While I am an adult who spends most of his free time in theme parks, my love for them started when I was a child. And while the vast majority of my trips to Disneyland or Universal these days are solo ventures for my job, I try to take my family to visit theme parks as often as possible. This year’s family vacation took us to the Smokey Mountains and the Blue Ridge Mountains, and for me, that meant taking some time in Eastern Tennessee to visit Dollywood.
While certainly not as big a name as Disney or Universal, Dollywood has still carved out its own niche in the theme park space thanks to its namesake Dolly Parton, who is still one of the most widely beloved celebrities in the world. It offers guests an experience that is unlike just about anything else you can find in the industry, and what I found, somewhat surprisingly, was that it's one of the most family-friendly theme parks I have ever visited.
Dollywood Has Plenty Of Attractions For Any Age
I had never been to Dollywood before visiting the park in early July, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I did a minimum of pre-visit planning, in part because I wanted to see how feasible that would be. As a result, I spent most of my first morning simply getting the lay of the land and figuring out where everything was located. To my surprise, this method worked remarkably well. Dollywood has a laid-back atmosphere that doesn’t make you think you have to rush to get everything done.
As you wander through the park with a couple of young kids, what you discover is that there’s plenty for them to do. These days, most theme parks put a big focus on thrill rides, but those sorts of attractions often have height requirements and other restrictions that make them inaccessible for a lot of kids. While Dollywood certainly has a few of those, there is plenty for younger kids to do.
The County Fair area of Dollywood is a bit like Fantasyland at Disney: it’s an area that is specifically dedicated to attractions that pretty much anybody can do. But in one corner, there are a few rides that are designed specifically for the youngest guests. They were so small that even I, not a large adult, would have had trouble fitting in the vehicles. So instead, my 6-year-old and her 18-month-old sister were able to ride together, something they both truly loved. When the older kid got bored, the toddler was able to ride by herself, and I can’t think of another park that has a ride where that is even possible.
My 6-year-old has already developed a love for roller coasters, but the ones that she was too small to ride were actually minimal, so it didn’t bother her too much. On the plus side, Dollywood’s newest, and best attraction was one that was open to her.
The New Big Bear Mountain Coaster Is A Thrill Ride For Everybody
In May, Dollywood opened one the most anticipated rides of the year with Big Bear Mountain. The park's newest attraction is a roller coaster that runs nearly 4,000 feet of track over six acres of land. It’s an absolutely massive coaster – the longest one at Dollywood – but despite its stats, it's considered a “family” coaster. It has no inversions, and its height requirement is a mere 39 inches, meaning even most children can ride it.
While Big Bear Mountain may not push the limits of thrills that other coasters, like those at sister park Silver Dollar City and some at Dollywood can provide, I honestly found Big Bear Mountain to be the most fun coaster in the park. It’s fast, it’s a decently long ride (at about 100 seconds) and the way it covers a lot of ground, literally, in that time makes it feel even longer. It was the only roller coaster that I had interest in riding again after my first run.
Food Options Are Broad Enough For Any Needs
Eating can be one of the most fun things to do in any theme park, as you can frequently find some pretty creative options, but creativity isn’t always welcome when it comes to kids looking for something to eat – and when you have somebody in your party with dietary restrictions, things can get even more complicated.
I have a six-year-old on a gluten-free diet and eating out anywhere is always difficult, so I was expecting problems when it came time for meals at Dollywood. But things went a lot better than expected. At least one of the pizza options offered a gluten-free pizza, and gluten-free hamburger buns were also available. When we ordered one of the burgers, I saw somebody scrub like they were going in for surgery and shepherd the meal through the process to reduce cross-contamination problems.
When getting dinner at the Front Porch Cafe, a table service restaurant that we were able to get into without reservations (something I didn’t think was possible in a modern theme park), the waitress was knowledgeable about what gluten-free options there were, what could be made that way, and more importantly what could not, without needing to check. It just made the process of ordering and getting food into children that much easier.
Now, if only Dollywood's $230 apple pie or the iconic cinnamon bread were available in gluten-free options...
It’s Much Less Crowded Than Disney When It Comes To Families
If you’ve been to Disneyland or Disney World with small kids or even a Universal park, then you know those places can just become a sea of strollers. Vast swaths of land inside the parks need to be given over to stroller parking when guests stop to eat or get in line for attractions. But as a dad who spent three days pushing a stroller through Dollywood, the thing that surprised me was how few strollers there actually were. There were some, of course, but what you notice walking around is that a lot of the guests are either thrill-seeking teens or young adults, or people who might be visiting Dollywood to celebrate retirement.
There are families at Dollywood, and plenty of them but it doesn’t seem to be nearly as many as a percentage of the total crowd compared to other parks. This makes maneuvering through the park with a family that much easier.
For somebody like me, coming from the west coast, getting to Dollywood isn’t the easiest trip in the world, but it’s a park that I’m now very glad I’ve been able to visit, and it’s one to which I hope to return again one day.
