Our 2025 Nashville Trip - Days 4, 5, & 6

Today I’m finally wrapping up our trip to Nashville, and technically, while the post kicks off in Nashville, the majority takes place in… Dollywood!  Here we go!

Wednesday, April 2

Wednesday morning, we slept in until nearly 8:30 our time, which is only 7:30 in Nashville.  We got ready, we got everything packed, and we said goodbye to our cute Airbnb. 

We wanted to try another local donut shop, and we settled on Hero Donuts, which ended up being in an area of Nashville where you could only park if you paid.  Parking there turned out to be crazy expensive, but at that point, we didn’t want to backtrack and head to another place, so we paid the EIGHTEEN DOLLAR FEE and walked to the donut shop.  (We later found out that if we’d brought our parking ticket into the donut shop, they could have validated it, and we could have parked for free.  Forehead smack.)

Anywayyyy, we grabbed an assortment of donuts and enjoyed them right there in the shop.  The shop owner had little Pokemon printouts for the kids to color, so of course, our kiddos had to grab a couple since they’re Pokemon obsessed. 

After we were done there, we drove to the same parking garage near Broadway that we’d been using all weekend, and we walked to the Pedestrian Bridge as our last activity in Nashville before we hit the road.  The weather was crazy Wednesday… the wind was INSANE because there was some really awful weather heading that way, and we were happy to hit the road and get out of there. 

We actually ended up getting out of there just in time, because later that day, there was a horrible line of storms that moved through producing tons and tons of tornadoes in west and middle Tennessee including Nashville.  I was so happy we had traveled east!

We hit the road for Pigeon Forge a little before noon, we stopped to take a bathroom break at Panera shortly into the trip, and then we stopped at Chick-Fil-A for lunch about halfway through.  I had always thought that Dollywood was just outside of Nashville… but it’s actually a three and a half hour drive! 

Once we were nearly there, we started seeing signs for a Bucees, and we’d never been before, so we decided to stop there and see what it was all about.  While the restrooms were SUPER impressive, I just didn’t get the hype, y’all.  Lol.  Would I love to always have the option to stop at one on road trips for the clean bathrooms?  YES.  Did I think it was so awesome and amazing that I wanted to actually buy Bucees merch?  No.  Haha.  I was astounded at the amount of Bucees merch they have.  Why oh why would someone want to wear a swimsuit for a gas station?  Hahahaha. 

To each their own, I guess.  Haha.

We did all get some snacks while we were there, and I had very high hopes for these, but they were just okay. 

We arrived at Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort just before 6 PM EST (it was good to be back on “our time”) and we got checked into our room.  The resort was beautiful, the room was clean and updated, and the bed was comfy.  We opted for a room with one king bed and a queen murphy bed, and it was perfect.  (Although, Jacob doesn’t like sharing a bed with Olivia because she moves around a lot in her sleep, so he ended up sleeping on the floor in his sleeping bag (which he doesn’t mind doing).  We also had the best view from our room!

After we got everything unloaded and unpacked, we walked around the resort for a bit to check it out since it had a lovely seating area, a pool, tons of firepit areas, a bar, and two restaurants.  We also loved the elevators because each of them has a giant wraparound screen that projects a nature scene (a different one in each elevator) so it gives the illusion that you are in the great outdoors rather than a tiny metal box.  I hate elevators, so I appreciated that.  Haha.

Once we had explored the whole resort, we went back to our room to get changed and freshened up and we drove through Pigeon Forge to check it out and find some dinner.  We’d already looked up some restaurants on the drive over, and we had our eye on Smoky Mountain Brewery, so we ended up there.  Side note, I haven’t been to Pigeon Forge since I was a kid (and I don’t remember it), and I couldn’t believe how touristy it was.  The main strip was like one big tourist trap with crazy looking buildings, bright lights, go carts, a ferris wheel, and those crazy slingshot thrill rides everywhere… it looked like Panama City Beach.  Haha.

Smoky Mountain Brewery ended up being okay… nothing super impressive, but the beer was good!  By the time we were done there, we were all exhausted, so we headed back to the hotel, the kids got showered, we prepped for Dollywood on Thursday, and then we all went to bed around 10:30.  At that time, I was thanking my lucky stars we’d left Nashville when we did because they were getting hammered with horrible weather and tornadoes.  There was so much destruction in the southeast that night, and we barely missed it.  I took some screenshots over the next day or so of all of the stats and it's just mind boggling.

Thursday, April 3

Thursday morning, we were able to sleep in until 8 AM despite the fact that we were going to Dollywood for the day because they didn’t open until 10 AM.  We’re so used to waking up at the crack of dawn to get to the parks on Disney trips, so it was a breath of fresh air to be well rested.  Haha.

