We recently took a camping trip to the Smoky Mountains and on the way back to Nashville, we stopped in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to check out the Dollywood Theme Park rides. I did receive press passes in order to facilitate my Dollywood review. I will also be sharing some details about the Dollywood rides and my best Dollywood tips for planning your family vacation.
Dollywood Reviews: Fabulous Family Fun In Pigeon Forge TN
Dollywood Tip #1: Pre-Purchase Tickets
See my kids next to the welcome sign? See that writing up in the yellow? That is exactly what I recommend you do. If you pre-purchase your tickets, you can go directly to a turnstile!
Dollywood is a big deal. I always hear so much about it from friends and family. Besides that, Dolly Parton created Dollywood and I am so proud of how she helps build the Tennessee economy and how she looks out for kids. (This is totally off subject but when I moved to Nashville, I found out that Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library sends a free book every month to children under 5 in the area! Wow. It was really amazing and moving to me that she helps provide such an amazing educational resource. I just had to share that!)
Dollywood is a theme park with a lot going on. Besides all the Dollywood theme park rides and attractions, they also have a lot of festivals, entertainment, and local crafts. You can check the website calendar to see what bonus goodies you might get when you visit.
Dollywood Tip #2: Get The Measuring Station Wristband
Get your kids measured! If you’re visiting Dollywood with children under 48 inches in height, visit the Centralized Measuring Station located near the entrance. Your child will be measured by a Dollywood Host and given a color-coded wristband.
The first thing we did was go to the measuring station and we found our kids are tall enough for all the Dollywood theme park rides! My kids are 8 and 10 (a bit tall for 8 and a bit short for 10) and they were thrilled to be able to ride anything they wanted to ride!
Dollywood is full of amazing roller coasters so if that is your thing, you’ll be in heaven! They also do a great job of pairing the big rides up with small rides in each location so small children can stay with the group be entertained too. In our case, my daughter and I made the most of smaller attractions while my husband and my son rode all the crazy, thriller rides!
Dollywood Tip #3: Ride Intensity Symbols
Each Dollywood ride and attraction has a symbol posted by it (and on the map) indicating its intensity- black diamond high thrill attraction; blue square moderate thrill attraction; and green circle mild thrill attraction.
We did the Dollywood’s Mystery Mine® steel coaster as our first full family attraction. A 1,811-foot track travels through an “abandoned coal mine”. We all survived the terrifying 95-degree, 85-foot vertical drop that plunges into darkness and the loop portion where we went upside down. I thought it was fun but after that my 10 year old daughter wanted to stick to blue and green attractions! My 8 year old son, on the other hand, wanted to do all blacks with his dad.
Dollywood Tip #4: Make Use Of Water Fountains By Restrooms
Staying hydrated is essential to a fun day. Water fountains are located near all restrooms. You can get a complimentary cup of water at all park restaurants and most food outlets.
We also all rode the Daredevil Falls together- a fun family water ride for adults and kids. Your boat goes over a “waterfall” down a 60-foot drop at a heart-racing 60 mph and, yes, we did get wet. We all loved this one.
Dollywood Tips #5: Rent A Locker
You can rent lockers for a one time fee and then use them at these rides: Wild Eagle, Mystery Mine, River Battle, FireChaser Express, Daredevil Falls, Barnstormer, River Rampage, Sidewinder, and near the Tennessee Tornado roller coaster. It is nice to have have to carry your purse or worry about getting wet.
Dollywood has plenty of smaller rides and attractions too. My kids loved the River Battle water “raft” ride . Passengers each get a mounted powerful soaker gun so they can take aim at other rafts, passersby, and statue animal targets along the way. Some of the targets even shoot back!
Dollywood Tip #6: Get Extra Time Free
Savings tip. Take advantage of Dollywoods’ “Arrive after 3 PM, and the next day’s free” program. From March through October, arrive after 3 PM and return the next operating day for free!
Unexpected Bonus:
The Wings of America theater, features a birds of prey show and the neighboring Birds of Prey viewing facility lets you get up close views of about 10 amazing raptors from red tail hawks to a bald eagle. Wowzer, was the bald eagle huge!
You can get more information or buy your tickets at dollywood.com
I hope you found my Dollywood reviews and tips useful in planning your trip. We had a great time at Dollywood on our family vacation and I am sure we will be back! Have you ever been to Dollywood? Share your best Dollywood tips or tell us your favorite Dollywood theme park rides on social media @familyfocusblog!
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santhosh says
I had spend summers as an adolescent going to the greatest and craziest amusement stops all over California and had basically seen it all. Amusement parks didn’t shock me or wow me any longer, not saying I didn’t in any case like them but rather I had quite recently been to such a large number of. In any case, something about Dollywood truly got my attention and I knew it must be on my basin list. Quick forward 20 years and I got a task to do a broad manual for Dollywood and I was past excited. My name is santhosh I’m working in this website I have lived here in Knoxville for a long time and I have recently been sitting tight for the right chance to go! In the event that you have the open door or longing to visit Pigeon Forge, TN and visit Dollywood, take it! What you can expect is a family-situated well thoroughly considered amusement stop that deals with it’s clients and truly thinks about your encounters! In addition you get the opportunity to encounter the genuine nation southern friendliness!
Rini James says
Beautiful pictures!! Tennessee has several adventurous places, and Dollywood is just marvelous! Thanks for the tips, it’s gonna help while planning a trip to Dollywood. I can’t wait to witness such a lovely and happening place. I am planning to visit it for my next vacations as for coming X’mas vacations, we arranged for a family get-together at an indoor Waterpark in Montana. Eagerly waiting for Christmas!