Pigeon Forge, Tennessee: Dollywood

Not saying Disneyland is overrated, but I think Dollywood is far more deserving of the title The Happiest Place on Earth. It's beautifully kept, every staff member is incredibly nice, and they have a great mix of rides. Whether you're looking for the more classic carnival faire or shiny new thrill rides, they've got you covered. As other reviewers mentioned, Blazing Fury is a must. A bizarre and unique ride experience for sure. The line moves quickly -- we went on it at least 4 times during our day at the park.

I'd recommend visiting during their Halloween festival. They really go all out with the theme, and the park is beautifully lit once the sun goes down.

Blazing Fury is a holdover from pre-Dollywood days when the amusement park was called Silver Dollar City.

RoadsideAmerica.com appears to have written off Dollywood as being overly corporate and mainstream. For the most part that seems to hit the nail on the head, however while visiting last time I noticed a hidden treasure. A diamond in the rough: Blazing Fury.

Blazing Fury is a dark ride where you drive through a flaming village while aging "animatronic" hillbillies shout things at you. Apparently it is a holdover from the days before the place was even called Dollywood. It almost made the money we spent on Dollywood worth it (almost).

Dollywood has become very commercialized, but so has everything else in P.F. You should expect it when coming. But to be fair, it is quite entertaining -- live shows, the "new" Festival of Nations in the Spring, and of course all of the good food!

Dolly does not even own the park anymore, they pay her for her name. It is said locally it is not even American owned anymore. (I grew up in P.F.) Otherwise, the whole town is changing daily, out with the old, in with the new. I go monthly and see something new every time I go! A new 4 lane road is under construction after coming off the interstate to get to Dollywood without driving through town...

How to Get a Free Day at Dollywood: I once worked at Dollywood during a summer break from college -- briefly that is, until I was an unfortunate victim of their hillbilly management style as a cast member on the Dollywood Express. From my experience, it seems that Dollywood would rather have a couple literally run over by their 110-ton, coal-fired, steam locomotive than have a simpleton like me "ruin" their day by asking them to get off the tracks.

The Dollywood Express attraction involves a five-mile round trip up into the outer reaches of the mountainous terrain of the park. Along the way, the train is "held up" by a fictional group of characters for a short interactive comedy skit. Cheesy as it was, it was always fun. We alternated positions, switching from actors, to ride attendants, to safety attendants at the gates. In order to give visitors a truly authentic feel for the 1800s, the gates at the train crossings were designed to be manually operated when a train was coming. Most reasonable people would not argue with a piece of machinery even greatly outweighing Dolly's massive mammaries.

However, as my luck would have it, I encountered the two most unreasonable people in all of Pigeon Forge one day. In an attempt to prevent the couple from entering the Kingdom of God as flat as one of the pancakes that can be found at any of the 200+ pancake houses on the Pigeon Forge strip, I incurred their wrath. Perhaps it was their estimated combined weight of over 1000 pounds, or maybe even their unwillingness to part from their large chocolate milkshakes that warranted such hostile opposition to the urgency in my voice as I attempted to ask them to get off the tracks as the locomotive was less than 100 yards away.

In any event, they reported my "rudeness" to the park manager, I found myself out of work that summer, and they got themselves a full refund.