Our Trip To Dollywood

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Grand prize is a complete vacation package. Contest closes at midnight tonight!

Today I’m going to attempt to tell you a little about Dollywood, but you really need to experience it to take it all in.

This is an immaculately clean, family friendly park full of attractions, rides for all ages, shows, and great food. It spans over 150 acres, employs over 2500 people, and is now home to what my husband says is the best roller coaster he has ever ridden in his life – beating out all of the roller coasters at Disney World. That would be the Wild Eagle, which is behind us in this photo. We were able to go on the day of the Grand opening for the Wild Eagle and everyone in my family (except me, my daughter, and my grandmother) rode it and loved it. Ricky and his dad actually rode it three times!

You will see a lot of family pictures in this post and not so many of the park itself because…well I took the photos and I like photos of my family. Another reason why you need to go to Dollywood – so you can see the park without a Jordan family member grinning as they stand in your way 🙂

This is my parents with three of their grandsons: Lane, Brady (mine), and Jake.

Jake doesn’t smile. We’re working on that.

My grandmother had a wonderful time there. There are pavilions where musicians are performing and she found one, got her a nice spot to sit in, and sat and watched people perform for hours. We kept going back and checking to see if she wanted to do anything else and she said “Oh no, I’m having me a good time. Did you know I got to meet Dolly Parton’s uncle? He was a nice fella!”.

I didn’t think that was a good time to tell her I got to go backstage and meet Dolly Parton…so I told her on the way home 🙂

This is Brady, Katy Rose, and all my nephews that were with us riding a ride that was originally in Opry Land.

If y’all remember Opryland fondly, Dollywood is basically the new and improved version of that.

Brady and his cousin, Lane in their newly acquired Wild Eagle Shirts.

Ricky and his dad, Rick, eating the famous cinnamon bread. Yes, you really must try it!

I’ll try to show you how to make it soon on Southern Plate. Y’all might need to remind me!

While we were waiting on Katy Rose and her daddy to finish riding the Tennessee Tornado for the third time, Mama and I hung out with the boys in a nearby arcade.

The boys thought they were being cool but…

Grandmama showed ’em how it was done!

And while we were doing that, my sweet little angelic Katy Rose was riding this…

I mentioned she rode it three times, right?

I wouldn’t have been able to walk the entire rest of the day if I had of ridden it just once!

The entire park is just beautiful. You get spoiled really quick 🙂

Did you know? If you purchase your ticket and enter the park after 3:00 PM, you are allowed to come back in the entire next day for free!

Now THAT is a skillet!

The park has these huge skillets inside the counter service eateries. I want one like that at home!

Everyone kept complementing me and Katy on our matching outfits throughout the park. Katy would beam and say “thank you!”.

I thought “What a coincidence, I had no idea we were going to match today…” Then it occurred to me that Katy Rose had picked out my outfit for the day – the little mastermind 🙂

This is the kids…with Katy front and center being Katy 🙂

Probably about 3/4 of the park is rides for all ages (dependent on height for the roller coasters) but there is a big section full of rides that really little kids can ride …along with anyone else who gets the hankering! This has always been one of Katy’s favorites.

My grandmother loved going in the model of Dolly Parton’s house growing up.

I swear Ricky and Katy ride everything. I just photograph 🙂

The people in the candy store were very nice and took the time to talk to us each time we went in there (we made multiple visits, of course!). My grandmother said this was one of her favorite parts and the kids loved the free samples.

 

The Bald Eagle habitats are really something to see! I’d never seen an eagle up close but you can get within a few feet of one here.

They rescue eagles that have been hurt and rehabilitate them.

For the opening of the Wild Eagle, they sold the first seats at $700 each and then donated all of that money to the American Eagle Foundation. But that doesn’t even begin to touch on all of the charities and organizations that Dolly Parton has formed and regularly supports. I honestly don’t know if it would even be possible to list all of the good works she has done.

We had a wonderful day at Dollywood. So much so that we had to come back a second day to get to see and do it all!

It was a great time for our generations of my family – and they all enjoyed it just as much.

Here are most of us, minus Ricky and the kids! From left to right: Rick (Ricky’s Dad), Bill (my dad), Me, Linda (Ricky’s Mom), Janice (My Mom), and Lucille (My Grandmother).

Visit Dollywood! You’ll love the park, you’ll love the Smoky Mountains, and you’ll make a lifetime of memories worth repeating!

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If you haven’t entered my big Dollywood Giveaway,

you only have until midnight tonight!

Click here to visit that post and enter for your chance at a COMPLETE Dollywood vacation, including cabin, tickets for four to Dollywood, tickets to Splash Country, AND tickets to the Dixie Stampede Dinner show! 

Enter quick because it closes tonight! 

Disclaimer: Dollywood didn’t pay me to do this post and disclaimers really get on my nerves.

 “If you don’t like the road you’re walking, start paving another one.”

~Dolly Parton