Over the 4th of July, we took our family on a little road trip to Georgia to see our besties (hi Pluims!!!). It was a memorable long weekend and such an amazing time for our family. The Pluims are the real deal when it comes to best friends and we loved every second of our time in Georgia. On the way home we stopped in Tennessee to spend a few days a Dollywood. As a Disney girl at heart, I had pretty low expectations for the park. I’m cursed with comparing every single park I’ve ever visited to Disneyland or Disney World – at this point I’m not even trying, it just happens. So my expectations were low. In my mind there was absolutely no way Dollywood was going to measure up to Disney in any way. Spoiler: I was totally wrong.

An Honest Review of Dollywood from a Disney Girl

First, let’s get the bad out of the way. And honestly, I can’t really even say it’s “bad.” Because it’s really not a Dollywood problem at all – it’s a me problem. So let’s just go with the only real critique I have for Dollywood: the nostalgia wasn’t there. Because I didn’t grow up going to Dollywood. I grew up going to Disney. So every time I’ve visited Disney as an adult, I’m reminded of all the best times in my childhood. Naturally, Dollywood doesn’t have that for me. However, now that we’ve visited, anytime we visit from here on out (which you can bet your cute little butt that we are going to go back), I’m sure it will hold some nostalgia for us. So as far as I’m concerned, problem solved.

So on to the things that we loved. First of all, there were SO MANY ROLLER COASTERS. And we aren’t talking about weeny baby coasters. They’ve got some doozies. And the best part: our entire family could ride some of them together. Our favorite was Big Bear Mountain which allowed us all to ride. It was surprisingly intense considering that our 4-year-old was able to ride it, but she and the rest of the kids LOVED it. My tip: get to Big Bear Mountain first thing in the morning because the line gets LONG.

There were so many rides we could ride as a whole family, but of course there’s always some that our littlest girls are too short for. During those rides, we took advantage of the parent swap feature they have at all of the rides. It’s really pretty simple: get in line as a family and as soon as you see an attendant let them know you’re going to do parent swap. Each ride had their own protocol that they followed, but every single attendant was nice and helpful. There was always a designated place to wait with the kids until we could swap. I recognize Disney also has a parent swap protocol which we’ve used time and time again. The system at Dollywood wasn’t necessarily better, but it was different and it definitely wasn’t worse.

Then there’s the food. Holy smokes, the FOOD. We were on a pretty tight budget for our trip (and let’s be honest, ordering food for seven people is INSANELY expensive) so we didn’t get to try as much food as we would have liked, but everything we tried was DELICIOUS. Yes, the famous cinnamon bread lives up to the hype, the apple pie is literally 25 pounds (although we didn’t try the apple pie, we hear it’s INCREDIBLE), and every other thing we ate was amazing. I’ve never been one to complain about Disney food (I know there are people who feel strongly about Disney food and will die on the hill of “Disney food is trash,” but I have found their food to be quite good for the most part), but Dollywood does food better in my humble opinion.

The overall environment at Dollywood just felt really wholesome. Everything was catered to being family-friendly, the music playing throughout the park was awesome, and the entire aesthetic was *chef’s kiss*. None of that might seem important, but as a Disney girl, I recognize that the environment and the whole vibe makes a big difference in your experience at a park.

And then there was their nighttime drone show. We stayed late enough the second night to watch and we were so glad we did. Again, I’m used to DISNEY LEVEL FIREWORKS SHOWS. My fellow Disney people will know exactly what I’m talking about. So honestly, the idea of a drone show felt pretty underwhelming and unimpressive. But, as seems to be the theme here, I was wrong. The show blew our minds and absolutely had to be the product of witchcraft or black magic or just some really smart engineers. It was well worth the extra time at the end of the day to watch it. We were very impressed and got way more than we expected.

I can’t say that I honestly wanted to hate Dollywood, because I didn’t. But I can say that I was certain that it would in NO WAY measure up to the standards that I have for amusement parks as a Disney girl. But honestly, there wasn’t really a single thing I didn’t love about Dollywood. They are the real deal. Brandon and our two oldest kids all said they liked it more than Disney. And, while that hurt my heart just a little, I get it. I’ll always have an unhealthy obsession with Disney parks, but Dollywood is a very VERY close second in my opinion.

So there you have it: an honest review of Dollywood from a Disney girl.

’til next time…

Ash

Things to know about visiting Dollywood

Cost:
Prices vary based on the season and day, so your best bet is to visit the Dollywood website to check on prices. HOWEVER they do offer a really great military discount which you can get when you purchase your tickets online. They’ll just have to verify yours or your spouse’s military status, but it’s quick and easy and saved us about $200.

In addition, children who are preschool age (again, check the website for details) are eligible for a free season pass to Dollywood when you register them. Registration is free and I found the whole thing pretty easy to navigate. I had to put a picture of my child onto the website and I was emailed a VOUCHER for her pass. On the first morning, we just went to the ticket booth and I provided them with my receipt, as well as my child’s birth certificate (you can also use a passport or other official government ID that has their birthdate listed) and they gave her a fancy shmancy season pass for free. That saved us around another $100. So winning!

Hours:
10am – 9pm daily seems to be the norm (more or less), but make sure to check the specific days you’re visiting on the Dollywood website’s calendar. There is also a water park (which we will hit up on our next trip to Dollywood) which isn’t open year-round, so make sure to check its hours as well.

Accessibility:
The entire park is easily accessible for strollers and wheelchairs. You can bring your own in or rent them for a small fee. We opted to rent a double stroller and it cost us $30 per day. Strollers and wheelchairs are available on a first-come, first-served basis, so plan to arrive early (especially during peak season) to get one.

Other things to know:
To save you some time throughout the day, stop at the children’s height check center right across from the stroller and wheelchair rental building. They’ll check your children’s heights and give them a wristband which makes things a WHOLE lot easier later on.

No outside food or drink is allowed at Dollywood except for water bottles. Online it says one water bottle per guest is allowed. There are MANY places to refill water bottles throughout the park, as well as free water stations set up.

It’s been a couple months since our visit now, so make sure to visit the Dollywood website for all the information you need before you visit Dollywood.