Dollywood

See that!

Ok.

Point being?

We're owned by the same company, what difference is your argument making? Do we really care? We "SDC fans" enjoy SDC because it is our home park. We're proud of it. Just because someone made a comment about people in your area being 'dumb' doesn't mean we said our park is better than yours. Honestly, do you really care that your park is #1 in a chain with only 2 MAJOR theme parks? Good for you, give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve one.

I'm not suprised that DW is the #1money making park in HFEC, why wouldn't it be? But I bet if you add the money made in between SDC and CC it is more than DW. (Yes I know SDC and CC are 2 completely seperate parks, but you know CC steals visitors from SDC)

Congrats DW on being #1. DW IS #1!!! DW IS #1!!!DW IS #1!!! DW IS #1!!! #1(of 2)

*** Edited 8/22/2004 3:05:34 AM UTC by ReturnofCoasterBill***

In an interview about "Creating Memories Worth Repeating", Pete Herschend shared his favorite Customer Service story

: "A mechanic from Tennessee was leaving work for the day. It was 10 o’clock and Dollywood Theme Park, where he worked, was all but shut down. By this time, most patrons are gone, but as he was leaving, he noticed a van in the middle of the parking lot, with its hood up, and a family gathered around, poking at the engine He stopped by and checked it out, and diagnosed the problem as a bad starter. He tells the family to "stay here, ill be right back." The family was from Cincinattii, and was going nowhere.By chance his car was the exact same model as the families, so he pulled it over the broken vehicle and took the starter off his own car, and put it on the families. He got in the driver seat and it started right up. He got out, and told them, "Thanks for visiting, Have a safe trip home." *** Edited 8/22/2004 3:09:32 AM UTC by CoastermanX***

Taken from a post from Barry Short back on August 9th.

"So recently I went to Branson and was at SDC. I was purchasing my lunch and it was 10 and some change so I gave the girl a 20 and exact change expecting to get a 10 back. The girl thought I gave her exact change. I was pretty sure I gave her a 20 but did not recall exactly. She was like I will have to have my drawer counted to find out but I was in a hurry. So she asked to get my name and number and if the drawer was over they would send me the money. So I did that and left. Well, I go out to the mailbox today and in there is an envelope from SDC. I open it up and there is a check for ten dollars. I couldn't believe it. I had totally forgot about it. That is what good customer service it all about. To me this just adds to what was already a great experience at that park. How many other places would do that? I can't think of many. "

Sounds pretty similar to me. ;)

First of all...Dollywood IS NOT SOLELY OWNED BY HERSCHEND FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT. Dollywood is a joint venture between several different parties, including Herchend Enterprises (Now HFE), Dolly Parton, and the various other stock holders that form the Dollywood Company. (You can find this for yourself in any press kit the park has issued.) Yes, HFE is probably the controlling partner, but Dollywood has a few different people in charge besides those that are running SDC.

This is probably why Dollywood has always had severely different operating practices than SDC. The parks are similar in general philosophy, but Dollywood stepped up to the plate in 1986 to compete with Opryland and Six Flags and became a major theme park in order to survive. As a result of this, several of the "quirky" things had to be sacrificed in order to keep up. Dolly Parton saved Silver Dollar City Tennessee, as without her the park would have been gone by the 90s.

The original Silver Dollar City, on the other hand, retained it's charm because it was not loosing money like it's TN sister park was and didn't have to re-think it's entire operation to stay afloat.

SDC-TN was performing so badly, it didn't evan have the money to build Rivertown in 1986. That area was built on funds coming straight from Mrs. Parton herself, and you can ask the park about this if you'd like a more direct answer.

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ReturnofCoasterBill said:
We're owned by the same company, what difference is your argument making? Do we really care? We "SDC fans" enjoy SDC because it is our home park. We're proud of it. Just because someone made a comment about people in your area being 'dumb' doesn't mean we said our park is better than yours. Honestly, do you really care that your park is #1 in a chain with only 2 MAJOR theme parks? Good for you, give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve one.

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We don't appreciate people saying that Dollywood's rides are boring or un-original compared to the ones at SDC. All the other guests that visit the park seem to like the Rampage, The Dollywood Express, and Daredevil Falls. I'm sure they don't think any of them are boring or un-original. They wouldn't give a rat's ass evan if they did know a better version of Blazing Fury is half way across the country.

Coasterdave said it best:

"Dollywood is not SDC"

And as far as I know, Dollywood is not attempting to be either. Dollywood is Dollywood, the Entertainment Capitol of the Smokies. *** Edited 8/22/2004 5:36:17 AM UTC by Dukeis#1***

TeknoScorpion, I also respect others opinions, but I think you are just being rude. Up until my visit to Dollywood I had not had an epsiode with anyone from TN. Also the problem only occurred at DW, we went to Gatlinburg that night and didn't have any issues. I asked above if this was norm or if I visited on a particularly bad day, and I have YET to receive a response to that.

To those saying that DW is the best, please remember that there is very few choices in the area when it comes to amusement parks. It's either SFoG or DW, not a tought decision.

Dukeis, like I said before, after visiting most of the parks in the USA I have the right to be able to say that I don't like something or to state that I thought the ride was unoriginal. I commented on exactly what I did not care for and how things could be improved. If I had just stated that _____ suxs!!!111!! and left it at that, I could see where there would be room for complaining, but I stated exactly what I did not like about the rides, and for some of them I even gave suggestions on what could be made better - if I missed some of the rides (on how they could be made better I appologize as I was in a hurry to get my quasi-TR posted).

