st trip to Dollywood in a few months, and will book at the DreamMore resort, with 3 day DW tix.

 

so that part I've got down. . airfare seems to be a big ol gotcha, with flights into Knoxville only offered by carriers we don't really care for. . but we can hold our noses and book anyways.

 

but here's the question:

 

Knoxville is an hour from Dollywood (and seems to be the closest airport). . . surely there's a shuttle of some sort that will pick up/ drop off between the Knoxville airport and DreamMore ?

 

does anyone know?

 

or am I going to need to get a rental car?

[WolfBobs]

Bert,

 

Couldn't find anything on shuttles. Did some google'ing and nothing. But I did a uber estimate and the fare from the airport to DreamMore was $33-44. Not horrible, but worst case for $88 round trip you may be able to rent a car cheaper.

 

I will throw out the uber estimate is for fares today, they may be more or less depending on when you travel and what time you need the uber. Plus even though Pigeon Forge is a decent sized tourist area, not sure how quickly a uber will be available for the trip back to the airport.

[bert425]

Bert,

 

Couldn't find anything on shuttles. Did some google'ing and nothing. But I did a uber estimate and the fare from the airport to DreamMore was $33-44. Not horrible, but worst case for $88 round trip you may be able to rent a car cheaper.

 

I will throw out the uber estimate is for fares today, they may be more or less depending on when you travel and what time you need the uber. Plus even though Pigeon Forge is a decent sized tourist area, not sure how quickly a uber will be available for the trip back to the airport.

 

yeah, the other option (if we have to rent a car) is to look at flights into Greenville, SC (which has way cheaper flights, on Southwest.. .tho there don't seem to be many/any car rental places at that airport)

[Canobie Coaster]

The past two times I've gone to Dollywood, I've flown into Atlanta and done the 4 hour drive.

 

Since I can't get a direct flight to Knoxville from Boston, I don't lose that much time and it's a heck of a lot cheaper. Plus the drive takes you through the Smoky Mountain National Park, so it's quite nice.

[bert425]

The past two times I've gone to Dollywood, I've flown into Atlanta and done the 4 hour drive.

 

Since I can't get a direct flight to Knoxville from Boston, I don't lose that much time and it's a heck of a lot cheaper. Plus the drive takes you through the Smoky Mountain National Park, so it's quite nice.

 

yeah. . I suggested that right away, and got vetoed.

 

he does not want to fly, then do a 4 hour car trip.

 

I can get super cheap flights to ATL tho. . I do that all the time. . so maybe I can talk him into it, but I think we might just have to eat the nutso airfares, and drop the $$ to fly into Knoxville. (would rather not spend $$ on renting a car if we do that tho).

 

so might have to give DreamMore a call and see if they have any suggestions? (I'm certain it's a question they get a lot)

[komasixx]

I wanted to make sure everyone can see this.

 

Disclaimer: All photos are publicaly released on Dollywood's Blog, App, and media pages.

Great Pumpkin LumiNights Plaza. (Sorry this is the biggest size I could get)

Wilderness Plaza Normal

Lots of Wood Replaced

Train Station

Eating Area

Roofing

Thunderhead's Structure looks to be upgraded

Glacier Ridge Plaza

[bgtlover]

 

yeah, the other option (if we have to rent a car) is to look at flights into Greenville, SC (which has way cheaper flights, on Southwest.. .tho there don't seem to be many/any car rental places at that airport)

Bert...

Here is the link to the ground transportation options at the Greenville/Spartanburg International Airport. They have several rental car agencies there. There is Alamo, Enterprise, Avis, Budget, Hertz and Thrifty/Dollar Rent-A-Car there. (There is the smaller Greenville Downtown Airport that is a general aviation airport that likely has none in case you were looking at a map.)

https://www.gspairport.com/hire-ground-transportation/

[middle_keeny]

ok.. I fully intend to go back thru recent updates to this thread, but sometimes it's just easier to ask:

 

we're looking at our 1st trip to Dollywood in a few months, and will book at the DreamMore resort, with 3 day DW tix.

 

so that part I've got down. . airfare seems to be a big ol gotcha, with flights into Knoxville only offered by carriers we don't really care for. . but we can hold our noses and book anyways.

 

but here's the question:

 

Knoxville is an hour from Dollywood (and seems to be the closest airport). . . surely there's a shuttle of some sort that will pick up/ drop off between the Knoxville airport and DreamMore ?

 

does anyone know?

 

or am I going to need to get a rental car?

 

Knoxville is the closest airport. Nashville, Chattanooga, Lexington are all 2-3 hours. Not sure of your airline preference but Nashville, is the cheapest of the three. I live in Chattanooga and know there is a direct flight to DFW from there. Shoot, depending on the timing, I could give you a ride.

