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Dollywood

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

Description

Location: Dollywood is located southeast of Knoxville, Tennessee and just north of Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You can get driving directions by clicking the Dollywood link on Theme Park Insider's Google map of U.S. theme parks.

History: The theme park currently known as Dollywood started out in 1961 as a small Civil War-themed tourist attraction called "Rebel Railroad". Rebel Railroad's main component was the steam train, but there were also other interesting things on the property such as an old time saloon and general store.

In the late 1960s, the name was changed to "Goldrush Junction", and the Civil War theme gave way to a Wild West theme. The Cleveland Browns football team purchased Goldrush Junction in 1970 and expanded the park with a log flume and several other small rides.

In 1976, Jack and Pete Herschend of Branson, Missouri bought the park from the Cleveland Browns and the following season changed the name from Goldrush Junction to "Silver Dollar City Tennessee", as a sister park to the Herschends' original Silver Dollar City in Branson.

Dolly Parton joined the Herschend brothers in 1986 when she bought into the theme park and redeveloped it as Dollywood. Since then, it has grown to become Tennessee's number one tourist attraction.

Hours: http://www.dollywood.com.

Tickets: Buy online. Always try to buy your tickets in advance, to save time when you get to the park.

If you enter the park after 3pm, you can return on the next day for free. (*valid March - October)

Reservations: Dollywood offers a Q-bot ride reservation system, for an additional per-person charge.

Strategy:
If long lines are a concern, the Q2Q reservation system is well worth the money. It will usually allow guests to visit two attractions in the time they might otherwise visit one, and will grant reserved seating for in park entertainment.

For those traveling with smaller children, make sure to save yourself some time during your visit, and stop by Q2Q and get your child's height measured and a wristband (free). The hosts at Q2Q will inform you of what ride limitations (if any) your child will have in the park, and this will also save them from having to be measured at each ride by park hosts. Q2Q is located next to the new Imagination Cinema. When you pass through the park's turnstiles, head to your right around the bakery and right again across the brick bridge.

NEW for 2008:
River Battle - Dollywood is now in their soft opening of River Battle, a ride very similar to Legoland's Splash Battle, but is themed to the American wilderness and Frontier, in the all new Wilderness Pass (located between Craftsman's Valley and Timber Canyon) section of the park. Riders will shoot water guns at targets around the ride as well as at other boats. The grand opening for this attraction will not be until April, during Dolly's Homecoming.

Imagination Cinema - Back by popular demand, Thunder Road has returned to the Adventures in Imagination's remodeled Imagination Cinema, replacing the Smokey Mountain Wilderness Adventure attraction.

Onsite Eagle Facility - Located next to the "Wings of America" stage in Craftsman's valley, a new facility has been made available to the public to view the care of the Eagles in the park.

Chasing Rainbows - As of her homecoming this year, Dolly's Tour Bus is now on display outside of Chaising Rainbows & Imagination Cinema. Along with the addition of Dolly's bus, there is now an exhibit dedicated to Porter Wagner, (a huge influence on Dolly). -- Last edited by M Holtsclaw

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Attractions

Adventures in Imagination(Rating)(Height)
Thunder Road742
Chasing Rainbows6
Country Fair(Rating)(Height)
Amazing Flying Elephants9
The Scrambler939
Dizzy Disk948
Sky Rider842
Shooting Star8
Waltzing Swinger742
Dolly's Demolition Derby642
Lucky Ducky632
Piggy Parade632
Busy Bees532
Lemon Twist5
VeggieTales Sideshow Spin536
Wonder Wheel4
Craftsman's Valley(Rating)(Height)
Daredevil Falls942
Blazing Fury842
Tennessee Tornado848
Eagle Mountain Sanctuary8
Dreamland Forest(Rating)(Height)
Dreamland Forest Treehouse9
Mountain Slidewinder839
Jukebox Junction(Rating)(Height)
Rockin' Roadway742
Rivertown Junction(Rating)(Height)
Smoky Mountain River Rampage836
Showstreet(Rating)(Height)
Southern Gospel Music Hall of Fame & Museum9
The Village(Rating)(Height)
Dollywood Express9
Village Carousel8
Thunderhead Gap(Rating)(Height)
Thunderhead1048
Timber Canyon(Rating)(Height)
Mystery Mine948
Lumberjack Lifts839
Timber Tower548
Wilderness Pass(Rating)(Height)
River Battle9

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Dining

Craftsman's Valley(Rating)
Miss Lillian's Chicken House9
Granny Ogle's Ham 'N' Beans9
Dreamland Forest(Rating)
Ranger's Cook House10
Jukebox Junction(Rating)
Red's Diner6
Rivertown Junction(Rating)
Apple Jack's Sandwich Shop10
Aunt Granny's Buffet7
Showstreet(Rating)
Backstage Restaurant10
Spotlight Bakery & Sandwich Shop8
The Village(Rating)
Whistlestop Grill 10
Victoria's Pizza Patio6
Timber Canyon(Rating)
Lumber Camp10

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