A Smoky Mountain resident talks about experiences he wouldn’t try twice at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge
While I can’t lay claim to being the world’s biggest Dollywood fan, I’ve been visiting since the first year it transitioned over from Silver Dollar City. I’ve watched in awe and appreciation as it has grown through careful planning and execution from a kitschy little theme park to one of the best amusement parks in the country.
I wish I could take the kind of bored 12-year-old who first visited the park in 1986 and show him what it has become nearly 40 years later. Today’s Dollywood has maintained some of the old mountain feel of the 80s and improved upon it. There are several world-class rides, better shows, more varied shopping and better food – especially food related to the seasonal offerings.
The park’s customer service is, in my opinion, on par with Disney and the people I’ve worked with on the media side over the years have been top-notch. It’s a fantastically run operation. But still, it’s not perfect. Dollywood has unique challenges like geography that limit expansion opportunities as well as make the park hard to navigate for those with mobility issues. That said, Dollywood is one of the great tourist destinations in the country with too much to do to accomplish in a single day. With all that said, and with nearly 40 years of park-going experience, there are several things I won’t do again:
1. Eat at Red’s
I remember when Red’s Drive-In opened as part of the park celebrating Sevierville in the 50s as it was in Dolly’s youth. As a child of the 80s – which was steeped in a 50s revival – I grew up surrounded by the pop culture of the 50s on TV and radio.
I like the vibes of the 50s land in Dollywood, as I call it. But I’m not interested in dining at Red’s anymore. It’s not that the hamburger and fries at Red’s are bad. Truthfully, it’s fine. It’s just that I can get a comparable burger just about anywhere in the world. And that includes the local Weigel’s gas station. There are too many good restaurants in Dollywood doing excellent work to spend my money and time at a place that serves better nostalgia than food.
2. Ride the Tennessee Tornado
Again, I was there at the beginning. Opening in April of 1999, the Tennessee Tornado was one of the first early indications that Dollywood was getting serious about its rides. Looping and powerful, the Tornado was a technological terror and wonder. Today? It’s a chiropractor’s dream. Compared to the other thrill rides in the park, it’s overshadowed and uncomfortable. I will always have an appreciation for how much the younger version of me enjoyed the ride. But it now stands as an object of my appreciation from a distance.
3. Pay for standard parking
Personally, I’m done with the trolleys and trams. For roughly 20 bucks more, I can park in a small lot with its own entrance and exit. I can skip the masses of people vying for a trolley seat at the park closing. I don’t love the march up the very, very steep hill to the parking lot at the end of the day, but I still consider it worth it.
4. Go when heavy rain is in the forecast
I have yet to be caught in Dollywood when – after torrential rainfall – the streets flood with rapid brown water and a day at the amusement park becomes a battle to get to the Ark. It used to be a rainy day at Dollywood meant the potential for light crowds. Now, under the wrong conditions, a Gene Hackman disaster film could break out at any minute. I can’t say it happens frequently. But I don’t remember hearing much about it in the past. I suspect that it takes a certain amount of rainfall to hit a specific spot in the park to make it happen, but a handful of times in recent years, Dollywood has flooded significantly.
The most recent time – not connected to Tropical Storm Helene – a friend of mine’s teenage daughter and her gargantuanly tall boyfriend found themselves wading through nearly waist-deep water as they returned to the car. It’s an experience I will just skip, thank you. Before I go to Dollywood, I’m checking the radar.
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I love going to Dollywood and I can remember when it was Silver Dollar City . The only reason I go is for the old steam train granny’s restaurant. But I’ve not been in awhile because the prices are way too high for me and it seems that they keep rising prices. I know that Tweetsie Railroad is not a big park but it’s a nice place to go and they have a restaurant that has good food which I love is the steam train and some of the rides that have there. But make no mistake about it. I do love going to Dollywood but the prices are way too high.
Dollywood is par with Disney in customer service? Then why has Dollywood always beaten Disney in customer service awards for the last several years, and the only coaster that’s a chiropractic nightmare is mystery mine and if your a adult whistle punk chaser in the back row, TT is still a great coaster.
Why did Dolly make her 2 new hotels for the rich only? You are so wealthy why not give people a break?
I think it’s a shame the passes are so high to purchase that you have to finance them and make payments!