At Dollywood Parks & Resorts, there is the Dollywood Theme Park, Dollywood Splash Country Water Park, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa, and Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Cabins. In addition, there are cousin companies and dinner shows all there in the Smoky Mountains. I’m so thankful that Dollywood hosts Mom Collectives from across the region, so we can share an inside look at all the parks and resorts have to offer!
:: Dollywood Parks & Resort Information ::
Dollywood Parks
- Dollywood Theme Park
- 2700 Dollywood Parks Blvd.
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 - 1-800-DOLLYWOOD
Incredible experience… Authentic fun… Unforgettable memories… Crafted daily. Spanning 160 acres in the Great Smoky Mountains, Dollywood theme park offers more than 50 world-class rides, high-energy entertainment, award-winning dining, and the friendliest theme park atmosphere in the world! They even received an award for being so friendly!
Dollywood Resort & Spa
- Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort
- 2525 DreamMore Way
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863 - Reservations: 1-800-DOLLYWOOD (Option 2)
- Resort Front Desk: 865-365-1900
The spa was very luxurious and stocked with its own brand, Farmhouse Fresh products, that left a smooth, rich feeling to the skin. We did try their sugar scrub that they use for pedicures/massages/manicures as well as their lotion immediately following. The spa has walls of their products when you first enter with everything from facials-to-go, lip scrubs that are edible, and their entire Farmhouse Fresh line. They even provided fruit-infused water and hot towels for our stay as well. It was nice to see and so welcoming.
The location has a large glass window that overlooks some great landscaping and gives you that wonderful “Dolly feel” (you know – where mountains meet the beauty of Barbie). A lot of elements like the front circle chair were handpicked by Dolly for their vibrant colors and because the mismatched fabrics reminded her of her coat of many colors. It isn’t what they are known for, but it is a great added bonus to get away and relax for a bit or to get dolled up before going out for a special meal on your trip. They even have mother-daughter packages that you can look into.
:: Dollywood Cousin Companies ::
Frizzle Chicken Farmhouse Cafe
This was a breakfast location we visited on the Friday of our stay. Their sweet batter that coats their moist chicken strips pairs perfectly with their crispy, sweet waffles. When I say this combination is life changing, I do not lie. Never in my life did I think something as savory as a waffle could be paired so well with something as sweet and heavy as a waffle. Their prices are all reasonably below $12, and each meal is freshly prepared with top-quality ingredients.
As you wait for your food, celebrity hens and roosters will cluck out some toons and put on a show for you. The shows are each about a minute long and spaced out enough that you only see about three or four in a full meal. One of my favorites was their take on the main Star Wars theme song. The background behind the chickens light up in a colorful show that aligns with their music. Each Hen had its own witty name after a special celebrity (J.K Fowling, Cluck Kent, Pat Henatar, Amelia Eggheart, Justin Timberbeak, Oprah Henfrey, and Christina Egguilra, just to name a few). Overall, it was a very fun breakfast with wonderful food. This atmosphere was great as a moms’ morning out, as well as one for the whole family to enjoy.
Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Feud
This was our first dinner on Thursday night of our stay. When entering the theatre, you are immersed in a wooden environment that takes you straight to the heart of the mountains. The McCoy’s famous moonshines are for sale in the front but as you move into the theatre, you are met with large stadium-like stands that have row after row of family dinner tables. When seated, you are greeted by your “member of the family”. The side you sit on declares the side of the family you are part of. Throughout the show, that is an interactive element they bring in, asking you to cheer on your family as they battle it out in a series of challenges (dances, diving, singing, and showcases).
I won’t spoil the ending or the plot, but this show has water elements, pyrotechnics, tap dancing, stomp dancing, diving, and is every audience-interactive. With the food being all you can eat and the show being so eye catching, it is definitely a fun one for all ages. The food that was served was southern comfort food (fried chicken, coleslaw, mashed potatoes, corn, pulled pork, a creamed veggie soup, and your choice of pudding {chocolate or banana}). I honestly was blown away with the stage and how cohesively this show changed from scenery to different stunts. From the moment the production began or you walked into the room, there was always a live band playing. Throughout the evening, it just grew in how grand of a scale their production was. I was very impressed by this. For someone who doesn’t particularly like “hillbilly-type things”, I was very amused the entire time by their talented staff!
