So let’s get this out of the way first. Being the theme park geek that I am, when we started this trip Bronwyn limited me to one park in each direction (smart woman). The west-bound trip was easy…we’ll be going to Cedar Point next week. East-bound was a bit more difficult. I ultimately picked Dollywood…sitting right next to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. So glad we did. This Resort is a gem. The hotel is fantastic, the park is great fun, and the waterpark was a hit! After so much driving we wanted to give the kids a simple day of fun. And man, was it fun!
Breakfast
I’m pretty sure this hotel found out Bronwyn’s tastes and simply decorated the whole hotel in that manner. Between the kettle pot chandelier and the personal servings of cereal served in mason jars, this hotel screams Bronwyn all the way!
Splash Country
We wanted to beat the crowds to Splash Country this AM (busy waterparks are no fun) so we landed up being the second group in line at the turnstile. Turns out, the park was dead empty all day since the majority of surrounding school districts started school this week. We rode everything multiple times and were out by 2pm (4 hours). Never waited more than 10 minutes for a slide. The park has a fantastic slide collection. A little bit of everything. The family agrees…the River Rush hydromagnetic water coaster is the favorite (we rode it six times). It’s a well shaded and very scenic park as most of the slides are built on the hills rather than on standalone slide structures. Pictures are few since my camera was in the locker all day.
Dollywood
Talk about perfect timing…we left Splash Country, showered/changed, and as we were waiting for the shuttle to go back to Dollywood a massive storm rolled in. Wind, thunder, lightning…everything. When we went to board the shuttle, the driver said “Uh, do you know all the rides are closed?” So? We’re from Seattle. We’ve got our raincoats…let’s rock and roll!
This worked out perfectly as we ate some dinner as the storm was passing through, saw a show, and by the time the rides started to re-open, the park was completely dead. Like walking on paths and not seeing a single person in either direction empty. Like the picture below of Emily and Maelle waiting for the front row of one of the marquee coasters in the park…with not a single other customer in the station. As Bronwyn mentioned in her earlier post, we did a TON last night so tonight’s visit was just icing on the cake. We have a new appreciation for Dolly and her message of love and family. We loved this Resort! Tomorrow…Great Smoky Mountain National Park.
SEA 2 Shore 