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Photo TR: Mother's Day at Dollywood


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I hadn't been to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge since the early 90's. My brother and I vacationed with the family there many times over the years, yet never felt the urge to visit Silver Dollar City/ Dollywood. Honestly, before Thunderhead was built, I'm not sure too many of us did.

 

Obviously times have changed, and now that we're living a couple hours away, we've been anxiously wanting to visit. Unfortunately, every time over the last few years that we've tried, something unexpected had kept us from going. Needless to say, we were pretty excited that everything including the weather cooperated with us this time around.

 

Even though we're big GCI fans, and Dollywood has always looked incredible in everyones trip reports, admittedly, there was always a small part of me that worried about being underwhelmed by the place. Sort of like feeling as though it wasn't "complete" enough. Truth is, this place was anything but incomplete.

 

We knew we'd be there on a holiday, and expected somewhat larger crowds than usual, which there were. However, the park has such a great laid back feeling with some of the best park employees I've ever encountered. Had we seen even larger crowds, we probably still wouldn't have been disappointed. The atmosphere is very enjoyable.

 

It's unbelievable how much difference an older work force that takes pride in their place of employment can make! I just about had a heart attack when out of nowhere, an older gentleman dressed in traditional southern attire walked up behind us as we were trying to navigate with a park map. He politely asked us if we could use a helpful hand, and correctly steered us in the right direction with a tip of his hat. That just about made our day right there!

 

As for the food, well, what is there to say that hasn't already been said? It's Dollywood. The Food Network could do an entire show on this park alone.

 

Finally, the rides. I'll save the short critiques for the second batch of pics.

 

Enjoy.

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I failed to take a pic of any sign like this around town, so here's an improvised version to end this portion of the report. Up next, Dollywood.

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And although I'm not a big fan of it, you can watch 'em make taffy here. The fudge; however, is why I keep coming back.

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Mmmmm. As a kid, this was my favorite candy shop in town.

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There, I filled my blurry pic quota for this report.

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View from atop the mountain looking down on Gatlinburg's strip.

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Us.

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Time for the overpriced chairlift up the side of a mountain.

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After golf, we made our way over to the tram for Ober Gatlinburg. Sadly, the ticket sales for everything but the tram had ended for the day. This was as close as I'd come to the alpine slides. :(

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Another look at the railway.

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Shannon obeys the sign and decides to swing at the ball, and not me.

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A look at the awesome setting.

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POV of JJ credit?

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I've always loved this place. It's pretty unique, as you take an incline railway to one of two courses.

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And you thought that was social commentary. ;)

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...some hillbilly golf.

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After we checked in, it was time for.....

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Arriving in Gatlinburg. This is the nicer side. Pigeon Forge would be like the "redneck Kissimmee."

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Okay, time to discuss the coasters a bit.

 

Mystery Mine - After seeing all the TRs of the UK trip, I was pretty excited to be getting the first Eurofighter installation in the US only a couple hours from home. Well, after riding, I'm like most folks in here who have ridden. Certainly a mixed bag. The theming was outstanding. The vertical drops were great. The ending was outstanding, but far too short. And the biggest downside was the first outer section of track.

 

It seemed pretty simple to me. The course and the ride vehicles just did not blend well. Honestly, it was sort of painful in spots (we had a front row seat).

With all the short, tight turns and dips, it created some pretty jerky sections. Perhaps I would've been prepared to brace for it on a reride, but that didn't happen due to time restraints.

 

As for the interior portions, they were pretty fun. And the ending blew us away. All in all, it's definitely a great addition to this park, and I categorize it alongside Expedition Everest.....definitely a fun reridable coaster, but nothing you should drop everything for.

 

Thunderhead....... Certainly in my top five for wood. I'll tell you sometime next week if it overtook my baby (the DBH). As of now, it's a solid second.

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Along with some strange looking green cake. Was Dr. Seuss the chef today? It looked sick, but was really good! I'm tired, so I'll finish this bad boy up tomorrow.

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Instead, Aunt Lillian's (or is it Jillian's?) was calling our name. We ate somewhat light today, as Shannon illustrates.

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Jarvis, we were gonna take your suggestion and ask for Jan, but we weren't psyched about the huge line and an $18 Mother's Day "special" they had going. Hopefully next visit though.

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...and this....every 20 feet, or so it seemed.

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...this....

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Are you kidding? We're at Dollywood! It's impossible to not be when you're subjected to.....

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Holy crap. It really is true! ;)

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Definitely a winner in our books.

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GCI's don't even need a train in the pic to look great.

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Smile.

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She's so photogenic.

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Station fly-by.

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The line later in the day. Even more awesomer.

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Millennium Flyers....like a La-Z-Boy on wheels. Now someone grab me a beer, and we're set.

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All kidding aside, we were stoked to finally get a ride on this GCI gem. And 20 minutes or less = awesomeness. Is "Red Dawn Awesome" copyrighted yet?

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Okay, now we're talkin'! This is bound to be the greatest ride in the history of the universe. Golden Tickets wouldn't lie now would they? ;)

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Nice to see the goth kids were busy "nonconforming" by visiting a major theme park today.

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Suckers.

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Timber Tower.

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The money shot.

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What to do during maintenance delays? Take pics, of course! I happen to really like this one.

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At the mention of the 4th delay, we made use of the stairs. Shannon still managed a smile. Me, not so much.

