Wil and I came to Pigeon Forge with our travel trailer to celebrate our wedding anniversary. We love the Smokey Mountains and have had many happy times here. This is out first visit here since we bought this travel trailer a couple of years ago.
We stayed at Jellystone Park RV Resort. Yes, this chain of RV resorts is Yogi Bear themed, but it has a great rating and amenities. We didn't choose it because of its proximity to Dollywood. That turned out to be a happy accident. We were virtually next door to Dollywood, as the crow flies. Nothing separated us except some woods. The driving distance was less than a mile.
Like all theme parks, Dollywood is expensive, but I think the admission is less than Disney. A one-day admission is $92 for adults and $82 for children, with kids under 3 free. However, they have deep discounts for military and seniors. We took advantage of those. Wil's ticket with his military discount was $62 and my senior discount took my ticket down to $57. You must be 62+ years old for the senior discount.
We arrived at Dollywood late morning, nearly 11 am. I am not an early riser, plus we didn't want to tire ourselves out too much, because we wanted to see the late night fireworks. We decided to spend a few hours at the park, then come back to our trailer and return in the evening for the fireworks. That turned out to be a great plan.
Parking was very well organized and painless, at least at the time we went. It costs $25 for general parking. There is also preferred parking for $50. We opted for general parking and it was fine. If you hang on to your parking receipt, you can leave and return on the same day without paying for parking again. The same is true of your park entrance ticket.
The parking lots are labeled with letters, A, B, C, D, etc. Parking lot A is closest to the entrance, but it is completely for handicapped parking. B is the next closest and so on. There are trams that run to every parking lot to pick you up and take you close to the entrance. Trams are also available to return you to the lots.
We parked in lot D when we first arrived. The tram wait wasn't long. The loading of the trams is very well organized and efficient. We could have walked instead of taking the tram, but it was a 15-minute walk in the heat. Even here in the mountains, it is hot in July, upper 80ºs. It was also pretty humid because there was a 60% chance of rain.
Once we got off the tram, it was a short walk to security and then the entrance. You must walk through a metal detector, of sorts. However, I didn't have to remove my cell phone. If you carry in a bag larger than a small purse, they will search it. However, the security guys were very friendly. I only had a small purse, so it was not searched.
I do recommend that you take a bag. We found ourselves wishing we had taken a tote bag or backpack. If for nothing else, you will need it to carry your cinnamon bread! (More about that later.) Wil was wearing a ball cap that he wanted to remove at times, plus he needs glasses and sunglasses. We also bought a Christmas ornament and we had a Dollywood map. A tote bag would have been nice.
The maps are in a rack just inside the entrance to the right. There is also a phone app for Dollywood. We had some specific things we wanted to see. If you type in the place you want to go in the app, it will find you and guide you to your destination. We used that feature once or twice and it was great.
Our first stop was the Dolly Parton Experience. Here is where you can find several attractions related to her life. One building is dedicated to her costumes. Even if you are not a Dolly fan (though everyone should be), the whole place was filled with her entertaining witticisms and wise sayings. We think the woman is a national treasure, so we really enjoyed it. We toured a museum about her life, the costume museum, and one of her tourbuses that was there.
All through the park, there is entertainment. The shows are mostly musical performances. We also watched a dance troupe perform on the street in the Dolly Parton Experience area. There were random performers in several areas, in addition to the shows in the theaters.
All of the areas are themed, much like DisneyWorld. If you have young children, you will want to spend time in the Country Fair, which has the bulk of the kiddie rides, as well as carnival type games. There are 10 different themed areas and we did not visit them all. Most of the park is one large circular path, with a few themed areas off shooting from it.
We tried to ride the train which loads and unloads in Rivertown Junction. Wil once was a conductor on Disney's train ride in Disneyland and he wanted to ride it for nostalgia. We quickly realized that you have to arrive well in advance, like 45 minutes to an hour, for the train. Trips are only 20 minutes, but they only run the train once per hour. We opted to do that when we returned in the evening.
All in all, the park was much more crowded in the daytime. When we returned in the evening, the crowds were much smaller. In the evening, we didn't have a wait for anything, except the train. At lunch, the dining venues were crowded, but not so much at dinner.