Guys I'm sorry I didn't enjoy my trip there. The first time I was at the park I did not have any problems, it was just this last visit. The first time I visited the park they still have a few of the SDC-like characteristics. I like both parks, and I never said that I didn't like DW. Please stop taking my words and twisting them around to make me look like an evil person. Also I would appreciate some of you to stop being so close-minded about other's viewpoints. I do realize that DW is quite a few of "youse guys" homepark, but that doesn't mean we all have to have the same love for the rides at the park.

Let me go on record and say that I don't have any problems with your Dollywood opinions, I've never been there to make my own decisions, and mine wouldn't be affected by yours anyhow. I just dislike how you handled the whole situation where you call a whole group of people dumb, and then try your best to make it sound like negative generalizing and profiling is okay.

It may be your opinion, but that dosen't give you the right to offend(and keep offending) people with your thoughts on the locals.

You say yourself that you only experienced whatever it was at Dollywood and not in Gaitlinburg yourself, so you contradict your locals are dumb statement right there.

Call me rude or whatever, but don't expect me to smile and be polite when you say (and defend) prejudicial statemnets...

My biggest problem was the "DUMB" comment. Just because we leave the "g" off of doing (doin' , for example) or say ain't, doesn't mean we are dumb. Also, not all visitors to DW are locals. Actually they are the minority. Just because you may have seen some idiot being stupid, doesn't mean it was a local. There aren't even many true locals, most are transplants from other places.

Char

DW host

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Swoosh said:
Up until my visit to Dollywood I had not had an epsiode with anyone from TN. Also the problem only occurred at DW, we went to Gatlinburg that night and didn't have any issues. I asked above if this was norm or if I visited on a particularly bad day, and I have YET to receive a response to that.

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Ok, I'll give you a response. You state yourself that you have not had previous episodes with anyone from TN, and that the problem only occurred at DW, no Gatlinburg. Doesn't that answer your own question and suggest that you just had a bad day. I spent five days at Dollywood recently and it was my sixth vacation to Dollywood and the area, and I have never had any ongoing incidences like you described. If I was pressured into describing the people I saw there, I could only say that they were overwhelmingly caucasian, there was a disproportionate number of obese people compared to what I have seen elsewhere, and there was much more of a Christian overtone than I have experienced anywhere else. (I'm from Mass. by the way) Other than that, I couldn't tell you a darn thing about the people there. I don't know...I kind of felt like the "dumb" one when I had to ask the waitress at the Backstage Restaurant what hush puppies were, and at breakfast when I was told I was silly for mixing jelly in my grits (I had no idea what else to do with them).

You said the problem only happened at Dollywood and not in Gatlinburg. Dollywood is the ONLY theme park in the nearby region, and the only THEME park left in Middle & East TN, so what did you expect?

Teknoscorpion, I also stated that most of the people in Gatlinburg were tourists from way out of state. This makes it a little difficult to say how the "locals" are there. As for DW, almost all of the license plates were TN.

CoastermanX, yes I know.

Gardner, well that was what I was thinking, however it doesn't change the fact that that was what ruined this trip.

DW and SDC (listed purely in alphabetical order and not in any kind of ranking) complement each other nicely I think.
Like the way root and beer go together.
CC is the ice cream floating in the beer of root.

JW
Partly owned and controlled by HFEC.

Just curious Swoosh, what about the locals down in the Ozarks? I'm from St. Louis and have been to just about every state in the Union. What I've found is that there are dumb people everywhere. Cities, towns, the middle of nowhere all have their idiots. I just find it funny that someone who spends a bunch of time down in southern Missoura can find people from rural Tennessee dumb. In all my searches I've rarely encountered people more hillbilly than in southern Missoura, and like I said earlier it's my home state.

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Swoosh said:Gardner, well that was what I was thinking, however it doesn't change the fact that that was what ruined this trip.

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But it does make the point that you shouldn't make generalizations about a group of people. You could have pointed out the facts about what happened and how it affected your visit without insulting the general population of East Tennessee.

The people of East Tennessee, and the state in general, are known to be very friendly, and are known to help others (hence the name Volunteer State), they may not talk like you, but that does not give you the right to call them DUMB or STUPID, because they talk different! The way you talk has absoleutely no bearing on one's intelligence level.

-CoastermanX

Looking forward to the 2005 ACE Spring Con!

After searching, it seems that people don't visit this park much...at least lately. We are going to be in a cabin in the woods in December, and have decided to check out Dollywood for a day. We have been to BGE...and I have heard comaprisons. From the website/info it looks like the food will be top-notch, and the few coasters that are there look above-average (especially looking forward to Thunderhead, as the Beast is still my number one woodie next to El Toro...and no, I have not yet been on Voyage).

So, anyone been this season? Thoughts? Critique?

Don't forget to get up to Tennessee Tornado. A very underrated coaster, and my all-time favorite Arrow looper.

thrillerman1 said:Thunderhead = not overhyped.

No kidding, TH rocks! Got 88 rides.A weekday trip to DW is marathon heaven expecially a wed-thurs Christmas Cellebration visit. You don't get the flume or raft ride but thats about it. Everything else is open and walk on. The shows, second to none if you like country, The atmosphere, Hum the only thing close to me is BGE in natural beauty and being away from it all.Go, have fun and form your own opinion. Its not CP, Disney, SDC. Its Dollywood.Chuck

Wouldn't you know, we are either going on a wednesday or a thursday, whichever is nicer. Glad to hear positive comments...

We spent a week in the Gatlinburg area in August '07, and got passes so that we could just come and go at our leisure. We visited both parks several times, and really enjoyed ourselves. We'll be visiting again in June '09, and are really looking forward to it.

If you've got extra time, Ripley's Aquarium is worth a visit. I thought Dixie Stampede was only okay. Naturally, GSMNP is fabulous too!