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But I did appreciate the way most of the queue was out of the direct sunlight.

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The line was rather long at this point.

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After three 10 minute delays (made known by a pleasant recording), we found ourselves midway up the stairs, just outside the station.

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When I said to Shannon, "I'm glad it didn't rain," I think Gerstlauer misunderstood it as "bring the pain," as this section proved.

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A quick look up as the train enters the death zone.

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At 10:15am, we entered the line, which began here....at the switchbacks under the first outdoor section of track.

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Since Thunderhead was about 15 minutes from opening, in made sense to go check out the new toy.

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Okay, we've been here 10 minutes, and I'm already thinking of casting my vote for "Most Beautiful Park." Seriously, everything in this place looks great.

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Naturally, the gravitational pull of Timber Canyon was unavoidable, so we headed there first.

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We FINALLY made it here!! In order to preserve the beauty of this shot, I elected to remain absent from it. It seems to have worked. ;)

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GREAT trip report Scott, thanks for posting!! I always love seeing Dollywood pics, it's one of the US parks I most long to get to, especially now they have that Eurofighter, considering how in love I am with Oakwood's over here. Some nice non-blurry shots there.

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Great TR and I agree about the older work force making a big difference. It's a great park and I can't wait to go back this fall. It's been two long years since I last visited.

 

 

...oh and Thunderhead is my #3, only behind El Toro and Phoenix.

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...oh and Thunderhead is my #3, only behind El Toro and Phoenix.

I'm planning on riding both the DBH and Phoenix next week. So luckily I'll get a chance to compare all three within a couple weeks time. Sadly, I missed the chance at El Toro due to it opening late.

 

Thanks for the compliments thus far, guys! I'll post the rest of the pics later tonight.

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Before I throw up the last of the pics, just one note. Tennessee Tornado was easily the biggest surprise of the trip. The real mystery at Dollywood is how they keep this thing so smooth! I don't know if I just caught the magic seat or what, but this thing was, dare I say, B&M smooth.

 

It really was ashame that it was so short, because we thought it was great! Anyway, thanks again for reading.

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Hope you enjoyed the pics as much as we enjoyed the park. Thanks again for viewing. :)

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Hi Ted.

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A nice view of MM from the train.

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A view from the rear of the Dollywood Express on its 5 mile journey, spewing soot all along the way.

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Oops, it's just the classic steam engine train they named Cinderella.

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The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire....

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hehe. This sign had the potential to go horribly wrong

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I feel so dirty.

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I'm in a glass box of emotion!

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Remember the opening scene of European Vacation when Clark says, "we'll be pigs" during the game show? Well, whenever a kiddie credit is in our paths, I can't help but think of that line with "whores" substituted in. lol

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Hi Julie.

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What's a Mother's Day report without an actual mom? I'm blessed with a wonderful wife and mother-in-law. We love ya, Mom!

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Okay, we love carousels, but this one SUCKED. If ever there was a park that deserved to have a classic one, this is it. Unfortunately, this one didn't fit the bill. Probably the biggest disappointment of the day for us. You could do better, Dolly!

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Country fair time, kids!

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Sorry BGE, I still love ya, but Dollywood takes the crown of Most Beautiful park in my mind.

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Honestly, how could someone shoot something so beautiful?

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Don't let the southern hospitality fool you. Dollywood is ruthless. They've even trained their birds to take your cash!

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Next to the Bald Eagle habitat was the Birds of Prey show. This guy is a prime example of the stupidity of some hunters. His left wing had to be amputated after some jacka$$ shot him. :(

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We only caught one ride. Third to last row seemed to work wonders for us.

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Just a bit too short to remain among the best out there. :(

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Truly the surprise of the day....week, month, and year for that matter.

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Up next was Blazing Fury. Sorry for the lack of pics. I was too busy scratching my head over this one. I actually somewhat love the campy quirkyness of it all.

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Wow, that was so awesome!

 

My first (and only) visit to Dollywood was in June 2004 (first year for Thunderhead), and it looks spectacular now that the vegetation has filled in and that whole area has become more substantial.

 

Dollywood is really one of my favorite parks, which such a terrific mix of everything; and it's all quality, too.

 

Thanks for sharing..

 

Cameron.

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I agree about Tennessee tornado. It's my favorite Arrow coaster and dare I say I like it better than Loch Ness. I guess the only thing I don't like about the coaster is that it's a little short, but so are any coasters you really like. I was also lucky enough on my last visit in '05 to be the only one on TT for two consecutive rides.

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Funny captions lol!! Sorry you didnt get to eat at aunt grannys but like you said the line is the longest in the park!

Thanks. We didn't even get to look at the normal menu options before we were handed this. Would it have been worth it compared to the usual prices? Just curious.

 

Also, we'll go on record as saying an event at Halloween focused around MM would make perfect sense. That is, if mother nature allowed 'em to run both coasters that day.

 

Thanks again for the compliments guys. I'll throw in a few more pics since we all love the place so much.

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Thunderhead station fly-by. Mmmmm.

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Theming around Tennessee Tornado.

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Yes, there actually was a service here on this day.

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Clever theming of some misters.

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Matt, I found one for ya. An out of focus shot of Aunt Lillian at her restaurant. She wanders around entertaining while you eat.

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Deal?

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