We’ve made several visits to Dollywood! This amusement park is super fun and full of rides and activities for kids and adults. Follow along for tips on where to stay, tips and tricks, and more!
Nashville, TN to Pigeon Forge, TN (4 hours)
Check out this post for tips for road trips with kids. The trip is about 4 hours (With a stop). It could be done as a long day trip but we like to spend a night or two. We often drive in the evening on Saturday and spend Sunday morning/afternoon. During car trips, the kids enjoy reading, drawing time, some wikki stix, and some iPad time. Buccees in Cookeville is our usual go-to pit stop. Knoxville is about 40 minutes away and a cheaper spot to sleep before and after than in Sevierville.
Where We Stayed
We’ve stayed a few times at the Dreammore Resort and Spa. This hotel is part of the park and offers benefits related to the park. They have a large outdoor pool or splash pad, and an indoor pool. During Christmas, we also loved the pretty trees and decorations, as well as meeting a few of Santa’s elves. Like other resorts we’ve stayed at before, there are schedules with activities such as story-telling and s’mores.
The room itself came with a large king bed and a bunk bed for the kids. Sweet! In addition to guaranteed admission, resort guests also had a few additional benefits. We could ride the trolley shuttle or drive our car and park for free in the preferred parking area to reduce our wait time at the entrance. Another amazing benefit was timesaver passes for everyone. These are similar to Fastpasses at Disneyworld. These regularly sell at the park for $60 per person. Although the cost of the room at the resort was pricey ($330), the guaranteed admission and timesaver passes made us decide it was worth it. There are numerous other choices in Pigeon forge including Hilton and Marriott brands if you have a surplus of those points.
We also stay often at the Hyatt Place Knoxville for 8,000 points. Hyatt Place is one of my favorite brands due to the space and pull-out sofa. We grabbed breakfast to go for the road. (My favorite thing to do is put cereal in a coffee cup and grab some fruit). You can earn Hyatt points from Hyatt stays, the Hyatt credit card and Chase points which can be transferred to Hyatt. Learn more about miles and hotel points here. We liked this hotel and have stayed here multiple times.
Tickets, Tips and Tricks
As someone who is used to Disneyworld prices, the tickets for Dollywood were really reasonable! 1 day park tickets are $84 and 2 and 3 day options exist for $15-$20 more. It’s worth considering whether a second day could be worth it for your family. You could explore at night the evening before and not feel pressured to do an all-day outing with kids in one day. We decided (well, I decided and convinced Ben) that it was worth the cost to get season passes for me and Carter. Ellie was eligible for a free pre-K pass (3 and 4 year olds) and the cost for me and Carter was only $350 for the set. The season passes came with a refillable mug, parking, and multiple guest passes. We used a guest pass to bring Ben, along with our friends for multiple visits a year. Note that there are blackout dates to check for the guest passes.
Right after you walk in the gates, towards the left, there is a height-measuring section. They will measure kids’ height and give them a color coded wristband based on their measurements. This makes it easier to determine what rides can be ridden.
Download the Dollywood app to see information about park hours, rides, wait times, food, and schedules for shows. The filter on the map is great for thinking about what’s next.
Best Rides for Kids
One of our favorite stops is Rockin’ Roadway. Similar to Autopia at Disney, this was a great easy ride for the kids to pretend to drive some cool classic cars. So happy! After that we headed to find more rides for kids. The country fair area has a good mix of rides with no height requirements (as long as there’s an adult riding with the child) and rides in the 36-40 range.
In this area, the kids enjoyed the Amazing Flying Elephants, and Lemon Teacups and the Shooting Star ride. Near this are fair games, a carousel and the train station for the train. The train was my favorite part of the day. During Christmas, the songs they play are Christmas-themed and I loved being able to sit and enjoy the sites.
In addition to the county fair, we explored other parts of the park with tons of roller coaster options. All the way in the back of the park is Ellie’s new favorite, FireChaser. There are several small play areas that Ellie and Ben are able to hang out in while Carter and I ride some bigger coasters. His favorites are Wild Eagle and the Tennessee Tornado ride, a big coaster with multiple loops and drops.
We haven’t done many other big coasters because Ellie can’t do them yet there are more than 10 other options for bigger kids and grownups.
The other main area that is really concentrated with kids’ rides is Wildwood Grove. This area is a favorite. On some visits, we primarily spend our time here. Some of the rides the kids enjoyed were the Mockingbird, Acorn Tower, Black Bear, and Dragonflier. The new Big Bear Mountain ride opened in 2023 and is an absolute blast. Lines can be a little long but its worth it!
Restaurants and Shows
As part of our season pass, we received a drink with unlimited refills. We alternated between lemonade and water all day. There are tons of kid-friendly options like chicken tenders, pizza, and burgers. For dinner, we have visited the Hickory House for turkey legs and pork fries. Near the exit, be sure and stop by the bakery for cinnamon bread!
We don’t often make time to watch shows on trips but are looking forward to doing so on future trips. The schedule is in the app, and many are repeated hourly. We did love the end of night fireworks we watched from the area near the timesaver pass stand. I love fireworks, and it was an excellent end to the day.
Special Events
We loved visiting during the multiple seasons, including Summer, Fall, and Christmas. The Smoky Mountain Christmas season is our favorite. There were lots of special shows, tall trees, and so many lights everyone. There’s tons of other events throughout the year!
Final Thoughts
This is a really fun park. Everything was outside and the weather was good and it was a great family experience. The park is pretty large, so it’d be good to have a plan so you’re not backtracking or trying to do too much and being disappointed at grumpy toddlers. The kids and I have season passes and will be back soon. I’ll be sure to share more as we do and see more things!
