Camping Blog

Dollywood: Insider Tips

8/30/2019

Our family absolutely loves everything Dolly. Dreamore, Splash Country, Dollywood...we are huge proponents of them all. As season ticket holders that only live a couple hours away, we try to maximize our Dolly time to its full potential.
This post we'll focus on Dollywood Theme Park. We buy Season Passes for everyone plus one Gold Season Pass for me (because I'm the one who takes the kiddo alone sometimes) so that we can get the discounted Preferred Parking rate ($13 as opposed to $24) EVERY time we go. Gold pass holders get 20% off food, merchandise and rentals plus free regular parking if you want to park in B.F.E. and catch the trolly. Some reasons it's worth it to us to pay $13 to park:
1-the Preferred Parking lot has its own entrance gate where the line is SIGNIFICANTLY shorter than the main front gates.
2- The lot is close to its gate which means there is no trolly ride which means you get from car to gate much, much faster and when you leave you are not at the whim of the trolly schedule to get you back to your car a mile or two away.
3- We camp right down the road at The Ridge Outdoor Resort or Jellystone Campground (we much prefer the Ridge if space is available) and we like to go to Dollywood before the gates open to ride rides before the big crowds and to avoid traffic coming in to the park which is at its maximum around opening time. Then we like to leave midday and go back to the camper to relax and refuel before heading back to Dollywood for sunset to closing, when again the lines are much shorter. The Preferred Parking ticket (with butterfly stamp) gets you in and out of the park as much as you'd like so you could drop the kids and sitter off, hit the links or outlet stores for a while, then head back for some roller coaster family time.
4- You can stash a cooler in your car with food and drinks and walk in and out of the park as often as you like with your preferred parking spot.
5- The Preferred lot gate entrance is nestled in a corner near locker, stroller and wheelchair rentals. If you take a left from this entrance you'll come to our favorite side of the park where you can ride:

we usually skip the mind rattling, body breaking Tennessee Thunderhead on the left, instead our little guy usually rides the Drop Line first (by himself 'cause we ain't getting on it),
the Mystery Mine (my second favorite coaster here) where you and 7 others pile in a mine cart and drop down the mineshaft into a whimsical, almost comical coaster that ends with spiraling loops,
next comes the Firechaser, enjoyable for adults as well as kiddos, it is one of the tamer coaters in the park but still full of fun (going backwards at the end is my favorite part),
then the Wild Eagle is just beyond the Firechaser. This is my son's fave and a favorite of many visitors. At the very beginning the Eagle climbs you slowly up to a huge drop then makes you feel like you're flying on an eagle's wing throughout the ride.
My favorite comes next. As you wind through the park toward the back through the Wilderness Pass area you'll find the Tennessee Tornado, a very fast and to the point coaster that features a big drop through a tunnel and three huge loops. This ride usually has a shorter line than the others and is really fun to ride at night. Be sure to check out your pictures at the bottom of the steps to see your face in the tunnel drop.
As you keep making your way around the park you'll now find yourself in Craftsman's Valley where glassblowers and blacksmiths and candle dippers are doing their things and selling there wares. Maneuver through this and make sure you don't miss the Barnstormer hiding back behind the craft area in Owen's Farm. The Barnstormer is a Screamin' Swing type ride that swings 81 feet up at its highest point. Also not to be missed in this area, make sure to visit the Grist Mill and get Cinnamon Bread. Don't forget a container or two of frosting to dip the bread. One must not visit Dollywood without eating Cinnamon Bread.
Last but not least among our favorite coasters is a wood coaster, the Lightening Rod, awarded Best New Ride of 2016 from Golden Ticket Awards. I like to say this ride exemplifies what a person on the brink of insanity must feel. The ride launches your 1950s themed hot rod train up a massive hill at 45 miles per hour and from then on it is pure and utter madness. From its tallest hill you drop 165 feet and reach 73 miles per hour. My first time riding I forgot to breathe for a minute and a half. Take a deep breath and remember to breathe between drops when you buckle in to the Lightening Rod.

Other things not to miss at Dollywood:

the Country Fair- in this area there are lots of rides for smaller children. There are some gems in here for adults and older kids too though. The swings are tucked back here (usually with no line at all) and is a wonderfully relaxing ride that provides nice views of the Country Fair. Bumper Cars are also back here which our son loves. And my personal fave, the Blue Ribbon Soft Serve concession stand where old fashioned cones are served up in chocolate, vanilla or swirled (my go to flavor!).
The train ride will take you around the park if you're in to that kind of thing and you have the time to spare.
If it's hot we love to hit Daredevil Falls for a quick cooling off (the front seat takes all the splash so if you don't sit there you'll get minimal splashing). Smoky Mountain River Rampage can be fun if you're not the unlucky one who gets totally drenched by a waterfall, which is simply the luck of the draw (and spin of the raft). There are family sized driers located near the end of the ride.
The cheeseburgers aren't bad at Red's Drive-In near the Lightening Rod but they're not great either. The corndogs and fries are fine at Dogs N Taters. Stay away from the pizza place, it's worse than school pizza. Food is just not that great here and it's expensive, though the popcorn and Dippin' Dots located throughout is nice. If you park in Preferred Parking, take a cooler and have lunch in the parking lot or head back to the campground and make some chow, it's guaranteed to be better than most anything you'll find in Dollywood.
Last but not least, we love that Dollywood is open year round. If it's not raining or literally freezing, Dollywood is open with rides running. We've been in the middle of winter wearing snow clothes and you can ride as much as you want with no lines. They even sell winter clothes and accessories in the shops at the ends of rides if you didn't bring enough clothing to keep you warm.
There's also all the shows we hear are good, but we've never been to a one.
Final thoughts from me: if it's busy get a TimeSaver Pass. There are two types: regular ($40ish) and Unlimited ($50ish). With the regular you can ride 10 rides using the TimeSaver line which is exponentially faster. The Unlimited is where it's at for $10 more. We've ridden as many as 35 rides in a day with a long break in the middle with an Unlimited Pass. You can check how many passes are available on a given day on Dollywood's website. Find the TimeSaver information under Add-Ons and click on the calendar then the day you plan to go. It should say how many passes are available for that day out of the 275 or so they offer per day. Keep checking up until the day before to gauge how busy Dollywood will be. You can buy TimeSaver passes on line up until the day before you go but not the day of, then you're left to buy them at the park at the TimeSaver Reservation Center near Rivertown Junction and DP's Celebrity Theatre . The line there can get very long and they only offer so many per day so I suggest securing on line if it looks like a busy time.

I hope this information makes your time at Dollywood even more enjoyable. I'm super proud of Tennessee's greatest amusement park and can't wait to go back again!