Dollywood's Great Pumpkin LumiNights is an awesome expansion to their annual fall festival, and if you haven't had a chance to get yourself over to the Smoky Mountains to pay it a visit, you still have until November 2nd to do so before the event is over! We visited Dollywood with my parents back in September when the Halloween decor and pumpkins were first starting to go up, and then yesterday we made a mad dash over there at night to view the lights in all of their glory.
Here are some of the fun things you can expect from the festival!
New Character Meet & Greets
Harvey the Pumpkin, Patches the Scarecrow, and other friends will be available for photo ops near the Giant Pumpkin in Wildnerness pass each night from 4-9pm
Glow Face Painting
New Face painting with special glow-in-the-dark paint that comes to life once the sun goes down!
Seasonal Treats
Pumpkin Funnel Cakes, Caramel Apple Sundaes, candy corn cider, and Candy Corn Cotton Candy are just a few of the new goodies available during the Harvest Festival.
Source: @Dollywood on Instagram
Just look at that adorable pumpkin spice funnel cake!
Useful Information While Visiting During The Festival:
You can wear costumes, with the following exceptions:
- Masks may not be worn.
- Guests may not dress as Dolly Parton or Santa.
- Wig, hats or other accessories may be worn as long as they do not cover the face.
- Portions of costumes may need to be removed when boarding attractions based on the loose article requirements.
- Costume accessories may not look like a weapon of any kind and no accessory can be sharp or have any component that could cause injury.
- Costumes may not drag the ground or cause a trip hazard.
Crowds reach their peak between 7:30 and 8:30pm each night. Weeknights/school nights are the best times to visit, as the Pumpkin LumiNights area in Craftsman's Valley can get really crowded during these times!
There are little decorative surprises all over the park when the lights go out. This spider was my favorite of all of the displays! The colored lights paired with the wash lighting on the buildings behind it was just a really cool scene.
These pumpkins were designed to look like old-fashioned quilts!
Love the uplighting on the buildings with spooky pumpkin bats.
These vertical lights are a main attraction during the Christmas festival, but the purple-y tinge they took on for Halloween made quite the impact as well.
We had already seen most of the artificial pumpkin lights in the access path near Wildwood Grove - the new expansion - when visiting with my parents last month. This time, though, we noticed they added hundreds and hundreds of REAL carved pumpkins with candles inside! Sure, they'd been there for a while and some were growing fur, but ya know, that's what pumpkins do.
This dude was just living his best life.
Jasper's favorite decor was the black lit cobwebs.
In the courtyard where the Christmas tree usually stands was this massive pile of Jack O' Lanterns.
Spooky pumpkin scarecrows hang from above amidst the branches washed in purple light.
Yeah, mommy and daddy let me stay up past my bedtime to go have fun! I can hang, I'm cool, I'm... ZzzzzZzzz...
If you're someone who only visits Dollywood once or twice a year, you're probably waiting for the Christmas festivities to spend your ticket money (and I don't blame you!). But especially for you season pass holders, the fall festival is definitely worthy of a visit in these last few days before the park closes to start ringing in the holiday spirit!
Pin this post so you can easily find it later!
Say Something About This Post: