Fun-Lover's Guide Blog

If you’ve been thinking about checking out Dollywood’s National Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration, you couldn’t ask for a better time than this week (October 4-10). With schools back in full swing, the crowds are lighter overall, especially during on weekdays (although some schools are on fall break this week). But it’s the temperatures that are hard to resist. With daytime highs in the 70s and nothing but sunny skies in the forecast, you couldn’t ask for better weather for enjoying all of Dollywood’s rides, shows and attractions.

And then there’s the Harvest Celebration itself, which takes place during one of the neatest times of year to visit Dollywood. The changing Smoky Mountain foliage provides the perfect backdrop for the park’s monthlong celebration of Southern Gospel music and authentic mountain crafts. Festival fall decorations and foods are icing on the cake, so if you can make Dollywood travel plans for this week, time’s a-wastin’!

Everybody likes free information, which is why we’ve made The Fun-Lover’s Guide Dollywood and free and easy-to-get resource for anyone planning a Dollywood vacation or a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains. How do you get your free copy of The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood? There are several different ways:

• Download it. Click on the Get A Guide tab on this Web site and then click the option for downloading a free PDF version of the guide. That’s good for keeping as a reference resource on your desktop, laptop or smartphone, and you can still print out the coupons from a laptop.

• Get one in the mail. Click on the Get A Guide tab and fill out the request form to receive a free copy by mail. And since our site is complete Smoky Mountain vacation planner, you can request info on specific types of businesses, like attractions, restaurants, shops and accommodations. In most cases, you’ll receive a guide in the mail within a week.

• Pick one up in the Smokies. If you’re already in the Smokies, you’ll find The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood at hundreds of area racks, brochure slots and drop locations throughout the Smokies. These include the Dollywood info center on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge and at the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism. Also look for the guide at area hotels, motels, Smoky Mountain cabin rentals, supermarkets, convenience stores, shops, attractions and more.

While everyone enjoys having fun on vacation, everyone also enjoys saving money when they can, especially with the economy still on the comeback. So when taking your Dollywood trip or Great Smoky Mountains vacation, it only makes sense to try to save money here and there as well. That’s where The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood can be a valuable resource. For starters, there are useful tips and strategies for getting the most out of Dollywood, including advice on when and how to find the best deals on tickets and admissions. And then there are the coupons, dozens of them, from discounts on food and merchandise at Dollywood all the way to discounts on admissions and merchandise at other area attractions, music theaters, shops and restaurants. The coupons can be clipped directly from the printed guide, or go to the Coupons page of our Web site and print out the

The fall/winter edition of The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood officially in circulation. Look for detailed info about the National Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration as well as Smoky Mountain Christmas, two of the park’s biggest and most popular season festivals. Of course, we’ve got all the usual user-friendly tips, strategies and trivia that make The Fun-Lover’s Guide an essential part of your Dollywood vacation plans. Also look for a preview on the new $5 million Barnstormer ride premiering next spring at Dollywood.

You can find the guide at any of our nearly 250 area rack locations, and it’s also available at all of the official state welcome centers in Tennessee. Of course, you can also download a PDF version of the guide from the Web site or request a copy be sent to you by mail. Remember to use this Web site to contact other Smoky Mountain attractions, theaters, shops, restaurants and accommodations to help make your vacation in the Smokies complete. Also, don’t forget to use our moneysaving coupons, which can be printed from the Web site or clipped out of our guide.

Plan your fall/winter visit to the Smokies online at www.funloversguide.com.

Planning a trip to Dollywood and the Great Smoky Mountains this fall? We hope that you’ll make The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood your number-one resource for putting together your entire travel package. Here on our Web site, you’ll find a banner ad link to Smoky Mountain lodging providers, and of course, with The Fun-Lover’s Guide in hand, you’ll be ready to take on Dollywood itself. We also recommend visiting the Dollywood Web site, www.dollywood.com, to get the latest on the park’s schedule and show information.

But don’t forget that with The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood, you’ll also have access to dozens of discount coupons on other Smoky Mountain attractions, restaurants, shops and

Well, we just got our next issue off to the printer, and we expect it to hit the streets in about two weeks. Just in time too, because our summer issue flew out of the racks so fast, we were just about to run out! Look for brand-new information about everything going on at Dollywood during its annual Harvest Celebration and Smoky Mountain Christmas festivals as well as user-friendly information and tips about all of Dollywood’s regular rides, shows and attractions.

And don’t forget that this guide will also be full of money-saving coupons on all your other Dollywood vacation activities, like Smoky Mountain attractions, music theaters, fun outdoor activities, restaurants, shopping and more.

Once the new issue comes out, it will be available for download here at the Web site, or you can request that we send you a copy by mail. Once you’re in the area, look for the guide at any of our 200-plus rack and brochure locations, including all the Tennessee state welcome centers.

If you’re planning a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains this fall, be sure to make Dollywood a part of your plans. And then be sure to download or pick up your free copy of The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood. That will give you the 4-1-1 on everything that’s going on at Dolly Parton’s Pigeon Forge theme park, not just this fall but this winter too.

Two of Dollywood’s biggest seasonal festivals are right around the corner: The National Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration (9/29 — 10/30) and Smoky Mountain Christmas (11/6 —1/1/11). Harvest Celebration features lots of Southern Gospel music, visiting craftsmen and autumn decorations. It’s all set against the backdrop of the changing fall foliage in the Smokies, when the greens of summer transform into spectacular yellows, oranges and reds. Then Smoky Mountain Christmas shines brightly with millions of twinkling lights, special holiday shows and Christmas-themed attractions.

So if a Dollywood vacation is part of your fall or winter plans, be sure to let The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood be part of those plans. And don’t forget that the guide has dozens of moneysaving coupons on other area attractions, music theaters, restaurants and shops!

You may have noticed on our Facebook page and on the Bonus Dollywood Info of this Web site, that Dollywood just announced a new ride attraction for 2011. The Barnstormer is a family thrill ride that sends passengers as high as 81 feet in the air in a pendulum arc. The ride takes up to 32 riders at a time on increasingly higher swings, with peaks of up to 45 miles per hour!

This is the latest example of how Dollywood has managed to stay competitive in the theme park industry for a quarter-century now. Theme park visitors want great new rides, and while Dollywood’s core product of mountain music in a Smoky Mountain setting will always be at the heart of the park, the fact that it regularly introduces new thrill rides for the whole family is what has helped keep millions of guests coming back year after year.

Here’s looking forward to the Barnstormer next season!

Sure, The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood is a useful resource for anyone planning to visit the theme park or Dollywood’s Splash Country as part of their Dollywood or Smoky Mountains vacation. But there are other benefits of well, namely in the form of money-saving coupons for attractions, music theaters, restaurants and shops all over the area. Look for discounts on Dollywood food and game vendors as well as admission breaks for popular attractions like WonderWorks and Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies. You can also get 10 percent off merchandise at the new Titanic museum attraction.

There are several ways to get the coupons. First, you’ll find dozens of clippable coupons in every issue of The Fun-Lover’s Guide to Dollywood, or you can find them here at our Web site, www.funloversguide.com. Just click on the Coupons tab and you’ll see all our coupons laid out on one page. Just click the one you want and print it out! You can also download the entire guide in PDF format from the Web site, go to any of the coupon pages and print it out. Whichever way you choose, it all adds up to big savings when visiting Dollywood and the Great Smoky Mountains.