Cowboys, Chicken and Country Music ~ Day 3

[ariel2006]

Cowboys, Chicken and Country Music
Day 3 ~ Dollywood

We were up at 8.15am, got showered and dressed and then waited for the Mum, Dad and Sophie on the incredibly comfy sofas looking out at the amazing view. I had left Mum’s second present in a little purple bag on the stair outside her room for her to open when she came out of her room. It contained a little silver music note necklace that made me think of the area and country music, so I decided to give it to her on our first Dollywood day. Again she loved it and wore it straight away.



Once they were ready we all went and sat on the balcony and had pecan pie and Starbucks coffee for breakfast. We sat there looking out at the gorgeous view over the mountains all covered with smoke.



Unfortunately it was still pretty wet and cloudy out though, but we didn't let this dampen our spirits as today we were going to Dollywood and we were so excited.
We left the cabin just after 9.25am, it was raining so was even more scary driving down the mountain. After a few wrong turns we got to Dollywood just before 10am. We caught the little tram to the front of the park. We purchased some season passes as they worked out cheaper than 2 day passes and then walked through the main shop and into the park. As we stepped into the park it instantly had a real charm, lovely Southern buildings, country music playing, pretty scenery and all surrounded by gorgeous mountains, even the fact that it was quite grey and raining didn't take away from its beauty. We walked slowly towards the back of the park, taking in the lovely theming and architecture, with fountains and waterfalls and lovely buildings, we loved the place already.











We thought this was so funny and Nick instantly jumped at the chance to join in


Oh and we passed this on the way, it smelt so good


We headed to Daredevil Falls first but it was closed for about 30 minutes so we went to Blazing Fury which was nearby. Mum was so scared when we got on, it was quite funny. The ride was good, we went through a mine in the dark with little scenes of houses on fire and the people in various scenes. We had a drop or two at the end and got a bit wet but it was pretty tame but good fun too. Mum loved it thankfully and couldn’t wait to go on again.

Our first ever Dollywood ride


Next we walked over to the Tennessee Tornado, it was huge but Sophie wanted to ride. The building the ride started in was covered and surrounded with bits of debris, cars and objects, supposedly blown around in the tornado, it was cool. Mum waited whilst we went on, the ride was so good at the top you could see all across the mountains and some cabins, then there was 3 loops, corkscrews, and it was all videoed on little cameras on the front of our cars. Sophie loved it, as did we all, so we went straight back on again. The photo of the ride was really funny, Sophie and Dad both looked absolutely terrified.

[ariel2006]

Thats us on the ride





After that we walked over to the new River Battle ride, it was not at all what I expected but looked really good, all themed with beavers and flowers. We all went in one raft, we sat on a little bench with Sophie, Nick and I on one side and Mum and Dad on the other. We then went along a short track with water jets and targets to shoot at along the way and along the banks were stations where people could shoot at us, and we had water guns to shoot back at them. It was fun and we got pretty wet, its so funny seeing grown men taking it all so seriously, one guy followed our boat to each station soaking us at each point, it was quite funny.











After that we got a frozen lemonade and walked over to the Timber Canyon section. Mystery Mine was closed today which was a shame as this was the ride I was most looking forward too but we did the Lumberjack Lifts instead. These were 2 seats each on 4 sides of a post and you pull yourself up to the top by pulling a rope and then let go to drop back down. It was great fun and Nick and I got up about 8 times, although it was pretty hard work. Then we all, but Mum, queued for the Thunderhead rollercoaster. Unfortunately it was having difficulties so we waited half an hour and then decided to leave it for today.

Some photos from around this area


The Mystery Mine

[ariel2006]

We went to watch the Dreamland Drive In, a show with music through the years, based around a group of high school people through the years, graduating, going to College, a reunion and then meeting up, before the Drive In finally closed. It was very good, especially the music and dancing, Mum especially loved it.





