I Spent 24 Hours at Dollywood

Hello, friends, and welcome to another video. Today, we're going to be taking you guys to spend 24 hours at Dollywood. And yes, we are going to be attempting to eat a slice of the 25-pound apple pie. Further context will be provided later. In 1986, world-famous music sensation Dolly Parton bought a stake in the Silver Dollar City amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, with the goal of bringing a world-class attraction to her hometown in the Smoky Mountains. And the park was then reopened for the 1986 season and all following as Dollywood. Now, we all know Dolly Parton for having some serious beef with a redhead named Jolene, running the best little whorehouse in Texas, and being a musical genius able to compose songs by just the beat of her acrylic nails. And I would say pretty much everyone loves Dolly Parton. If you have a problem with Dolly, you have your own problems. And I have known that Dollywood, the Dolly Parton theme park, has existed for a long time. But I've never been, and I can't say I totally know what all is supposed to be in there. And even after watching some of the Dollywood content that's out there, I still don't really know. But I do know people really like it. So in order to get to the bottom of this, we decided we had to go and check it out ourselves. And spend way more than just 9 to 5, 24 hours actually, eating, thrilling, and being merry, and attempting to unravel for any equally curious Dolly Parton fans, what is it really like at Dollywood? And yes, also, try and tackle the giant apple pie. But before we stuff our face, I do want to give a quick shout out to the sponsor of this video, Opera, the faster, safer, and smarter internet browser that will work for you, 9 to 5, and anytime in between. Damn, we did just do a 9 to 5 line, didn't we? How about the Grandole Opera-y browser? That's pretty good. Now we are pretty big Opera fans and have been using it for quite a while at this point. I kind of consider it my little customizable productivity hub for writing, researching, and absolutely optimizing shopping online for things I probably don't need, this month's fixation, posture correcting products. And their latest update has a lot of great features that I've found really useful. To give your browser a nice personalized touch, you can super easily change your Opera browser's theme. Maybe to set a little mood lighting, like a little Aurora for some dusky script writing, or a Midsommar for some chill, cozy vibes. And to further set the mood, Opera's pop-out player allows you to listen to music, blast your lo-fi, or if you're into something more high octane, play first-person Dollywood rollercoaster videos all in one screen. So you don't need to open any additional windows or apps. I am exhilarated right now. I'm also a huge fan of their split screen feature, where you can open two windows in the same screen just by pulling one of your tabs downwards. So you can stay locked in in one place while you're working. You can even pull up Opera's built-in AI tool, ARIA, without changing screens or opening new tabs with their command line shortcut. Hey, that's fast. Almost as fast as this rollercoaster. So if you want to support our channel and check out Opera, it's totally free. Just use my link in the description below to download Opera today. So with that, thanks again to Opera. And now, back to Dolly. So we made our way into the Smoky Mountains to follow our Dollywood dreams. And one thing I will say about Pigeon Forge, besides being surrounded by beautiful rolling hillside, is that it's kind of a scene up there. There's like a giant Titanic museum, a Hollywood wax museum complete with a giant King Kong at the entrance. Oh, there is a King Kong. Oh! And a Mount Rushmore. A Hatfield and McCoy dinner show, a Margaritaville Island Plaza. It was a lot more than I expected. Oh my God, not Alcatraz of the East. What does that even mean? But our destination was Dollywood. And to get to see and eat everything that we wanted to, we needed to start our 24 hours right when the park opened at 10 AM. All right. So we're at Dollywood right now. They just opened the gates, so people are flooding in. And my first impression, honestly, was that I was pretty impressed. Part of me thought that it might be like a bigger version of one of Dolly's pirate musical dinner shows or something, but it's a pretty sizable theme park with a lot of pretty big roller coasters you can see from different areas of the park and 11 different fully themed areas. We were currently in Show Street, the land right at the entrance of the park, which is where the bakery that sells the giant apple pie is located. The pie we are coming back for. We're going to come back around for the And instead, we're going to head over to Jukebox Junction first to start our day off with a roller coaster. So it's going to be exciting. It's going to be an exciting next few minutes. Two quick things to note. One, we filmed this during the Harvest Festival. So it won't be October when this video comes out, but it is currently October. And that is the reason for the season. Okay. And also, yes, I am in some Dollywood inspired attire. This is a custom outfit I got for the occasion from Jukebox Mama on Instagram. But yeah, I'm dressed up. I am, I am not Dolly bounded, but like a little bit. I did forgo a pair of cowboy boots since we had a full day of walking ahead of us, but there is hat potential later on. Okay. There are a few hats. So the hat could be added to the ensemble at some point. But after passing a giant pumpkin pyramid