Dollywood!

On Tuesday, we went to Dollywood. The park opened at 10 and we arrived at 9:10 to make sure we had plenty of time to park, go through security, and get our tickets. All of that only took about 15 minutes, which was nice. We were a little nervous to see so many cars coming in, but I remembered our Busch Gardens day and chose not to take it as a bad sign. They let us into the park and we immediately went to the most popular roller coaster--Lightening Rod. It is another RMC, similar to Iron Gwazi (wooden coaster with a steel tracks). We waited there until the park officially opened and were off the ride by 10:15. It was an impressive ride, with a cool launch and is built into a mountain, but it was a little bumpy for my taste. After LR, we raced to a few other rides that I knew would get long lines. We had done 3 of those by 11 and then slowed our pace. 

Kara took Luke on the log flume (most of us were afraid of spending the day with wet sneakers). We looked in shops and had a delicious barbecue lunch. After lunch, we rode the coal powered train, which comes complete with black soot. Then, we went to "state fair" section of the park. They had a lot of rides back there that we (but mostly Luke) really liked. We all did the bumper cars, which is one of my favorites and Luke and the girls did 4 or 5 other rides. None of the lines were very long in that part of the park. 

After state fair, we made our way to the other side of the park, stopping for treats along the way, including the famous cinnamon bread, which did not disappoint. We went on an old wooden roller coaster that was incredibly rough. Then, we did a weird ride called Mystery Mine, I don't even know how to describe that one, but it was also bumpy. By now it was after 4 and the lines had started to decrease. My and Thomas' favorite ride of the day was called Fire Chaser (one of the first three we rode before lines started getting long). It is a smooth, "medium" roller coaster (kind of like Slinky Dog) that has a couple of thrills, but was not intense. It always seemed to have a long line, but we kept checking. 

We rode another weird ride called "Blazing Fury." It was billed as indoor roller coaster, but there was no roller coaster. We rode it a few times, and I am not exactly sure how to describe it. Here is Dollywood's description: An out-of-control fire is just minutes away from engulfing this 1880s town, and chaos ensues as the town's residents hurry to escape the blaze. Riders scream through town on this indoor roller coaster, taking each hill and curve with great speed as they try to outrun the fire." Hmm, that description is actually helpful. I thought maybe it was supposed to be a haunted attraction as some of the animatronics, which appeared to be very old, were pretty scary and zombie-like. And, I don't remember the ride having any "speed."

By 6:00, most of the rides were walk-ons. We did some of our favorites again (including Fire Chaser--yay!) and had a quick dinner. The park closed at 8 and the kids did Lightening Rod again right before closing.  We were in our car by 8:30, meaning we had spent 11 hours at the park. It had been a long time since we spent that kind of time at a theme park, probably not since we last park-hopped at Disney. But, unlike our "home" parks, we couldn't really leave much for next time. We do plan on going back Thursday, but it is still not the same as when you know you can return any time. It was a good day, everyone was agreeable and mostly patient. Dollywood is a really beautiful park. We enjoyed the atmosphere and the music playing throughout the park. 

Favorite rides are:

Kori: Fire Chaser

Thomas: Fire Chaser

Anna: Lightening Rod

Jack: Thunderhead (a really bumpy wooden coaster)

Kara: Lightening Rod

Luke: Lightening Rod