top of page
  • Writer's pictureSean Brown, MD

Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas





We have returned home from another wonderful trip to Dollywood. For those of you that don’t know about Dollywood, Dollywood is a family oriented theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee at the foot of the Smoky Mountains. As the name implies, it is partly owned by country music legend, Dolly Parton. The park has many award winning rollercoasters including the Lightning Rod. Lightning Rod opened in 2016 as the world’s first launched wooden rollercoaster and the world’s fastest wooden rollercoaster. It is our favorite ride in the park. Dollywood also has many wonderful shows including musicals, plays, and concerts. There is also an area called Craftsman Valley were you can see many crafts being made including blown glass and leather goods. There is also a small eagle sanctuary.

My family and I have been season pass holders at Dollywood since 2014. We live about 2 ½ hours away from Dollywood so it is a nice weekend getaway destination for us. We visit Dollywood many times each year. Dollywood is opened from March to the first week of January each season. There are many different events and festivals throughout the year depending on the season.





Dollywood is now celebrating Smoky Mountain Christmas. The entire park is decorated with Christmas trees, Christmas decorations and four million lights. Dollywood has added a fifty-foot tall video motion Christmas tree that changes Christmas scenes with music for the 2018 Christmas celebration. It is mesmerizing. Dollywood also has many Christmas shows during the Smoky Mountain Christmas celebration. You may visit also Rudolph and friends as well as Santa Claus. Dollywood ends the day with the Parade of Many Colors. It is a beautiful parade with many lighted floats and interactive characters including Santa Claus.



Our children, Ammon and Carter, just turned ten a few weeks ago. The first time we experienced Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood they were six years old. They loved experiencing all of the characters that year. We were there on a rainy day that year so we did not get to ride a lot of rides. However, we still had a wonderful time. Ammon and Carter very much enjoyed talking to Santa and Mrs. Claus. It was a very unique experience talking to Mrs. Claus.

We now mainly ride the rides. We bundle up in our coats and gloves and experience the rides in the brisk, cold mountain air. On this two-day visit, we did not watch any shows or listen to any singers. We rode the rides, especially the rollercoasters. We did see the Parade of Many Colors and watch the Christmas light video on the fifty-foot Christmas tree. These were both spectacular.


This is Dolly's Tree of Many Colors like her Coat of Many Colors


We hopefully will go back to Dollywood during the first week of January 2019 for our last trip this season and enjoy some of the wonderful shows that they have to offer.











57 views1 comment
bottom of page