re: How is Dollywood?

Ive been twice. First time was around early 2000 as a kid. Then this past May I took my family. We loved Dollywood and the Gatlinburg area.

My kids are 5 and 3. They both loved it and as parents we loved taking them. It was awesome.

There are rides and areas for all ages. My 5 year old rode every roller coaster he could. I was surprised how intense some were that he was able to ride. My 3 year old was happy on the mildest of rides but tried a few that were middle of the road. She did great.

Outside of the rides the scenery of Dollywood and how it is interconnected with the landscape is amazing. You can truly feel like you're lost in old Appalachia.

Highly recommend.

Went beginning of the summer. It was a lot bigger and better than I expected. My kids love roller coasters and they have plenty. Park is very clean and nice. We only ate one meal there and it was pretty good.

We went right before the busy season of summer so only had to wait in line for two rides.

One was the lighting rod, and it was worth it

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Dolly makes random appearance - we have seen her several times.

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You bastard.

I was so pissed when she was filming her new movie, she was there all the time but this dang job kept me from going during the week. I'm taking off work for passholders day next year because she normally comes to that.

I was hoping to look into it for Mardi Gras week, but they are closed then. My first reminder that it's not in florida like we have been going the past few mardi gras.

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Make sure you get the fast pass.

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Definitely get this, but don't order ahead though in case it's not that busy.

Definitely download the app for up to date ride times. And don't forget Lightning Rod has a single rider line that goes much quicker.

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go to the Dolly Parton's Stampede for dinner and a show.

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Or go to the pirate dinner show.

Wife and I took the kids in mid-October (we were there when Tennessee beat Bama) and we'll probably go back next year. Weather was pristine and it was about as pleasant as a theme park trip with 3 kids could be. Ages - 8 months, 4 years, 7 years.

We stayed at the park resort and it was okay, but depending on how many people you take with you, you might find the room small. We had a king bed and bunk beds for the two older kids. They gave us a pack and play for the baby, but once we got that set up and opened suitcases, it felt like we couldn't move.

Things I learned:
1. At some point, you will hear someone tell you about cinnamon bread. It's pretty freaking good.
2. The tasting pass seemed like a good idea, but I'm not convinced it was worth it. Also worth noting, the website suggests you have to use the entire pass on a specific day, but they don't track it that closely. We used ours over the course of the whole weekend.
3. If you stay at the resort, you get to "fastpass" 8 rides a day for free. Don't stockpile them. It will take effort to use all of them.
4. The Stampede thing is not part of the park, but it was pretty neat. My kids got picked out to go do the chicken race and they loved it.
5. We were there Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and then we came home on Tuesday. We didn't get to do everything in the park, but we got to most of it.

ETA: I find it insufferable when people try and min-max their vacations, so I placed an embargo on all the try-hard, show up when the gates open and sprint to the most popular rides nonsense. We woke up when we woke up and we just walked around and rode whatever the kids got excited about as we came across them. It was super leisurely.

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You bastard. I was so pissed when she was filming her new movie, she was there all the time but this dang job kept me from going during the week. I'm taking off work for passholders day next year because she normally comes to that.

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Got to meet her through her nephew, she’s an amazing lady that’s for sure.

What town do you live in? We are looking for a nice area to move.