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- [00:00]
A
Hello. You're about to drift into an episode of the Nightly, a podcast designed to help you unwind and relax. For the full phone free immersive light experience, visit Hatch Co. Enjoy.
- [00:30]
B
Hey there out there. Hi there. I'm Kristen.
- [00:33]
A
And I'm Jacques. Welcome to the Nightly from Hatch, where you never have to wait in line for your bed.
- [00:42]
B
Thank goodness for that.
- [00:44]
A
Thank goodness.
- [00:45]
B
Yes, I definitely don't have to wait in line because I don't have any pets. Some of my friends who have pets say the pets get priority in the bed.
- [00:54]
A
That's wild to me.
- [00:55]
B
It's like the cat, the dog, they take up the space first, and then they have to kind of climb in around the pets. You don't have pets, do you, Jacquees?
- [01:03]
A
Not currently, No, I don't. But that's wild to me. I've had pets for a lot of my life, and I am very, very keen. I love my pets. They are family. They're my kids. I get it. I am very keenly on the. Get your ass off the bed. Like, get off the bed. You got an entire house to sleep on. Now. Once I'm in the bed and I'm on my area and stuff like that, I'm okay with if you come and you find your space, you know, after I've gotten my space. But the whole like, oh, the cat is sitting there. The dog is, get up, get up, get up, get up, get off.
- [01:49]
B
So Fifi and Scooby don't get first dibs on the section of the bed they want to sleep on in your house.
- [01:55]
A
I'm not coming in. They dog beds or cat beds or couch or floor or rug or sheet of paper or plastic or that they. They sleep all through the. On every surface they can. The bed is mine. And if I want the couch, the couch is mine.
- [02:13]
B
I love this perspective of yours. The keys. It's so like, you know what? I'm the boss here. I'm in charge.
- [02:20]
A
Yeah. And I love you. I love them. I love them like children. They're family. I would do anything for them. Every special place in my heart belongs to them. Get off the bed. Get off the couch.
- [02:34]
Get off.
- [02:38]
B
You heard it here first, folks. Jacquees will do anything for his pets, but let them have the bed.
- [02:43]
A
No. No, no.
- [02:47]
B
Well, Jacquees, we're in a jolly mood tonight. I thought it would be fun to take the jolly up a notch and dream about a dream vacation.
- [03:09]
A
Love it.
- [03:09]
B
All right, so for today's dream vacation, the theme is theme parks. And together, we're gonna come up with a dream theme park vacation. If it turns out that we end up diverging and your theme park vacation is slightly different than mine, that's okay, too. But I. I would just love to know in your heart where you would want to start this dream vacation, this theme park. Is there a specific theme park that is near and dear to your heart or one that you've wanted to try out, that you've yet to go to?
- [03:45]
A
Yeah. So let me first start by saying I am a bonafide theme park person.
- [03:51]
B
You're from Chicago. Did you grow up going to Six Flags?
- [03:54]
A
I did. I grew up going to Six Flags.
- [03:56]
B
Yeah.
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A
I've been to.
- [03:59]
Most of the Universal Studios in the world.
- [04:01]
B
Wow.
- [04:02]
A
I've been to all but one of the Disney parks in the world.
- [04:06]
B
You're kidding. Oh, my gosh.
- [04:08]
A
I've been to Cedar Point. I have passes to Six Flags Disney. I have been to other theme parks in the world, in the country. I'm a theme park person. So this is right up my alley.
- [04:22]
B
You're gonna be an expert here. I'm gonna learn a lot from you.
- [04:25]
A
Here's the thing. I only have one Disney park to go before I'm complete. Although now Disney is opening up a new park in Abu Dhabi. But currently the only Disney I've never been to is Disney Hong Kong.
- [04:41]
B
Oh.
- [04:43]
So you've been to Euro Disney, Disneyland, Disney World. I'm missing one, aren't I?
- [04:50]
A
Both Disney parks in Japan.
- [04:53]
B
Yes, that's right. Japan. I forgot about Japan.
- [04:55]
A
Disney, Alania. And on a Disney cruise as well. I've done it. I've done it all.
- [04:59]
B
Stop it.
- [05:00]
A
Done them all.
- [05:00]
B
Oh, my. I feel like you could make a whole documentary or TV series about the Disney experience. Cause you've done it all. You've done it all. Except Hong Kong.
- [05:11]
A
Except Hong Kong. So here's the thing. The reason I brought that up is. Cause I wanna say this like, my dream theme park vacation was always, I want to spend 30 days and go to every Disney park in the world. I would start at Disneyland, I would then drive down to San Diego, go on the Disney cruise. From there, fly to Disney World, and then from there, fly to Euro Disney. Then Hong Kong, Japan. Shanghai as well. I've been to Disney Shanghai and then come back home. So I've always thought of that. But I'm not gonna do that for this, okay. Because that is too on the nose. That's too easy. There is one theme park that I've never been to that's a big one that I really want to go to. I would love to go to Dollywood.
