We went to Dollywood three years ago. We had an All-City pass at the time, so our admissions to Dollywood and Splash Country were free and unlimited. (We were kind of a novelty to the people at the ticket booth. They showed each other our passes; I'm still not sure if we were supposed to get in free more than once, but we did.)
We took two days, but we got there before opening and left about three each time. We parked at Patriot Park (I think that's what it's called) and took the trolley to Dollywood. Parking at Dollywood was $7 at the time, so the trolley fare was cheaper. In fact, we used the trolley to get to Gatlinburg to save on parking fees there. The trolley drops you off at the entrance to Dollywood, so no need to walk or ride a tram from the parking lot.
We did not use the Q2Q system, and frankly, I think if you get there at opening and it's a week day, I don't think it's necessary. The year we went was the year MM debuted, so we went to that ride at opening. We waited about 10 minutes to board. In fact, we rode MM at opening each day we went. By the way, we avoided weekends to attend.
I don't know how your party tours, but we avoid lines if possible by avoiding crowds. After we rode MM the first day, we went to the opposite side of the park. I believe the area with MM has now been joined with "the other side of the park," so you would not have to walk all the way back through the way you came, if that makes sense.
We went to the side that is most like SDC. We rode Blazing Fury, Daredevil Falls, and Tennessee Tornado with no wait at all--walk on. We looked in the shops. The shops are similar in this area, but different enough that we thought it was fun to compare. For example, the mill has stairs you can climb and watch the corn fall into the mill. We took in Dreamland Forest, Dollywood's version of Geyser Gulch. We watched a show in the theatre in the 1950s part of the park that was very good. My 10-year-old at the time was on the edge of her seat for the whole thing. We rode the rapids that day, and did a few rides in the section that is similar to GE. We left after that the first day.
The second day, at opening, we rode MM. We did the wooden coaster near there. We rode the train this day--just a scenic ride, by the way. We watched the eagle show at the eagle sanctuary--good show!
In the afternoon, we toured Dolly's museum. I liked the museum, and this is perfect for the afternoon when it's hot. It's nice and cool in the museum.
Pigeon Forge has a different feel than Branson. Gatlinburg is more for strolling around. We did visit a Christmas store complex in Pigeon Forge. Also, there are some outlet malls, but we didn't go to those. We felt like we can shop at those types of stores anytime.
We had five days to spend in the area, so we also did Splash Country one morning. We did the aquarium at Gatlinburg--we really enjoyed that. Get to that at opening, too, if you go. We spent a day at Cades Cove (loved it!) and grilled (my husband will not eat lunch meat) a picnic lunch on our way back. We also did the Roaring Forks motor tour, and we grilled out at a little city park in Gatlinburg at dusk during which we were pursued by a black bear--interesting story.
We walked the streets of Gatlinburg one afternoon, and we went to Ober Gatlinburg, where we took a ski lift up a mountain.
For food, everyone raves about the Old Mill restaurant. We ate there, and it was just ok for us. I thought it was pricey. But many people love it. We ate at a steak buffet place twice on our trip. It had "American" in the title. We liked it. The rest of the time, we either grilled our own food or ate a chain places.
We stayed at Super 8 in Pigeon Forge, but we are no-frills lodging people when we are on a trip like this. The motel was newer, and we found a coupon in one of those coupon books for $30 a night, Mon.-Thurs., for the first week of June when we went. We arrived in Pigeon Forge on Sunday night. We canceled the rest of our reservation at this over-priced, older, not as clean place and went to Super 8. Most motels in this area have microwaves and fridges, and our room did also. That was nice. Every night, our daughter had some pool time (outdoor pool).
There are many other attractions in the area that we didn't experience. I know I've gone on and on, but this was one of my favorite family trips. We had a great balance among theme park/ attraction stuff and nature/ historical stuff.
