More Dollywood thoughts:
After going to Dollywood I don't see myself ever being a Disneyland regular.
I haven't been a passholder of anything since March 2020.
For 200 dollars I got a season pass that included 2 tickets, free parking, and discounts. It in fact covered our 2 day vacation perfectly without my wife needing any separate admission.
The park was just in immaculate shape. I've never seen a theme park this clean ever. Whether you were in a queue line, boarding starion, walkway, or restroom, the park was amazingly clean.
The scenery of the park is amazing. Practically any outdoor area is postcard worthy, with the only exceptions being the cheesy 1950s themed area and "Fair" area.
The rest of the park be it the entrance area, old west country themed areas, and wildwood grove were picture perfect. With lots of beautiful scenery be it from the theming, plants, or surrounding hills.
The Cinnamon Bread was excellent and worth the hype. The all you can eat "Aunt Granny's" sit down was pretty good and was super cheap for being the park's premier restaraunt (26 dollars for all you can eat, 4 sides, 3 entrees, drinks, and dessert). In fact every restaurant we visited in Tennessee gave us so much food, it's so different than what I'm used to in California.
In terms of rides, imagine prime Disney (not current Disney) level maintenance but on coasters. The things that makes the park better to me than any Six Flags or Cedar Fair park is how unique the rides are in addition the scenery they are in. The coasters all did things different than any coasters I have been on before. You can tell Dollywood makes custom builds and doesn't get prebuilt models from coaster vendors like Six Flags and Knotts.
We went on this amazing launching wooden coaster in the mountains, a coaster with launches forwards and backwards with a neat layout, got to be in the wings of an eagle, a dark ride coaster, etc. Nothing felt run of the mill.
The kids areas with flat rides even offer a number of unique rides in addition to the standard fare.
We went on the weirdest ride we've ever been on called Mystery Mine that was an exercise in physical and psychological torture. I don't know what they were thinking with this ride. This was the only ride I disliked and would not recommend, but again, unique.
In terms of upselling they have a skip the line pass that is reasonable (50 dollars I think). We did not purchase this. Both days we went, besides maybe 2ish busy hours in the afternoon, all rides were 15 minutes or less besides Lightning Rod which when operating was about 45 minutes. It seems in the morning the park is dead and once it hit 4pm the park is also dead.
I never felt like I was rushing. We were visiting shops and relaxing/eating and enjoyed our themepark experience never worrying about lines or planning.
Customer service was just next level and was my favorite thing about the park. We both just felt so taken care of by the staff. They were so friendly and talkative and relaxed. In fact the park guests were also incredibly friendly and relaxed.
Staff would strike up actual conversations with us frequently and ask how our day is going how we liked the park etc or would tell stories or jokes. We had a tram driver deliver the best standup routine that made a tram full of people forget about how we were in the freezing cold. Everyone from ride ops, retail, food, etc was amazing.
Again, I get the Dollywood and Disneyland have very different offerings and budgets. The reason I say this comparison is Dollywood's customer service reminds me of what Disney used to be.
You can have a park with a high amount of demand and focus on customer service and the guest experience.
I realized at this stage in my life I'd rather go somewhere that treats me well and values me, than somewhere that has "cooler" or "more advance" rides. Positive experiences keep me coming back and leave lasting memories.
