Fall Visit

[horsesboy]

My usual Fall visit to DC has been canceled do to the Pandemic so that is leaving me with several days of already booked Vacation time mid October. I am looking at finally taking a much talked about fall trip through the Mountains and hitting Dollywood in the process. From the website it looks like Dollywood is open daily and all or most of the rides are running. Is that correct and can anyone offer any advice on fall trips. I am probably going to try and hit Dollywood mid week and then head down to NC to see family and hit Carowinds on Friday or Saturday before heading home.

 

[Zachary]

My Fall trips to Dollywood have been great. Relatively low crowds, gorgeous colors, good weather—highly recommend all around. It feels like the "right" time to visit Dollywood.

Keep their Fall events in mind too!

Dollywood Festivals & Events | Harvest Festival

Days full of play extend to nights all aglow during Harvest Festival featuring our award-winning Great Pumpkin LumiNights nighttime experience.

www.dollywood.com

 

[horsesboy]

My Fall trips to Dollywood have been great. Relatively low crowds, gorgeous colors, good weather—highly recommend all around. It feels like the "right" time to visit Dollywood.

Keep their Fall events in mind too!

Dollywood Festivals & Events | Harvest Festival

Days full of play extend to nights all aglow during Harvest Festival featuring our award-winning Great Pumpkin LumiNights nighttime experience.

www.dollywood.com

Would you say it's comfortably doable in one day or should I plan two?

 

[Zachary]

Mid-week? Assuming the hours are reasonable I'd be shocked if you needed two days. Could you fill two days? Maybe. Needed though? I can't imagine needed two.

 

[horsesboy]

Does Dollywood have anything like the all day movable ride lockers that KD and BGW have?

 

[Zachary]

We have all-day lockers available for your convenience at the Front Gate for only $15 for the day.

We also have Floating Lockers available throughout the park. Ride to ride floating locker rentals are available at Wild Eagle, Mystery Mine, FireChaser Express, Daredevil Falls, Barnstormer, River Rampage, Tennessee Tornado, Country Fair, & Lightning Rod. These lockers are a one-time fee of $10 for the day. This means you can rent and float from locker to locker without having to pay for each new locker.

All lockers are sold on a first come, first serve basis.

Frequently Asked Questions | Dollywood Theme Park | Pigeon Forge

Find answers to common questions about Dollywood Theme Park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee covering tickets, rides, dining, and more at Dollywood Parks & Resorts.

www.dollywood.com

 

[pizzathieff]

Would you say it's comfortably doable in one day or should I plan two?

You don't need two days but you'll probably want two. I've gone twice now and went for two days both times and I was really glad I did. Allows you to take your time and do everything the park has to offer without rushing. And most of their coasters are worth riding multiple times.

 

[Unagi]

A possible heads up here, as I'm not sure that this is still the case, but my brother and his family recently went a couple weeks ago and many attractions were closed and food lines were long. The park has had serious staffing issues all summer. I had a couple other friends spend two weeks in Gatlinburg in mid July and they went to the park several times throughout their stay and said they had staffing issues then as well. When my brother went he told me Lightning Rod was closed all day, Thunderhead opened really late and Tennessee Tornado kept going down, causing lines all over the park at other attractions that were open (Fire Chaser and Wild Eagle had 2+hour wait times). The wait for their famous Cinnamon bread was even 90 minutes long.

 

[Nicole]

For what it is worth, if you are going to Dollywood, it is worth investigating the alpine coasters in the area. There are several.

 

[netdvn]

Dollywood is definitely worth doing over multiple days. If you're just there for rides, one day is enough, but the shows, the demonstrations, the food and the exhibits are all worth checking out. On top of that, the ticket prices drop if you buy over multiple days. A single day is $90 and two days is only about $10 more.

 

[bill s]

^^-- I'm considering getting a 2 day ticket and one hotel night, to get a full night followed by an undecided amount of the next day (Monday!). Only done that for parks I have a pass for before. It's $20 more + parking or maybe could do the trolley.

Just started watching https://www.dollywoodwaittimes.com/ and attempting to verify. Looking great last few days...

 

[horsesboy]

I will be there Wednesday. Best food choice and must see stuff other then coasters?