- [05:55]
B
Oh, my gosh, Jacquees, you just said that because, you know I love Dolly.
- [05:59]
A
I. I did not know that, actually, but, like, I. I would love to. Dollywood is, like, outside of the Disney parks. Dollywood is, like, top of my list. I really want to go. And so that is where I'm going. I'm going to Dollywood. I don't even really know what state Dollywood is in, but it's in Tennessee. That's right. That's right.
- [06:19]
B
So in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Yes.
- [06:22]
A
That's where I want to go. That's where I want to go. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood.
- [06:27]
B
Okay. You just made my heart sing. My husband and I, we honeymooned in Dollywood when we got married.
- [06:32]
A
Oh, that's so fun.
- [06:33]
B
We saw Dolly perform there, and it was during the holiday season. So every year, she lights up all the buildings so everything's covered in like, 8 trillion Christmas lights.
- [06:44]
A
That's beautiful.
- [06:45]
B
And then every night, there is a holiday parade that goes down the main streets. She produces a special musical that is performed only during the holiday season every year. The year we were there, it was a musical version of It's a Wonderful Life. And so the holidays are a great time to go to Dollywood, but year round, it doesn't matter what time of year it is. Dollywood is so fun. I think a lot of people just think, oh, it's gonna be just a tribute to Dolly Parton and there's not much else to do there. But that's not true at all.
- [07:16]
A
It's a full theme park.
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B
It's a full theme park. And the roller coasters are bananas. Yeah, I've heard they are extreme roller coasters. So are you into roller coasters, Jacquees?
- [07:27]
A
Oh, I mean, I've season passes to Six Flags, and I have for the past 10 years.
- [07:31]
B
And that's their specialty. Six Flags specialty is the roller coaster. Yeah. Yeah.
- [07:35]
A
I've been to Cedar Point, which has some of the best roller coasters in the world. I've been to Busch Gardens. All of them. All of them.
- [07:43]
B
Oh, my gosh. Okay, so you're gonna love. There's one in Dollywood that's essentially a slingshot, and it's the only wooden roller coaster in the world that's designed like this. So you're sitting in there and you're thinking, oh, I'm gonna go over this wooden roller coaster, and it's gonna be really fun. But then after you get locked into the seat, you feel the seats moving backwards, and you're like, what's going on here? Why is it going back? And then boom. It shoots you out at 70 miles per hour.
- [08:07]
A
Love it.
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B
And you are going on a wooden roller coaster that's probably the most extreme wooden roller coaster in the world.
- [08:16]
It is so fun. But they also have, like cute Smoky Mountain nostalgia things there too. So if you don't want to ride the roller coasters or the other exciting rides, you can just, like, watch a cobbler make shoes or cute old timey things like that, like watch people make cowboy hats and so on and enjoy all the crafts. Are you into those kinds of things or not?
- [08:38]
A
Yeah. I mean, once I'm in a park, I love to partake in whatever that park has to offer. Especially, you know, if it's a park I've never been to. And like, I'm a little bougie now when it comes to theme parks, because. Not bougie, but I'm a. I try a lot and I do a lot of things if it's new. But I'm also such a theme park connoisseur that I can tell right away if it's something that I'm not gonna vibe with.
- [09:04]
But once I'm there, if I'm like, yeah, let's just check this out. Like, I'm pretty much into what's going on.
- [09:10]
B
Nice. One thing that I really love about Dollywood that I have to point out, the lines are just a fraction of the length.
- [09:18]
A
Beautiful.
- [09:19]
B
That they are at like Six Flags or at Disney or Universal. The lines go so fast, sometimes it's like, hold on, that wasn't a line at all. I just got back in line for that ride and they sat me right away on the roller coaster again. That was great. So the lines are not so long. The price point. I know it's our dream vacation, so money probably doesn't even matter in this fantasy, but Dollywood costs way less than Disney or Universal.
- [09:44]
A
Even better.
- [09:45]
B
Even better. So totally affordable. And if you happen to be a Dolly fan, there's a museum that's just all Dolly Parton's costumes, story record albums, all sorts of stuff like that. So you can have the full on I worship you Dolly experience, or you can just like ignore all that and just do the theme park stuff and do all the fun rides and experiences. And I just find it a delightful place to go. And apparently what I've learned is some people in that part of the country, they buy season tickets and don't even ride the rides. They just go there and they like sit in the park because it's so beautifully manicured. It just is a beautiful place to sit and go. People watching and whatnot.
