Coast'N Through the Smokies At Dollywood

Hey All!

Today, we're exploring Dollywood! Here, you can enjoy Southern cuisine, admire craftsmanship, shop for Dolly-themed items, and experience thrilling roller coasters. We began our day with the new Dolly Parton Experience, a museum-like attraction celebrating Dolly Parton's life and career—definitely a must-see. We browsed a few shops, took a train ride to check out the construction for the upcoming Nightlife Expedition, and then started our "Coaster Crawl" through the park. With Lightning Rod unavailable early and Blazing Fury and Tennessee Tornado having over an hour's wait, we opted for the Time Saver Pass and headed to Fire Chaser Express. Operations were slow today, resulting in over an hour wait for Fire Chaser Express even with the pass. This family-friendly launched roller coaster winds along the mountainside in the Wilderness Pass area. We nearly completed the ride until an emergency evacuation was necessary in the firework shed before the backward launch. So, our day started off interestingly. On the bright side, we received "Re-Ride Passes" and got a backstage experience exiting the ride and returning to the main path of the park. We then ventured into WildWood Grove, where we discovered we couldn't ride Big Bear Mountain without a "Plus Version" of the Time Saver Pass, so we decided to ride Dragon Flier. This inverted family roller coaster is quite thrilling despite having only a 38-inch height requirement. So... that was the first roller coaster we didn't get evacuated from. We then headed to Thunderhead, which had a 30-minute wait with the Time Saver, and wow, this ride is a top-tier wooden roller coaster. It whips you around smoothly, with a layout that crosses over itself many times and maintains its pace throughout the entire ride! I might even say it's the best roller coaster at Dollywood. We then backtracked and saw that Mystery Mine hadn't opened for the season yet, so we took a ride on Wild Eagle. This Wing Coaster is one of the weaker ones in terms of layout, forces, and theming, but the views from the top of the ride of the surrounding Smoky Mountains are amazing. So... Still a great ride! We were then cutting it close on time to make it to our Dinner at Dolly Parton's Stampede later in the day, so we decided to try and rush through the rest of the roller coasters as quickly as possible. We caught our ride on Tennessee Tornado at the perfect time when the line had dropped to 15 minutes with the Time Saver. This is currently the second oldest roller coaster in the park and is a classic steel looping roller coaster with a drop that takes you down a tunnel in the mountain and into three inversions. I like the layout of this ride, but it does jostle your head around. This was a one-and-done for us! We then rode Blazing Fury, the indoor roller coaster with many dark ride elements. The ride is themed to a town on fire, with brave firefighters battling the blaze to save the day. This is a great family roller coaster and perfect for escaping the heat on hot days! We then hit our last coaster of the day... Lightning Rod had finally opened. This is a hybrid steel and wooden roller coaster that reaches speeds over 70 miles per hour and features multiple airtime moments and overbanked turns. This is definitely the wildest ride at Dollywood, though I wasn't too much of a fan due to the restraints being uncomfortable, which made the ride feel a bit rough. After getting through some of the rides, we got some food from the festival that was going on and did a little shopping in Craftsman Alley before heading out. Overall, I would say that today could have been worse. Visiting Dollywood almost every year as a kid, I was surprised at how poor the ride uptime was. It is earlier in the season though, so who knows! With that, let's dive into the photo report!

Welcome To Dollywood!

First Stop, The Dolly Parton Experience! We Totally Recommend it if you haven't Been in it!

Honorable Mention, we didn't know Dolly was a member of the Sevierville Highschool Marching Band!

Grrr.... Lightning Rod is closed.

A close Second was Fire Chaser express, even though we got Evacuated off of it before the backwards launch...

Its still a fantastic ride though!

And... Mystery Mine is closed. Double Ugh...

Big Bear Mountain had a 2hr line and didn't accept our Time Saver, So off to Dragon Flier!

Dragon Flier is a great family inverted rollercoaster! And our next ride is on the horizon!

For a Family Rollercoaster, It has quite a steep dive!

We Forgot to get a photo of Thunderhead after we rode it, so here is a sunset view from our prior trip!

I see you Wild Eagle!

The Ride is perched up on a hill, so you get some great views.

Time To Fly Like an Eagle! As always, it provides great views and is a great ride, its just not as intense as its sister rides.

Now for the classic, yet infamous, Tennesse Tornado!

The Ride really has some swoopy inversions. I just wish it didn't clean your clock every time you ride it!

Seriously though, the restraints are unreal on your head...

We then had to get a ride on Blazing Fury, Their Indoor Rollercoaster.

Dollywood always has such charm!

Be sure to stop for some Cinnamon Bread at The Grist Mill on your way out. No trip is complete without it!

Lightning Rod opened later in the day! Its thrilling that's for sure. I wish it still had the launch though...

We will conclude this Trip Report with some Famous Cinnamon Bread!

Thanks for reading!

As Always, Keep On Coast'N'