By this point we were really hungry but Mum was feeling quite ill so we gave Miss Lillian’s a miss for today and went to the Backstage Restaurant for lunch. We were seated straight away, the place was themed like the backstage area of a theatre, very nice and very quiet.







Nick, Dad and I all had the southern fried chicken dinners, Soph had the Mountain of nachos starter and Mum had the fried green tomatoes. Our chicken dinner came with potato and corn soup to start which was so good, especially with the crackers. Then our meals came and we had 2 big bits of fresh chicken, mash and gravy and beans. It was very nice. Sophie’s nachos were huge, they had cheese, sour cream, guacamole, tomato and really yummy chilli, she managed to eat loads too but still didn’t eat half. Mum’s tomatoes were really good, she loved them and they were quite different.





Sophie's "Mountain" of nachos, literally


Sophie being beaten by the "Mountain"


After lunch we went straight over to the Great American Country Show. The show had 3 men and 3 women singers and it was done in 3 parts. The first part was narratored by a woman in the park and went through a list of Top 10 Country songs, sung by the singers in the theatre, it was very good. In the second part they had a special guest in who sung three songs including the Tennessee waltz. And finally the third part was Bluegrass music, lots of banjos, it was great fun to watch. It was very good but it would have been nice to have known some more of the songs.



After the show Sophie, Mum and Dad went over to the Rockin Roadway, little classic American cars on a track, Sophie loved it and went on 3 times in a row. Nick and I did some shopping, of course. Then we all went on the River Rampage, a river rapids ride. It was great fun and the attendants were funny and friendly, spraying us with a water spray before we even left the dock. Sophie and I managed to stay quite dry but then they let us stay on and ride again and we got drenched. But we all had great fun though. After that we made our final ride of the day the SlideWinder, but boy was the walk to the start hard, it was up a long steep hill. We got split up cause each boat had to be a certain weight but it was good fun, we went all up the sides and the down a drop. By the time we got off it was 5.35pm and the park closed at 6pm so we did some shopping and then headed back to the car via the tram.
Some more Dollywood pictures

[ariel2006]

On the tram they asked if there was anyone from further away than North Carolina, then New York, then Michigan and then Canada. Eventually they found out we were from England and again couldn’t believe we had come all that way to stay in the area.

We drove over to Walmart, where we spent ages waiting for Mum and Dad. We got ice cream, crisps, pancake mix, sweets and coffee and some souvenirs too.
On the way back to the cabin we stopped at Fuddruckers and Nick and I got some food to go. We both had bacon cheeseburgers, I had the ½ lb and Nick had a whole lb, we also shared some onion rings and a pepsi. We got some toppings from the toppings bar and then went back to the cabin. We all ate outside, the others had ham rolls, my burger was really big and I couldn’t eat it all, but Nick’s burger was absolutely huge, he had to leave half for later. It was nice sitting outside, it was still so warm.

After the others had played some air hockey Mum, Soph and I went in the hot tub then we all had Jacuzzi baths, separately of course. After some present wrapping and sorting, which actually took about 3 hours, we went to bed at 2.30am .

Some of todays purchases


And here are some of yesterdays that I forgot to post

[feebee]

The park looks great - really different. I want to track the details of your trip down as I am interested in trying different places. Are they on your pre trippie ?

Keep them comimg, thanks again.

Fiona

[Cyclospora]

Another wonderful day! Great pics too!

[Guest]

Great report and an amazing day! Glad you enjoyed Dollywood! The phot's of Sophie with the nacho's made me laugh! You seemed to have the park to yourselves which must have been nice and relaxing to get around! Look forward to the next day!

[Guest]

Another brillant report Sammie.

I watched a biography of Dollywood and really fancied visiting the area one day.

[Strommie]

Fantastic day. Dollywood looks brilliant with some interesting rides

[voddygirl]

Pity about the weather didint seem to dampen your spirit tho...Dollywood looks so quiet glad you enjoyed it