and some legitimate giant pumpkins, and also some early contenders for cowgirl hats. Oh, I said hat potential later on, but hat potential. And it's like the first kiosk. We crossed into Jukebox Junction. Now Jukebox Junction is a 1950s themed area inspired by Dolly's youth during that time. And besides being generally 1950s chrome, it features a retro themed reds drive-in restaurant, a rock and roadway ride, and the lightning rod coaster sticking out of the side of the mountain. Now, something you might not expect right away is that these Dollywood roller coasters are not messing around. Our guide told us that even the most hardcore roller coaster enthusiasts hold Dollywood in high regard. Apparently this is one of the more intense, a thrill seeker's favorite roller coaster at Dollywood, and we're doing it first thing. So, um, I guess let's get on it, shall we? We skipped the coffee. Now we're here. Themed after 1950s hot rods, the lightning rod races both refreshingly and exhilaratingly through the fresh mountain air at 73 miles per hour and features a nice 165 foot drop. And this is definitely a more high octane ride than you'd find at like Disneyland or Universal Studios. It's more like Islands of Adventure level, if that makes sense. And though Tyler's hair was certainly a casualty of the lightning rod, it was surprisingly the perfect way to start the day. But next up, we needed some breakfast because we still had like 23 hours left to go. Okay, so next up we headed over to Rivertown Junction to do a little eating. Dollywood has a lot of famous foods and most of the other Dollywood videos I've seen have actually been about the food specifically, so I wanted to get some of those delectable Dollywood snacks into my mouth. Starting off with this giant skillet. Does it have another name? I'm not sure, but it's a giant skillet and I've seen it in a couple other Dollywood videos and I was drawn to it. Almost inexplicably, but at the same time, obviously. This thing is impressively large even in person and apparently the skillet master cricket has been working at Dollywood since the day it opened, so she knows what she's doing with that giant skillet. Big skillet. Huge! And because it is harvest festival time, there is a special harvest succotash on the menu, which is packed full of fall vegetables like butternut squash, brussel sprouts, and lightly spiced sausage, all stir-fried obviously. It is a pretty straightforward dish and it doesn't taste super complex, but it is hearty and warm and lightly charred. A pretty good showing from the giant skillet. Now just a few steps down the road from the big skillet is an iconic Dollywood snack, the kettle corn from Country Cooker's Kettle Corn, which is a must get. And though I wouldn't say I am the biggest kettle corn fan, I was an instant fan of kettle corn master Rick. Though the gear is not just for intimidation factor, as apparently the kernels can pop up to five feet out of the kettle. So it's more of a kettle corn battle than you would expect. Oh wow, thank you. And I'm not trying to simp for Rick here, but this is potentially a notch above other kettle corn I've tried. It was warm, sweet, and oily, but still very light, and I could potentially taste a little bit of that kettle. But in order to avoid turning this video into 24 hours of kettle corn munching, we had to move on to our next stop. After our snack intermission, we power strolled through the rest of Rivertown Junction, named for all of the water around here I think, past a few literally thousand pound giant pumpkins. Past this recreation of Dolly's childhood Tennessee mountain home, and also past a very glitzy and glam gift shop, which it was hard not to stop and shop at. Before we veered to the right to get to our next land on the map, the village. There is a county fair area below here, which is like a kid's carnival ride area, but we're here on this side of the park for the Dollywood Express, which is a coal fired steam train, which takes you on a five mile journey around the foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Basically around the circumference of the entire park, giving you a preview of some of the other lands and coasters to come. And I will say it is pretty cute and calming and authentic, as the engine does blow off cinders into the air. The train conductor did specifically say that cinder in the eye was not a medical emergency, and please not to pull the emergency line or else. But after our 20 minute ride on the Dollywood Express, despite being pretty cindered, I could still see and I was ready to see more of the park. Next up on the map was Craftsman's Valley, which is the main area that features Dollywood's signature local artisans and craftsmen, both to showcase their talents, and also so guests can participate in the making of a craft of their choosing. There's a glassblowing installation, they have a blacksmith, they have a leathersmith, they have a candle making shop. Just to satisfy my curiosity, we did try a pumpkin spiced rib from Miss Lillian's Barbecue Corner, which was nice, smoky, and tangy, but I wasn't sure if I could actually detect any pumpkin. But the must try in Craftsman's Valley is the cinnamon bread, which is a Dollywood classic made fresh daily in this fully functional grist mill. Which is an exact replica of a water powered mill, as it would have been in the 1800s, when people in the Smoky Mountains relied on them to grind corn and wheat. And this cinnamon bread does smell amazing, but once you're confronted with it head on, it is a pretty formidable hunk of marinated bread. Could