Blazing Fury IS a roller coaster, mom!

I just thought I'd share a quick, funny story at Dollywood back when I was a kid. After walking around a bit, the family was going to ride Blazing Fury, the roller coaster in a burning town ride. I was, shall we say, a little apprehensive about riding it because I remembered riding it the year before. Now, I was probably 10 at the time, and even though I didn't mind roller coasters too much, I really didn't feel like riding this one... again. So I told my mom, "This is a roller coaster, I am not sure I want to do this one right now." And she says, "No, its not a roller coaster." I repeat, "Seriously, this is a roller coaster, I remember it specifically from last year. Don't you remember the on-coming train?!" She says, "D-J, would I make you ride something you didn't want to ride? Trust me, its not a roller coaster."

At this point, I didn't know what her deal was. Maybe she was confusing it with the Flooded Mine, which was also a dark, indoor ride (although no roller coaster). I don't know. But at this point, I was resigned and said, "Ok, no problem. Just wait, you'll see... Let's go."

Needless to say, after the ride, she realized she got a few nice surprises, in the way of three drops in the dark. Then I say, "That was fun! Let's go again!" Oddly enough, we didn't ride it a second time that year... Check out the Rides of Dollywood to see more Dollywood rides!

Check out my other Dollywood posts:
Dollywood Introduction
The Rides of Dollywood
Dining At Dollywood
The Shows of Dollywood
The Crafts of Dollywood

The Rides of Dollywood

Dollywood has added many exciting rides over the years. With roller coasters, water rides, indoor rides, and kid rides, there is pretty much something for everyone. Several of these rides are award winners, so you definitely get a thrill at Dollywood. As you scroll down, you will see I have included links to YouTube videos of several Dollywood rides.

When it comes to roller coasters, Blazy Fury, The Thunderhead, Tennessee Tornado, and Mystery Mine round out the field.

Blazing Fury is one of the oldest Dollywood rides. This roller coaster is an indoor roller coaster where you go through a burning town. Its a dark ride with lots of burning buildings and people trying to escape. The darkness makes the drops a bit of a surprise. While inferior to all the other coasters (because they are all newer), Blazing Fury is still a lot of fun to go on. I truly hope they don't ever shut it down. I am concerned they might simply because its so old.



The Thunderhead, one of Dollywood's award winning rides, is quite possibly my most favorite roller coaster ever. Its a wooden roller coaster, and as such, pretty loud. You hear all the clickety-clack it has to offer. I love this coaster because it is a speedy 55 mph the whole way. The sweeping turns and changes in direction, along with the first-ever station fly-by makes this a ride you'll probably want to go on a few times. There's a really cool video of it from the front row shot by a rider on YouTube. Follow the link Thunderhead at Dollywood for a great video.




The Tennessee Tornado is a steel monstrosity and one wicked coaster. This coaster features a couple of loops that nearly make me black-out, literally. Its fast and has some crazy turns to it. Some people really prefer this coaster to Thunderhead, but I just really enjoy Thunderhead more. This ride is just past Blazing Fury, so its good to just knock them both out one after the other. Here's a video from the front row, Tennessee Tornado at Dollywood

Mystery Mine is the latest roller coaster added to Dollywood. This is a very strange roller coaster. The beginning actually launches you up vertically and the ride seems to stop and start a lot. I need to go on it again to see what other impressions I get from it, but it is a fun ride. The end part is the best part because it stays up to speed and does some twisting. It just struck me as a weird roller coaster. Its hard to describe - just go on it and see for yourself. Or watch this lengthy video both off the roller coaster and on it! Mystery Mine at Dollywood





Next up, the water rides. These rides will get you wet. The #1 Non-roller coaster in America, The Smoky Mountain Slidewinder, starts out this category. Then there is another favorite, The Smoky Mountain River Rampage, Daredevil Falls, and finally River Battle.

The Smoky Mountain Slidewinder is my favorite ride, ever. I am dying to go back to Dollywood just to ride this ride a couple of times. When I was there last October, this ride was shut down because of the cooler weather. Basically, its a water toboggan down the side of a mountain. Some people complain about the walk up to it - I welcome the walk. Its really not that bad at all, and in my opinion, WELL worth it. Once at the top, you are weighed and placed in either the left boat or right boat, with up to 5 people in each one, one person behind the other. When they let you go, it picks up speed, and fast. I guess what makes this ride so unique is that there seems to be an element of surprise, or rather, non-control. Every ride is unique because every ride there are different people of different weights sitting in different spots in the boats. The bottom line is when you hit a turn, you almost feel like you could fly out of the slide/track/whatever you call it. Then, of course, there is the drop at the end. What a rush! If this doesn't get your adrenaline flowing, nothing will. A final word of warning, when (not if) you get splashed on this ride, the water is COLD! None of the other rides have water thats particularly cold, but this ride does. Maybe they pump it straight out of the mountain! Here's a video, sadly its low quality and only 7 seconds. I will record my own video when I go next. Smoky Mountain Slidewinder at Dollywood




