Hope to do Dollywood one of this days. We do love Silver Dollar City, though. We plan to do several days there in 2021.
I hate beaches. I can handle a few hours at one, maybe. After that…um…where are the rides? My wife enjoys beaches, although she accepts that it would be tortuous for me! My family did a week vacation at a resort along the beach in Tampa one year. I spent exactly 4 hours at the beach (to go parasailng and to ride this giant water trikes). The rest of the time I stayed holed up in the room watching TV. My mom was so frustrated with me!
We also like natural wonders such as Mammoth Cave, or seeing the bats in Austin, TX.
In 30 years of going, I’ve never had a total wash out. Some days, of course, have been better than others, and mornings can be delightfully cool on the lake, but June and July has always been pretty reliable. Most of the coasters start running pretty quickly after a rain shows, with the exception of just a two that I usually ride early for that reason.
I recommend Tuesday or Wednesday if you want to get every coaster in from open to close.
A few years ago I booked a four night stay for our family of 8 with tickets and The cheapest accommodations for our group and it was quite a bit of money IIRC. I cancelled for trip to OR instead.
Im going to do a mock booking.
Don’t know how far of a trip it is for you, but four days is quite a bit. Two was perfect - though over the decades I have come to love the badge of honor that comes with riding every coaster in one day. If you want to shake it up, Cleveland and Detroit are both nearby and wonderful places to visit for a couple days as well.
Also don’t pay for the VIP nonsense, especially if doing multiple days. Just go mid week.
I agree - a “beach vacation” would drive me nuts. I can “relax” at home; I go on vacations to DO things I can’t do at home. Plus, I just get no pleasure out of baking and sweating in the sand; it’s hot and boring. I have lived 45 min from one of the most beautiful beaches in the country for 20 years, and the number of times I have “gone to the beach” - not counting going to restaurants that happen to be on the beach - I can count on one hand and have fingers left over…
I am definitely NOT a beach person, but we do work and family travel hitting national parks and amusement parks along the way. Disney was a very rare trip that was specifically not for work or seeing someone. That said, over the years, we’ve found our way through every Six Flags, every Cedar Fair save Valley Fair, Hershey, Knoebel’s, Holiday World, both larger Herschend parks, all the Sea World/BG parks, all the Disney Parks, and Universal Orlando. Disney is by far my current favorite and we’ve done DL twice and WDW once in the last 4 years and I’m already itching to go again. I can’t say that about very many of the other parks.
When we “go to the beach” we’re going to that town. Chincoteague, VA where Marguerite Henry wrote of, and Prince Edward Island, of Anne of Green Gables fame, and OBX and visit the Wright Bros Menorial.
We visit museums and rent bikes and eat seafood and walk on boardwalks and play mini golf and of course swim and build sand castles. And it costs almost nothing.
I stayed at WL last fall and had NO idea the crickets were fake . Also, we saw either a possum or armadillo or something on the walkway to Boulder Ridge one morning so I think the wilderness element is legit.
I’m originally from San Diego and would do the exact same thing…visit DLR 3-4 times a year but never had an AP. Now living in Texas, visiting either DLR or WDW that often would be impossible. But we are trying for at least once a year!
I haven’t been to Dollywood in about 13 years, but SDC is a great park. I’ve never had weather trouble at Hershey and I lived in NJ and went about once a year for 3 years. I don’t know that I’ve ever had complete washouts at any park other than WDW. I had a half day wiped out at SFStL. in 2001 and a couple of evening rainouts at SFGAdv., but never anything as bad as the torrential Thursday at MK in December.
My kids are 15 and 17 and have been to WDW 6 times in the last 8 years plus DL about as many times…they have not become bored with it yet. The first trip is magical for sure, but we have just as good a time now as we did on that first trip. We also travel to many other places each year, most recently to Costa Rica, so they get a variety of vacation experiences. We did have to add Universal to our WDW trips, as the rides there are definitely more thrilling and Disney rides alone don’t generally cut it for teens.
