The Silver Dollar City/Dollywood dis

[Nutsforchipanddale]

I was disappointed to hear the lack of respect for Silver Dollar City and Dollywood on the pod when the team was discussing the park rankings. Especially given the recent investments in these parks they are now some absolutely some of the best in the country and I think members of the team should consider making a visit to them.

I love the Disney parks and Universal Parks and think they are great experience but prices are so insanely high these days that I just wouldn't always consider them a great value. I think a lot of people rating some of these Parks consider how much they cost and not everybody quite frankly has a great time paying over $100 plus higher-than-average hotel and parking fees only to still miss out on some major rides even if they are making an effort to plan (eg. rise of the resistance lottery).

Both of these park have some really good food options, extensive entertainment offerings, lots of great theming, and a beautiful location. I personally consider Dollywood's Christmas event the best park Christmas event in the country although some say Silver Dollar City's is even superior. The parks are also located in regions where there is a ton of other things to do and more scenic lodging options than much of Orlando.

Disney for years has been raising their prices faster than a lot of other tourist destinations and I think these are two parks/regions where people might be surprised the kind of value they can get for their money for vacation.

Silver Dollar City bought a lot of Disney’s Christmas lights they used to have a Hollywood studios and I still love seeing them every year.

 

[DisneyKevin]

As much as I respect someone like kevin he has just added fire to the flames by choosing to maintain level of ignorance. I would ask mods or admins to straight up like not comment on this thread if they don't have something from experience to add much like a normal individual would do in a thread they don't know something about. At best it is a better way to ignore the existence of this thread or the parks being good. It seems like it's been trending that way at least.

What fire are you talking about? There is NO fire. This is fabricated drama.

As for voicing my opinion....your recommendation has been considered and dismissed. As long as I follow board policies, I will opine when I feel the urge.

I learned about this list minutes before the Podcast. I made whatever dumb comments I made and forgot about it. I seems that you have some personal stake in this. I don’t, but I’m not judging people who love this park and no.....I’ve done no research. I have no interest in going.

This was never supposed to be an in depth look at regional amusement parks. It was a dumb list that gave us something to talk about. There was virtually no preparation for this. None. Nada. Zip.

Enjoy what you like and stop worrying about what I think.

 

[randumb0]

I've heard of Dollywood, but I had never heard of Silver Dollar City

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

Speaking of regional parks, Happy National Rollercoaster Day my friends!!

 

[rteetz]

I think there is a big thing on forums like these that there are a lot of people who have had more experience in more diverse Parks like you have had than the admins or mods. When those (admin/mod) people try to comment on a discussion like this they often look really out of touch or try to downplay your own experience. I mean I absolutely get it this is a fan forum we are talking about parks that aren't the primary focus and like I said there it's no reason for the mods for to promote these parks. I think some of your comments could have been worded in a better way but it also think there is a predetermined hostility to downplay your opinion based on your comments versus address your actual opinions of other parks.

As much as I respect someone like kevin he has just added fire to the flames by choosing to maintain level of ignorance. I would ask mods or admins to straight up like not comment on this thread if they don't have something from experience to add much like a normal individual would do in a thread they don't know something about. At best it is a better way to ignore the existence of this thread or the parks being good. It seems like it's been trending that way at least.

Just a note. Yes my name has a mod banner underneath but I have not authority or controls on this board. So on this board I am strictly a poster, no different than anyone else in this thread. Moderators also do no get paid. We don't have to promote anything other than a welcoming environment and making sure things don't get out of hand on our respective boards.

So with that said I don't see why mods including myself and Kevin cannot comment on this matter. I would think Kevin commenting is even more of a good thing because he was involved in the discussion on the show that prompted this thread.

 

[rteetz]

Silver Dollar City bought a lot of Disney’s Christmas lights they used to have a Hollywood studios and I still love seeing them every year.

Actually they did not. They look very similar but it was reported that they are not directly from the Osborne display.

 

[GAN]

phew....

 

[TiggerTrigger]

Late to the thread, but while we haven't been to either park, we've visited both Branson and the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area. In fact, we were in Gatlinburg for part of our vacation last month. I heard this part of the show and was shocked over their ignorance with these parks. Neither area really appeals to us, but these are extremely popular parks and both are situated in areas that offer things Orlando can't. In fact, you are right on the edge of Great Smoky Mountains National Park if you visit Dollywood.

Side note- we left the Smokies early because it was packed with people and very little distancing and mask wearing (the national park was fine). Some businesses were taking it seriously, but most of the restaurants we attempted to go to were mobbed with people right on top of each other. The one restaurant we ate at (I was getting desperate) refused to open their outdoor dining area, were seating booths right on top of each other, and sort of mocked us for requesting to be distanced. I'm sure it's fine in normal times or if you're fine with no masks and distancing, but we've advised friends to strongly consider a rental house or RV if you go to that area right now.

 

[dlavender]

I really like Dollywood, but its not really on the Disney level.

That's not a knock on it at all. It's very clean, well rounded, great rides, great environment. It's pretty close to Disney level, but just not there. And that's ok.

Before going to Dollywood, I would have scoffed if someone told me it was close to Disney level. I just had never been to a regional place that got even close. So I get the light laughter they had when it was mentioned. I did the same. But after going, I was impressed and obviously no longer scoff. I don't think there was any malice intended on that podcast.

 

[NC Belle]

Dh and I went to Dollywood when we were newlyweds and enjoyed it. We only did an after 3pm local resident rate/aunt's work deal so we did not do much except what my relatives could do at the time. We some things from the park stll after multiple moves.

We hope to do a short trip sometime in the future when we go visit my relatives when conditions are right.

 

[cgattis]

in a land I’ve been told that’s like Vegas if it was run by Ned Flanders.