The River Rampage... ahhh the River Rampage... Some people miraculously walk off this ride relatively dry. Me? I walk off the ride looking like someone threw a full bucket of water at me, specifically on my shorts. I personally think this is the wettest of all Dollywood rides, but then again, I haven't actually been on River Battle yet. This is one of those rides I just have to go on, even though I don't want to slosh around Dollywood for the rest of the day in wet shorts and wet socks. Specifically, its the wet socks that drives me nuts. There are several videos on YouTube for this ride, so I thought I'd link to a few of them.
This kid gets pretty excited, not to mention soaked halfway through the ride
Teen girls on the ride (the audio is very loud)
Another family rides
This little kid Trevor wants to go again!




Daredevil Falls is a log flume ride. Years ago, Dollywood had a much smaller ride called The Log Flume, which was actually from the New York World Fair. Daredevil Falls is a fun ride and you can get wet - not absolutely soaked like the Rampage, but pretty wet. The only thing that irks me to this day about Daredevil Falls is that it was built on the site of one of my other favorite rides, The Flooded Mine, a slow-moving boat ride through a mine with prisoners and bandits. We miss you Flooded Mine! Here's the video of the drop at the end of the ride, Daredevil Falls at Dollywood

River Battle is one of the newest rides at Dollywood. At first, I thought I wouldn't really care for this ride very much. Actually, I have yet to go on it. BUT, I can't wait to because this is a really cool ride after all. You ride in boats and shoot at targets along the way, including other boats (ship to ship battles) and better yet, people walking by the ride (ship to shore) that wander into the shooting zones. Of course, they have water canons mounted that can shoot back at you. This was actually my own experience with the ride. As we walked by, I saw a kid standing manning one of the water canons on the walkway, shooting at riders in one of the boats. After they targeted him from the boat, he ran off. So I naturally took up the call to action, ran over to the water canon, and started blasting some mom in one of the boats! She finally realized where all the water was coming from and started firing back at me! Of course, I was able to retreat and stay dry! What a cool ride, whether you actually ride it or just walk by it! Here's a video of all the action, ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore, River Battle at Dollywood




There are several other rides, but I am just going to mention a few of the other big ones.

The Dollywood Express is more than a ride, its an experience. You can't go to Dollywood without riding this. Pulled by either Cinderella or Klondike Katie, the Dollywood Express takes you on a 5-mile ride through Dollywood and its backwoods. This is a steam-powered, coal-fired locomotive that is so much fun to ride. Just hearing that train whistle blow brings a tear to me eye! Sometimes midway through the ride, the train will stop and a short show is put on, sometimes taking people from the train. I recommend sitting near the back so you get a good view of the train as the track turns to the left or right. And don't forget to wave to everyone waiting at the train crossing guards as you roll by them! When the train ride is over, the people in the back get off first as you walk around the back of the caboose. And when you do make it around the caboose, you'll notice a magic show starting at the stage to the left of the train! Sit down and check it out! One of my favorites is the magic coloring book! Next to the stage is a magic shop with tons and tons of cool stuff. My nephews were like kids in a candy store when they went in there, except they were kids in a magic shop... Ok, back to the train, There are a ton of Dollywood Express videos on YouTube, so here's a few videos.
Dollywood Express
Better quality video on the train
Dollywood Express leaves the station on the last day of the 2008 season, Jan 3rd, 2009. Notice the Christmas trees and lights!




The last ride I will mention is the Sky Zip, a brand new attraction for 2009, so I haven't done it yet. Its a zip line operated by a company from Hawaii. There are 5 stations, so you get 5 legs of the zip line tour you go on. The whole experience lasts 1 hour and it is the only thing in Dollywood that is a premier attraction which means you have to pay extra if you want to do it. I believe its $40 per person. I am definitely looking forward to trying this out when I get up there next summer.

There are more rides at Dollywood, including a whole section called Country Fair with fair rides for little kids. Just check out Dollywood's web site http://www.dollywood.com/ for more Dollywood rides! All in all, I am no ride aficionado, but Dollywood has some very fun rides for everyone. The other thing I forgot to mention is the ride operators are very cool - some of them are hilarious and entertain you while you are waiting.

