Dollywood

Thursday, September 24, 2026

Dollywood was great. It was not at all what Keith was expecting – it far exceeded expectations for him. It was what I was expecting and was just as nice as I anticipated.

The fall decorations were terrific! During the day

and at night!

There were hats and bubbles!

There was harvest festival food – the mushroom mac and cheese baked potato was so good we went and go another one.

There were also rides! There were a lot more coasters than we expected, and to be honest, they were better than I expected. We had a hard time coming up with our favorite. I loved the Thunderhead wooden coaster, but Keith got shaken baby syndrome from it. I thought Lightning Rod was great (bzzt), but it banged Keith’s legs on the bunny hills. We both loved Mystery Mine car – there were some surprises that made me laugh through the ride the first time. Tennessee Tornado had literally no line all day, so our expectations were low, but it was a solid upside-downy ride. The first drop into a tunnel and straight into a loop was just great. Big Bear was looooong! and that is always great. Bear left! Bear right! Grrrrrrr! Good everytime. Wild Eagle was just great – smooth as could be and just like flying. My sandals did not fall off and I was super glad. I took them off after the first ride. I didn’t actually think they would fall off, but it did take focus away from the ride thinking about them. Dragonflier was a super smooth, super short hanging coaster – nice, but nothing special. The fireman one was so cute – perfect for young and old. After the fire in the fireworks shop, we exploded out backwards and ended the ride coming in backwards. The kids were just screaming with glee. It was so weird to have a loading area with track only going one way!

The spirit of Dolly Parton was everywhere – merchandise, people wearing shirts, music, and more. I don’t know what more – but I felt like people never stopped thinking about her while they were in the park.

Random extra pictures…

We were sitting and eating a funnel cake as the park closed. There was no one around us in a big sitting area by closed food places. Then Keith saw a skunk. I have never seen a skunk out and about before. How exciting. He was pretty far away, then he got closer and closer, and then we ran away.

We finally left…last car in the lot. Winning!