The TITANIC Museum Attraction
This began as a lunch in their special events room but was followed by a private guided tour by a crew member on Friday afternoon. I am in awe of this site and incredibly impressed with their entire presentation. We all have heard stories from the history of the Titanic and we all have seen the movie, yet this is an entirely different and special way to experience this piece of history. Their crew does a wonderful job at truly memorializing the story in a captivating way. From the moment you walk in the museum, you are greeted with the grand scale architecture of the authentic version. We went in the back way and came up on the swooping stair case. Built to size and with all of the details of the original, it truly does give you a moment that you almost feel like you’re just part of a dream. Before our tour, we were whisked upstairs to their special events room where they normally host weddings. Beautiful paintings circled the room, a grand table was set in the center of the room, and our places were set with our individual boarding passes. This would be our ticket onto our “cruise”. But before we set sail, the co-owner, Mary Kellogg Joslyn, set the scene. She spoke about their mission as a company to preserve the memories of all 2,208 passengers that traveled on the ship 108 years ago. She spoke to her history and what led her and her husband to own this museum. Her husband, John Joslyn, was the creator of the TV show in the 90s that debuted the discovery of the Titanic.
They had so many ancestors sending them parts of history, they had so many artifacts that they owned themselves, and they saw how the resurfacing of the Titanic touched so many people that they knew that they both needed to create their legacy through this (a capsule of a time in history forever preserved). Both Mary and John co-own both The Titanic Museum attractions and they have rotating artifacts (as well as homes) at each location. She compared John to the “Mickey Mouse” of the company where all of the crew members report to her, and he comes out for celebrity appearances or to make behind-the-curtain decisions with her. Mary’s background is in CBS television production and during a period of her life, she did production with Disney where she claims she singlehandedly helped save the franchises. She was at times the only woman in the room and learned quickly what synergy is and applies that to every aspect of her work here with Titanic.
With each room you walked into, they slowly guided you through the crafting of the ship, the work it took to upkeep the ship, the never-before-seen photo album of the ship prior to its Ireland departure, the inspirations to the movie, and the real-life stories. There was a wall of children we stopped at that showed all of the kids on the boat. Our guide walked through the stories of the two from first class that didn’t make it (one to give his seat on the lifeboat to a mother with a younger child; he was 15) and the other where her father was in denial and then they spent too long trying to find the maid that snuck onto a lifeboat with the baby until the father wasn’t welcomed in the overcrowded life boats and the mother refused to leave him). The next room was a replica lifeboat that we could all sit in it and try to problem-solve how to get 50 people on the boats. It really put into perspective how crowded they must have been and how many more people the first few boats could have fit. Each room you walked through seamlessly dove you deeper into another aspect of the boat. We got to see a room from each of the floors built to size as well as artifacts from so may of the passengers, hence why photography isn’t allowed.
There was even a captain’s quarters that helped you see in person how difficult at night it would have been to see the iceberg when they first spotted it. You could walk out the side door onto the boats dock into a cold, dark, starry sky and reach your hand over the boat’s dock to feel how cold the water was at the time of sinking. This was one of the coolest parts, because it really threw you into a firsthand perspective of why what happened did and why it was unavoidable. Once arriving at the end of the museum, you then see the memorial room where you can search for yourself and your loved ones to see if you survived the Titanic. There were only 712 who survived.
Overall, I cannot put into words how unworldly this entire experience was. I was starstruck and in awe the entire time as we were fully submerged back in 1913. This is fully interactive for children and adults alike.
Smoky Mountains Pink Jeep Tours
This experience happened in the afternoon on Friday during our trip. Many of the men from this excursion are actually from the Louisville area. Once in your Jeep, you are taken to a tour location (ours was to a covered bridge near Gatlinburg) and then back to their special trail to go back-roading. I have heard many people talk about back-roading in a Jeep before, but I have never personally experienced it. This excursion was fun due to the fact that you get a peaceful trip through the mountains with a tour guide that knows all of the back ways to get places and stories about the mountain sides, as well as the thrilling experience of taking the backroad trails that make your stomach flutter like you’re on a roller coaster. I seriously didn’t know a car could stay right side up as well as those Jeeps did. It was very adrenaline-inducing!
Everyone in the family needs a Gold Pass to take advantage of the all-new Golden Hours and Events during the 2022 season at Dollywood. Gold Passes are more affordable than ever before!! Plus, you get FREE general parking, discounts on food and merchandise, 4 flexible bring-a-friend tickets, and access to special events. Golden Hours allow Gold Passholders to use the TimeSaver ride entrance the first operating hour each day. With Gold, you also get a Free One-Day Unlimited Refills Souvenir Mug per Passholder (ends 2/13/22).
Head over to our Instagram page where we’re giving away FOUR (4) 2022 Dollywood Gold Season Passes (valued at approx. $940)!