[jimmiemac02]

 

yeah, the other option (if we have to rent a car) is to look at flights into Greenville, SC (which has way cheaper flights, on Southwest.. .tho there don't seem to be many/any car rental places at that airport)

Bert...

Here is the link to the ground transportation options at the Greenville/Spartanburg International Airport. They have several rental car agencies there. There is Alamo, Enterprise, Avis, Budget, Hertz and Thrifty/Dollar Rent-A-Car there. (There is the smaller Greenville Downtown Airport that is a general aviation airport that likely has none in case you were looking at a map.)

https://www.gspairport.com/hire-ground-transportation/

 

I can confirm this. GSP is my home airport and there are LOADS of places to rent a car in Greenville (Greenville would also make a nice place to explore for a day). GSP is quite the drive from Dollywood though. One other airport to look at flying into (that I haven't seen mentioned) is Tri-Cities. It's about 2 hours away.

[bert425]

thanks everyone for the feedback! doing research now

[ASE]

Hey all...I'm back once again to drop some Dollywood news. A 5 acre expansion confirmed by Dollywood officials meeting with the Pigeon Forge Planning Commission. Exciting times ahead!

https://www.pigeonforgetnguide.com/blog/things-to-do/dollywood-expansion-2019/

[ytterbiumanalyst]

[Jcoaster]

Hey all...I'm back once again to drop some Dollywood news. A 5 acre expansion confirmed by Dollywood officials meeting with the Pigeon Forge Planning Commission. Exciting times ahead!

https://www.pigeonforgetnguide.com/blog/things-to-do/dollywood-expansion-2019/

 

Great news, very interesting that it is taking place behind Thunderhead. Looks like theyre trying to bring foot traffic back by that area.

[dstephe9]

I'm not sure the marked area in the photo on the article is right.. it might be correct for the first portion of the expansion but those of us who visited in December clearly saw the expansion going as far as Mystery Mine (at Christmas it was as close as 10 - 15 ft from the Mystery Mine track) at that point, with markers going much much past that point. The markers actually went to the area of hillside accross from river battle. This is why everyone feels the river battle entertainment area will be the new hub.

 

While a lot of work is being done behind Thunderhead, there isn't really any access to the new area at Thunderhead. It's much higher up the hill

 

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[dstephe9]

This is an older Google maps photo of the expansion and it goes much further than the marked area on the article.. while the rides and the new area might be behind Thunderhead, this expansion is covering much more area

 

It looks like the photo that site posted is more for the new parking lot the built s few years ago! Hahaha

 

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[jarmor]

Everything being cleared doesn't have to be for the actual expansion. There still needs to be infrastructure and things like that . . .

[dstephe9]

Exactly but compare the photo that is in the article and the photo from Google.. half the marked area in the article is now the new parking lot. I just hate when news sources publish the wrong information or outdated data is all. If the photo in the article had the new parking lot on it, the so called "new area" they have marked would be very tiny

 

Like I said, they might put the new rides and stuff on the hill behind Thunderhead (more to the right) but the expansion looks to include more.. I'm sure the restaurants and stuff will be on the path leading into the new area

 

Photo from article (notice the train track behind Thunderhead inside the marked area)

 

 

Edit: just to make it easier to compare here is the Google maps again (see how close the parking lot is to train tracks)

 

 

 

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Now I understand, from the Google maps screenshot, you can't tell well the new area is actually going to be (it's mostly roadwork and infrastructure) but I don't think it's going to be all behind Thunderhead like the article makes it look. If anything, most of the leveling is actually happening behind mystery mine and on the right side of thunderhead in the Google maps photo. I know the area probably looks a lot different now though

 

My point is the photo in the article is way outdated and the actual clearing is happening to the right of the marked area in the photo heading closer to mystery mine and further down towards river battle

Edited March 4, 2018 by dstephe9

[ASE]

dstephen9, you’re right. I rushed the article on a Saturday night and stupidly pulled Google Maps. haha I’ll fix it later tonight with a more current pic. Thanks for pointing out what I should have caught. haha

[jarmor]

Well, there is a comment section on that article. If it eases your mind, just let them know their picture is outdated.

[dstephe9]

dstephen9, you’re right. I rushed the article on a Saturday night and stupidly pulled Google Maps. haha I’ll fix it later tonight with a more current pic. Thanks for pointing out what I should have caught. haha

Haha no worries! I didn't know that was your site, sounds like an honest mistake and I just wanted to let people know who saw it on here that the area is actually probably going to be to the right of the area in your photo.

 

Again, I know none of us know where the actual "area" will be and the newer Google maps photos really just short infrastructure such as roads and whatnot.

 

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[komasixx]

Just in case anyone is still confused, I made another updated map.

 

I marked where mystery mine, thunderhead, and drop line is.

Green: Cleared Land/no trees——— Black: Existing Maintainence Road/New Path