Dollywood

As you all probably know, Brian and I are huge theme park/roller coaster people, so we couldn't possibly visit the Smoky Mountain area without spending a day at Dollywood. Dolly Parton is from the Smoky Mountain area and this park is named in her honor. She visits the park every year to open new attractions and to perform, but she was not there when we were. Brian and I have been to many theme parks, and we were both impressed with Dollywood. It had a nice "country" feel to it. The park seemed to really make an effort to showcase the traditional lifestyle of the region. In addition to the rides and shows, there were shops that you could visit to watch craftsmen work in the traditional trades of the region (like blacksmithing, leather tanning, glass blowing, etc.). With so many things to see and do, it was not difficult to spend a whole day in the park...and that's exactly what we did.



















We arrived shortly after the park opening, and we left when the park closed. It made for a long day, but the kids loved it. They rode several of the kiddie rides. Olivia was even tall enough to get on the kiddie roller coaster! That brings Olivia's coaster count to 3. One of the kids' favorite rides was the little cars because they got to "drive". The cars were on a little track, so the kids really couldn't drive off that far. Even Owen got to sit behind the wheel. Other things that the kids liked were the large playground area and the children's ropes course. We spent a lot of time at these two attractions.

Although Brian and I were not able to do all of the adult attractions, we did make it a point to hit the one that really mattered. Of course, I'm talking about Thunderhead- former winner of the Golden Ticket Award for "Best Wooden Coaster" and currently ranked #5 wooden coaster in the world. We both got to ride it once, but we didn't get to ride it together. Bummer. The good news is that Olivia is that currently 39" and Owen is 33" tall. The height requirement for most coasters is 48", so it won't be too long before we'll all be riding together.