 

[horsesboy]

I had a wonderful visit there. The only down side to it was that lighting rod was down while I visited so I didn't get a ride on it. I was surprised by both the diversity and quality of the coasters there. Tennessee Tornado Definitely gives Nessie a run for her money as best Arrrow coaster. It was also fun finally riding a wing coaster even if I did finally break me streek of no evacs from a coaster when Eagle got stopped. I personally was surprised to see that they still run an actual coal burning train. I am not a fan of the idea and it seems to take away from some of the majesty of the park. The food was great especially that cinnamon bread

 

[bwick29]

Tennessee Tornado Definitely gives Nessie a run for her money as best Arrrow coaster.

Magnum would like a word.


(Sorry to necro. Looking to see what everyone says about Dollywood before possibly starting a duplicate thread and couldn't leave this statement alone.)

 

[Thriller]

A 2 day visit to Dollywood last week on Mon-Tues only confirms my opinion that they are the gold standard of theme park management.

Every single ride was open. All restaurants and shops open. Super clean. Food pricing is more reasonable than other parks EXCEPT the $14 cinnamon bread. That one I don’t get.

Tuesday it rained in and off all day. The park operated until the scheduled 9 PM close.

They actually appreciate their traveling customers and employees.

 

[GAcoaster]

There are several BIG differences-- Dollywood is a cheaper labor market so labor costs overall are lower than many parks, and (most importantly) Herschend is a privately held company, so they don't have to worry about shareholders and stock price. They turn a profit, but don't have to keep squeezing out every dime to keep shareholders happy.

 

[horsesboy]

There are several BIG differences-- Dollywood is a cheaper labor market so labor costs overall are lower than many parks, and (most importantly) Herschend is a privately held company, so they don't have to worry about shareholders and stock price. They turn a profit, but don't have to keep squeezing out every dime to keep shareholders happy.

Also a couple other differences Dollywood is much more of a traveling tourist destination and has significant resort capacity. This is going to lead to much more willingness to stay open and try to push to give their guests a more full experience then a park where the average guests is local and can come back another day fairly easily.

 

[RollyCoaster]

I would pay $30 for a loaf of that damn Cinnamon Bread. I take 5 home at 13 a pop

 

[Thriller]

There are several BIG differences-- Dollywood is a cheaper labor market so labor costs overall are lower than many parks, and (most importantly) Herschend is a privately held company, so they don't have to worry about shareholders and stock price. They turn a profit, but don't have to keep squeezing out every dime to keep shareholders happy.

All the more reason to support them and not the greedy corporate parks that don’t care about the guest experience.

Dollywood is able to keep their employees to keep everything open because they can provide them a 40 hour work schedule 10 months out of the year. They don’t depend on school-age children for their labor force. Plus, they typically don’t close the park earlier than scheduled and screw their employees out of scheduled hours like Cedar fair/Six Flags and United parks.

Also a couple other differences Dollywood is much more of a traveling tourist destination and has significant resort capacity. This is going to lead to much more willingness to stay open and try to push to give their guests a more full experience then a park where the average guests is local and can come back another day fairly easily.

Shouldn’t every amusement park attempt to be a tourist destination? instead of just appealing to school age children that can’t come when school is in session.

The majority of US regional parks are aimed, only a thrill riders and little children. So they said closed up majority of days of the year not generating revenue.

Dollywood has diversified their customers with their huge life entertainment lineup. A majority of customers there this time of year are well beyond their school years.

Many of these parks, such as Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens have chased away traveling customers with their ghost rain closures. That makes those parts less of a tourist destination, and mainly a park for locals that can only operate when school is not in session

 

[horsesboy]

Shouldn’t every amusement park attempt to be a tourist destination? instead of just appealing to school age children that can’t come when school is in session.

The majority of US regional parks are aimed, only a thrill riders and little children. So they said closed up majority of days of the year not generating revenue.

Dollywood has diversified their customers with their huge life entertainment lineup. A majority of customers there this time of year are well beyond their school years.

Many of these parks, such as Kings Dominion and Busch Gardens have chased away traveling customers with their ghost rain closures. That makes those parts less of a tourist destination, and mainly a park for locals that can only operate when school is not in session

I got news for you but even if Six Flags invested 10s of millions into Kings Dominion Doswell Virginia is just not going to be a tourist destination in the foreseeable future. Dollywood has a lot going for it. One location location location. Believe it or not the Smokey Mountains are a huge tourist draw in fact the national park has been the most visited national park in all the different measurements that the national park system uses to track visitors since 1979. That has allowed Pigeon Forge to grow into almost a baby Vegas. Then you have Dolly herself and her connection to the park which opens demographic doors that wouldn't be as easy to open without that link.