My Smoky Mountain Vacations

Although Dollywood's 2008 season has not officially started (that happens with the Dolly Parton parade in Pigeon Forge in April), the park has opened its gates for "pre-season" visitors. The weather was beautiful so we couldn't resist visiting Dollywood on opening day.

We arrived at Dollywood at 9:30 am in time for the 10 am opening.  The old entrance from Dollywood Lane (past the Gatlinburg Country Club) has been closed to visitors, so the only entrance into the parking lot is now accessed from Veterans Blvd.

Once we reached the main gates we waited in line to get our son's season pass photo taken. The line was incredibly long as usual, so we really should have gone into the park to the photo station near the Celebrity Theater. We picked up a brochure of showtimes for the Festival of Nations shows then headed to Jukebox Junction to get the kiddos heights measured. If you have children near one of the height requirements I would highly recommend going to the Q-bot station in Jukebox Junction to get them measured. They will be given a color-coded bracelet which lets all ride attendants know which rides they are tall enough for, and allows you to avoid going through the measuring routine at every single ride. This saved my children from being turned away from at least one ride.

There was essentially no line for any of the rides until after noon. Later in the year I know that won't be the case, but at least until the end of May that pattern should stay true. The kiddos rode everything they cared to in the Country Fair area then we headed to Timber Canyon and the Lumber Camp Restaurant for lunch. Last year there was a family feast deal at this restaurant that included a combination of chicken tenders and catfish and we were planning on trying it again this year. It seems, however, that the family feast had been removed from the menu so we were forced to buy individual platters. The food was just as good as it was last year, with the best rolls I've tasted from any counter service in a theme park (they taste a lot like donuts - yum!). The fried banana pudding at Lumber Camp is also delicious, but I didn't get any this day since I'm watching my weight. While we were there I made note of the Dollywood food and prices at several of the restaurants if you are interested in planning ahead for your own vacation. I will get the rest at my next visit to the park.

After lunch we had to check out the brand new River Battle ride and walk connecting the Timber Canyon area to Craftsmans Village (finally!). Although all the kinks haven't been worked out of the ride yet - none of the guns on our boat worked and as a result we got soaked by all the other boats and bystanders on the bank - it will be a definite must-ride on every hot day this summer.

I will be sharing more of my visit to Dollywood in a few days, including:

1. Our experience on the new River Battle ride

2. More changes in 2008

3. Other interesting observations