Dollywood Day One
In late May/early June, we went to Dollywood for the first time on a family vacation with my parents. Our first day was on a Tuesday, the day after Memorial Day. We were hoping the crowds would be lighter this week vs. a week later in the summer.
I did do a bit of research since I was completely unfamiliar with Dollywood. I also knew we only had two days, so I wanted to make the most of it. The park opened at 10 am. I had heard parking was a nightmare, so we arrived right at 9 am. We parked and were headed to the gate by 9:05 am. We were in the first lot before the handicap lot. I believe it was technically lot B, but the tram stop was A/B.
We did have to wait a few minutes at the gate, but we got right through security. It did allow us plenty of time had we not bought our tickets beforehand. We were inside the park and getting Melody measured at 9:35. Be sure and do this. You go in and immediately go left. There is a centralized measuring station. Here you they measure your child and give them a wristband. This wristband lets you and the employees working the rides know the height of your child. That way you are not measured at every ride or hoping you meet the measurement after waiting in line.
We decided to spend the first part of our day at Wildwood Grove. We headed that way once Melody was measured. You do walk uphill on the path there. They stopped us in Timber Canyon until the park officially opened at 10. We did notice that Whistle Punk Chaser was running, so Melody went and got in line to ride it.
Then we headed to Wildwood Grove. We spent all morning here. I only did a few rides before feeling sick. But it was definitely a favorite spot for Melody. First up was Dragonflier. I think Melody road this around 5 times before moving on. I could only ride it once. It was fairly intense for a small ride. She also loved the Mad Mockingbird. She road it a few times too. Then we road Great Tree Swing before taking a break. It was the icing on the cake for me. I had to get a coke and take a break at this point.
We had lunch at Till and Harvest food hall to help settle our stomachs. I plan to do a post about it later, but it was pretty good. My biggest complaint is that the seating is all outside which is not ideal.
After lunch, we let Melody go play at Hidden Hallow. It is basically an indoor playground. While she played, my mom, dad, and I sat inside and cooled off. My brother and Brad went and road Mystery Mine. It had a short wait, but increased by 20 minutes before they got there. They enjoyed the ride, but the 40 minute wait wasn’t worth it in their opinion.
Once they got back, Melody rode The Mad Mockingbird once more time before we left Wildwood Grove
At this point, it was 1:30. We made our way around and decided to do Fire Chaser Express. The wait was 50 minutes, but we are not sure if we would make it to this part of the park again, so we opted to wait. Melody was so excited. In the end, we waited right at an hour. And Melody HATED it. I think she hated being able to see how high she was. I didn’t even care for it and the heights part. Mainly because I feel like I could easily just fall right out, even though I know I can’t.
Thankfully she did not protest against roller coasters. She road Blazing Fury probably 5 times in a row. Brad went and road Wild Eagle with my brother before riding Blazing Fury with Melody. I think this was her favorite ride of the entire trip.
We called it quits around 4. We started making our way to the exit. Brad stopped by and got some cinnamon bread, mom, dad, and my brother got a funnel cake, and Melody and I got popcorn.
Melody wanted to take a picture at the entrance/exit before we left for the day. We did not buy the picture, but Brad took one as well.
Overall we had a fun day. We did not get to as much of the park as I had hoped, but we were not sure how crowds would be when we went out to dinner. So we hated to stay too late. And we wanted to eat outside of the park for dinner.
