CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted January 23, 2018 Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 I've wanted to visit Dollywood for many years, but David refuses. I should have him read your TR! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted January 23, 2018 Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 32 minutes ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said: I've wanted to visit Dollywood for many years, but David refuses. I should have him read your TR! He needs to! You need to! We need to meet you there! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547 Posted January 23, 2018 Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 20 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said: He needs to! You need to! We need to meet you there! If we do ever go, we won't be camping. I don't want to take any RV through the mountains. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mrs.TN22 12 Posted January 23, 2018 Report Share Posted January 23, 2018 I loved the Dollywood Pics! I haven't been in years. I grew up going to Dollywood, before it was Dollywood and still Silver Dollar City - we had season passes every year. Always went with my grandparents. We had season passes with at least one gold pass each year up until around 2009 or so - that's when they started revamping and took many of my favorite childhood rides away - the memories were gone for me, and the kids were tired of going. So we haven't been in around 9 years. However, seeing your pics, thinking we might have to visit again. It's an easy day trip for us. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Seals 111 Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 5 hours ago, DaveInTN said: Yes there is a ton to do and ride for those that don't ride coasters. Not all the rides are E ticket....or DD as the case may be. Admit it. You were just waiting for someone to ask that question. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted January 24, 2018 Report Share Posted January 24, 2018 14 hours ago, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said: If we do ever go, we won't be camping. I don't want to take any RV through the mountains. Gotcha. Well..hopefully you do make it to the area at some point, it really is very pretty. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 Whew! I finally caught up. I know you're glad I'm back. We've never been to Dollywood. I need to change that. But first, I'm heading to another theme park I've never visited..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 45 minutes ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said: Whew! I finally caught up. I know you're glad I'm back. We've never been to Dollywood. I need to change that. But first, I'm heading to another theme park I've never visited..... Which one? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
keith_h 420 Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 1 hour ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said: Whew! I finally caught up. I know you're glad I'm back. We've never been to Dollywood. I need to change that. But first, I'm heading to another theme park I've never visited..... 36 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said: Which one? Yeah, quit being a tease. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 Which one?Should I make you wait and see?Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
GaDawgFan.....Kelly 799 Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 Yeah, quit being a tease.Ha ha ha!Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 28 minutes ago, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said: Should I make you wait and see? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Ha! I'm guessing... DisneyLAND Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tri-Circle-D 2,059 Posted January 25, 2018 Report Share Posted January 25, 2018 7 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said: Ha! I'm guessing... DisneyLAND I'm guessing Gatorland TCD DaveInTN 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted January 26, 2018 Report Share Posted January 26, 2018 17 hours ago, Tri-Circle-D said: I'm guessing Gatorland TCD Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted January 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 On 1/23/2018 at 2:49 PM, lightbikes said: We have never been to Dollywood, based on your pictures I think it may be something we have to look at. Especially the cinnamon bread - thanks for the details I think it is worth the trip. On 1/23/2018 at 3:51 PM, CCIntrigue...aka Gwen said: I've wanted to visit Dollywood for many years, but David refuses. I should have him read your TR! You'd enjoy it. Just know that the park is quite hilly. They do rent scooters there...if I recall correctly you've used them at WDW. On 1/23/2018 at 5:24 PM, Mrs.TN22 said: I loved the Dollywood Pics! I haven't been in years. I grew up going to Dollywood, before it was Dollywood and still Silver Dollar City - we had season passes every year. Always went with my grandparents. We had season passes with at least one gold pass each year up until around 2009 or so - that's when they started revamping and took many of my favorite childhood rides away - the memories were gone for me, and the kids were tired of going. So we haven't been in around 9 years. However, seeing your pics, thinking we might have to visit again. It's an easy day trip for us. I am guessing that the Flooded Mine was one of your favorite rides. On 1/23/2018 at 8:05 PM, Seals said: Admit it. You were just waiting for someone to ask that question. That one actually had just come to me. It still cracks me up. On 1/25/2018 at 12:19 PM, GaDawgFan.....Kelly said: Whew! I finally caught up. I know you're glad I'm back. We've never been to Dollywood. I need to change that. But first, I'm heading to another theme park I've never visited..... You still haven't answered this....I am also guessing DL. On 1/25/2018 at 1:57 PM, twiceblessed....nacole said: Ha! I'm guessing... DisneyLAND Me too. On 1/25/2018 at 2:05 PM, Tri-Circle-D said: I'm guessing Gatorland TCD I don't care who you are.... that's funny. