Dollywood

Rated as number one theme park in US - Wonder about metrics of this rating.

We like and greatly enjoy.

Caveat - visit midweek, spring or fall, rain or shine.

We used to visit as a family, and now as 2 adults; we find the tickets to be worth the price. Our best ride: The Train.

We always have a good time here -- we take my mom (wheelchair) when we come to town to visit. ESPECIALLY at CHRISTMAS!! The lights & music are FANTASTIC!! My kid & I love the rides (while my husband & mom go to the shows -- they were able to see 5 shows while we rode rides this year!)

Was sad that we could NOT find cotton candy - mom was craving it. :( But fudge was a good subsitute! :)

The day was rainy & cold -- but was CLEAR & SUNNY while we were there, so not many had "braved" the day -- lines were SHORT & we got to do a LOT!

I suggest to eat meals at one of the Dollywood resorts nearby -- usually a snack before & meal after -- to relax!! :)

$50 for electric wheelchair...spendy. Probably won't get that next time, as we had a travel (lighter) wheelchair & it would have been easy to push around...and she wouldn't have run into things. :P

Finally got to visit Dollywood for the first time. We waited for it to not be packed with people, and to see the Christmas lights. We love the Christmas lights and not a single line did we wait in to ride any coasters. The Christmas shows were wonderful. The shops were gorgeous and prices were reasonable. The lights and holiday decorations were exquisite. Santa and snow at the end were an added bonus. Highlights were the candle shop, train ride, tree lighting, and drone show.

There is something for everyone, young, young at heart and thrill seekers. The park is a lot bigger than you would think. It was very nice to walk around and see what was there. We rode the train and got a different view of the park. We didn't expect to see an aviary of Bald Eagles, so they were a great surprise. It was a nice place to stroll and shop. All the employees we had interaction with were friendly and helpful.

Dollywood is amazing. Very clean, family friendly and world class customer service. Highly recommend. If your local you must have a session pass. From all the holiday events they do etc. It's the only way to go. Lots of fun rides. Different class rides for all types of people and all ages. Parking is convenient. Security is present and consistent. Lots of shopping, junk food, good restaurants etc. Wonderful experience. Can't wait to come back.

Dollywood is a theme park that is jointly owned by Herschend Family Entertainment and country singer-songwriter Dolly Parton through her entertainment company, Dolly Parton Productions. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. This theme park has waterslides, rides and a number of live music shows. I highly recommend this attraction for a visit.

After years of coming and buying season passes the last few years it's hard to find much fault in Dollywood. Nice family park with good rides for kids to adults. Staff is always super nice and very helpful.

We spent the day at Dollywood - here's our take.

We paid extra for premium parking, it was definitely worth it, especially after logging 5 miles of walking during our day at the park.

The park is decked out for Christmas and looks so pretty. We arrived right at 11 am, the crowds were not bad at all.

We rode a few rides - the kiddie area was actually really fun. Very family friendly (as is the whole park).

Wr did ride the Bear coaster at the end and after a 45 minute wait, the 1 minute ride was very worth it. Lots of twists and turns and fun!

The food at the park was a bit of a let down, we had checked the menus before arriving and the food choices were just ok. We ate at the Front Porch for lunch (it was good), we got cotton candy in a sounds bucket ($12) and we got frozen bananas.

By 6 pm, we were exhausted as the park is very hilly and we logged 5+ miles. The stores were mobbed and we were just too tired to fight the crowds so we didn't get any souvenirs - bummer.

I'm not sure we'd visit again, not because it wasn't fun but we felt we got to do everything we wanted.,

This is the most beautiful, well-kept, family friendly theme park we've ever experienced. It's dotted by beautiful trees and nestled in the Smoky Mountains. What's not to love?
Reasonable prices, tons of rides for kids (and adults) of all ages, and delicious food, paired with countless shows....
Our family especially loved riding the steam train through the forest greenery, sharing a loaf of delicious cinnamon bread, and attending a number of the shows.
There was so much to see and experience that I could write pages about it! I loved the eagle sanctuary and the quaint little chapel. The scenery is stunning and enjoyable in itself. There's certainly something for everyone in your party from tame kiddie rides to thrill seeking coasters... a visit to Dollywood should be a "must do" on everyone's travel bucket list!

Seeking some fun to celebrate our anniversary, we decided to visit Dollywood and Nashville. Based on the weather reports, we did an audible and did Dollywood first because the temps were going to be in the 50's. According to the website, rides are subject to closure due to extreme temperatures. We purchased the 2 day ticket so did Friday/Saturday. We parked in one of the lots and rode the tram over to the entrance. I recommend picking up a map, I find it easier to read. Still download the app for show times, and it gives you estimated times between attractions.

If you are a rollercoaster enthusiast, this is a great park for it! Because it wasn't terribly crowded, we were able to ride all the open coasters once! It seemed there wasn't more than one car running on some of the coasters. Thunderhead is a thrilling wooden rollercoaster. Mystery Mine is just like its name with its unpredictability. Tennessee Tornado with its steep drops and loops for a long 2 minutes. These are just a few of the thrilling rides. I don't think I have screamed so much.

We caught 2 of the shows which was well produced and entertaining about the holidays. We skipped the train ride after seeing the looooong line for the next train. Dollywood was beautifully lit and decorated for the holidays!

