Dollywood is quickly becoming a pretty good amusement park.

[NuclearNed]

Saturday was Family Fun Day for the company where I work, and this year they decided to have it at Dollywood. Dollywood is the amusement park owned by Dolly Parton; it is located in Pigeon Forge, TN, about 1.5 hours from here. The last time I was at Dollywood was several years ago. At the time, I would have called it fun and quaint, but not a great amusement park by any means. At the time, they had 1 really old theme roller coaster and 1 steel roller coaster.

Wow, have things changed. Now they have a wood roller coaster, 2 steel roller coasters, the old theme coaster mentioned above, plus a horde of really cool water rides. One of the steel roller coasters is one of the most unique rides I think I've ever ridden:

Mystery Mine

Its hard to describe this ride. It is a very deliberately paced coaster - I even heard one guy complain that it was too slow. It has a lot of turns and elements that are completely vertical, and it gives you plenty of time to look at each drop long before you get there, thereby building up a huge sense of suspense and dread. Its amazing how scary I thought the ride was.

It looks like I might have to start going to Dollywood again...

 

[49erinnc]

I went back in the summer of 2003 and wasn't too impressed, though it looks like a good bit of new stuff has been added. My biggest gripe back when I went, was simply not enough "thrill rides" for adults. It was pretty dead the day we went and I remember riding the Tennessee Tornado like 6 times in a row. That thing was pretty fun, especially because of the woodsy setting. Daredevil Falls was pretty fun as well. The only other stuff I remember was a bunch of craft-type exhibits (blacksmithing, glass blowing, etc.) I was ready to leave when the time came to do so.

 

[loup garou]

I remember when it opened (well, when it became Dollywood)...I never thought it would last, then I saw something about it on the Food channel. It looked pretty impressive, and the food looked good too!

 

[NuclearNed]

This is the best spin ride I've ever ridden.

 

[SearchMaster]

I don't think I've been to Dollywood since it was Silver Dollar City, which was probably 25+ years ago. It pretty much sucked then, but it was cheap so my parents got season passes.

 

[Kaspian]

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
This is the best spin ride I've ever ridden.

Wow. Thats different. Does it go up and down and around or back and forth while spining you?

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: SearchMaster
I don't think I've been to Dollywood since it was Silver Dollar City, which was probably 25+ years ago. It pretty much sucked then, but it was cheap so my parents got season passes.

:laugh: at the SDC reference! I remember it then too and never really wanted to go back after the age of 7. Glad Dollywood has improved.

 

[Safeway]

I wonder how much money Dolly makes off Dollywood.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: Kaspian

Originally posted by: NuclearNed
This is the best spin ride I've ever ridden.

Wow. Thats different. Does it go up and down and around or back and forth while spining you?

The disk is on a horseshoe shaped track where the ends are completely vertical, and it goes from one end to the other while it spins in circles.

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: Safeway
I wonder how much money Dolly makes off Dollywood.

Judging by the numbers of people who were there Saturday, Dolly probably won't have to sing ever again.