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Post by eyeofthestorm on Jun 14, 2022 6:52:02 GMT -6
Hello, ladies.
With money being tight (and getting tighter), this might seem like an odd post. But hear me out 🙂
In April, a friend from college died from brain cancer. It was shocking to many of us. He was diagnosed in January, and evidently, it was already too late for them to operate. He leaves behind a daughter the same age as DS2.
DH and I decided that we would be more proactive about doing (special) things as a family. We normally don't vacation every year, but when we do, it's the first week of August.
Anyway, DH had enough hotel points from work trips that we could get a free weekend. We went up to Pigeon Forge and took the boys to Dollywood. The area is beautiful, and the park is absolutely lovely. The best part was the people who work there. All of them were kind, pleasant, helpful, and friendly. We joked that Dollywood is the "Chick-fil-a" of amusement parks.
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Post by mountainma on Jun 14, 2022 10:03:08 GMT -6
I really like Pigeon Forge. There's a distinct laid-back, family atmosphere there. We were there last year in April for dd2's wedding and several of the family went to Dollywood with their kids. Dh and I didn't go as we had wedding details to attend to and money was (still is) tight.
Good for you for spending some time with your family just being together and having fun! They grow up so fast. I hope you took lots of pics!
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Post by eyeofthestorm on Jun 14, 2022 11:27:43 GMT -6
Good for you for spending some time with your family just being together and having fun! They grow up so fast. I hope you took lots of pics! You know what? We really didn't take a lot of pics. I took a few of the kids at the first ride we went on. So... we had declined several times the professional photographers. Then DH and I both realized we hadn't had family portraits taken this year. So we had photographers in two locations take pictures (three poses at each). We expected to pay a ton... but I couldn't believe it. We had a choice of digital files for $50 (which is WAY less than we paid a photograper last year), or six prints (two 6x8 and four wallet size, plus a small frame) for $30. And we would have been able to have three of the six poses. We just choose our first two.
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Post by mountainma on Jun 14, 2022 11:45:17 GMT -6
Were you able to take the boys to Wonderworks by any chance? When the girls were younger, we took them there. They loved it and the Dixie Stampede better than anything, I think.
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Post by eyeofthestorm on Jun 15, 2022 8:02:26 GMT -6
No. It was a pretty quick turnaround trip. We spent one day at Dollywood, one day at the water park, and the last day we split between the two. We looked at the dinner theater options (including Dixie Stampede), but with the ages of our kids (15, 17, and 19), tickets for five adults for one dinner (and the show, of course) was WAY more than we were willing to spend. We all agreed we could make that same amount of money go farther having fun other ways.
I've always wondered about WonderWorks. We've visited other places that have it, too, but we've never gone.
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Dollywood
Jun 24, 2022 22:10:44 GMT -6
via mobile
Post by hidi74 on Jun 24, 2022 22:10:44 GMT -6
I grew up going to Gatlinburg. Never did go to Dollywood. I would love to.
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