We returned the next day, and it was way more crowded so the wait times were much longer. You can buy an upgraded pass to save time on the rides. We waited almost an hour for Dragonflies which was not worth it because it is only 1 minute long with only 1 car riding. We had the famous cinnamon bread which was so good my husband was salivating which is also sold at the bakery. For dining, they are quite a few places. We had the Blitzen bowl from Across the Pond food truck which we really liked.

This would be a great park for families. I just can't imagine what it would be like during the summer unless you have a upgraded pass only because of the waits.

Who doesn't love Dolly Parton? Not me. Who doesn't love Dollywood? I guess me. I liked it but didn't love it.

My visit this week was at the start of the Christmas season so the Park was decorated appropriately especially at night by holiday lights and Christmas music being played on their sound system.

I'll talk about the negatives first. If you are a roller coaster fanatic (I'm not) you will love this place. I think it would rival any Disney park with the coasters and extreme thrill rides it has. Being smaller than Disneyland and The Magic Kingdom its thrill ride density is greater.

The other negative is cost. For being in East Tennessee the prices are California high. $90 for an adult admission, $25 parking, buckets of popcorn for $12, they have old timely arcades in the Park to play carnival games in and the tokens are expensive. Their ultra popular loaves of cinnamon bread are $12 each and sold in two locations in the Park. So you come to a theme park and then stand in line for 30 minutes to buy a loaf of bread?

The positives are two that come to mind. First, ride the train. It is an excellent 20+ minute ride on a genuine coal fired locomotive pulling several open air cars behind it. You will smell and see the soot from the engine and they even tell you what to do if you get an ember in your eye during the ride and that train whistle is awesome. If you walk up and there are many people waiting for the next ride don't worry. The train holds a lot of people. Get in the line.

The second positive are the musical shows. I attended 3 with 2 of them in indoor theaters. They lasted 30-45 minutes each and were well done. Plus it gives you a chance to rest your legs. They are all first come first served.

Other than that there are many shops to walk in and buy things along with activities for kids to do. I found all of the staff to be very friendly. Order your tickets online to save time at the entrance ticket window.

My husband and I were first time visitors to Dollywood. We had a two day stop over to visit Dollywood and the Gatlinburg area in route to Walt Disney World. Although we had a good time, it was nothing special.

Dollywood is basically a country themed Six Flags, except I think the rides at our local Six Flags are more fun. During our visit (Sunday) the lines were quite long, and only made longer by the fact that several rides were temporarily closed when they opened (it seemed like they weren't ready to be open), and Big Bear Mountain had maintenance issues several times throughout the day. The rides are also extremely short. I was surprised by how short they were - Six Flags Great America and WDW rides are longer in comparison.

We tried the famous cinnamon bread, and found it looks better than it tastes. I love cinnamon bread and am a baker, and couldn't get past the dominant flavor being butter and not cinnamon. My husband was also not a fan. The bread costs $12, and although we managed to skirt the line on this one, near park closing this line was crazy long.

The vast majority of employees we came into contact with at Dollywood were not helpful or friendly. It seemed like no one here was able/allowed to talk. They would just stare at you until you spoke and then point, or get what you ordered, no words. We ran into this repeatedly.

On arrival, there are many lines to get into the park, but only a few of them actually go to the parking lot, which we were not told and thus ended up leaving the parking area and having to circle back. In case no one tells you, if you are not preferred parking you need to be in the two far right lanes. I don't know why this wasn't conveyed verbally or with signage.

Personally, I think the pricing of Dollywood is pretty industry standard. We found some things to be pricey, while other things not so much. We didn't think things were overpriced, just standard expensive, as theme parks are.

The high point of Dollywood for us was Eagle Mountain Sanctuary. To see so many Bald Eagles, a bird that was almost extinct, is really quite magical. We have Bald Eagles where we live, but the sheer quantity of them in the sanctuary is something to see. I was also partial to the ultra-smooth Wild Eagle ride. While we were in attendance, Dollywood also had festive Christmas lights everywhere, which was very beautiful at night.

Overall, we found Dollywood to be disappointing. I wouldn't ever make a specific trip to go to this park. If you're local, or passing through and like theme parks, it might be worth a stop.

Side Note: While riding the train there is a very real possibility you will get soot in your eyes, on your clothes, and all over your face. This is not a selling point for me, and I was blessed with all three.

My family and I had a great time at Dollywood when we visited Tennessee this past summer. We went in the middle of the week on a Wednesday and the crowds were totally manageable. The longest wait time for a ride was about 35 minutes, so not bad at all. We were able to find a deal for park admission and my son was free so the price was definitely a steal!

This is definitely a roller coaster heavy park. Thank goodness my son just made the 42 inch mark and was able to get on many of the rides. I think he would have been very bummed and disappointed if he couldn't get on the majority of the rides. Our favorites were Big Bear Mountain, Fire Chaser, and the Dragon Flier. Some rides would go up and down during the day, but we definitely got our fill. Some rides we even rode three times. Riding the steam engine train was awesome (pro tip: sit towards the back so you don't get the soot all over you), the a capella group that sang by the train were so talented, and even the carnival type rides were fun to go on with the kids.

Also be prepared, there is a lot of walking. It's like a circular loop so it's difficult to quickly navigate from one side of the park to the other. Like other reviewers have pointed out, the food is not the best, I mean it is typical theme park type fare. Even my kids weren't big fans and they are easy to please. Except! Get the cinnamon bread, that's the real food star there.

Overall, we had so much fun at Dollywood, and were beat the next day. Definitely a core memory was made while riding Big Bear Mountain and the end of the night fireworks were going off. Now that was pretty magical.