...We spend at least two days in Dollywood. We're theme-park aficionados, and this one is the best. Here's why. Dollywood staffers, many of whom are retirees, are infallibly warm and pleasant, without any Disneyfied artifice. The park is built not on Florida swamp but in tree-filled, mountainous terrain, with its watersides and rides -- especially the wondrous Thunderhead roller coaster, which takes advantage of the land's natural contours.

The rides are excellent. Dollywood's heart-pumping Mystery Mine is one of the few in the nation to feature a 95-degree vertical drop, as its 1,811 feet of track race through an abandoned coal mine. You feel a controlled gas explosion. You see a fake canary drop dead. And then you plunge off the edge.

And what theme park have you ever visited where the food is actually imaginative? Dollywood has ham 'n' beans (yum), skillet potatoes (yum again), corn bread, pork barbecue, peaches, smoked sausage and the juiciest of grilled turkey legs. It's neither cheap nor perfect, but at least you feel as if you're eating food with some roots....

http://travel.latimes.com/articles/sns-trvrail1-wk3-jul15

Just returned from my first visit back to Dollywood since the addition of Timber Canyon, so as you can see it has been a while. This park, IMO, is one underrated park. Sure it may not have the big huge thrills of Cedar Point or Kings Island but it has the family value and some rides thrill seekers will find fun. One such ride is Mystery Mine. I rode this thing not knowing what to expect at all. The ride itself was really enjoyable and unlike anything I had ever been on in my whole life. Thunderhead, simply put, amazing. Tennessee Tornado, never ceases to amaze me either.

Mystery Mine-8.5/10

Thunderhead-14/10

Tennessee Tornado-6.5/10

Thunderhead is my new favorite wooden coaster, sorry Beast. This ride took me by sheer surprise. The first drop picks up speed so fast no matter where you sit at, and from then on it never lets up. This coaster packs a punch for it's size. Definitely a world class coaster.