Workamping at Dollywood
Although Dollywood does not actually have a workamping program, there are still many people who work for Dollywood while camping in the area. Some have started out temporary and ended up staying, some for even years.
Dollywood was not the original plan but when traveling and exploring sometimes you have to be willing to be flexible and make some last minute changes. Overall, as a family, we like to have everything planned out and to stick to a plan but we can accept changes when they are beneficial.
The original plan was to spend a month in Pigeon Forge TN and then go to Mufreesboro TN for Paul to work at Amazon. He had secured the job already. We went to visit the campground which was the only campground available and did not care for it. It was so far away from anything and at some point I am sure we will end up staying at some place far away from town at some point but once we saw what all Dollywood had to offer, we couldn't resist staying.
What Dollywood Offers:
Pay: for my 18 year old daughter they paid her $9.50 and hour; for Paul he was paid $10.50 and hour. She was guaranteed at least 15 hours a week and mostly worked about 25 hours a week. Paul he was able to work full time and even got in some overtime.Medical facility on site, free flu shots and wide range of medical care with a doctor and two certified nurses on staff; it is about $15 a visit.
Many perks around town:
- Free admission to Dollywood for employee, spouse and dependents. If employee was single (like my daughter) she could get one guest in anytime.
- Free admission for employee, guest and dependents to most all attractions in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg; there are way too many to list but here are a few were were able to do for free:
- Hollywood Wax Museum
- Ripley's mini golf (and other mini golf's)
- The Track (go carts and such)
- Every attraction at the Island except for the escape room and food of course
- All of the Ripley's attractions in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg
- The Smoky Mountain Opry show
- Country Tonight Show
- The Comedy Barn show
- Dixie Stampede Dinner show at $7/person
- Celebration Dinner show at $7/person
- Hatfield and McCoy Dinner show at $15/person
- The Murder Mystery Dinner show and other dinner shows at about $10/person
- All other shows in town (if they weren't dinner shows they were free)
- The Titanic
- The Crime Museum
- The Jungle boat ride
- Goats on the Road mountain coaster
- Forbidden Caverns
- Parrot Mountain
- The Lost Sea
- Ober Gatlinburg
- Ski Lifts in Gatlinburg
- The Aquarium
- Pretty much everything in Gatlinburg
- If we wanted to travel off these are some of the attractions that Dollywood employees, their spouse and dependents can get into free:
- The Ark in Hebron Kentucky
- Ruby Falls and Rock City in Chattanooga TN
- Any Six Flags park (and water parks)
- Stone Mountain GA
- Cedar Point in Ohio
- Kings Dominion in VA
- Several parks in Kentucky
- Silver Dollar City in Branson
So many others but we counted over 50 attractions just in the area and we did not even do them all.
What Dollywood does not pay for:
- Housing, which for workamping would be a campsite
- Food
We were able to stay at a local campground for $400/month and we had to pay for the electricity on top of that but the electricity was never more than $100/month. This is reasonable for the area. When we stayed for the month, we payed $1,000 for the campsite.
Paul would have made more money with Amazon and the housing covered but sometimes it is more about the experiences and not the money.
Staying in Pigeon Forge allowed our daughter, Shelby to get a job, a job that she really enjoyed working. She loved the people she worked with and it was a wonderful experience for her.
I did not work at Dollywood myself, the only time I will workamp is during the month of July and maybe some weekend work here or there at a campground. Since I do not have first hand experience, this review will be based on Paul and Shelby's experience and what I have learned from them.
Paul's experience:
He started off in the lighting crew: they were responsible for putting up the millions of Christmas lights all over the park. There were about 4 million of them and they really start in July; he came on in September and would work from 5 am until about 3 pm Monday-Thursday and was off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Once the lights were all up and the park ready for the Christmas season, he moved over to characters and parades. They had him dressing up as Yukon Cornelius from Rudolf the Red-nose reindeer cartoon for part of the week and then dressed as an Elf for the rest of the week. As an elf he would help work the Snow Globe: kids and parents can come into the globe and take pictures and have their pictures taken. He liked dressing up as Yukon and enjoyed that; he did not enjoy being an elf. He tolerated it for a while but then talked them into moving him to something else. He was still Yukon for part of the week and then they moved him to parades the rest of the week. He would go in some days at 1 (when the park opened up at 2) or 10:30 am (when the park opened up at 11) and when he only did parades he would go in at 5 pm. He liked the consistency and schedule when he worked with lights so he said if he were to return and work with Dollywood again, he will only agree to do the lights and start earlier (July or August) and only stay through early November when the lights are finished. The lighting crew was laid back and they had plenty of breaks and worked a lot when people were not in the park. He definitely enjoyed that much better.
Shelby's experience:
Shelby struggled at first but luckily she had an understanding team lead that took her under her wing and helped make Shelby's experience much better. Her first week, she would get overwhelmed and meltdown at least once during the night but got much better with time. She did learn how to dip the ice cream, make sundaes, shakes, and hot chocolate and did a very good job with it. She ended up enjoying the people she worked with and always wanted to come in early or stay late and volunteer to work anytime they asked her to. Sometimes they would get so busy she would be exhausted when she got off and even on those busy days not get a break (which I didn't agree with). She wouldn't say anything about needing a break although I encouraged her to speak up about it.
