Amusement Park Bucket List – Dollywood

I spend a lot of time here talking about the biggest and probably most famous theme parks in the US, the Universal Studios and Disney parks. Obviously, there are TONS more! I’ve visited a few, but not nearly as many as I’d like to. I have a huge list of parks I want to visit, and I’m thinking I’ll start posting about them and what makes me want to see them in person! First, we’ll talk about Dollywood.

There aren’t a ton of pics on their own site, so I’ve included a few to flesh out this post from Google. Photo captions will include sources. 🙂

I’m discussing what I think are the three main components of a theme park- the rides and attractions, the atmosphere, and of COURSE, the food.

Dollywood has over 40 rides and attractions, including family rides, roller coasters, museums, and shows. The park actually has some big coasters that are well-known and said to be really awesome. Coasters at Dollywood have won several of Amusement Today’s Golden Ticket Awards! Thunderhead won #1 Wood Roller Coaster in 2005 and 2006. Wild Eagle won Best New Theme Park Attraction in 2012, and Lightning Rod won that same award in 2016.

As for atmosphere, the park is inspired by Dolly Parton’s aesthetic and as such features tons of butterflies and bright colors. The park’s vibe also celebrates the Smoky Mountains and Appalachian culture, with cabin and coal mine feel all around as well. The park has won the Golden Ticket Award for Friendliest Park the past SEVEN YEARS in a row. They’ve also won Best Shows the past nine years consecutively, so clearly the atmosphere of this park is highly celebrated.

It’s also definitely worth noting that Dollywood has won the Golden Ticket for Best Christmas Event EVERY YEAR(!) that this category was judged, which has been the past ten years. Disney and Universal parks have won awards for coasters, as well as well-known franchise parks like those owned by Six Flags and Cedar Fair, so it’s probably safe to say that any Christmas events held at those parks (those that are open in the winter, obviously) have been judged on this as well. I don’t really know if that’s the case, as there isn’t a ton of info on adjudication on the Amusement Today website. Regardless, it’s pretty impressive that Dollywood won this award ten years in a row, and really speaks to the atmosphere of the park!

Arguably more important (to me) than any other category is food, and Dollywood has lots of good stuff. Especially bread-based sweets, which are my favorite! Dollywood has also won the Golden Ticket for Best Food four times. The most notable food items they serve are the Cinnamon Bread served with apple butter, which I’d say is famous, the Butterfly-shaped soft pretzels, and an array of customizable funnel cakes. Funnel cakes are a theme park classic, but Dollywood jazzes ’em up with different batter flavors and topping options. In additional to traditional, they offer red velvet and fruity pebble funnel cakes, and in the fall, a pumpkin spice funnel cake. You can add toppings, ranging from candies to berries to sauces. Below are a few pics of customized funnel cakes from Dollywood’s Instagram!

As far as savory meal foods, there seems to be a big focus on barbecue and comfort foods- traditional Tennessee family fare! There are also plenty of basic crowd-pleasers like hot dogs and pizzas.

Dollywood has tons to offer, obviously! And I can’t wait to get to see it all myself. I’ve got a long Theme Park Bucket List- in the next post like this, I’m gonna be talking about Hershey Park! Yee!