be drenched in butter. But I can confirm, the flavor is great. It's warm, fluffy, very sweet and sugared cinnamony. But I was glad that at the base, you could still taste that it was bread under there, and not like cake or pastry. So there was some grounding to the whole thing. And though it is a very rich and decadent snack, that didn't stop me from going back in for a second piece. Okay, what's next? After our off-camera hands had had their fill of cinnamon bread, we ran into Miss Lillian, aka the Chicken Lady, who is one of the only roaming face characters at Dollywood. But unlike with somewhere like Disney or Universal, I don't think there are multiple actors who play her. I believe there is only one Miss Lillian, and she is not based on anyone from Dolly's life, but is her own very vibrant character. I have to be honest, I was at least one step behind on the chicken improv. And my chicken dance did leave a bit to be desired. But I will happily accept the title of Chicken Influencer. Although it did seem like she was one step away from giving that title to Tyler instead. Though influenced by Miss Lillian, I did decide it was finally time to find a hat, and picked one up at the Valley Hat Shop, a little bit up the pathway. Though there were quite the variety of hats for sale here. I decided to go with this one with the sort of winged up brim. I feel like in its own way, it's kind of witchy, which is what put it over the edge for me. And at some point in the video, I will start wearing it for good. We'll see, it might start now. The hat hair might start now. Now our next stop is technically still in Craftsman's Valley, even though we are winding our way up the right edge of the park here. Yes, next up is Dollywood's Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, which is actually home to the country's largest collection of non-releasable American bald eagles, as well as a bunch of other birds. Dolly is a big fan of everything Smoky Mountains, including their birds of prey. She and I have that in common, because as I have the wingspan of a turkey vulture, I do feel a special connection to them. First up on the glove was Challenger, who is actually a famous bald eagle, a bird influencer, if you will. And as a lowly chicken influencer, I was pretty in awe to be in his presence, though at 35 years old, he is now retired. Over the years, he's flown in commercials over NASCAR races and even NFL games. And I've been crossing my fingers all day that we might get to meet an owl, and then suddenly Buster appeared, who was amazing and extremely tiny and an Eastern screech owl. He lost his eye after being hit by a car, but with the one eye he had remaining, he was surveying us quite intensely. And though Buster may not be a bird influencer like Challenger, he is famous to me. There's also some bird living quarters right behind the bird theater. I was very happy to see Desi, though I hope he was not so disgusted with us that he involuntarily vomited. Is he about to cough up a hairball or is he yawning? Oh my God, he's totally about to cough up a hairball. Hi. Now kind of glossing over Owens Farm to the left, which is another one of the 11 lands, we rounded the corner in the back of the park to enter our next land, Wilderness Pass. And on the horizon appeared a very intimidating sight. The Wild Eagle Roller Coaster, which was technically our next stop. The Wild Eagle is America's first wing coaster where you, the rider, are basically suspended from the end of this giant eagle's wing with your legs dangling in the air. And initially I thought that I could embody the spirit of Challenger, upgrade myself to a birdfluencer, and fly like an eagle, but the whole feet dangling thing really freaked me out actually. And I ended up having to close my eyes for the entire ride. And in addition to wrecking Tyler's hair, this ride also produced one of the most unflattering images of me of all time. Thoroughly shaken up, we passed some lounging pumpkins and made our way to our next activity at the Hansville Wax Company. As the name implies, at Hansville, you basically just make a wax cast of your hand, which was enough of a sell for me. And surveying their past work, I quite liked the quiet coyote and the grope, but in the end, decided to go for the classic rock and roll hands. And basically, the way the molding works is that the attendant alternates dipping your hand into the hot paraffin wax and then into the ice water. Ooh, yeah, I felt it harden. Oh, yeah. It feels funny. Yeah. To build up a layered wax mold. You can wash your hands. Nice. Oh my God, Ty, look. Then they dip that into your choice of colored wax to give it some flair and fill it up with paraffin pellets. And voila, you have a wax replica of your hand. That's pretty cool. I kind of love it, actually. It's my hand. Cute. Two right hands, wait. Thing from the Addams Family vibes intensify. It's my disembodied hand. So with our hand in hand, we headed through the rest of Wilderness Pass deep into the back part of the park. I feel like we've officially reached a point where I would say, Dollywood's pretty big. Yeah. I feel like we've advanced. This is a new extra area of the park, right? It keeps going. It does keep going. This land in the far back here is called Wildwood Grove and is the newest land in Dollywood, having opened in 2019. It's kind of a kid-oriented family fun area, but it is very pretty back here. And weaving around the whole land is the track of the Big Bear Mountain Coaster, which is the longest ride at Dollywood with over 3,900 feet of track. Okay, this is the roller