Summer Road Trip: Day Three
This was our final day at Dollywood, so we packed up the room before going for breakfast and heading to the park. After the car was packed, we headed downstairs to the Song & Hearth restaurant in the hotel. I figured it would be easier to eat at the hotel than head into town. What a great decision, the breakfast buffet was delicious and very reasonable in price for a resort.
After breakfast, we boarded the trolley and headed to the park. Having the trolley has been a great benefit at staying at the hotel. Not having to mess with the parking lot and parking lot trams was great.
Once inside the park, we headed over to the Time Saver Reservation Desk and reserved our seats for the shows. Dollywood has a bunch of shows, enough that you could probably spend a whole day alone watching shows. Two of them were able to be reserved via the Time Saver, so we booked them and set out to tackle the day.
Our first show was first thing in the morning. It was front row seats to the Kingdom Heirs. For those of you like me who have never heard of the Kingdom Heirs, they are a southern gospel quartet. They are pretty good. They started with some of their songs on their new CD and finished with some southern hymns from the red book.
It was then time from some thrills. We started with the wooden coaster, Thunderhead. After watching it a few times, my wife decided to ride with us. She was ok with the ride, that was until the train reached the top of the hill and she saw the rest of the ride track. By the time the wood coaster finished its thrilling 55 mile per hour ride, she was done with the thrills for the day.
But my son and I pushed on to the next, Tennessee Tornado. This one really raised the bar on thrill rides for the trip. Featuring three inversion and reaching speeds of 63 miles per hour, it was probably by favorite one of the trip. Adding to the thrill was the fact that we waited for a front row seat for the ride, making the experience ten times better.
From there, we regrouped with the rest of the family and ventured off to more family friendly attractions. We rode the Mountain Slidewider before heading to the Dreamsong Theater for our second show of the day, My People. My People tells the story of Dolly Parton through songs sang by her relatives.
When the show was over, my son and I ran over to FireChaser Express for our final coaster of the trip. The family coaster features thrill centered around firefighting. The coaster goes both forwards and backwards, reminding me of Expedition Everest at Walt Disney World.
At the conclusion of the ride, we decided to call it a day and head to the park exit. But not before we stopped for some sweet treats to take with, including a piece of the 25 pound apple pie.
Dollywood was an amazing experience, I want to return in the future. We did not even come close do seeing and doing everything. You almost need a third day to make sure to get it all. The shows alone can fill an entire day. We did get all but two of the roller coaster in. The two we missed were Wild Eagle and Lightning Rod. My wife though Wild Eagle was too intense for our son and Lightning Rod had not been deemed safe to ride yet. But next time, those two and the remainder of the awesome coasters will be on the itinerary.
A brief trolley ride back to the DreamMore and we were loaded onto the van and off to the final leg of our summer road trip, Gatlinburg. This entire trip was built around the Gatlinburg portion of the trip and the amazing deal we got on BookVIP. The deal gave us a 4 day/3 night stay at the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort and all we had to give up was $99 and 2 hours of our time. A great trade-off if you ask me.
The Westgate was just a short drive from Pigeon Forge and we nestled into our home away from home for the next three nights. A one bedroom cabin overlooking the mountains and a small mountain stream. Between the back porch with a view, the fireplace and the Jacuzzi tub, this last resort was set to be the best.
We unpacked the car and headed out for dinner. The drive for dinner took us back into Pigeon Forge and a place called Huck Finn's Catfish. While most of the family got the famous catfish, I chose chicken fried chicken and it was amazing! I would have to say, it was probably my favorite meal of the trip. All the meals were served with beans, potatoes, coleslaw and hushpuppies. There was enough vittles with the meal, no one made it on to the second order of the all-you-can-eat catfish.
After dinner, we drove through the entertainment district of Pigeon Forge before returning to the Westgate for the night.
After breakfast, we boarded the trolley and headed to the park. Having the trolley has been a great benefit at staying at the hotel. Not having to mess with the parking lot and parking lot trams was great.
Once inside the park, we headed over to the Time Saver Reservation Desk and reserved our seats for the shows. Dollywood has a bunch of shows, enough that you could probably spend a whole day alone watching shows. Two of them were able to be reserved via the Time Saver, so we booked them and set out to tackle the day.
It was then time from some thrills. We started with the wooden coaster, Thunderhead. After watching it a few times, my wife decided to ride with us. She was ok with the ride, that was until the train reached the top of the hill and she saw the rest of the ride track. By the time the wood coaster finished its thrilling 55 mile per hour ride, she was done with the thrills for the day.
From there, we regrouped with the rest of the family and ventured off to more family friendly attractions. We rode the Mountain Slidewider before heading to the Dreamsong Theater for our second show of the day, My People. My People tells the story of Dolly Parton through songs sang by her relatives.
When the show was over, my son and I ran over to FireChaser Express for our final coaster of the trip. The family coaster features thrill centered around firefighting. The coaster goes both forwards and backwards, reminding me of Expedition Everest at Walt Disney World.
At the conclusion of the ride, we decided to call it a day and head to the park exit. But not before we stopped for some sweet treats to take with, including a piece of the 25 pound apple pie.
Dollywood was an amazing experience, I want to return in the future. We did not even come close do seeing and doing everything. You almost need a third day to make sure to get it all. The shows alone can fill an entire day. We did get all but two of the roller coaster in. The two we missed were Wild Eagle and Lightning Rod. My wife though Wild Eagle was too intense for our son and Lightning Rod had not been deemed safe to ride yet. But next time, those two and the remainder of the awesome coasters will be on the itinerary.
The Westgate was just a short drive from Pigeon Forge and we nestled into our home away from home for the next three nights. A one bedroom cabin overlooking the mountains and a small mountain stream. Between the back porch with a view, the fireplace and the Jacuzzi tub, this last resort was set to be the best.
After dinner, we drove through the entertainment district of Pigeon Forge before returning to the Westgate for the night.
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