Brooke’s girl scout troop sold enough cookies per girl to qualify for the VIP Experience. This year the VIP Experience was held at Dollywood! You know it was a no brainer that we would be there!!
The weather was a little iffy so we went with open minds, acknowledging that we could very well turn around and head home after only a little time in the park.
Luckily, besides one decent rain shower, the weather held out and we were able to spend the whole day there. The very first ride we headed to was Drop Line. This is a brand new ride to Dollywood this season and I’m not typically a huge fan of the drop-type rides. Brooke likes them though so I will suck it up and go with her.
To find out what we thought about the ride, you can watch our Dollywood Vlog below.
While Brooke and I rode a couple coasters with a Girl Scout friend, Keith took Leah on the new “kiddie coaster” at Dollywood this summer, Whistle Punk Chaser. It wasn’t terribly scary but Leah had absolutely no interest in doing another ride all day, except the Carousel. Typically she would spend all day in the Country Fair section of the park where the Busy Bees is her favorite ride.
Not this past trip, Miss Leah was all about shops & shows. So after I’d rode a couple rides with Brooke, Keith and I swapped kids and I spent the majority of the afternoon with Leah.
The first place she wanted to check out was the Hillside General Store. It has everything from candy to toys to salsas to soup to dishes and kitchenware. It was nice and air conditioned so I did not mind spending a good chunk of time there.
Soon enough, Keith and Brooke caught up with us again. Brooke had gotten soaked on Daredevil Falls so she needed a quick break to go change into dry clothes. (So very glad we all brought extras!)
The girls played a quick game of checkers on the porch of the General Store before we walked down to the next destination.
I’d heard about the Cinnamon Bread at the Grist Mill the past couple times we’d been to Dollywood but had yet to go in and check it out. This was my only goal for the day. It did not disappoint. The girls each got one of the biggest cookies I’ve ever seen and we finally tried the famed cinnamon bread. It.was.AMAZING!!! I’m really bummed I forgot to get “real” picture of it and only grabbed a quick shot for my Insta-story.
Leah and I were enjoying shopping and still wanted to catch a show so we waved to Keith and Brooke as they went off for more rides and headed to the back part of the park. We got to the Village just as the Dollywood Express was coming back to the station so we waved to all the passengers. Leah wanted to do more browsing through stores so we stopped at Temple’s Warehouse and Old Fashioned Candy Store.
Leah felt up to doing a ride after that so we went over to the Carousel. I never really realized how long you have to wait for that ride to get going and consequently how short it is. But Leah enjoyed it and that’s all that counts!
After the Carousel, we were lured into a magic show which led to browsing through the Magic Shop. We caught up with Keith & Brooke to watch the Heartsong movie and then some hot dogs & amazing fries for dinner. We separated again so Leah could keep shopping & the big ones could do another ride or two. One shop later, we decided to catch one last show, “Country Crossroads”. Miss Leah had a blast clapping and swaying to the music.
All day long, Leah was very persistent in letting us know she wanted cotton candy. I’m not sure why – we don’t typically get it while at Dollywood but she’s 4 – nothing makes sense!! So after the show, we finally made the stop to get the cotton candy she’d been longing for all day. I think she was happy about it.
One last stop at one of our favorites, the Smoky Mountain Christmas Cottage, to browse through the beautifully decorated Christmas trees, gorgeous ornaments and of course, get a picture with the wooden soldiers!!
Before we knew it, it was time for the day to end so everyone met at the Emporium so we could get on the trolley back to our car.
That’s it for our Dollywood trip! Have you ever been?? What’s your favorite thing to do or eat?? Check our more from our day in the video below!!!