We got ready and headed downstairs around 9 AM to catch the shuttle from our resort to Dollywood.  We got right on one, and we were there at the park within about five minutes. 

We had to go through security first, and then they let us into the front of the park, but we could only go so far until it technically opened.  Once they let us in the main part of the park, Brian went inside and purchased TimeSaver Passes for all of us (their equivalent to the Disney Fast Pass).  We were only going to be there for one day, so we wanted to be able to ride as many things as we could with our time. 

Once we had our TimeSaver Passes, we walked over to the area where Big Bear Mountain roller coaster is.  At that point, it still wasn’t 10 AM, so they were holding people in a certain area.  They “dropped the ropes” at 10 AM, and we headed straight to Big Bear Mountain where we only had to wait about 3-4 minutes. 

Dollywood dubs it as a “family coaster” so I thought for sure that I could handle it since I was able to ride a few of the coasters at Disney even with my dizziness.  Wellll, I don’t know who dubbed that a “family coaster” but they were wrong.  While I would have loved that ride had I not been having dizziness and vertigo for the last two years, it ended up terrifying me because I thought for sure it was going to trigger my vertigo.  It was awful and Olivia was terrified, too.  And she rides all of the family coasters at Disney.  I just kept telling myself, it’s less than two minutes and we’ll be off of here.  And I also prayed that it wouldn’t trigger my vertigo. 

When we got off, Olivia and I were SHOOK, but thankfully, I only felt off balance and a bit dizzy (no vertigo), and thankfully, it wore off pretty quickly.  Sheesh.

We wanted a tamer ride after that, so we walked over to FireChaser Express, another roller coaster that was actually not that intense.  We got right on that, too.  But first, a few pictures!

I loved FireChaser Express, but poor Olivia started SOBBING when it started going backwards.  I think she would have loved it had she not already been traumatized by Big Bear Mountain… I think it was a mistake that we crammed them together back-to-back… we probably should have given her more time to recover from the first one.  But thankfully she recovered quickly. 

Once we were done there, we took a bathroom break, and then Brian went to get in line for Wild Eagle.  That roller coaster is so insane that I wouldn’t have ridden it even if I didn’t have dizziness and vertigo, and the kids were both completely intimidated by it (it’s wild, y’all), so Brian was on his own. 

He only had to wait a couple of minutes to get on, and we were able to sit and watch him ride.  He texted me right as he was getting on and he was wearing a red shirt, so we were able to spot him on the big climb.  Olivia kept saying, “WHY DOES DADDY WANT TO DO THIS?!”  And I couldn’t blame her because I was wondering the same thing.  Haha.  And for the record, I used to ride anything and everything when I was a young adult, but the older I get, the less interest I have in it.  Not to mention having vertigo and dizziness for nearly two years has pretty much ruined all thrill rides for me.

Brian walked back over to us after his ride, and he LOVED it – there is nothing he won’t ride at any theme park… he will literally ride everything.

After that, Olivia wanted something much milder, so we headed to the kiddie area of Dollywood, and we rode Black Bear Trail (a tiny little kid ride – LOL) followed by Frogs and Fireflies (look at Jacob’s and Olivia’s faces… it was such a baby-ish ride that they were cracking up that they were even on it).  That one was so baby-ish that Brian and I didn’t even ride it.  Haha.

After that, we walked back towards the entrance to go to the other side of Dollywood, and while we were there, we stopped for another photo opportunity at the main entrance.  As we were leaving the picture spot, a tiny little kid walked up crying saying they couldn’t find their family.  A Dollywood employee took her in immediately and started asking her all kinds of questions. 

We had just happened to pass a family with another kid dressed identically to the child who was missing, so I knew exactly where to find them because we had seen which direction they were headed.  I trotted up the path to find them, and I asked the mom if she was missing a child.  When I asked, she hadn’t even realized that the child was missing (or if she did, she was VERY blasé about it), so I told her that her child was back at the entrance. 

She and I chatted as we walked back to her child, and she didn’t seem alarmed or worried or anything that she’d left the child behind.  I personally would have been freaking out, but she was very chill, like nothing had even happened.  The child was, indeed, hers, so once they were reunited, I headed back to Brian and the kids.

I wanted to take some pictures with the pink hanging décor over the walkway (not sure what they’re actually called as the internet turned up nothing)… I think it’s a temporary installation but they should keep it forever because it is STUNNING.  Pictures, of course, do not do it justice.

And after that, Olivia and I stopped by the LOVE sign to take a picture per her request.  <3

We were ready for some air conditioning at that point, so we went into one of the theaters and watched Kingdom Heirs, which was pretty good.

