Yo yo !
I loveeee Dolly Parton and I see on the map that Dollywood ( Dolly’s park ) is only 25mile from the trail !
It is only 9.7 miles from Gatlinburg Tennessee whice is resort located only 15 mile from the trail !
Has anyone ever was in the Dollywood park ?
Should I go for it ?
Roee Dotan
I have been several times over the years, but not recently. I was last there in the early 90s. Dollywood is basically an average quality amusement park or slightly less so. Also if you are interested from the perspective of being a Dolly Parton fan you may be disappointed as it is not overly themed around her. You certainly will not see her performing there, her cousins or some relatives maybe. The park certainly has a country/country music type theme, but other than her picture on the billboards and signs and maybe a small attraction or two about her specifically you wouldn’t know that Dolly Parton owned the place. The shows that are there are very much second rate in my opinion…not that I’ve ever seen a broadway performance at any amusement park… Maybe things have changed.
Having been there I personally would not leave the AT to go nor recommend any one to do so. But then what one likes another doesn’t and you may absolutely love the place…if you found yourself taking zero days in Gatlinburg though it might be worth your time, there isn’t much in Gatlinburg worth doing (the aquarium is good though).
Stuart
When you get to Atlanta, why not go south first to Disneyworld. Fill your head with that junk, then head to Dollywood. When you’re done there, head to the nearest unzoned suburban strip and you’ll be so full of crap a developer will buy your for $1,000 and stick you between Ronald McDonald and the nuthouse.
Tinsel
Just be sure to pick up a Dollywood t-shirt and Dollywood hat for your head. Then take the AT south to Aintry, GA, and tell the locals what you saw there.
… bend over that log thar, boy
(twisting Roee’s ear) let’s hear you squeeel like a pig
eeeeeeeee
eeeeeeeEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!!
BiteBlaze
if you want to go simply because you love dolly, you could skip it since it is light in dolly and heavy in kitch. but if you want a surreal american sensory overload kind of experience, walk the strip in gatlinburg and then head on out to dolly. by the time you get back to the trail you will understand postmodernism. you sound excited about it. id be disapointed if you dont go!
milo
Dollywood has added some new rides lately and a water park (costs extra). It seems like its getting better. They used to have competition in Nashville (Opryland) but now that that is torn down (a shopping center built there now) Dollywood is the closest amusement park so it seems they are being able to get better rides. It’s not something to hoot and hollar about but hey I’d go there again.
Lizz
When you get to PA, head to Hershey Park from Duncannon/Harrisburg…there’s a good outfitter in Harrisburg too:
http://www.hersheypa.com/attractions/hersheypark/
Gigantic Hershey’s kisses and chocolate bars will greet you at the entrance, yeah. Oh yeah, they have rides too.
Munch
Okay, so it may make me a freak, but I watched a documentary about Dollywood a couple of weeks ago. I like Dolly just fine, but never wanted to go to Dollywood before. On the show, the thing that I thought was great was that at Dollywood, they are very involved in an Eagle breeding/care/release program. They also have educational lectures about the eagles, and they use live eagles that have physical issues which would prevent their survival in the wild. THAT made me want to go to Dollywood.
texangie
This summer I’m going on tour with a choir I manage, one of the stops is Dollywood… 50 High School kids in a bus for like 10 hours. Please don’t tell me thier going to whine… well anymore than they do about everything else.
Thunder