‘It’s Dollywood day – baby’
We were in breakfast early ready for our exciting day ahead. The very old lady was again running a tight ship in the breakfast room. Karen was enthralled by some of the ‘mountain folk’ who were in breakfast today. She decided that they were responsible for all the glowing reviews for the Hotel online as they probably had never been anywhere with electricity and running water before.
It was a short 4-mile drive to the Dollywood entrance. I had already pre-paid the parking and we elected for the 5-minute walk from a parking lot rather than one where you had to catch the trolley.
By 9.15am we were in the queue at the gate. Fortunately, we joined the queue at the exact spot of an empty bench which we took advantage of. Despite having a rucksack on my back, we were directed to the no bag queue and soon in the park.
Although the original park opened in 1961, Dolly only got involved from 1985 and thus we were here for the 40th anniversary of Dollywood. She is apparently very hands on with the park. It has doubled in size in recent years.
Without Neil guiding us we were unsure where to go first. Karen was nervous about how intimidating some of the roller coasters looked. I was just impressed in how they had been designed to fit in and around the mountains.
We headed to the top of the park and then had to wait in a holding area until 10am where again we found an empty bench. It was just below the ‘Mysterry Mine’ which was being tested before opening. The loop put Karen off that one.
When the rope was dropped, we walked past this up to the Fire chaser Express which I knew from the book Neil had kindly bought for me for my birthday about the park, was one we could both do.
It was a bit like Thunder Mountain without any theming around the track which did leave it open and exposed. The queue was tiny as we walked through but then there was safety announcement was which suggested anyone with back problems or recovering from an operation should not ride. With that Karen was gone in a flash with just the excuse she needed.
I still rode it and it was very much like Thunder Mountain albeit with a surprise extra backward launch at the end. I was not keen on the high tight bends with nothing either side of me but enjoyed it.
We walked on and the whole park felt very much like a Disney one. In fact, on Trip Advisor this is best rated park in the USA. We liked it apart from all the inclines to get anywhere.
Our next ride was Big Bear Mountain which fitted Karen’s new requirement of only having to be 39inches tall to ride and no overhead bars. It was about a 10-minute wait. It was very smooth, very fast and very fun. We both enjoyed it.
Before heading to find a coffee (eagle eyed Karen had spotted someone with a Starbucks cup), we decided to do a fun child’s ride – Bear Trail. We had not seen anything like it before. It was short which was just as well as it was quite uncomfortable to ride as an adult.
We headed back to where we guessed correctly the Starbucks would be. We were correct. The server got confused with the concept of hot tea with cold milk providing more evidence that only a few Brits ever visit this park.
Whilst supping our drinks we ate some of the food we had sneaked into the park in my rucksack.
The next thing on our plan was to find the Dream Theatre and watch Dolly’s niece – Heidi Parton perform live in a show called ‘Kin & Friends’. We had quite low expectations.
It was in a big theatre, and we came away very impressed. Heidi was an accomplished performer as were all the other singers and musicians. They covered many different genres but of course kept coming back to Aunt Dolly’s songs. The finale was one that Heidi had written herself and it finished with her aunt on screen duetting with her.
We then had a look around the Dolly Museum which was opposite which Karen found more interesting than me, but I am glad we did it.
It was time then for a cold drink and as we sat there, the aforementioned Heidi walked past us but too quick for us to grab a photo.
At that point we decided that for us the park was about being here and experiencing everything rather than queuing for more rides. So, we set off to explore the rest of the park.
By luck as we walked past an outside performance theatre an acapella show started. The 5 singers were excellent one of which could beat box to provide a beat as needed. They sang a couple of classics before moving onto more recent songs including Ed Sherran’s ‘Shiver’ which Karen needed no encouragement to sing along loudly to. The problem was the singers introduced a dramatic pause to the song at one point which caught Karen out who carried on singing filling the gap much to my embarrassment and the amusement of the people sitting in the rows in front of us.
We wandered further to the Craftsman Village, where there were working blacksmiths and leather workers etc. It was all quite interesting.
We went into a relocated chapel, and it was all really quite enchanting.
The park was by now noticeably busier but didn’t feel overly crowded. Karen was amused by the old schoolhouse and the rules that the teacher had to agree to as part of their contract. She concluded that she couldn’t abide by at least five of them.
Wandering around was very pleasant but we needed another cold drink. We found some rocking chairs on a porch and spent a lovely 30 minutes, rocking away whilst people watching.
One of the things I wanted to see was Dolly’s original log cabin where she was raised which had been recreated. When we got there, I felt it had been somewhat over hyped and was ignored by the most other people in the park. I just think the experience of looking in could have been better presented.
We went into the ‘Dolly’ shop which I found was not enough ‘in your face’. In fact, that applied to most of the park. I thought it would be more ‘Dollyfied’. I thought everyone would be wearing Dolly wigs or Dolly hats or Dolly T shirts. There were a few people wearing the latter but few and far between.
If that sounds like a downer on the overall park it isn’t meant to be. It was just different to what I was expecting. We really liked the look and feel of the whole park. We think the boys and Ellie would have loved it just in another way to us.
One of the oldest rides in the park was the Dolly Express Steam Train ride. Earlier in the day we saw it had enormous queues but when we walked past again, we realised we could get on the next train which we did. It was much better and longer than I expected. The train took us up the mountain and around the park. We both enjoyed it.
By now we were almost ‘parked out’ but decided to go to see a film about Dolly and her love of the Smoky Mountains. It may have been twee in parts but we both came with admiration for both her song writing and singing.
We decided not to eat in the park but head out and get something on the short drive back. We left full of admiration for both the park and for Dolly herself. She is now 79 years old and still works full time. Not just on her performing and her hands on role in running the park but mostly on her philanthropic efforts. Amongst other things one of her passions is donating now 2 million books a month to children around the world. If coming to the park today helps that effort, we were pleased to have contributed.
Karen suggested we go to Longhorn Steakhouse and so we did. The food was well cooked and very tasty. We considered going to Publix after this to get some things for a picnic the next day, but we were both shattered after our full day out. Karen had managed to walk over 6 miles in extreme heat, so it was no wonder we were tired.
It had been a really Dolly good day.
