I am not sure what to say first. Honestly, Pigeon Forge reminded us of Branson – tons of touristy type places everywhere. Also, we found out the week following July 4th is one of the busiest.

Skybridge – the longest pedestrian suspension bridge in North America. It also has 3 glass panels so you can see below you.

680 feet to cross with 30 feet of glass (3 panes) in the middle. You go up the chair lift probably 6-8 minutes to get to top. They have a gift shop on the other side of things you can only buy after you cross, at least that’s what the lady said. I didn’t look in the other gift shop to check. You also can only buy your photos on the other side that were taken before you go. There is a spot that shows you what each mountain is and definitely some pretty views. I watched a video with a family of 3 little kids prior to going that morning. The kids were screaming and scared. Kenzie heard and saw this so I think her anxiety came more from this than the bridge. My hint, don’t watch a video like that with your kids anywhere near.

  • Girls spotted a groundhog from the chairlift so we went and saw it

Mountain Coasters… I was truly scared on one of them!

By this point, we have done 3-4 of these alpine/mountain coasters on this trip. Craig and I did one before as well. However, we did Goats on the Roof and my view on them changed completely. Craig on the other hand, really enjoyed that one. It was the fastest around, 30 mph. I swore one side of the back end came off the track, even if they say it is not possible. Zoe rides with me and agreed that one felt completely different and not right. I didn’t want to do any more after this one. However, I got outnumbered by the other 4. Zoe and Connor both need adults to ride with and I couldn’t convince Craig just to do it twice so I sucked it up. We did the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. It is supposed to be the longest and has some fun twists. Both tracks light up at night. We did this one during day and as it was getting dark. You aren’t allowed to bring photos on these so I only have a few photos from each. I liked this one much better but, was still over them when they all begged to go again. Turns out, while the lights are pretty at night, the bugs hitting your face are not. But, we made it through and I am still in one piece. After the goat one, I might have done quite a few google searches to see if any had left track or accidents as a result…. Oh yeah, the goats on the roof had goats you could feed. The ones on the roof got fed by you biking and making a food cup make it to the top. Also, goats didn’t have much of a wait and the other one was extremely popular.

Dollywood… oh, my new favorite park!

If you haven’t been, save up and schedule it! It is pretty, it is clean, there is so much to see and I adored it!! I made a blog on tips for there – so read that one if you are actually going.

Kenzie now has some coaster credits!, At 10, she decided this was the time to start doing real coasters. I had her watch some YouTube videos that showed the actual rides and let her pick what she wanted to do. We started with the Mystery Mine and she loved it! I got concerned and asked her what she got me into as we were going up on a straight 90 degree path, twice. That part was scarier than the actual ride to me. She managed to do every roller coaster except Lightning Rod. She went back and forth on that one but, finally decided the drop was too much for this trip. I am proud that she pushed herself and even more proud that she would listen to the little voice in her head. I know it had to be a tough decision as she wanted to say she rode them all.

Connor, 3, was so disappointed that he couldn’t do the roller coasters. He could tell you the names of each one when we passed them and how many loops they had or some other fact. However, when he did the Firechaser, a family coaster, he held on so tight to Daddy. It was funny when he was on the bear and disappointed it did not go upside down. But, there were so many cute kid rides there! I truly felt they did a great job of having something for everyone.

A few restaurants and attractions were closed due to staffing issues. We couldn’t tour her Prevost tour bus, and there were no photos being taken during rides due to staff. I heard Miss Lillians BBQ was great but it was closed both days. But, it still was a great time and didn’t change my feelings toward the park at all!

  • Cinnamon Bread
  • They didn’t like the horn or whistle
  • Leaf bug that landed on Connor’s shorts on train ride
  • Views from train

We did open to close the first day and every kid was awake and having fun *almost* the entire time. They even loved the firework and drone show, as did we. Dollywood really pays attention to detail.

Craig works hard every RV trip. This was no exception, even after an open to close day at Dollywood, he was back on his laptop at night for a few hours while others slept.

RV parks and random things

We stayed at Pigeon Forge RV Resort. They were recently bought out and had money dumped into them. It was nice and the pool was fun for the kids. We drove through a few others I wouldn’t recommend. Margaritaville just opened the Rv part and are under construction on Resort and restaurant. However, the Ridge is where we will try and stay next time. They had nice amenities and lots of events/activities for kids. Here are some photos of ours and random ones of the area