Equally applicable (and hilarious) to Gatlinburg!!

YAlthough you missed the boat on seeing Andy Williams though (by about 8 years)

Crap, this is just like when I was planning to see Don Ho in Hawaii in 2017......and discovered my travel book was about 7 years old........RIP Mr. Ho.

Man, I can’t believe there are 7 heated pages in a DIS thread about Dollywood......these really could be the end times LOL

I’ve actually got reservations for Halloween weekend cuz imma lose my MIND if we don’t get to do one tiny little fun thing in all of 2020. The mountains are gorgeous in the fall and I’ll get a funnel cake. It’s a win-win.

 

[Aurora79]

Late to the party here after some time away from the boards, but I just have to put in my two cents. I currently live less than an hour from SDC (and grew up about three hours from it), so I’ve been there a number of times. It’s definitely not even in the same realm as Disney.

DH is from TX and had never gone to Disney or SDC before me. I took him to SDC first, and he haaated it. He calls it “fake olden days.” My son is apathetic about the place.

Then, I took them both to WDW. The second we got on property, they felt it. It’s not a theme park...it’s an experience. They didn’t want to leave. We never go to SDC, but we constantly talk about when we can get back to Disney.

Simply put, SDC is a theme park. WDW is a dream.

I know, that was cheesy, but I just really love it so much more than anything in Branson.

 

[Jrb1979]

Late to the party here after some time away from the boards, but I just have to put in my two cents. I currently live less than an hour from SDC (and grew up about three hours from it), so I’ve been there a number of times. It’s definitely not even in the same realm as Disney.

DH is from TX and had never gone to Disney or SDC before me. I took him to SDC first, and he haaated it. He calls it “fake olden days.” My son is apathetic about the place.

Then, I took them both to WDW. The second we got on property, they felt it. It’s not a theme park...it’s an experience. They didn’t want to leave. We never go to SDC, but we constantly talk about when we can get back to Disney.

Simply put, SDC is a theme park. WDW is a dream.

I know, that was cheesy, but I just really love it so much more than anything in Branson.

Just one question did your family at least enjoy the rides at SDC. Time traveler and Outlaw Run are both amazing coasters.

 

[Monykalyn]

The mountains are gorgeous in the fall and I’ll get a funnel cake. It’s a win-win.

A freshly made-burn your fingers hot-powdered sugar melting and everywhere funnel cake? Yes definitely a WIN. Yeah the. Oh yeah the mountains in fall ain’t bad either

 

[Aurora79]

Just one question did your family at least enjoy the rides at SDC. Time traveler and Outlaw Run are both amazing coasters.

We’re not big coaster people, so we didn’t ride those. I enjoy Fire in the Hole as a nostalgia thing, but DH did not (if I remember right it really hurt his back). The log flume is fine. Most of their rides are just meh for us.

 

[dangeresque49]

"I’ve done no research. I have no interest in going."

Kevin we call this ignorance. It is not a contribution to the discussion. You're not willing to contribute and learn. It is ok to admit that,

I do not fault you for commenting on a short info list for the pod but the response is lackluster. We get it you got a product to promote and are busy like I said.

 

[Jrb1979]

We’re not big coaster people, so we didn’t ride those. I enjoy Fire in the Whole as a nostalgia thing, but DH did not (if I remember right it really hurt his back). The log flume is fine. Most of their rides are just meh for us.

That's too bad cause SDC has some of the best coasters. From everything I have seen of the park the theming looks great. Same with Dollywood and Cedar Points frontier town.

IMO I believe why many Disney fans look down on these places has a lot to with IPs. Dollywood has an area themed to hot rods but if it was Cars based featuring Lightening McQueen Disney fans would love it.

 

[jcb]

"I’ve done no research. I have no interest in going."

Kevin we call this ignorance.

I call it lack of interest.

You accuse Kevin of adding "fire to the flames" and then chose a pejorative term like "ignorance."

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ignorant#synonyms

The Polite and Not-So-Polite Uses of Ignorant

Ignorant shares a root with the word ignore, one of those etymological connections which appear obvious once they are pointed out, yet remained overlooked by most. Both words come from the Latin ignorare (“to ignore, be ignorant of”). There are several meanings of ignorant, all of which are concerned with a lack of knowledge in some sense; some of these are more insulting than others, and care should be exercised before applying this word to people who you do not wish to offend. Saying “They were ignorant of most of the laws of physics” means that the people in question did not have a specific body of learning. Saying “You are an ignorant person” is possibly describing someone as primitive, crude, or uncivilized.​

Fortunately, there is an "ignore" button on the DIS.

 

[Uncle Coaster]

I’ve been on coaster and theme park forums for over twenty years. I learned a long time ago that people have vividly different tastes and interests and would not expect people who do Disney specific podcasts to necessarily care about or know about SDC or Dollywood.

That said, I don’t think that SDC needs to be in the same league as Disney to be able to compare them. It’s easy, just like it’s easy to compare (despite the popular saying) apples to oranges. I like oranges more than I like apples. It’s a really easy comparison.

The list discussed had a large variety of types of parks on it. It was a list of top amusement parks, not most heavily themed or most in Disney’s league. There are all sorts of types of parks and plenty of room on that list for all of them.

 

[sethschroeder]

Sorry but name a major franchise IP at these theme parks.

A conglomeration of good shows I can find lots of places and likely superior shows (heck Branson is known for shows). A good roller coaster or two? Six Flags is around my area. Do I need a tube ride? Dells has some large water parks and Schlitterban is down in Texas when we lived there for a little bit.

I like Disney because of the franchises and some of the historical rides/shows. These other parks are a day excursion on a week trip.

You can like these parks the same I like Noah's Ark in Wisconsin Dells. Thing is they just shouldn't be in the same discussions.