I do have to give the park a great deal of praise for their bathrooms! I went 3 times, twice during the day and once in the evening. I probably would have gone more often if I weren't sweating so much. I never encountered a wait for a bathroom stall! That is miraculous! Plus, the bathrooms were clean and well-stocked with paper products and soap. There was an attendant in every bathroom. Wil said the mens' rooms were just the same.
We had lunch at a BBQ restaurant and I got sticker shock. I know food is more expensive in theme parks. They have a monopoly, of course. I just didn't expect to spend over $50 for the two of us to eat a simple meal. Later, we had burgers for dinner and the cost was about the same. With lunch and dinner there, plus beverages and cinnamon bread, we spent about $150 on food and drink for the two of us on our one day there.
If you are going to spend the whole day there, I highly recommend biting the bullet and buying a souvenir cup. You can refill it for free for the day at any of the plentiful drink stations at any food venue. If you do not opt for the plastic souvenir cup, the 16 oz drinks in paper cups are $3.59 and that is the only size available. Of course, they are refillable, but the paper cups are not durable. Just a note, the souvenir cups come with attached straws, but the regular drinks only have paper straws and some dining venues do not even have those.
After lunch, we enjoyed the shopping in Craftsman's Valley. There are many craftsmen, including candle making, soap making, blacksmith metalworking, etc. There is also a Christmas shop. If you are looking for Dollywood souvenirs, the Emporium just inside the main entrance has the best selection. Also, the only way to exit the park is through the Emporium.
We visited the bald eagle aviary. They have quite a collection of non-releasable birds of prey. These are birds that have been injured or for some reason cannot survive in the wild. Many of the eagles are on display in a large outdoor aviary. We also watched the Birds of Prey show in the Wings of America Theater.
We are not big on thrill rides. They are primarily located in Wilderness Pass, Wildwood Grove, and Timber Canyon. We did visit Wildwood Grove in the evening, because that is the only place to view the summer drone show. The drone show was amazing, definitely not to be missed!
If you do like thrill rides, they are plentiful. There are several big roller coasters and a drop ride. Some of the roller coasters are fast, some twist and turn you upside down, some are extremely tall. There is a water raft ride that doesn't look exactly thrilling, but it will get you very wet, which might not be a bad thing on a hot day.
Several people told us to get some cinnamon bread. It is only available at two places in the park. One place is the Grist Mill in Craftsman's Valley. The other place is the bakery right inside the entrance. We bought a loaf (smallish for a loaf and $12.99) and devoured it in the afternoon while back at our trailer. We had to buy another one in the evening to eat the next day. That stuff is incredibly delicious!
After a few hours in the park, we were hot and tired. We took the tram back to our truck and returned to our trailer for a siesta and to cool off. We returned to the park about 6:00 pm. We waited for an hour for the train ride. I'm glad we did it, but overall, I didn't think the ride was worth the hour wait.
After that, we went to Jukebox Junction (1950's themed), so Wil could drive one of the classic miniature cars. We also had burgers at a 50's diner there. We bought our second loaf of cinnamon break at the bakery and they had shopping bags, which made it easier to carry. From there, we took the long hike to Wildwood Grove and waited for the fireworks and drone show.
Wildwood Grove is not meant for old folks like us. It was noisy and crowded. There was a big dance party that preceded the fireworks and was definitely geared for kids. Fortunately, there were plenty of places to sit. There are low brick/stone walls with flat tops along the paths which are perfect for sitting.
The fireworks and drone show was advertised as a summer event. I hope they continue it through other seasons. The fireworks were spectacular, as they usually are. The drone show was jaw dropping! It takes hundreds of drones and precision programming to pull off a show like this one. I have videoed the whole 9+ minute show and you can watch it on my Facebook page.
We, and everyone else in the park, left after the fireworks/drone show. In spite of the mass exodus, we had a short walk to our truck (now in lot B) and traffic didn't back up until we reached the highway. We were back in our trailer about 30 minutes from the time we exited the park, including the walk to the truck.
Overall, Wil and I give Dollywood a high rating. We have decided we will return, but probably in a cooler season. I suspect it would be less crowded in other seasons and we'd have more stamina if it weren't so hot. I think Wil would return just to get more cinnamon bread!