Check out my other Dollywood posts:
Dollywood Introduction
Blazing Fury IS a roller coaster, mom!
Dining At Dollywood
The Shows of Dollywood
The Crafts of Dollywood

Dollywood!

In the early 80s, my family discovered one of our most favorite places to go, even to this day. That place? Silver Dollar City Tennessee. The park was bought by the Herschend family as a sister park to their Branson, Missouri park, Silver Dollar City. In 1986/1987, Dolly Parton got in on the action with the Herschend Brothers and named it Dollywood!

If you've never been to Dollywood, you are missing out on a really wonderful experience. Dollywood is one of the most fun theme parks you'll ever go to. It has so much to offer that I am going to give a good overview of it in this article, then I will be posting separate articles on Dollywood's rides, shows, crafts, and dining. I may try to get my wife to write the article on shopping in Dollywood! This will sound more like a review than a what-we-did blog because the last time I was there was last October, so we did on each day is a little lost on me. When I go again (currently expecting to in early or mid 2010), I will post a blog that's more of a what-we-did or as-its-happening style.

If you want to add some family fun to your Smoky Mountain vacation, give this place a try. I have seen it grow over the years in every direction. They have added some pretty cool rides, attractions, and shows over the years. The shows have some very talented people. The only two things that ever really bummed me out about Dollywood was 1. when they closed down their ride The Flooded Mine, a slow-moving boat ride through a mine with prisoners, and 2. when they stopped producing the Dollywood Jamboree, which was a daily park-closing two hour show starring James Rogers (who also does an amazing one-man show several times a day). This show featured a female lead, a live band, dancers (cloggers!), a few other talents, and that hillbilly hunk, Elwood Smooch! Elwood Smooch, aka Billy Baker, left Dollywood to pursue his own show and is currently at the Chattanooga Choo Choo in Chattanooga, TN. I will do another article on Elwood as he certainly is deserving of his own!

Back to Dollywood. Dollywood has something for everyone. Some people like shows. Some people like rides. Some people (ok, most of us) like to eat. Some people like to shop. Some people like crafts. You will find it all at Dollywood. As it has grown quite a bit, there is a lot to see. A deal they have always had at Dollywood is if you come into the park after 3:00 pm, you get the next day free! I highly recommend this if you want to get a decent Dollywood experience. I showed up at 2:15 pm one time and they said as long as I wait until 2:30 before entering, they can give me the next day free, so I didn't have to wait until 3:00!

There are certain things I always have to do when I go. Visiting the Dollywood Grist Mill is a tradition for me. Anytime before early afternoon, you can go in there and ask for their famous fresh baked cinnamon bread. Once you buy one of these, their life expectancy is about 5 minutes, no joke.

Another thing thats been at Dollywood probably longer than anything else there is the Dollywood Express, consisting of two steam-powered, coal-fired locomotives, one named Cinderella, the other named Klondike Katie. The girls will take you on a 5 mile train ride through parts of Dollywood and the backwoods behind it. Every now and then, they stop the train on a loop thats midway through your journey, and put on a short, impromptu comedy show, whether its train robbers or some other funny scenario, sometimes involving one of us train riders!

Eagle Mountain Sanctuary is a great attraction added several years back now. Injured birds are brought here and rehabilitated and returned to the wild. Of course, they have a few bald eagles as well. The area is a huge, netted enclosure that gives the birds plenty of room to fly around in, which gives visitors a great show. Speaking of shows, the Birds of Prey show in the Wings of America theatre is a great show for seeing these birds up close as they are presented on stage and even fly over the crowd!



As far as food goes, everything at Dollywood is awesome. We like to get there about 30 minutes before the park officially opens so we can eat breakfast at Aunt Granny's. They have an amazing breakfest buffet. Its hard to imagine, but in all the years of Dollywood, their scrambled eggs still taste the same as they did 20 years ago! I am not normally a biscuits and gravy guy, but they had me going back for more. For lunch, I usually like to swing by Victoria's Pizza, right across from the train station. They serve personal pizzas and their breadsticks and marinara sauce are some of the best I've ever had. Another place worth mentioning is Market Square. When you walk through here, you won't be able to miss the aroma of bell peppers, onions, and sausage being cooked in cast-iron skillets. Check my article on Dining at Dollywood for a more thorough account of eating at Dollywood.







