Adventure 865

  Some of us were discussing old rides at Dollywood that are no longer there. This was one of my favorites. The Mountain Slidewinder The hike up to this ride was no joke.  I remember my mom waiting on the platform at the bottom for us to arrive, then we'd race back up the hill to go again. The rush of the ride was worth the climb up the hill. My mom would wait there for us to keep going over and over, until the hill won out and we wanted to go do something else in the park. This was by far my favorite ride ever, and one that I doubt will ever be replaced, sadly.  Another oldie but goodie that is no longer around is the Flooded Mine. It was pretty morbid, but comical. They had to close it more than once for copperhead infestations. Incidentally, they had a similar issue with Blazing Fury one summer. Things you wish you didn't know.  The Ferris wheel is long gone too. There are many gems that still remain though, and if you know where to look, there's plenty of stuff s...

We had some Bring-a-Friend passes remaining, so we took some friends to Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood. It was a little chilly, but the crowds weren't bad and it was a wonderful day.  None of us are ready for Abby to be driving!  Life's too short to not be silly with friends It doesn't get much better than this Merry Christmas from Dollywood!

What a difference!! None of my family wanted to go back to Dollywood today after the horrible experience last week - except for Abby. So she & I headed down there this morning for the 11:00 opening. We got to the security point just after 10 AM and only had to wait about 10 minutes before we started moving through the metal detectors. We sailed right over to the ticket gate and had to wait just a couple of minutes there. Once inside the park, we had the place to ourselves for the walk to the "rope drop" waiting area. We decided to stand next to Dolly's house and head towards the train and Country Fair area. The rope dropped at 10:55 with hardly anyone waiting near us. We quickly walked up to the train, got the times for the first couple of trains, and headed over to the Country Fair. 90% of the other people we saw in the area (which wasn't many) were making a beeline for Santa. We bypassed them and headed to a ride, and walked right on to it with no one else there...