Dollywood 11/10

[Losantiville Mining Co.]

I visited Dollywood on a special trip last week: here's how it went! There will be some comparisons to Kings Island and Six Flags parks in general, so be warned if you wanted to read an uninterrupted review of Dollywood.

 

Between the time our tickets were purchased and the lead-up to our trip, the weather forecast went from 60 degrees and sunny to a dreary cold 30 degrees. Some of the plans we made went right out the window as we packed our coats and layers as we rapidly made new plans to do as much as we could with the things that might be open.

We arrived at Dollywood, paid the $25 general parking fee and made our way over to Section C (Cotton Candy). I really liked that they gave the pneumonic for each parking lot section and that everyone working the parking lot knew them. Even in the snow flurries we were able to see the lines in the parking lot and knew that the tram shelters were where we wanted to be around. The tram was phenomenal, even in the cold! It made me realize what we're missing out on at the Six Flags parks. The driver and wrangler (the guy at the back of the tram) were both charming in their speech and made light of the cold weather on our way to and from the front gate. Their covered tram shelters and butterfly standing points were a nice touch. The wrangler asked a few questions to the few of us riding and let us know that "First Visit" and "Special Occasion/Birthday" buttons would be available at the ticket windows. We ended up having to visit the ticket window and the guest services window before finally finding someone with the buttons at the turnstile. I made sure to pick up the free "First Visit" and "Special Occasion" ones since they were free souvenirs to celebrate my first time at Dollywood. I was also very pleased to learn that they offered paper map booklets throughout the park and accepted cash at almost every register.

As always my first stop was at the restrooms. The front gate facilities were nice, clean, and warm with hot water, paper towels, and multiple stalls in addition to the urinals. Kings Island should really take some notes on this matter (having only one stall available in the Men's room on I-Street is abysmal). We took some photos with the butterflies and made our way over to the Dolly Parton Experience, Dollywood's museum and exhibit area of the park. The big museum reminded me a lot of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum (where I saw another Dolly Parton exhibit) and was really well thought out and super cool to see. The dedicated outfit and wig exhibit building was a much smaller, but still well-made museum. Our time in that area came to a close after climbing aboard Dolly's Tour Bus and checking out all of the items within. There were Hosts (Dollywood's title for Employees/Associates) stationed outside each door waiting to let us in. I can almost guarantee that not only would those positions not exist in a Six Flags park, they would be the first staff to be cut on a cold day with such low attendance.

Our entertainment journey for the day began in the Pines Theater with a nice show themed to "The Night Before Christmas". This show ran for about 40 minutes and had a custom storyline. I'd compare it closest to Tinker's Toy Factory in terms of the basic song + story design and rate it just a bit above Tinker's in my overall show rankings. There was a moment during the show when someone spilled their drink — another guest later told us that this isn't uncommon with those cups — and a host immediately came and cleaned the spill. On our way out I also noticed a full concessions stand that was closed for the day. The Pines Theater is a nice indoor venue like the Kings Island Theater, though I think I prefer the KIT overall.

The second show we saw was "Christmas in the Smokies" in the Celebrity Theater. Getting up to the theater was a little treacherous with the snow making the asphalt paths a little slick, but we made it in alright. Since it was a very low-crowd day we were told that we could sit up front in the dedicated Time Saver (Fast Lane/Fast Pass) seats. We ended up sitting pretty much center stage in the second row! The show itself was 50 minutes of song and dance with plenty of seamless costume and set changes throughout. It was full-on song and dance with story elements sprinkled in, but managed to confuse us a little when they started telling the story of the Nativity. I understood the lead into it more than the rest of my group and still managed to miss the part where they went back to the main storyline. The set was a beautiful mix of painted flats with exaggerated 3-D pieces that included a fold-out log cabin, all backed by a digital panel screen. The Celebrity Theater itself is a marvel and looked to be at least double the size of the Kings Island Theater and/or 1.5x the size of the International Showplace. 

Overall, both shows were a step above what Kings Island currently offers. With showtimes well over 30 minutes and casts at least 10-15 performers strong, I was thoroughly pleased with what I saw. Christmas in the Smokies also included a live band in the orchestra pit! I truly wish that Six Flags would focus even a little more on entertainment in their parks so that Kings Island guests could experience such magnificent delights. If you can't add new rides every year, why not give some attention to live entertainment? Maybe I'll go see about adding the Christmas in the Smokies soundtrack to my playlists.

 

Since I have to get going, I will continue with the rest of my visit in a second post. Stay tuned!