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DaveInTN 3,247 Posted January 27, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 Ok folks, it is past due time to move on to our sixth and final trip of this report. I was traveling this past week and never had time to post an update, but I'm enjoying a quiet Saturday morning with Anna, have a fresh cup of coffee, and am ready to roll. So, let's go. Trip #6 - Thanksgiving at The Fort Once again, I had hopes that we would be planning a trip to the Fort for all 8 of us, including son in law. And they were on board too, so I planned accordingly. I purchased a new tent to put up behind the motorhome for them, and had a Preferred site booked (I normally prefer 500), in part because that's the only level available but also because the pad would be better for a tent. And then, just weeks before departure, SIL started a new job and couldn't take off. Again, DD opted to stay back with him. So, we went from 8 to 6. And similar to the Dollywood trip, INC had a conflict on the Saturday before Thanksgiving that she needed to be in Nashville for. My plans were to leave after school on Friday. Should we delay our departure by 24 hours, shaving a full day off of our reservation? Nah! I booked her a plane ticket for Saturday evening, figuring we would arrive Saturday afternoon, get set up, and she would come in via Magical Express that night. So, with that all laid out, let's get to departure day. In years past, I would typically yank the kids from school in the early afternoon to hit the road early. But oldest DD works as a Special Ed assistant for the school district. It's one thing to yank a student early, but she needed to be there for her kiddo, and she works until 4pm. She then had to get to her home, pick up her bearded dragon Khaleesi to take to her sister's house (who since she wasn't going was babysitting Khaleesi), and then drive out to our place for departure. I knew all of that would take until around 6, and being late November it would be dark by the time we left. Driving the motorhome on the narrow, winding country roads we live on is never fun, but doing so in the dark would be even better. The only thing that would make this better would be if it was raining. Oh, guess what? It rained. LOL> Anyways, while waiting for DD to arrive that afternoon, I pulled the motorhome up front and was fully ready to hit the road as soon as she pulled in. You can see that the sun was already pretty low in the sky. After DD11 got home, she was excited so we grabbed a selfie while we still had daylight. Poor DD arrived and I hurried her into the motorhome so we could get moving, as the rain was just starting to come down. I never even let her go inside the house. After we were on the road, she said she had had to pee so bad....lol. Fortunately being in a motorhome has its advantages, so she didn't have to hold it. I had made a reservation for an overnight campsite at Harvest Moon in Adairsville, GA, around 4 hours south of us. But after only 45 minutes on the road, I was wondering if we'd make it. When we got to Murfreesboro, at the junction of I-24 and 840, we hit a standstill due to a large accident. The combination of being Friday evening, in the rain, the weekend before a holiday, combined to royally screw things up. We sat there for an hour before getting moving again. Then, we had to go over Monteagle in the wind and rain. I have arthritis in my hands (yes, early onset....I'm not THAT old), and I was hurting from grabbing tightly to that wheel. Traffic in Chattanooga was its usual mess as well. We made a quick stop in a rest area to eat our dinner, then pressed on. I was exhausted, but we kept going and finally made it to Adairsville at close to midnight. I figured I'd get Anna tucked in her bunk (she somehow had never fallen asleep during the ride), and I'd collapse to sleep. Well, Anna and everyone else got tucked, and I went to bed. But...I didn't sleep. No idea why, but that does happen to me from time to time when traveling. I laid all night without getting any sleep, so by 5 I figured I'd make some coffee, and hit the road. The nice thing is, that took us through Atlanta early on a Saturday morning, so we just breezed on down the road. The rain had ended, and it was smooth sailing. We hit the Fort by mid-afternoon, and got site 109, which was my first request. I got things set up. After setting up and hanging out relaxing for a bit, we checked in down the loop with fellow Fiends Jason and Kelly....the GA Dawg fans. This was the second time in the last 3 years that we've camped in 100 with them, so we were looking forward to that. We chatted briefly, and then it was time to head to our arrival day dinner ADR at Trails End. We hadn't had dinner at TE in a number of years, and I figured not having INC with me, it would be easy just to stay put and walk over there for dinner. When I made the reservation I didn't at all focus on the price range noted on the Disney site. As you know, buffet prices fluctuate quite a bit based on the day, and my recollection was that dinner there was somewhere in the $18-20 range. Well, let's just say it's no longer in the $18-20 range. Dinner for the 5 of us (4 adults, 1 child) came to over $150! I was glad I had Disney Rewards dollars to use. Regardless, the buffet was good and everyone enjoyed their dinner. After finishing up at TE, we wandered back to 100, where Kelly and Jason were outside hanging out with ACinA2 (or something like that) Aaron and his family. I was really hoping to get to meet them this week, and here we were lucking out and meeting them on the first night. This trip, despite the rocky first travel night, was starting out awesomely! After visiting for a bit, we did a little bit of looping, but then we were all pretty tired from the drive, my lack of sleep, and getting set up, so we headed back to the RV to settle in for the night. I didn't want to sleep as I wanted to wait for INC to arrive later that night. She wasn't due to arrive at the Fort until around midnight, but I knew if I went to sleep I might not get up to go get her, and I wanted to pick her up on the cart rather than make her ride the bus. After she landed at MCO, I stayed in touch and tracked her location to know when to head up front. I saw that her bus was coming up Bonnet Creek toward Vista, so I figured they's make the left on Vista and head right to the Fort. I headed up front in the cart to get her. Well....the bus did turn left on Vista, but it buzzed right past the Fort. It turns out they were first dropping guests off at the Lodge, and then the Poly, before coming to stop at the Fort. What the Fort!! I knew we were less important, but to drive right past the Fort like that was stupid IMO. Well, I had time to kill, so I tried to get a "midnight at the Outpost" picture. That's not so easy on a phone, but it's not terrible. I was still tracking her location, and had seen them stop at the Lodge and the Poly and then head back up World Drive and down Vista. So I wasn't surprised to soon be seeing this. INC wasn't the only Fort guest to get off the bus. There were some with luggage, so I assume they were cabin guests. INC had the benefit of not having to travel with any luggage, since we brought everything with us. So she hopped on board the cart and we sped back to 109 for a well deserved night's sleep. Coming up...we experience the Three Major P's of Fort Life!! Stay tuned....you won't want to miss that. PureTcrazy...rita and Avatab.... Steve 1 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
