Following in the footsteps of @D Hulk's epic Orlando trip report, I thought I'd start up a thread of my own to chronicle my upcoming Dollywood trip. This trip is in a lot of ways an inverse of Hulk's Orlando adventure. Literally every vacation I've taken since 2016 has been either to Disneyland or WDW with some side Universal or Knott's thrown in for good measure. Suffice to say, I've seen about all that the state side Disney parks have to offer and I'm ready to go more regional. I've certainly got a bucket list of parks to get to with Cedar Point of course being at the top, but for now I'm starting with Dollywood as a point to expand my theme park horizons.
The big reason I'm starting here is that the park has been on my radar for a long time, ever since the opening of Mystery Mine which while I haven't heard great things about from a ride point of view looks amazing in its theming. Top to bottom the park looks absolutely gorgeous and as a park that also specializes in live entertainment it offers the best of both worlds as far as having both coasters and a lot of side stuff to do as well as the natural beauty of the Smokey Mountains setting. Another key reason I decided to start here is because of the park's proximity to a metric TON of other attractions in the immediate Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area that peak my interest. From so-bad-its-good dark rides to genuinely hyped up Halloween haunts. From immersive min golf to oddball museums, all under the setting of the Smokey Mountains. The area has so much to do that we'll likely be splitting the trip in between Dollywood and surrounding stuff unless Dollywood blows us away so much we don't want to do anything else. (Which very well could happen)
I'm also going to be going for coaster credit #100 during this trip. I was all hyped up to have that honor go to Lightning Rod, but it had a rollback collision a couple weeks ago and hasn't been open since so as it stands now I'm likely going to be one of the thousands of enthusiasts who has traveled to the park only to find that white whale of a coaster closed. The honor will now be going to Mystery Mine as the ride that put the park on the map for in the first place and as one of the most well themed looking non Disney/Universal coasters in the country. As it stands now, here's our travel itinerary
10/5 - Travel from San Francisco to Knoxville, then hopefully catch a late night Uber to Pigeon Forge
10/6 - Pigeon Forge attractions and Comedy Barn show. We'll be hitting up the new flying theater that's supposed to be better than Soarin, Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride, at least one or two mini golf courses, and getting my credit count up to seven away from 100 via the area's alpine coasters so I can top out #100 at Dollywood the next day.
10/7 and 10/8 - Dollywood
10/9 - Gatlinburg attractions.
10/10 and 10/11 - Dollywood
10/12 - Cracking out last things in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (Dollywood will be closed this day)
I'll likely have this set up the same way Hulk did his, with somewhat "live" updates on the travel and then daily recaps featuring the big highlights culminating in a proper report when I get back. In between now and when I leave I plan on highlighting some of the more off the beaten path tourist stuff in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area to drum up hype for when I eventually get to them.
The big reason I'm starting here is that the park has been on my radar for a long time, ever since the opening of Mystery Mine which while I haven't heard great things about from a ride point of view looks amazing in its theming. Top to bottom the park looks absolutely gorgeous and as a park that also specializes in live entertainment it offers the best of both worlds as far as having both coasters and a lot of side stuff to do as well as the natural beauty of the Smokey Mountains setting. Another key reason I decided to start here is because of the park's proximity to a metric TON of other attractions in the immediate Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area that peak my interest. From so-bad-its-good dark rides to genuinely hyped up Halloween haunts. From immersive min golf to oddball museums, all under the setting of the Smokey Mountains. The area has so much to do that we'll likely be splitting the trip in between Dollywood and surrounding stuff unless Dollywood blows us away so much we don't want to do anything else. (Which very well could happen)
I'm also going to be going for coaster credit #100 during this trip. I was all hyped up to have that honor go to Lightning Rod, but it had a rollback collision a couple weeks ago and hasn't been open since so as it stands now I'm likely going to be one of the thousands of enthusiasts who has traveled to the park only to find that white whale of a coaster closed. The honor will now be going to Mystery Mine as the ride that put the park on the map for in the first place and as one of the most well themed looking non Disney/Universal coasters in the country. As it stands now, here's our travel itinerary
10/5 - Travel from San Francisco to Knoxville, then hopefully catch a late night Uber to Pigeon Forge
10/6 - Pigeon Forge attractions and Comedy Barn show. We'll be hitting up the new flying theater that's supposed to be better than Soarin, Jurassic Jungle Boat Ride, at least one or two mini golf courses, and getting my credit count up to seven away from 100 via the area's alpine coasters so I can top out #100 at Dollywood the next day.
10/7 and 10/8 - Dollywood
10/9 - Gatlinburg attractions.
10/10 and 10/11 - Dollywood
10/12 - Cracking out last things in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg (Dollywood will be closed this day)
I'll likely have this set up the same way Hulk did his, with somewhat "live" updates on the travel and then daily recaps featuring the big highlights culminating in a proper report when I get back. In between now and when I leave I plan on highlighting some of the more off the beaten path tourist stuff in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area to drum up hype for when I eventually get to them.
