Dollywood - Smoky Mountain Coasterfest

That is a very nice park. Very family oriented. Thunderhead is great. I was also suprised by Tennessee Tornado. It's now one of my favorite
Arrow Loopers. On a suggestion from a friend, I rode the Train. I probably wouldn't have ridden it otherwise. I got a few good pictures from there. I was shocked at it's circuit length. Their load time seemes to last forever, but I'm guessing that's because of haveing scheduled departures. From the time I got on the train to the time I got off was almost 40 minutes.

I didn't have time to see any of the shows, but that stuff doesn't interest me all that much. The line for Babes in Toyland had to be 4 people wide and a
quarter mile long. I saw lines for the shows like this all day. I think I did fairly well on the scavenger hunt considering I've never been to the park before. Being a Clevelander I knew the first awnser right off the bat.

Q - Who was the owner of Grand Junction before Dolly Parton bought it and named it Dollywood?
A - Art Modell (Previous owner of the Cleveland Browns)

It was a little chilly in the morning, but with completely clear skys, it warmed up to near 60 during the day. However, the clear skys almost put a damper on the evening ERT. At around 8pm it hit 45 degrees and they removed a train from Thunderhead. According to officials, if it hit 43, they would shut it down completely. As luck would have it, cloud cover started to form and the temperature actualy went back up a little.

They didn't do a great job of getting the public off the ride at the end of the night so ERT didn't really get going til almost 9:30, but with only about 60 people sticking around, I got on every other cycle. I don't remember his name, but an ACE member who frequentes of the park got the train to himself and a
friend as he rode Thunderhead for the 1000th time since it debuted. They asked eveyone in the queue and no one seemes to mind. Even though it was only the two of them on the ride, they sure made a lot of noise. The ERT was really during the day, as it was a walk on all day. I probably got about 10 or 15 rides on it. Even thought it was in the 40's, the night rides were the most fun.

I was unaware that they had a Disco Coaster there. This was my first time riding one. It was ok. This was also my first time riding a Drop Tower. It was
ok also. They seemed like rides for the whole family to enjoy, which seemed to be perfect for that park. However, for my taste, they just didn't have the
intensity I like in a ride.

I think they were hoping to supprise us with a construction tour of Mystery Mine, but with the workers being there that day, it was a Hard Hat only zone and we didn't get any closer than the GP. (It figures... the one day I didn't have a Hard Hat in my car) Not that they would have let me in anyway. :) No big deal. It's looking pertty cool though. I got a few pictures I'm hoping to have posted before the weekend.

I loved the food. In the morning, I got a wonderful Apple Turnover at the "Grist Mill." It just melted in my mouth it was soo good. (drooling now thinking about it) I also bought some fresh ground Grits for my friend. For Lunch I had some great potatoes and a Pulled Pork Sandwich at "Wrong Way Joe's Tater Shack." And the supprise of the day was Dinner at "Backstage Restaurant." I had the Pork Loin, Fire Roasted Corn and Cornbread stuffing with cheesecake for dessert. They had a very nice menu of items to choose from. It took me a while to decide what I wanted.

All in all it was a great way to end the riding season. I look forward to going back again once Mystery mine has opened. *** Edited 11/22/2006 3:25:02 PM UTC by Jason Hammond***

You can find most of the 'who owned it when' on rcdb. Believe it or not - but at one time the train was the main attraction.

I was there too on Saturday night, and it was my first xmas in the park experience. I've never had so much fun at Dollywood. It's my home park and I'm a passholder, so I go often, but being there at night is a completely different experience from daytime visits. Every single building in the park had lights attached it to it. It's very beautiful and well worth a xmas time visit.

Nice tr btw.

I'm going there for the first time next Summer and am really looking forward to it. I haven't been there since it became Dollywood. It was a Silver Dollar City the last time I visited.

The lighting was amazing.

Speaking of SDC -- Jason you should come to Coaster Christmas this coming Saturday at SDC for ERT on PowderKeg!

Sorry, going to the North East Ohio ACE Holiday party on the 2nd. Besides I missed preregistration and it's about a 13 hour drive for me.

Yeah I want to make a trip to dollywood but i have heard a lot of bad reviews and the park not being to good.

The only reason I would understand that is maybe from someone who can only enjoy a park filled with 16 going on 17 coasters.

There are more things to life than Roller Coasters.

Yup, You just don't see Dollywood on ATs Golden tickets for anything :)

Park is great -- it is the patrons that go there that give it the bad rep. ;)