fladogfan aka Gretchen 259 Posted January 27, 2018 Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 Oh boy, more trip reporting! Driving in rain is no fun at all. Glad you made it safely to the fort. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
momof3kids-Yvonne 594 Posted January 27, 2018 Report Share Posted January 27, 2018 I'm sad that Gwen and Caleb were unable to be there on this trip. I really want to get in one more family trip somewhere before Drew graduates from college and vacation times don't match up. Looking at his break schedule for this year and next (he is taking an extra year), spring break this year and Christmas break next year are the only times that line up with my breaks. He works in the summers. You don't think much about stuff like that when they are little, but like they say don't blink or you end up missing it. Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mrs.TN22 12 Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 On 1/26/2018 at 9:38 PM, DaveInTN said: On 1/23/2018 at 6:24 PM, Mrs.TN22 said: I loved the Dollywood Pics! I haven't been in years. I grew up going to Dollywood, before it was Dollywood and still Silver Dollar City - we had season passes every year. Always went with my grandparents. We had season passes with at least one gold pass each year up until around 2009 or so - that's when they started revamping and took many of my favorite childhood rides away - the memories were gone for me, and the kids were tired of going. So we haven't been in around 9 years. However, seeing your pics, thinking we might have to visit again. It's an easy day trip for us. I am guessing that the Flooded Mine was one of your favorite rides. I did like that ride! but I also like it's replacement Daredevil Falls. My favorite was the Log Flume... broke my heart to see that one go. Many memories of riding that with my grandparents. However, the biggest reason we haven't been a quite a few years, is we just got tired of it. Guess it's time to go again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sherryberry 35 Posted January 28, 2018 Report Share Posted January 28, 2018 Oh, man! I’m finally caught up! What an awesome trip report. Just like Marty, I’m inspired to do one as well. It’s been a long time and that whole photobucket deal really bothered me. But, I think I’ll be able to get it figured out. Count us in for traveling to see the eclipse next time around also. We drove to kenneth’s cousin’s lake house to watch it last year. We were right in the center of the path of totality. It really was an awesome experience! Really looking forward to the rest of the report! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ImDownWithDisney 342 Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 Finally, I have read this entire thread. Great TR, Dave. I am glad we were able to meet up on 2 of these trips. BTW, my kids went to Dollywood with the grandparents, and they were not impressed. I was hoping they would be, because I would like to visit. I think they are just spoiled by Disney. I may take them again for another try. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 Ah...Disney's transportation can be so frustrating. I agree, to pass up the Fort was idiotic. I mean really, couldn't take the 15 minutes to drop off a few guests? Sigh... Loved that Mickey wreath. We too really like the 100 loop and now that it's no longer a "no pet" loop, we may try it again. I will say however, we've come to appreciate the extra slab in the Premium sites Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Lou... 3,118 Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 44 minutes ago, twiceblessed....nacole said: Ah...Disney's transportation can be so frustrating. I agree, to pass up the Fort was idiotic. I mean really, couldn't take the 15 minutes to drop off a few guests? Sigh... Disney contracts outside companies, nope, it's not always Mears, to provide the DME, DCL and event bus services. Although Disney could tell them exactly how they want the routes done, it's been my experience in dealing regularly with those bus companies for private and special events, that they leave the minor details up to the companies providing the service and in many cases, the driver decides. I think it was a mistake on the drivers part to bypass the Fort. You know how bus drivers can be, they're not the brightest bunch. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
twiceblessed....nacole 433 Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 7 minutes ago, Lou... said: Disney contracts outside companies, nope, it's not always Mears, to provide the DME, DCL and event bus services. Although Disney could tell them exactly how they want the routes done, it's been my experience in dealing regularly with those bus companies for private and special events, that they leave the minor details up to the companies providing the service and in many cases, the driver decides. I think it was a mistake on the drivers part to bypass the Fort. You know how bus drivers can be, they're not the brightest bunch. Well... there was this one, really great bus driver Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Grumpy and Grandma 739 Posted January 29, 2018 Report Share Posted January 29, 2018 1 hour ago, twiceblessed....nacole said: Well... there was this one, really great bus driver Who?..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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