Summer of Seven: Splash!

If you need a quick, but loaded with fun trip this summer, then Dollywood Splash Country might be perfect for your crew! There’s something for everyone here! And be sure to stay at Dolly’s own hotel, the Dollywood DreamMore Resort – there’s nothing else like it!

Last year, we started the tradition of taking the Circus on a trip as her birthday present from us. For this year’s birthday trip, we were supposed to go to New Orleans in May, but had to postpone that trip until later in the fall.

Since we couldn’t go to New Orleans as planned, we wanted to squeeze in one more little trip with our best girl to celebrate the summer. Last year, we visited Pigeon Forge and did a slew of things there, which she loved, but we hadn’t visited the one and only Dolly Parton’s Splash Country waterpark. So for one more quick little summer adventure, we chose to right that wrong.

Thanks to the folks at Dollywood Splash Country for providing us with tickets to the water park.

Splash Country

Since it’s a waterpark, there are of course, loads of water rides and splash pads at Splash Country. There are plenty of things to do for every age. We did a couple of the bigger waterslides, but mainly we hung around the wave pool, lazy river and splash pads geared toward the kids.

The Circus couldn’t get enough of the Mountain Waves wave pool. Every few minutes, the waves start rocking and it’s really fun no matter how old you are. The wave pool mimics the ocean in that you just walk in and it gets deeper, the farther out you go. There are tubes you can float in and life vests available as well. The Circus went back and forth between using a tube, having us hold her and wearing a life vest. She couldn’t decide which way was more fun.

There are a couple of different splash pad type areas in the park for kids as well.

Little Creek Falls (above) is more for the little kids and Bear Mountain Fire Tower (below) is geared more toward bigger kids.

Each area has water slides built into them that are perfect “gentle thrills” for kids – as you can see from the photo above.

There are also countless other sources of water entertainment at these two areas including huge water guns, sprinklers everywhere, buckets of water ready to be dumped on you and more.

The Circus isn’t quite tall enough to ride everything at the water park yet, but there were a couple of rides she was tall enough for that we were able to get her to ride with us on – the Raging River Rapids and the River Rush Water Coaster.

Her face says it all there. She was super skeptical about getting on the water coaster…

And if you can’t tell in that second picture, her mouth is wide open in a scream – which she did almost the whole ride. Notice the expression on her daddy’s face as well. Priceless, folks. After it was all said and done though, she decided she really liked it.

If you want to plan a Splash Country trip with your family, here are a few tips…

Tips for Your Splash Country Trip

• Take beach towels. These are not provided at the park.
• If you want to ensure staking claim to chairs somewhere, get there when the park opens.
• Take plenty of sunscreen. If you really want to protect yourself and your little ones, then I highly suggest having everyone wear one of the SPF long sleeve/short sleeve shirts. I wore this one while we were there with my regular swimsuit top under it and black swimsuit bottoms. It was a godsend for this pale girl.
• If you can go during the week, rather than the weekend, do it. It will be less crowded. We were there on a Monday and while it still was crowded, one of the lifeguards told us it gets absolutely packed on the weekends.
• Pack everything you’ll need for the day in 1-2 backpacks. We put all our towels, wallets, sunscreen, etc. into one backpack so we didn’t have to keep up with too much stuff. We rented a locker to lock the backpack in while we were walking around the park.

Where to stay on your visit to Splash Country? Why, at the Dollywood Resort of course!

Dollywood DreamMore Resort

We stayed at Dolly’s hotel during our trip to Pigeon Forge last year. The Circus loved it, I loved it and Grunt loved it. It’s a resort, but doesn’t have that over-the-top resort feel – it’s welcoming and cozy and everything that you’d expect from Dolly. Needless to say, when we told the kid we were going to Pigeon Forge, her first question was “Are we staying at Dolly’s hotel?!”

This year, I surprised the Circus with Mom and Daughter facials at the DreamMore Spa on our first day there.

She has been talking about wanting a spa day for months and while she’s too young to get a massage, she was the right age to get a mini-facial at the spa. We both got our facials together, in the same room. While she looks cute with her mud mask on, I do not – so we’ll leave you with just the photo above.

After the spa, we had a little pool time at the hotel. The outdoor pool is really nice and there’s lots of space, so you don’t feel crowded. There’s also a splash pad for kids.

After dinner our first night, we strolled through the hotel and of course, had to talk about all our favorite Dolly albums. Isn’t this hall so neat? It literally has everyone of her albums in it.

Our next day was spent at the waterpark, but after the waterpark, we made it back to the hotel in time to take advantage of their nightly s’mores.

They really have a little fire pit going and you get to roast your own marshmallows and make your own s’mores!

It was a quick trip, but one with lots of fun and memories made!

Want more great family trip ideas? Take a look at these then…

Our New York and Boston Trip – who knew kids would like so much history?!

Disney World Tips for the Average Family – for those of us who don’t take multiple trips a year to Disney.

Isle of Palms Beach Vacation – beautiful beaches, no crowds and great for kids!

A Chattacation: Things to Do With Your Family in Chattanooga, Tennessee

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