I'm tired of all of the Dollywood bashing in The Lounge!

[Rabrrrrrr]

Sure, she's tackily dressed, comports herself with all the class of a coin-op laundry, and has artistic tastes redolent of a bowl of putrid herring, but she's an American Icon and an embodiment of the American Dream come true, and she's a generous and good human being!

[Maddy McCall]

1. Dolly is the GREATEST!

I fucking love Dolly. Indeed, if I could be anyone in the world, I'd be Dolly.

Nobody better diss Dolly when I'm around.

(I met her when I was five. She told me that I was a beautiful child. She even held me! Of course, all I could do was stare at her eyelashes...they frightened me. They looked like big black spiders! :scared: )

But I love Dolly--always have, always will. She's a great person with a genuine heart (and genuine flesh over that heart. :D )

[Ready4Change]

5. I've heard she's great.

That success hasn't gone to her head. I also heard she put Dollyworld where she did in order to give back something to the town where she got her start?

[Maddy McCall]

11. That's exactly right.

She knows that there aren't wonderful employment opportunities in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Part of the reason she opened them was to provide decent employment to people who might otherwise be unemployed.

She's the coolest, in my book. I'd love to meet her now...she seems like the kind of person I'd like to just hang out with. The coolest. :D

[tjdee]

2. She seems really nice.

I've always been a bit tickled by the fact that there's a such place as Dollywood, but she does seem like a sweet little thing.

[Ready4Change]

3. I'm all for Dolly and Dollywood... except for the TRAFFIC!

OmiGOD. I took a trip down to Deals Gap (Rt 129 between NC and TN) and figured I'd take this little side road to get down there. Looked twisty and fun, which was the whole point of the trip in the first place.

So I get down there, and this little side road is actually the one which goes right through Dollywood. In the middle of summer.

:wow:

It must've taken me 3 hours to get through there.

Still, looked like a lot of families having fun there, and almost nothing that wasn't family friendly. Nothing wrong with that.

[Maddy McCall]

4. Her water park...Splash Country...is even better than the amusement park.

We've been to water parks all over the south. Now, each year when we go to Gatlinburg, we go to the waterpark instead of the amusement park.

[Bouncy Ball]

6. Oh shut up you!

I finally posted pictures. Not recent, but what the hell.

[WillyT]

7. I've Always Had A DollyWoody For Dolly !!!

sorry...

:scared:

[Rabrrrrrr]

9. LOL!

Huh huh hu huh hu hu huh. You said "woody".

[Tsiyu]

8. And Dolly supports Breastfeeding - whoda thunk it?

She has nursing rooms with rocking chairs and nice lighting at Dollywood so you can nurse comfortably.

I will always love her for that....:)

[Radical Activist]

10. has there been dollywood bashing?

I love Dolly Parton. Her music is wonderful and she's hilariously funny. I wish she hadn't put all those tacky theme parks right next to the Smoky mountains though.

[Maddy McCall]

12. She didn't. Silver Dollar City was already there. When it closed...

it left many people unemployed. She opened her two parks right on the site of Silver Dollar City.

But the Smokies are incredibly polluted, not because of Dollywood, but because of the unbelievable amount of tourists (8 million/year) who come to the Smokies to "experience nature."

Cades Cove, to me, is the worst offender. People were moved out of the area, gas stations and businesses closed, so that tourists could experience some fake "down home" feeling when they visited. It's all fake. It was depopulated of the many poor people who lived in the area just so tourists could "step back in time."

[Radical Activist]

15. Pollution from cars is a problem

but by far the biggest pollution problem in the area is coal-fired power plants run by the TVA. That is the reason the Smokies are the national park with the most air pollution.

I'm glad to hear that Dollywood wasn't built there from scratch, but if I were to compare Dollywood to Cades cove in the authenticity department I have to say that the Cove comes off looking a heck of a lot more real.
The National Park service really needs to stop allowing that endless line of cars in Cades Cove and replace it with some kind of bus system, but people always throw a fit when its suggested.

[Maddy McCall]

16. Cades Cove is as plastic as Disneyworld.

I read a great article in a history journal on the history of Cades Cove.

I was astounded. It may LOOK real, but only because the real homes and businesses of people who were there were shut down and destroyed, to give Cade's Cove that "down home" country feel.

So sad for the real lives that were destroyed so that tourists could feel that they had stepped back in time.

If I can find a link to the article, I'll PM it to ya. :D

[Radical Activist]

17. Yes, the people were lied to.

The government told them they wouldn't have to move from their land, but they were eventually forced out years after the park was created. However, the cabins are original, all over 100 years old. The churches are original, the cemeteries are still visited by decedents, and of course the mountains and tree aren't at all plastic.

Despite the lousy way people were treated (I've met family members who are still bitter) I personally can't compare the authenticity of something real like that to Disney World or a water slide that has no historical or natural value.

[elshiva]

13. She has a lovely voice!

[autorank]

14. Great! What next? You'll be attacking Branson, MO

Please stop, flame war may ensue (lol).



It's 12:03, do you know where Victoria5555 is?