When we came out of the show, Jacob realized that his sunglasses had fallen out of his pocket either inside the theater or on the way out, so Brian backtracked our steps to see if he could find them and he couldn’t.  An elderly gentleman walzed out of the theater just after that and he sat down at a table right by us, holding Jacob’s sunglasses.  We thought for sure he was going to ask around to see if anyone was missing them, but instead, he started inspecting them and trying them on, and when he seemed satisfied with them, he tucked them in his shirt.  We. Were. Shocked.  Haha.

He already had a pair of sunglasses on, so it was very obvious that he had just found the sunglasses, especially since he had just inspected and tried them on (plus they looked exactly like Jacob’s), so Brian and I were baffled and we had no clue what to do.  Jacob won’t go anywhere outside without sunglasses, and we didn’t want to have to buy a new pair when we were positive the elderly gentleman had Jacob’s, so I just walked over and asked the gentleman point blank if he had just found a pair of sunglasses.  LOLOLOLOL.

He told me that he did, and he handed them right over.  The whole situation was SO awkward – I can’t believe he didn’t just turn them in inside the theater! – but at least we got them back.  And apparently, I have no shame since I walked right up and asked.  And apparently that guy didn’t either since he was just going to keep them.  Haha. 

Anywayyyy, after that debacle we were all ready for some lunch, so we headed to Red’s Diner to grab something.  The lines were soooo long in there, and that was the longest we had to wait for anything in the whole park that day.  The food was pretty boring, but I have to say that the grilled chicken Caesar salad I got was better than I expected.  There were also some little ducks hanging out waiting for a morsel, so I grabbed a picture of one of them.  Isn’t he cuuuute?

After lunch, we took a bathroom break and put on some sunscreen, and then we headed to the carousel.  We all love a good old-fashioned carousel!  (Even Jacob, who did his "Chad" face for every picture.  Hahahaha.)

The country fair games were next-door, so we let the kids play a few of them.  Jacob really wanted a specific Pokemon character, so he played that game until he won… although, technically the employee changed the rules a little for him so he could win ;o)

Olivia won a ball and a stuffed phone, but she didn’t want the ball, so we decided to pay it forward.  We walked around and found a little kid who was crying and looking sad, so we walked up to her dad and asked her dad if she could have the ball.  He obliged, and Olivia handed it over.  <3  It was so sweet.

Olivia wanted to ride Waltzing Swinger after that, so she and Brian rode that while Jacob and I watched.  Jacob didn’t want to ride it, and I was a little wary of it because of my dizziness/vertigo, so I sat off, too.  I reeeeally wanted to ride it, though, because I have had it on my bucket list for most of my life to ride one of those because… one of those swings is on the cover of the album that made me fall in love with Dave Matthews Band when I was 12 years old. 

I told Brian that, and he told me to go ride it, that it wasn’t too bad for dizziness.  So, Olivia and I went next, and I was so glad I did it.  At first, I did get the sensation that it was going to mess me up, but after the second time around, I was good to go. 

Everyone had told us that we had to get the famous cinnamon bread at Dollywood, so we went in search of that next.  On the way, we passed by the steam engine that was making its way around the park.

Olivia doesn’t like cinnamon, and she wanted something different, so I took her to a general store while the boys waited in line for cinnamon bread.  She chose some cotton candy, and then we headed to the boys, who were already seated at a table, cinnamon bread in hand.

Let me tell you – that cinnamon bread doesn’t look like much from the picture (I was shocked at how plain it looked, and I was convinced it wasn’t going to be as good as everyone said), but OH MY WORD, was that bread the most delicious bread I’ve ever had!!!!  All of the goodness is on the bottom, and it is ooey, gooey, sweet, buttery, cinnamony goodness.  I ate so much of it I’m surprised I didn’t make myself sick.  Haha.  Cinnamon is one of my favorite things in the whole world.

While we were enjoying our cinnamon bread, we chatted with the people at the table next to us.  The guy was wearing a UGA shirt, so that’s what sparked the conversation, and they ended up being from Georgia like us!

After we were done with our cinnamon bread, Brian headed to the Mystery Mine roller coaster, and on the way, we stopped to admire all of the bald eagles.  I had no idea that Dollywood has the largest collection of non-releasable bald eagles, so that was quite a surprise.  I have seen a few bald eagles in the wild in my life, but it’s a rare occurence, so it was cool to see them up close.  And there were SO MANY of them.

Since the Mystery Mine roller coaster went upside down, neither the kids nor I wanted to go on it, so we left Brian there, and then we headed to Lumberjack Lifts.  There was only room for two on each bench, so I stood with all of our stuff and watched the kids ride.  They were able to make it to the top a couple of times during their ride, but it looked tiring. 

After that, we were all ready to sit and enjoy some air conditioning because it was hot and sunny that day – a major shift in weather from Nashville which was so cold and windy – so we walked to the theater to watch From the Heart: The Life and Music of Dolly Parton.  We all enjoyed it so much! 

We were ready for another ride after the show was over, so we headed over to Rockin’ Roadway and all four of us rode.  Olivia drove me and Jacob drove Brian and the kids both enjoyed it. 

After that, Brian wanted to ride Lightning Rod… that one reaches a max speed of 73 mph so the kids and I weren’t remotely interested in riding that one either.  Olivia had been talking that one up for weeks prior to the trip, but after getting scared from the first two milder coasters earlier in the day, she decided to opt out of Lightning Rod.  When Brian got off the ride he said, “Yeah, it’s probably for the best that none of y’all rode that one.”  Haha.  He said it was INTENSE.

While he rode that, the kids and I walked around a small gift shop, and then we sat in The Dolly Parton Experience area which is a little area where all of the museums are.  By that time, the park had started to clear out, so there were hardly any people milling around and we basically had the whole place to ourselves.  Since Brian had the TimeSaver pass, he didn’t have to wait at all, so he was back with us quickly.

When Brian joined us again, we toured the Behind the Seams museum and we got to see all kinds of cool stuff like Dolly’s copy of the script from the movie Steal Magnolias, a bunch of her outfits and wigs, and one of her Grammy awards. 

We walked across the way to the Songteller museum after that, and that was neat because it takes you on a journey through Dolly’s life.  We got to see her actual coat of many colors that her mother had made for her when she was little, and it was the sweetest thing.  She ended up having a coat of many colors guitar made as well, and that was in the museum, too.  And then at the end of the museum, there’s a wall with a counter on it that shows in real time how many books Dolly’s foundation has gifted in total… just look at how many books have been given to kids!!!!  I love it so much.

The kids wanted to ride one more coaster before we left, so we headed to Whistlepunk Chaser.  But first, one last picture under the pink walkway! 

Whistlepunk Chaser is a smaller, kiddie coaster, so all four of us rode, and then we headed for the exit.  But first, pictures in these random coffins?  Haha.

On the way out, we stopped in the massive gift shop, and we ended up spending quite a bit of time in there.  I wanted a Dolly mug to add to my collection, and I found the perfect one – a 9 to 5 mug that says “pour myself a cup of ambition” on one side.

I also saw that there was a coat of many colors guitar Christmas ornament in the gift shop, so I picked that up for myself as well and I’m going to add it to my favorite things tree.  The meaning for that one will be two-fold as I love Dolly, and I love guitars.  Not to mention it’s rainbow colors… another favorite of mine.  <3

By the time we left the gift shop we were all exhausted.  We hopped on the trolley at 7:30 and rode it back to the resort.  Olivia wanted to swing by the gift shop at our resort to grab a stuffed cat that she’d had her eye on, and then we went to the room to put all of our stuff away.

We were all too tired to go anywhere for dinner, so we walked down to one of the restaurants right there in the resort – Ember & Elm – and the food was delicious.  Brian and I both ordered the Moonshine Blackberry Margaritas, and we both got one of their flatbread pizzas.  The best thing there, though, was their homemade biscuits.  OH. MY. WORD.  They brought them out before our meal along with various spreads and they were divine.

The kids were dying to get outside and enjoy one of the fire pit areas, so we found an empty one and sat there for a few minutes after dinner, and then we walked around outside for a bit after that… the kids wanted to slide down the big slide at the end of the property.  There were still tons of people out at that point and nearly every firepit area was full even though it was pretty late.

When we got back to the room, the kids showered and then we all passed out around 10:30.  It was an exhausting day!

Friday, April 4

The next morning, we woke at 7:30 AM, we got ready, we got mostly packed, and then we headed back down to Ember & Elm for breakfast.  Our plan was to eat a big breakfast so we wouldn’t have to stop for lunch on the way home, and everyone loaded up on breakfast goodies.  I had eggs, grits, bacon, and a biscuit, and Brian had their French toast that’s made with Dollywood’s famous cinnamon bread. 

Breakfast was quick, and we were back in the room to finish packing in no time.  We got the car packed up, stopped for gas a little ways down the road, and we only had to stop once on the way home for a bathroom break.  We ended up stopping at a KFC and grabbing biscuits for the kids for a snack, and as planned, we never had to stop for lunch.

Traffic was definitely on our side, too, because even with the stop, we still beat the GPS home by two minutes!  IYKYK. 

And that was our spring break trip! 

Happy Thursday, y’all!