Dollywood?

[glitzy07]

Anyone ever been to Dollywood?

I’m trying to narrow down summer trip ideas for our family, most likely with just our younger two kids (8 & 10). And I recently saw someone I follow somewhere posting the most adorable pictures of Dollywood.

Is it way too close to peak summer season to plan a trip there? Is there enough to do in the area to make 5-7 days of it?

[jennistarr1]

Loved it! Plenty to do in area

[minzy]

Disclaimer that I have not actually been to Dollywood, lol. We are more national park than theme park people, but in the Pigeon Forge area you can do both. However the woman is an institution so I am kind of a loose fan of whatever Dolly Parton does (especially in regard to literacy). Anyway, we really liked the Great Smokies and spent time hiking Clingman’s Dome, doing the Cades Cove loop, horseback riding in the park, junior ranger badge stuff. We also did the sky lift to the Gatlinburg sky bridge at twilight, a zip line ropes course, attended the dinner and show at Dolly’s stampede, of course ate lots of other food (and there are tons of options), went berry picking and shopping, spent some downtime in our cabins with hot tubs. The first time we got a tiny house (kids loved that!) near Cherokee on the NC side of the GSNP, and last time we stayed in a log cabin a few minutes off the big strip in Pigeon Forge. Lots of super touristy things if you want that, but you can avoid it too. I would say that your kids’ ages are *perfect* for a trip there.

Also if the ten year old is a fourth grader hype him up about the 4th grader national parks pass. It is actually free to get into GSNP but my kids have both felt “special” during their parks year and it seems to be working as intended in getting them outdoors and making them park fans for life. ❤️ everykidoutdoors.gov/index.htm

[expectantsteelerfan]

Our summer vacation this year is to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge in June with my bff's family. We rented a big house in the mountains through VRBO with a pool and hot tub. We plan to do hiking in the mountains, the sky bridge, the zip line course, and a day at Dollywood, along with just hanging out at the house and enjoying the seclusion and pool. My dd has been begging to go horseback riding so now that someone mentioned that in a pp I'm going to have to look into that too lol. We are def. looking forward to the trip. A friend was just there for spring break and said they def. could have spent more than 5 days there!

[dcn]

We loved Dollywood! Plenty to do in the area as well. We stayed at the dolllywood resort but renting a cabin would be great too.

[RoxMonster]

I haven't been to Dollywood but I have been to the area, so I wanted to speak to your concern about not having enough to do in the area. I think you will find there is a ton to do there. We stayed in a cabin through VRBO near Gatlinburg. We are national park people so most of our time was spent in GSMNP - you could spend weeks JUST going to the park and not run out of stuff to do. We did Clingman's Dome, Cades Cove, Laurel Falls trail, had a picnic near one of the creeks, did a few of the "Quiet Walkways" that are located throughout the park, did the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail Drive, drove a section of the Blue Ridge Parkway, and lots more. Absolutely beautiful place!

We didn't go into Pigeon Forge but Gatlinburg has lots of touristy type stuff if that is up your alley. I have also heard from people I know who went to Dollywood that they enjoyed it. I definitely think the area as a whole has plenty to keep you busy.

[cereal K]

We did a long weekend in Pigeon Forge for fall break a couple years ago. We rented a cabin with a hot tub (kids loved it!). We did a day in Dollywood and a day at Anakeesta. It was a great trip and we had an awesome time. Would definitely recommend for your kids’ ages.

[mommin]

Is it weird that Dollywood is near the top of my “must visit” places? I’ve never been but I want to go so bad! My top three are England, Dollywood, Hawaii. Yes, in that order. 😆

I appreciate you asking and all the refs. We are hopefully going in October so this is all very helpful.

[1confused1]

We also didn’t go to Dollywood, but spent a night in Pigeon Forge last summer. There is so much to do. We did a mountain coaster and the Titanic Experience. It was really fun!

[silvercrayon]

Pigeon Forge is a tourist town. There is PLENTY to do. Dollywood is fun and is well run. Gatlinburg is not far and is a must also. Be prepared for traffic and tons of tourists. Make sure you go up in the mountains. They are stunning and definitely a must see!

[wanderlustmom]

Yes I think it's really special! Highly recommend. The downtown of Gatlinburg can be super busy and dirty but the mountains and towns around it are so nice. We didn't find any good restaurants but I am super picky. At least nothing is over priced and all of the area is family friendly. When we went hiking we were blown away by the Smoky Mountains. Unfortunately, the trails are crowded and it was hard to find parking so go off season if you can. But the park, we had no issues and loved our day.

[sadlebred]

If you aren't outdoor people, then you might not enjoy it as much. Plenty of friends have been to Dollywood, and they say that you can spend 2 days there. It's not like you can spend a week at Disney and not do everything. There are some indoor activities. Ripley's museum and aquarium, etc, www.pigeonforge.com/indoor-attractions/

[lovelovelove]

My dd (was 9 at the time) and I loooooved Dollywood. Such a fun, colorful place, things for everyone! Great food also. We did 1 day but could have done more (another day or 2 depending how much we wanted to split it up) and are planning to go back. And agree with others to add the surrounding areas are also fun. In the whole area we spent 3 days and needed a few more so I think 5-7 is great!

[bex1973]

Echoing others that Dollywood is great!! We went about 10 years ago with multiple family members and everyone had a fun time. My kid was only 6 months at the time so it's absolutely on our list to go back. It was nice because unlike other amusement parks there was a ton of shade so kid and I could chill while others went on rides. That's where my kid got pooped on by a bird and we tell her the story often and how it's supposedly good luck LOL

We do go to the area pretty regularly and there is such a variety of things to do! Our most recent favorite was the Titanic experience. It was very interesting and my kid was really into learning about the Titanic so timing wide it worked out perfect. I think she was 9 when we went.

[bbdoll]

Dollywood is a 1-2 day park easily. We had so much fun there. From my tween kids to my age to my 77 year old mother. It's such a pretty and well run park, with some really fun rides. Pigeon Forge definitely has enough to do to take up a full week. It would get pricey because everything is pretty expensive, but it's fun. We only had 1.5 days in the area when we passed through, but we all agreed we'd like to go back for much longer.

We stayed at the Twin Mountain Inn & Suites. It's reasonably priced and has balconies that overlook the river. Just don't lean over to look with your glasses on top of your head. My husband did not enjoy using a flashlight to look for my glasses two stories below, next to the river. LOL.

[glitzy07]

Thank you all for the amazing feedback! I think we've decided that this is what we're doing.

I'm thinking we'll fly to Nashville because I have enough miles to get us there for free. Then we'll drive to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, stay 5 days, and then drive back to Nashville and stay a night or two. I'm seeing some great Airbnb options in the Pigeon Forge area, so I think we'll do that and then try to find a hotel with a pool in Nashville for the kids on the way back home.

[windyseas]

We were just at Dollywood last month for Spring Break. The park has plenty to do to make it a 2 day park. We did just one day and ran out of time to do everything we wanted to do.

Being in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area, there are tons of things to do. We did the Titanic museum which was amazing. We also did a few of the other museums that were kinda silly, like the wax museum (Pigeon Forge) and a car museum in Gatlinburg. There's also the Alcatraz crime museum that we didn't get to do because we ran out of time. There's so much to do in that area.