Tired Mommy Tales

Read to the end to find out how to get discounted 1-day tickets to Dollywood!

Last week Dollywood invited Season Passholders to preview the 2017 Harvest Festival. So Brooke and I had ourselves a Mommy/Daughter Date Night and headed down to get our first glimpses of the Great Pumpkin LumiNights. It is the inaugural season for the Great Pumpkin LumiNights and Dollywood always puts on a good show so we were really excited to check it out and be among the first to see it.

Timber Canyon is one of our favorite areas of the park so getting to see it decorated with sculpted pumpkins, lighted arches, owls hanging from the trees and a graveyard scene filled with smoky fog was a real treat.

We only had 3 hours to experience as much as possible so we looked around a bit and then made time for a few rounds on Thunderhead. It was super fun, as always, and I got a kick out of the blinking, light-up suspenders the ride hosts were wearing. Dollywood is so great at those little details!!

We did some more wandering and decided to head toward Wild Eagle. We passed an incredible wall of pumpkins with flowers carved on them. It was amazing. We also took a minute to watch the Master Carver at work. He had done an amazing Eagle and was getting to work on a bat while we watched. I’m looking forward to talking to him for a post I’ll be doing to the Dollywood Insider’s Blog later this month.

Y’all there is just something about riding Wild Eagle at night. Unlike the rest of the park, it wasn’t lit and it took the ride to a whole other level. It added an extra degree of fear and enhanced the peaceful element of the ride at the same time. It’s really the best ride I’ve ever been on. I don’t know how they managed to create a ride that is thrilling & exciting and peaceful at the same time but I love it.

Our next mission was to explore the special Harvest Festival treats. We saw signs for Pumpkin Pie Funnel Cakes, Warm Spiced Apple Cider, Pumpkin Apple Tarts and as we were making our way back toward Timber Canyon, we made a pit stop at the Glow Maze. The pathway to the Glow Maze showcased pumpkins painted with neon colors that popped in the black lights. A little note: the Glow Maze is definitely geared toward the younger set. It’s more of a path than a maze.

After the maze, we rededicated ourselves to finding a Featured Treat. Again, we to sidetracked but something fun! Around 8:45, Harvey the Pumpkin, Vine Vinny & the rest of the Harvest Festival characters got together in front of Drop Line for a super fun Boogie Woogie Dance Party! Brooke and I had a blast singing and dancing along and so did rest of the crowd around us.

Unfortunately, when the dance party was over, that meant our night was over too. It was 9:00 and time to head toward the exit. We still hadn’t found our treats so we popped into the Spotlight Bakery. The selection of Harvest Festival-themed treats was amazing. Ultimately, we decided on a pumpkin shaped sugar cookie and a candy corn Rice Krispie Treat. They were so good!!

A quick tram ride back our parking lot and we were headed back home. We are looking forward to being back next weekend to get a whole day (and night) of rides, shows, food & festival fun!!

Discount Code for 1-Day Tickets

Now for the deal on 1-day tickets – head to the Dollywood ticket sales page and enter the code DWINSIDERS7 to get $5 off the purchase of a 1-Day ticket. This discount code is effective starting today. These tickets are eligible to be upgraded to season passes which I highly recommend if you will come to Dollywood more than twice in one year.

Will you be headed to Dollywood this fall?