Day at Dollywood

It's been nearly a year since I last updated this blog, meaning it's also been almost a full year since some Kings Island friends and I headed south for a day at Dollywood last April. Our group included three Beast employees, an upcoming Racer associate, and myself, the lone Action Zoner. Despite the variation, all five of us had a fantastic time and would gladly return to the park this spring.

Despite having woken-up around 2am to get to the park early, we were wide awake with tickets in hand.

Everything was open, promising for a good day. Well, almost everything...

Timber Tower, tangled in some legal shenanigans, was closed for the season.

Our first ride of the day was Thunderhead, a twisted wooden roller coaster.

The majority of Dollywood's employees are on the older side, which is quite the contrast of Kings Island and its high school / college aged associates.

One of Thunderhead's star features is its "station fly by", where the train speeds through the station.

After Thunderhead, it was a quick ride on Mystery Mine - a compact steel roller coaster.

Our group in front of our favorite attraction, Adventure Mountain.

The attraction consists of three different rope courses to navigate through.

There are a variety of challenging obstacles, including rope bridges over waterfalls.

A panoramic of the complete attraction.

It was a warm April day, so we took advantage of the park's water rides.

River Battle is a family-friendly water ride where riders shoot water at competitors and targets. Definitely a fun time.

One of the highlights for a couple people in our group was the park's Cinnamon Bread, which they compared to crack. Must be pretty tasty.

One of our final rides, a miniature Ferris Wheel.

We definitely had a great time and cannot wait to return, especially with the park's new Wild Eagle roller coaster debuting soon.