Hello Dolly

Dollywood is in Pigeon Forge, a twenty minute drive from Gatlinburg. So, checking out of Margaritaville by 11 would mean we are too early to check in at the Dream More Resort. Our plan was to check in to get our park tickets and leave the luggage in the car or with bell services.

However, we were surprised to be told that our room was available at 11am. So we dropped the cases off, took the obligatory room photos and caught the shuttle bus over to the theme park

Room is nice, with a view over the pools and the mountains,

Everything is stamped with DM and the butterfly logo… toiletries, tissue paper, bedside lamps, tables, I’m surprised the Samsung TV didn’t get a little sticker.

Again, this is another nice hotel. Spacious, calm, quiet. Excellent facilities- even has Starbucks coffee!

We caught the shuttle bus over to the the Dollywood theme park, collected our “timesaver” wristband a did a full loop of the park.

The park isn’t huge and feels less hectic than Disney/Universal. Some interesting features which I haven’t noticed elsewhere… near the entrance is an accessibility/ride seat checking area. Here you can see all the seat types, height requirements, boarding method etc.

Lots of seating everywhere – at Disney (unless you’re eating) you often have to look for somewhere to sit. Here, there seemed to be benches, seats and rocking chairs everywhere.

Food – much broader choice than the usual pizza and burgers. Salad bowls, rice dishes, etc. prices are, well, bonkers. $12 for a hotdog is crazy, but is pretty normal by theme park or concert/stadium standards.

We didn’t do any rides today – saving those for tomorrow – other than the train. The steam train is just that… coal, water, smoke, noise. Cinders and dust landing on you as ride.

Various replicas of Dolly’s home/church/school are available peer at.

Dolly’s childhood home (for her and her 10 siblings/

Hot n humid here. An ice cream required. $9 each!

I tried to ride Lightning Rod, but it went technical whilst I was queuing. Ho hum – will try again tomorrow. There are three or four rides that we want to have a go at

The smell of the bakery drew us in – we’d been told about their cinnamon bread being worth trying, but I dislike cinnamon, so a roll and a cookie to take back to the room,