As far as rides go, Dollywood delivers - for everyone. Roller coasters, water rides, rides for the kids. Two of my personal favorites are award-winning rides. The Smoky Mountain Slidewinder, a water toboggan ride down the side of a mountain, was named #1 Non-Roller Coaster Thrill Ride in America a few years back. The Thunderhead has been named #1 Wooden Roller Coaster. If you manage to come off the Smoky Mountain River Rampage dry, I suggest you play the lottery because that would be your lucky day. If you have little kids with you, the Country Fall Fairs area of Dollywood has lots of rides for the little ones. I find myself wanting to go into more of the rides right here, but I keep reminding myself More detail of the rides, along with with pics and links to YouTube ride videos is here at The Rides of Dollywood!








Dollywood has a rich tradition having some very talented people performing on the various stages throughout the park. This is another area where I am going to have an article dedicated to the shows of Dollywood, but I will mention a few here. First off, I have to mention James Rogers. This guy has been entertaining us all for over 20 years. He's a one man show that plays a wide range of stuff and has a lot of fun doing it. He also wrote one of Tennessee's state songs, Fly Eagle Fly. Another of my personal favorites is Country Crossroads, set in an outdoor theatre where today's country music is covered while also paying respects to country's past. A 50's show, a magic show, bluegrass, and Dolly's own kinfolks also play out across the stages of Dollywood every day. Again, for more on shows at Dollywood, see my article The Shows of Dollywood.




The themed shops of Dollywood are a blast to walk through. A magic shop, nature shop, music shop, an Ireland themed shop, candy shop, crafts shops for wood carving and leatherworks, as well as the Butterfly Emporium are just some of the shops in Dollywood. I will likely co-write an article on the shops of Dollywood with my wife very soon. My wife went nuts going through all the stores. When we were there in October, we started getting souvenirs for everyone, then thought, why don't we just make these souvenirs be everyone's Christmas gifts?! So we ended up doing a lot of our Christmas shopping in Dollywood.

Crafts are a core part of Dollywood. In Craftsmen's Valley, you can find a wood carving shop, leather shop, blacksmith, wagon making, and more. Other parts of Dollywood are home to the candle shop, glassworks, and glassblowing. You can get customized or personalized merchandise as well. My favorite shop is the woodcarving shop. Like many of the crafts shops, Dollywood employs expert craftsmen. Every time you go in there you'll see the main project the master woodcarver working on is an elaborate fireplace mantle. Back in October, I was on a quest to find a new hiking stick. There was a ton of them outside the shop, so I picked mine out, then had the woodcarver carve my name in it. See my article The Crafts of Dollywood for more information on the crafts at Dollywood.

Seasons in Dollywood don't pass without big changes. Depending on the time of year, Dollywood has special festivals that give a unique experience. In Fall, the National Gospel and Harvest Celebration brings lots of Fall decorations throughout Dollywood, such as pumpkins, unique shows, and lots of local craftsmen selling their creations in the streets of Dollywood. While there was lots of neat stuff, one of my favorites was a guy that set up his booth across from the train station where he sold several different wood puzzles and other related items. I ended up buying wood-carved dice, a regular-sized set and a jumbo-sized set. I just had to have them. I don't know why. I just did. And now I do. Winter brings with it Smoky Mountain Christmas, where the park is decorated in Christmas lights and a huge Christmas tree is set up, along with other holiday decorations. Special holiday shows are added to put you in the mood and make you have a great Smoky Mountain Christmas. Spring brings the Festival of Nations, with international shows, music, food, and artistry. Summer belongs to the kids in Dollywood's annual KidsFest, with special shows, rides, and attractions just for kids!



The staff at Dollywood are very friendly. Dollywood employs the entire spectrum of ages. In addition to a young staff, it has quite a few older people that work there. And a lot of these people are so funny. Some of the ride operators will tell jokes and entertain you while you wait. You almost get the feeling these people enjoy their jobs. On the train ride, the conductor will have you waving at complete strangers at railroad crossings, and they'll all be waving back. At Dollywood, there's just a real good vibe you don't get anywhere else, let alone a theme park. Whether its fair to make the comparison or not, I have always said Dollywood just feels "real" as opposed to other theme parks, even Disney.

All in all, Dollywood's motto rings true for most people that go there, "Memories worth repeating." And with all that Dollywood has to offer, that makes it easy. Dollywood is constantly growing, yet it still maintains its charm. The people here continue to keep it personal and make you feel right at home.

Check out my other Dollywood posts:
The Rides of Dollywood
Blazing Fury IS a roller coaster, mom!
Dining At Dollywood
The Shows of Dollywood
The Crafts of Dollywood