Through the Eyes of a Virginia Coaster Enthusiast: Dollywood Review

Dollywood is an amusement park located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, in the Smokey Mountain regions of the United States. This park has been on my bucket list since 2013, one of the earliest of my coaster enthusiast years, and almost a decade later, I finally was able to make a trip to this park. I can already say after first impressions, this is perhaps the second most beautiful theme/amusement park I've had the privilege to visit, only behind Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia.

This park is divided into eleven areas: Showstreet, Rivertown Junction, The Village, Jukebox Junction, Owen's Farm, Adventures in Imagination, Country Fair, Timber Canyon, Wilderness Pass, Craftsman's Valley, and the kiddie area Wildwood Grove. If you can't already tell, this park is mostly themed to the Smokey, and to an extent, Appalachian Mountains, and its old-fashioned culture.

Showstreet

Showstreet is the first area you walk into upon entry. It's basically the equivalent to Main Street at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. This area is where you'll find mostly shopping venues, and guest relations.

Adventures in Imagination

Adventures in Imagination is where you'll find shows and more shopping. Overall, nothing much in this section either.

Jukebox Junction

The next section is Jukebox Junction. This area has a retro 1950's style theme, which I really do enjoy. Its main dining joint is Red's Drive-In, themed to a 1950's style diner. I want to disclaim that I have not dined in this park, but I'm describing what I've seen when I was at the park. Their main attraction is Lightning Rod, the wood-steel-hybrid roller coaster manufactured by Rocky Mountain Construction, or RMC for short. People argue this roller coaster is the best ride in the park, if not among the best in the park. While I rank it second best in the park, I can easily see why numerous people make this argument.

The Village

The Village is where you can catch a ride on the Dollywood Express train ride. This ride takes you around the park and around the hillsides surrounding the park. Unfortunately, this train is not a transportation type ride that drops you off at a different part of the park like at Disney or Busch Gardens, so be mindful of that.

Country Fair

This area is where you'll find several games, family-oriented rides, such as a swings type ride, bumper cars, a scrambler, and other flat rides for a general audience. The swing ride was the only ride I rode in this section. For families or groups with children, or those not into larger, aggressive thrills, this is likely the area you'll want to hang in.

Owen's Farm

Owen's Farm is perhaps the smallest area in the park. Here you'll find the Barnstormer, a "Screamin' Swing" ride built by S&S Worldwide, the same type of ride that is Finnegan's Flyer at my home park, Busch Gardens Williamsburg. I didn't bother with this area, as I can easily get the same ride at my home park, so this is one of those areas where I simply "passed on through."

Rivertown Junction

Another area I "pass through," Rivertown Junction, is where you'll find the river rafting ride Smokey Mountain River Rampage. I personally don't enjoy getting really soaking wet on rides, so I always skip those kinds of rides. Other than that, the area is mostly dining and shopping.

Wildwood Grove

Wildwood Grove is the new for 2019 kiddie area, where you'll find the Dragonflier suspended family coaster, and a few kiddie rides.

Timber Canyon

Timber Canyon is where you'll find two of the main "big six" coasters at Dollywood; Thunderhead and Mystery Mine. The former is a Great Coasters International (GCI) wooden roller coaster which has almost consistently been in the top ten best wooden coasters in the "Golden Ticket Awards," and I can see why. It has a twisted layout with sharp turns, good lateral forces, and an out of control feel. I will get more into that when I release my separate reviews on this coaster, along with some of the other big roller coasters at this park.

Mystery Mine is a Gerstlauer looping roller coaster with a weird haunted mine theme, and an even weirder layout. It isn't the greatest coaster here, but it certainly is not a bad one at that.

Wilderness Pass

Wilderness Pass is like that mix between Timber Canyon and Craftsman's Valley, appropriate as it is the bridge between those two sections. Here you'll find two more of the "big six" in Firechaser Express and Wild Eagle.

Firechaser Express is a family-oriented roller coaster that features a launch at 35 miles per hour as you traverse its twisted layout. Its finale is a showbuilding featuring fire effects and a backwards launch that is still pretty tame. It's good if you're: a family with young riders who want to make their first roller coaster; or one who likes roller coasters but hates heights, doesn't want to go too fast, get too intense, or go upside down, as this one is pretty tame, is not very fast, and does not invert riders. Overall, it's pretty good fun, especially for "newbies," and when I return to this park, it's something I would (possibly) revisit if the line's short.

Wild Eagle is the Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) "wing coaster" in this park. A wing coaster is when the seats are to the side of the track, like riding on wings, hence then name "wing coaster." Now, since 2013, I've heard all sorts of things about B&M wing coasters, from them being "good but forceless," to something basically everyone in the general public wants at their home park, so any wing rider has been on my bucket list for some while now. And now, I finally get to see what everyone's talking about here.

I'll talk more about it in my review, but overall, Wild Eagle is a good, solid roller coaster that has its forceful moments, but is still pretty tame through most of its layout, so I can understand both arguments here.

Craftsman's Valley

Perhaps my favorite section in Dollywood, Craftsman's Valley, here you'll find an aviary consisting of eagles and owls who are disabled, or otherwise unable to survive in the wild (owls are one of my favorite animals, so bonus points for this section), blacksmith shops where you can see blacksmiths and craftsmen (hence the name of this section) making tools and pots of sorts.

But for me, those aren't the only great aspects of this area; this area is home to three rides: Daredevil Falls, a log flume, which I skipped; Blazing Fury, an indoor roller coaster, which I unfortunately didn't ride, but got a picture of its exterior; and what I consider the best ride in this park, Tennessee Tornado! Yes, you read that right. Tornado is the best in the park, more than Thunderhead and even Lightning Rod. There, I said it.

It's a steel looping roller coaster manufactured by Arrow Dynamics, and is widely considered by coaster enthusiasts to be one of the best (if not the best) Arrow loopers, alongside Loch Ness Monster at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. This coaster has been on my bucket list since 2013, and now I can proudly call myself one of the "thoosies" who has been on both of what are considered among the best Arrow loopers! I'll get into more of that when I review this coaster, but for now, I'll say this: While I'm still on "Team Loch Ness Monster," he hype is real on this one as well! It is fast, intense, and for its short duration, it gets everything it's supposed to done very well.

Overall Thoughts and Conclusion

Overall, I must say I was very impressed with Dollywood. It's clean, has gorgeous landscaping, and has a great variety of roller coasters, thrill rides, and rides for the family and children. There really is something for everyone at this park. Like both Busch parks, Virginia and Florida, there is heavy emphasis on quality, versus quantity, and even their "worst" coaster isn't that bad; there is not one bad coaster in the lineup (the ones I've ridden at least). The operations were superb, on par with both Busch parks. The crews were pumping trains out of the station in about 90 seconds or less. Much to my surprise, Tennessee Tornado was running two trains, meaning the line moved considerably faster than if it were running one train, which I've heard it usually does, so I can say I got lucky there. In conclusion, I highly recommend visiting this theme/amusement park. The hype is real, and the wait is worth it in my opinion.

For those who've visited, what are your thoughts on this park? What's your favorite ride or roller coaster, and why? What's your favorite dining venue here?