coaster in question. Yes. We're doing this one. Yes. People are screaming, but it doesn't look as bad. No. There aren't a lot of drops or hills, but don't let the low altitude deceive you. It is pretty fast and exhilarating and operates kind of like a Hot Wheels track where there are like accelerators throughout that blast you through the nice evening mountain air. It was however, unintimidating enough for me to finally also keep my eyes open and attempt to point at our cameraman on the ground. Where is he? However, I would be surprised if I pointed in the right direction even once. Okay. That one was the best. Yeah, that was good. Mostly fun, not very scary. No. Not scary farms. Only Dollywood wholesome fun. Now to complete our park loop, we headed back through Wildwood Grove and down Timber Canyon, which is sort of like the back alley that will take you back to the front of the park. There are a few coasters and a pretty big drop ride back here, but we were pretty singularly focused on seeing all the pumpkins because this is also where the Great Pumpkin Luminites Walk was. Although I think technically we were going through it backwards, I did enjoy the flock of grinning jack-o'-lanterns, the lit up pumpkin alleyway and the pumpkin discotheque. It's called disco? Rave pumpkin, rave pumpkin. I hope she thinks it's hot to go. Yeah, yeah. It's a pumpkin rave. And after passing the signature Dolly giant butterfly made of pumpkins, we were back where we had started at Show Street. We have saved the Dolly paraphernalia and the pie for last. Now, though I would say there is definitely some Dolly theming throughout the park, it's a little bit less in your face than you might think from the name Dollywood, but there is one region of the park right below Show Street that is 100% Dolly, the Dolly Parton experience. Do you perhaps see that giant purple thing? I do. That's where we're going. Yes. That. Yeah. Which is an area that houses the sort of Dolly museum aspects of the park. Inside this giant purple butterfly building is an exhibit called Song Teller, which takes you through Dolly's life from her childhood in Locust Ridge, Tennessee onto Nashville and eventually the world stage, as well as highlights her current philanthropic work. There's also another exhibit called Behind the Seams, which houses many iconic Dolly outfits and wigs, as well as a recreation of Dolly's tour bus as it would have been when she was traveling the country on tour. And after soaking it all in, I did feel pretty ready to head back to our hotel, but we promised everyone some pie. So we swung by the Spotlight Bakery which sells the famous 25 pound apple pie baked to perfection in a cast iron skillet. Now we had absolutely no delusions of being able to eat 25 pounds of apple pie. So we ordered a three pound slice of apple pie to go, which was still pretty insane looking in its sizable box. Actually, I feel like an American girl doll. Like I feel like I'm an American girl doll. This is like a human size indicator. And with our box of pie under my arm, we passed through the Dollywood Emporium on our way to the exit. It's a vest for your doggy partner. And then it was out into the crisp night to hike over to the trolley stop, which would take us back to our hotel. Now we were staying at the Dreammore Resort, which is one of two official Dollywood hotels, which I think is supposed to have sort of like a Dolly's house kind of vibe. And it's quite nice overall. Oh, come on in. Oh yeah. In the room, there are some nice theme touches. It's not too overt, but there are some butterflies, some guitars, some more butterflies. And a glamorous dressing room style vanity. But we weren't here just to crash, as it was time to crack open our pie box and confront our destiny. Now this thing is crazy and it's almost a challenge in itself to figure out how to construct a good bite. I got to extract some crust and then potentially spear a few apples, right? Yeah. Oh my God. Okay, this is my bite. But after some investigative forking and surveying and biting. Cinnamon-y. I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say I actually think this pie has the right amount of apples because if it had more crust, it would just be like a brick. I mean, it's pretty good actually. Actually, I'm getting some sugar. Actually, I like it. And once Tyler cracked into it. Oh, that's surprisingly refreshing. That's really fruit. He seemed like he was happy to graze on it for the next couple of hours. You know what? It's kind of like a Chicago style pizza. Oh, it really is. Right? Yeah. And after about 14 hours and 20,000 steps at Dollywood, our doggy partons were barking. So in terms of our 24 hour counter. I think we're allowed to spend at least 10 of those hours sleeping. Yeah, I'm gonna say about like an hour and a half for a bath. So I guess to answer my question from the beginning of the video of what is Dollywood, it actually turned out to be much more of an amusement park than a Dolly themed park. Because as Tyler's hair can attest to, there is a pretty serious arsenal of high octane roller coasters So if you are the only person in the world who doesn't like Dolly Parton, you'd probably still have a good time. I would specifically recommend the Big Bear Mountain Coaster, the Kettle Corn, especially if it's freshly popped by Rick and the birds, specifically Buster, the Eastern Screech Owl. But as for me, it's about time to head back down the mountain. It's 24 hours later, came here with a dream and I'm leaving with a hat. Subscribe for more owl content. And I'm being serious about that this time.