Dollywood Nocturne
Today we are scheduled to spend the day at the Smoky Mountain version of Disneyland. The theme park was created in 1986 under the banner of the region’s highly popular country singer and performer, Dolly Parton. She is co-owner of the park, which is located in a place called Pidgeon Fork, Tennessee. We are heading up from Chattanooga in order to be at the front gates at the 10am opening time. The park is open until 8pm, so I don’t expect to see my hotel room at the Dollywood DreamMore until quite late. We are scheduled to spend Thursday doing all the Dollywood non-park activities like the Dollywood Stampede, whatever that is. My kids, and especially daughter Carolyn, are serious theme park people in ways I have a hard time comprehending, but which I have been forced over the years to accept. It all makes them happy and since that’s my primary goal as a parent, I’m all in. My version of being all in generally includes lots of patience and bench-sitting.
So here I am in the Dollywood park in a light rain doing what I always do which is sitting on a bench. We got to our resort hotel at about 9:45 AM and Kim check us in for our park passes, we left the car with the luggage in it, And we had it off on the Dollywood resort trolley to the park. As is often the case the bus drivers at these parks are both the friendliest and best informed employees of the bunch. This one gave us a complete insiders tour of the park and how to get from here to there and wherever and I understood exactly none of it so, he tried, but I have a feeling that that part of my brain that blocks out theme park information was already on high alert.
Getting into the park on a rainy Wednesday morning was not a particular problem. I will say that the rain is supposed to back off and they’re supposed to be sunshine for the rest of the day, but I suspect that may have a little bit of chamber of commerce optimism in it. You can tell who’s optimistic and who’s less so based on what they are wearing. Take me for instance I’m wearing my rain jacket. That means I must be less optimistic because a lot of people are wearing thin plastic Dollywood ponchos with hoods that once the rain stops can be easily, bundled up and tossed in the garbage.
Since we have these cutting line passes on our wrists, the most important thing for us to do on our arrival is to book the quintessential Dolly Parton From the Heart show, which tells the life and times of Dolly, which Kim did for us for 1 PM. It’s 10:45 now and we agreed that we would meet at the restaurant closest to the auditorium where that show would be held, and naturally all of the venues here at Dollywood have a nice southern feel so the restaurant she chose is called the Front Porch. Given my general pace of walking I am what you call a liability to the active park goers like Carolyn, Charlotte and Evelyn. Therefore rather than risk slowing them down and reducing their fun, I told him I would meet them at the Front Porch at 11:45. So that is where I am sitting out of the rain just doing what I enjoy most of theme parks, which is people watching. Kim and I went to Disney World a few years ago and I deigned to spend a day with her theater, friends who love Disney theme parks almost as much as my daughter Carolyn does. During that visit, I had an epiphany and realized that I needed to drop my curmudgeonly view of theme parks because most of the people attending these parks are so happy to be here. I think it’s fair to say that too few people have enough happiness in their lives and if these are the sorts of places that make people happy, then I should be big enough to not look down my nose at them.
The same thinking should apply to Dollywood and perhaps even more so since Dollywood is not a part of a chain like Disney and a large corporate conglomerate like Disney, but just a simple joint venture between the name-brand star like Dolly Parton and some money partners that wants to be in the attractions business. I have to remind myself that I spent six years trying to build the New York Wheel, which was by any standards an attraction intended to bring happiness to people, so you would think I wouldn’t need remedial class in the rationale for attractions.
From what I can tell of this park so far, it has a decided southern flavor to it with most of the buildings looking quaint and Victorian and somehow southern. The people attending look very much like anyone you would see at Disneyland or Disney World and perhaps the one thing that I noticed so far that distinguishes this park is the overwhelming theme of butterflies. I mean, who doesn’t like butterflies? Now, I will wait for the return of the natives who will undoubtedly tell me about their adventures on the lines and rides that they just took in the last hour.
I was sent vicariously evidence of the first few roller coasters the girls rode. When Kim came back to the restaurant early I learned that she had tried one coaster and then opted out. She and I sat and had a salad for lunch and then went to meet the girls for the 1pm show. They brought with them a loaf of the famous Dollywood cinnamon bread. Imagines gory Cinnabon and you can understand the attraction of the Dollywood cinnamon bread. We snuck it into the large auditorium for the show. The show was a very professional retrospective of the musical life and career of Dolly Parton From her childhood through present day. Dolly do idea the narration and you come away with a clear sense of respect for Dolly. I’ve always liked her singing, it her story is even more compelling. She seems to have out-hustled even The Coal Miner’s Daughter… and she seemed to do it more on her own.
But what is most impressive about Dolly is less on display, but is widely known in the industry. She is humble, fair and generous to a fault. She is an impressive example of someone who has not let success go to her head. She pokes fun at herself, which is always heart-warming in a celebrity. The stories of her quiet acts of kindness and generosity and many. I came away impressed. I was impressed with the quality of the show. I was impressed by Dolly’s story. And overall, I was impressed by Dollywood. That said, I am not enough of a theme park person to last the day, so Kim and I took the trolly back to the hotel and left the girls to conquer Dollywood. It was time for me to sing my Dollywood Nocturne.