I had never ridden the Thunder Eagle at Raceworld before and I could not wait after I saw it from the Parkway at Pigeon Forge, TN. I immediately pulled in to Raceworld (after fighting the traffic for a few minutes) and bought tickets for the ride. The ride costs $5.00 to ride but I'll pay it for a new experience. The ride was very smooth from the front seat, not very fast or thrilling but I was still pleased.
On Saturday we awoke at 7am, ate breakfast and headed for Dollywood via the Trolley at Pigeon Forge. Note: Use the trolley if you want to save on parking. It only costs 50 cents to take the trolley from anywhere in Pigeon forge to Dollywood whereas parking is $5.00 at the gate. Because of massive traffic due to the car show in town it took almost an hour for us to arrive at Dollywood which was about 3 miles from our hotel. We arrived at 10:30 Am and were able to ride each major attraction at least once but we went back to ride Blazing Fury one more time (Great Dark Ride/Water Ride/rollercoaster). All rides were walk ons except for a select few like the ferris wheel and other Country Fair section rides. The Tennesee Tornado was smooth and fast. The Mountain Slidewinder is a Superb water ride. It was a blast! Best Water Ride Ever! I was pleasantly surprised with how much there was to do and see at Dollywood. I would recommend it to anyone who visits the Great Smoky Mountains. And it wasn't too crowded even for the weekend after the 4th of July.