They both agree that there is some disorganization when it comes to scheduling and making sure everyone has breaks but I think most of that comes down to being shorthanded, which they were very shorthanded the entire time they worked there.
Most places in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg were short staffed; there were help wanted signs everywhere! There are no shortage of jobs if you are willing to work them, mostly fast food and other type restaurants, retail shops and all of the attractions. Our 17 year old son, Josh picked him up a part time job at Wonderworks. He didn't care for it that much but managed to hang on to it to help save up some money. There was way too much people interaction for him.
The interesting thing, which I haven't noticed that much, but my sister noticed: When she came for a visit she noticed how much more both Shelby and Josh had opened up. All of the other times she was around them, they always stayed quiet and away from everyone. They both engaged with her and her kids and took charge with showing them around and actually talked! I never thought about it much before but when she mentioned it I could understand what she meant. In the short 6 months of traveling and workamping, the kids have experienced so many new things and have been forced somewhat out of their comfort zones to some extent. There is a quote that I love and I truly believe in: Growth and learning comes from mistakes and getting away from your comfort zone. (My paraphrase). These are the times we do learn and grow when we get away from the daily things and things we already know how to do and do best. It's so easy to want to stay in that zone and it's not always a bad thing to do so; some people are great leaders and do a great job staying in their comfort zones and still learn and grow but they do have to venture out some to get there. Shelby loves to stay in one place once she gets comfortable and part of me completely understands it and feels bad that we are dragging her to all of these places when she just wants to stay in one place. I hope that these new experiences will be beneficial to her in the long run.
Shelby and Josh do not have personal transportation. Shelby is unable to drive and I'm not sure that she will ever be able to. Josh can drive but is a long ways from owning a car and being able to live by himself; he still has two more years of high school left. Spending the 4 months in Pigeon Forge has allowed them to be more independent than if we were still in Mississippi. The trolley system in Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg was a great way for them to get around and with them both working, they had their own money so it was easy to say, go catch a trolley and will see you later. Shelby even learned her way around with the Trolleys. The area is a relative safe place and since it is all tourist areas the trolleys go to, they never felt like they were in an unsafe environment. I am not sure if there is anywhere else where they have access to everything they want to go do so easily; Josh would even take the Trolley to and from work .Housing is pretty expensive though and limited around the tourist areas so it would be difficult for either of them to live independently in the area at this time.
Dollywood closes on Jan. 5th and does not open back up until sometime in March. For those who work year-around, they will get unemployment for that time they are closed. Shelby wants to come back in March but I am not sure if she will be able to. We are going to leave it open and will see what happens. I don't want to deprive her because she does like it so much; likes the people I should say. She would also have the opportunity to try and get trained in the bakery and possibly even be able to bake things, although I am not completely sure she would be able to but maybe with time she could. I am not sure what direction she will need to go in life since she has so many more challenges. She is still on the waiting list for supportive housing in Mississippi and she may be able to work some place there that will help accept her the way those at Dollywood have but again, am unsure at this time. Without a stable place to live there, it is a challenge to overcome. Right now, we are trying to encourage her that it is ok to not grow up so fast; to take her time and let some time pass before worrying about living independently. Only time will tell and I do hope she is able to find and accept the right fit for her. She is learning more about her challenges and is becoming more vocal to others about these things to help others try and understand her better. I know its discouraging at times, and most frustrating for her and do hope her experiences are beneficial in the long run.
Some Positive Things so far since we've been on the road:
- Paul is happier. A former co-worker of his called him up the other day and got is voicemail. The first thing he said on the message was that his voicemail sounded so much more happier and relaxed. His voicemail when he was working was quick, get to the point, leave me alone you are bothering me, type voicemail.
- The kids coming out of their shell some; they still are not going to go up to people and just start talking, they are experiencing new things and it is noticeable.
- Thanksgiving at the campground: Was very thankful to see so many people come together; we really thought it was just going to be us for Thanksgiving. Then after that, my sister and her family came and our daughter Abby; so we had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Pigeon Forge gets hot and humid and super busy in the summer so I know I do not want to spend the summer here. There are so many other places to visit and we are looking forward to getting out west, the pacific northwest and possibly glacier national park.
The first six months on the road have been less traveling and more just workamping and staying in areas we are comfortable with; it is now time to expand, spread our wings and soar, explore areas further out; a new adventure awaits.
I update our plan with each blog because our plans seem to change slightly so it's best not to plan too far out.
This is what we know so far:
1.) Leaving TN and going home to MS for a while; how long, we are not sure yet. We will visit family and take care of some business while we are there but not sure how long we will want to stay there.
2.) Go to Texas after MS; spend some time in Abilene with our son, Aaron and my mother.
3.) Start heading west after that; probably towards Washington State or Glacier National Park for May but take our time getting there We are already picking out spots in New Mexico and Arizona, and we will see what happens.
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