Starting on November 5th, Dollywood lights up with hundreds of beautiful Christmas decorations. LCHS’s Class of 2023 was given the opportunity to see the theme park’s festive spirit in person on Friday, December 2nd. Two group members, Lindsay Wear (12) and Madison Vines (12) congregated that morning to prepare for the trip.

“That morning, I was really tired, but when we went to Dunkin’ I was able to get breakfast at least,” Vines said.

Dollywood has a wide variety of attractions, but not all of them are accessible to every guest. There are many things that can prevent a person from going on a ride, such as height or size overall, but despite this, there are still many options available.

“I couldn’t get on some of the rides, so we mostly went on the kids’ rides. I liked the Mad Mockingbird the most because it was the most comfortable, I didn’t lose anything on it, and it was fun. My friend kept trying to steer it and I did not trust her with that at all,” Wear said.

Between rides, the group participated in several fun games around the park. One such game is a carnival classic: three bottles are set up on a table in a pyramid structure, and players must knock the bottles off of the table to win a prize.

“Well I remember always passing [carnival] games when I was a kid, but my parents never wanted me to play them ’cause they were usually made to be really hard to win and cost money to even try. I understood that but didn’t really care because they looked fun and giant plushies are cool, so at Dollywood, I decided to finally try one. My hand-eye coordination is bad, so I was horrible at it,” Vines said.

Some students chose to leave early, while others stayed at the park after dark. Thanks to the timing of the trip, those who remained at Dollywood were able to view the Christmas decorations at night. 

“I really liked the lights. They were cool at night. The best one was this butterfly one on the bridge. It was really pretty,” Wear said.

These seniors had a unique and fun time during their Dollywood visit. They spent the day together with other friends and made memories that will last a lifetime.