Day 53: Hooray for Dollywood!

Note: In real time it is now Monday, January 3, 2011.  We wish to complete the blog of our first trip, even though we have been back home for a month. Due to lack of easy Internet access, the hustle of winding up our trip and the many friend and relative visits on the return trip home, there was no time to write. Now is catch-up time.....

Thursday, November 11th - Veterans Day at the Old Mill Restaurant & Dollywood

We have been camping in Pigeon Forge, TN, since Monday, November 8th, but Dollywood is open only from Thursday through Sunday this time of year, so today was the day. In reality it ended up being a poor choice of days to visit Dollywood. Two things we had not considered: #1- It is Veterans Day and many, many people have the day off. #2 - Dollywood was closed all week and many tourists in the area waited for this first opening day, just like us. In hindsight, we easily could have gone the next day, Friday, and avoided the crowds. That said, we planned out our day, but not carefully enough.


Dollywood was open from 2:00 to 9:00 PM, as they change their venue for the months of November and December for their big "Christmas Spectacular." Christmas lights and light shows are best seen at night, so they move their park hours to later in the day/early evening. Our plan was to have a big linner (combo lunch and dinner) at the Old Mill Restaurant in Pigeon Forge before catching the 50-cent trolley to Dollywood, thus avoid big parking fees and getting a sustaining pre-tour meal.

We got to the Old Mill just before noon and were seated within fifteen minutes. The wait lines within the next half hour snaked down around to the sidewalk. Good move here. We had been advised to eat here, as this is a famous old restaurant. Don ordered liver and onions (ugh) and I had yummy pot roast. All baking is done on the premises, so the biscuits, apple fritters and corn bread were phenomenal. Our meals were fabulous, along with a shared piece of pecan pie. Luncheon prices were about $10 each! This southern food is killing us, but, wow, how we love it.

After lunch we toured a few shops in the Old Mill area, bought some small Christmas gifts and treasures from Pigeon Forge Pottery. We then got in the long line for the trolley to Dollywood. It is now beginning to dawn on us that this may have been a poor choice of days, but we are committed.


Since we already had our tickets, we breezed through the long ticket line, to join another long line waiting for the first big Christmas show. We knew nothing about Dollywood, except that we knew "if you're here, you must go." I expected "tacky," but Dollywood is surprisingly quite nice. Folks who had been here before said the big pulls are the "almost" Broadwayesque quality shows. You get a schedule when you walk in and plan your time according to the show-times and your route in the park. Dollywood is HUGE and we never got to see the entire park, especially the half of the park that is all rides.

Note that we are in tee-shirts. Later that night we have on coats, hats and gloves - brrrrr.

The Christmas shows are extremely popular, so locals with season passes also return for these events. Since it was early November, the Christmas Spectacular was only in its third day of performances. The weather was warm and sunny during the day, so this brought in even more people. All the shows have a  religious Christian theme as we are in the Bible Belt and Dolly Parton's World. The spirit of Christmas is contagious as you experience the park, even though Christmas is almost two months from now. Music is everywhere - in the shows, actors are singing and dancing their hearts out, while musicians play on outdoor stages and music is piped in around the park. Add tons and tons of Christmas lights and everyone feels happy and light-hearted.

One of the on-going displays at Dollywood is a recreation of Dolly Parton's childhood home.  This really got my attention since it showed the humble beginnings of one of country music's biggest stars.

Note the wallpaper.

The one bed is behind the sofa.

Dollywood has a real coal-fired steam engine train that rides around the park. We could hear the whistle from our campsite. The ride was fun, but since it was late and dark, it was a tad strange to see nothing but black woods on part of the trip. They did warn us of the possibility of flying hot cinders. No one lost an eye on our trip.

For Muffy and her carousel horse, Gigi, we found yet another merry-go-round. Amazing how often on our trip Gigi's relatives kept popping up.

As the night grew chilly, as it does in the foothills of the Smokies, we started heading out of the park. We wanted to buy season passes for 2011 for a nominal fee (a good deal while you are there), as we would love to return and see Dollywood again in its normal/non-Christmas state, but the lines were too long to purchase the passes. We still hope to return (without the crowds), as Dollywood is that good!

On our way out, we saw the Polar Express ride and thought it would a last fun experience. Wrong. Since I am writing this later, I would caution against "seasonal rides." My back suffered two and a half weeks of pain after this incredibly jerky ride threw me this way and that. I will be more cautious in the future in terms of all park rides. This is sad, as you know how I love amusement parks and the rides!