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Hi Everyone,
Dollywood opened for its 38th Season on Friday March 10th, 2023, and I have made this photo trip report. I will have videos out soon! The weather was rainy early on, but the skies cleared, and it was a pretty great day to be at Dollywood. My day, basically: I went around the entire park to see what changes I noticed. I took in three shows, Love Always, The Smoky Mountain String band and the Tones show at the Village stage next to the train. They were all great and polished - no indications of opening day jitters! And then I finished the day with the Dolly Parade, which was surreal.
What I noticed first as I entered the park was that the entry plaza, Showstreet and Market Square were decked out to celebrate 50 years of Dolly's musical see-you-later to Porter Waggoner, "I Will Always Love You". There are new photo opportunities throughout this part of the park, new related merchandise and even new limited time treats you can enjoy celebrating IWALY.
General Observations: The crowds seemed heavier to me than a year ago. I'm not sure the reasoning behind that. Dolly was expected to be there, which draws people in. The weather forecast was iffy and at some point, included potential snow. In the end it rained in the morning and turned into a beautiful sunny day. The park looked great I thought. It felt to me like most of the projects were wrapped up before opening day. There's always lots of little changes that I go around and try and notice. I will point those out in each area below.
The ride operations that I noticed were mostly uneventful. I checked the app and the boards around the park from time to time. Lightning Rod went down for the day sometime in the afternoon. Dizzy Disk wasn't running and had a sign in front of it. I saw some social media reports of ride stoppages and evacuations, so there were some minor hiccups, but those happen every day. These types of events are perfect indicators of how safe Dollywood's rides are. They are designed to come to a very safe stop when there are minor issues that pop up during the course of operating heavy machinery. They can seem frightening when you're less familiar with how it works, but when a ride stops it's nothing to worry about. Stay in your seat and wait for instructions. Here's a couple of posts you can see - safety first!
Here's a area-by-area breakdown of my day looking around the park:
Tram Station - I didn't notice any changes.
Entry Plaza - Permanent structures replaced the temporary tents for ECV Rental Annex as well as the Security Screening pass through area.
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| ECV-Wheelchair-Stroller Rental Annex |
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| Security Screening Pass through area |
Showstreet Right (from the front gate perspective) - It was decked out for the "I Will Always Love You" 50-year celebration. There was a pop-up merchandise spot next door to Showstreet Snacks that has a huge selection of the 50-year Merch, so check that out. There are other places in the park to get the 50-year merch as well. You can see the photos above of Showstreet in IWALY finest.
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| pop up IWALY merch on Showstreet |
Showstreet Left - The ECV/wheelchair/strollers Rentals, Lockers and the Ride Accessibility Center has been rearranged in a more spacious way. Next to the Emporium you'll find the Measuring Center and, on the right, adjacent to the Palace Theater you'll find oversized lockers and the ECV/Wheelchairs/Strollers Rental location. I'm not sure if this layout is final but take note that it has changed around.
Wildwood Grove - seemed to me to be the hotspot of activity in the park. As I got closer to Big Bear, I noticed some of the planters in the middle of the pathway had changed shape a bit. A new permanent fence has replaced the wooden work-fence at the Waterfall part of the ride. All the track is complete, so now the focus is on wiring up the ride components, and lots of hardscaping and landscaping yet to be completed. There is quite a bit left to do before the opening sometime in May.
I spied a bunch of new Big Bear merchandise at Mountain Grove Merchants in between Frogs n Fireflies and Black Bear Trail Ride.
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| There's a lot of work left to do for a May 2023 opening. |
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| Big Bear Nano Coaster, $34.99. |
Timber Canyon - the major change that I saw was Thunderhead has had a lot of wood replaced in areas near the station. I think this is the last phase (maybe?) of the multi-year phase full replacement of track. IIRC they were switching to a Brazilian wood - Ipe, I think it is known as. It's much stronger than the pine that it's replacing. According to the social media comments I saw about Thunderhead this weekend, the changes were described in extremely positive terms.
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| new wood on Thunderhead! |
Wilderness Pass - The Food Truck Plaza was back with two Food Trucks there.
Craftsman's Valley - I noticed a new water wheel outside of the Bird Show theater, and some work on the water trough has happened as well. Daredevil Falls' exit ramp was looking good with new paint. The Food Truck Park was back in the Tennessee Tornado Plaza. The setup has been rearranged a bit.
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| Lots of new paint on the exit of Daredevil Falls |
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| #funko #dollyfunko #FunkoPop #Collectibles #MusicIcons #CountryMusic #9to5 #Jolene #IWillAlwaysLoveYou #Dollywood #Tennessee #EastTennessee #Memorabilia #VinylFigures #PopCulture #LimitedEdition #ToyCollection |
Country Fair - Dollywood has expanded its picnic/Group pavilions. The Celebration Hall has been converted into group dining space. CH is next door to the Blue Ribbon Pavillion which, both buildings have been there for a million years, at least. I imagine both pavilions will be busy on weekends for the warmer months. Scrambler received some paint-love in the off season and is looking sharp in its mustard-ketchup color scheme. Does anyone know what has happened to Lemon Twist? It turns as fast as a minute hand on a clock, and it has not always been this way.
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| All Smiles on the Scrambler |
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| Scrambler with fresh paint |
The Village - New accessibility ramps for the train. This will hopefully make this easier for those that need the ramps.
Adventures In Imagination - The biggest news came from Dolly about the replacement for Chasing Rainbows Museum, expected to open in 2024.
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| Chasing Rainbows prepares to morph into Dollys Interactive Experience |
Dolly Parade - Dolly made one parade appearance this opening weekend and it was on Friday. Enjoy my video below of Dolly going down Showstreet.
That wraps up my Trip Report. I am working on several videos to share, so do be sure to Subscribe to my YouTube Channel (HERE) and click the bell for notifications, and you'll catch all my Dollywood videos.
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