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For our annual family vacation we usually head down to Charleston South Carolina. This year we are not able to go there and we are ending up in Gatlinburg. This is not where I wanted to end up! We were trying to figure out what in the heck we can do in Gatlinburg and we saw that Dollywood is not that far away. The prices to get in are a little steep, so I was wondering if anyone here had been to Dollywood recently and if you thought it was worth the $55 to get in. I'm not sure that I am willing to pay that much per ticket.

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Great park man I do however agree 55 is a little steep.If you want to go more than 1 day it's cheaper to buy a season pass which is what we do.There are quite a few disount coupons floating around here for dollywood.Or you can look on craigslist knoxville always some good deals on tickets there too.

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I have made two recent trips to Dollywood. I had never made a visit to Dollywood until last December when I went on a trip with Cory Butcher down there for their Smoky Mountain Christmas festival. I made another return trip down there for their opening weekend back at the end of March.

The park is an awesome park. Granted the single day admission price is a little steep. But $55 is not that terrible, and well worth the cost in my opinion. The live shows that Dollywood has are worth the cost of admission alone. I haven`t seen the new stage production that debuted this year (Sha-Kon-O-Hey) which features songs written by Dolly herself. The main live shows at Dollywood typically last forty five minutes and are incredible.

There are some high quality rides there too. Tennessee Tornado is an excellent steel coaster from Arrow. And there is also the unique Mystery Mine. But one of the highlights from my trips to Dollywood was Thunderhead, a GCI wooden coaster. Also don`t pass up the unique and "Disneyesque" Blazing Fury ride.

Here is my PTR from opening weekend of Dollywood. I did not take my camera with me to Dollywood (I did for Carowinds, which was day two of our short park trip) as it rained most of the day at Dollywood.

Here is my PTR from Dollywood at the end of December. This PTR shows some of the rides as well as some of the Christmas shows that Dollywood puts on.

If you have the money and the availability to do so, I`d recommend buying a season pass for a few dollars more. That way you could visit on your trip, and go back in December to experience Smokey Mountain Christmas (and yes the roller coasters do operate if the temperature stays above a minimum temperature (I believe it was 35 or 40)).

So in summation, yes, I believe that $55 is worth a visit to Dollywood. I hope my PTRs help you see what a wonderful park that Dollywood is.

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Dollywood as others have said is not to be missed. A very unique park that offers an experience like non other. If you are in Gatlinburg a trip to Dollywood is a must. Amazing shows, awesome food, great rides, and the Craftsman Valley is top notch. Also while in Gatlinburg you may want to visit Ripleys Aquarium, awesome attraction and it seems much bigger than Newport. I would highly recomend taking a trip in to the Smokey Mountain National Park and even doing the Cades Cove auto tour. Awesome scenery.

While in Gatlinburg I highly recomend eating at the Park Grill, it sits at the entrance to the National Park and the food is excelent with a very fitting great lodge atmosphere. Also Legends by Max on the strip has excelent Italian, and finaly the Peddler Steakhouse has amazing steaks.

Also in Pigeon Forge there is great shopping at the numerous outlets, NASCAR Speedpark is an exclent place to have fun and has some awesome go carts. Also if you like wine, the Apple Barn Winery in Pigeon Forge / Sevierville is great. Just dont plan on doing much if you do a little wine tasting there.

The Gatlinburg area is a great place to visit and I think you will be nicely surprised.

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I would highly suggest you check out at least some of the shows, but as I said in my TR Thunderhead is in my top 10 wood, Mystery Mine is unique and extremely fun, Tennessee Tornado is one of the best coasters Arrow has ever made and Blazing Fury is good cheezy fun.

You might have a problem spending 1.5 days there if you dont go to shows, and it will be expensive but still worth it.

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Terpy, you made me drool by mentioning Aunt Granny's. Quite seriously, I find Dolly's food as big of an attraction as her rides.

Also, check out the train ride, it is an authentic full size coal powered locomotive, that climbs the mountain for a excellent view.

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