- [10:29]
A
Yeah, absolutely. I do that with Disney. Sometimes, like I'll go to Disney and don't ride or single ride while I'm there, but you know, just go for like, it'll be like a food day or I'll see. I just want to see some shows and be around the sights and the sounds and. Yeah, absolutely. I think that's beautiful. I love that.
- [10:48]
B
And yeah, in Dollywood you really get some great natural beauty too because it's the Great Smoky Mountains, one of the most visited national parks in America. So it just happens to be a beautiful place too. So even if you're not really riding the rides, but doing the little tourist choo choo train around just to get the lay of the land, even that's just like, oh, it's so beautiful. I love this little choo choo train where I get to just look around and they don't even call that a ride. But to me I'm like, that's as good as a ride. I'm seeing a beautiful part of the world and it's great.
- [11:18]
A
Yeah, I love it. Yeah. So Dollywood, that's the wear.
- [11:21]
B
So I gotta ask you though, are you going to wear special clothes like when you go to theme parks? Let's say when you're at Universal, do you try and dress in a Universal character outfit? Or when you're in Disney, do you try to dress as like a musketeer?
- [11:37]
A
No, no, no, no, no, no. I, you know, I've gotten Disney ears before. I bought like a little Mario hat. And you'll wear it while you're there for a day or anything like that. At Disney sometimes I'll wear like a Disney hoodie or shirt or something. So I don't mind like wearing merch of the place I'm going to. But I don't like go all out and dress like, you know, like a character or anything like that. And at Dollywood I would probably just we.
- [12:10]
Yeah, yeah, yeah. But then once I'm there, if I see something that's cool, I might buy in and rock it. Because this is a, this is, this is not just an overnight trip. This is, this has to be like a, a three night trip. So like you can, you don't have to rush you. I think they have like, they have a couple things you can go to within like the resort Property. Yeah. So this is a multi day vacation to a theme park, which I've done many times.
- [12:37]
B
Oh, multi day. Okay. So just a couple of hints about what we could do for multi day in Dollywood. We could stay at the Dreammore Resort, which is this resort that's super high end and it has a spa so you can get massages and treatments and so on while you're there and eat at five star restaurants and so on and have the full on like high end experience. Or we can visit Main street gatlinburg, which is 800 shops that have like putt putt golf or they have the Titanic museum or the upside down building or you know, every kind of tourist trap you can imagine is on the main street where you can for a mile straight just go to a million different things, see the shows. There's this Dolly Parton lumberjack show where you can just watch lumberjacks run on logs and chop wood and so on. She just has all these different shows. You can go see like a pirate show and so on.
- [13:33]
A
Is this on the property this is part of?
- [13:36]
B
So Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge are kind of like side by side towns. And because of the popularity of Dollywood, all of these other little businesses popped up around Dollywood. And some of them are Dolly owned and some of them are not Dolly owned. But for a lot of people they're part of the full experience. If you're going to stay for more than one day there.
- [13:57]
A
Of course, I think where I would stay, like I would stay in a resort property of Dollywood. I like staying like on property at theme parks. If I'm vacationing there. I think the only place you don't have to do that and I live here, but it's Disneyland. Like don't stay at the Disneyland hotels. They're too expensive for not a lot.
- [14:20]
B
Oh, you can stay across the street for a tenth of the price.
- [14:23]
A
Yeah. But everywhere else I'm like, yeah, stay on the property because it's usually not as jacked up as those prices but. But also, you know, you probably get some perks. Oh yeah, you probably get some extra magic hours, that's what Disney calls it. But where you can go an hour early or an hour later or you know, give transportation to and from the park or is walkable. And then if I'm staying for two or three days, I would like stay there for an extra day and treat it just as like a hotel and then go outside the park to do some of these things you were talking about as well. If it's surrounding the area. Because all of that to me, is still experiencing Dollywood, even if it's not technically a Dollywood property. But if it's close by, like, I would do that, but I would stay on the Dollywood Resort. They have a couple.
- [15:12]
B
Yes, they do. They have some that are just like log cabins too. So you can rent out a log cabin and have a bunch of friends stay in the log cabin with you. Would you want to do that or would you want to stay in like the five star resort section instead?
- [15:25]
A
It depends. It depends on who I'm going with because, like.
- [15:30]
Ideally I would probably do this with a partner or someone. I have a couple friends who are huge Dolly Parton fans as well. So that could be fun. If I'm going with just a solo person, we're gonna stay in a resort, but I have to go with someone who will get on rides. Like, I can't go with someone who's not gonna get on rides because then half our day we're either not gonna be together or I'm gonna be annoyed that you don't wanna get on a ride and you're gonna be annoyed that and I' like we could have did something else. So I had to go. Someone who wants to be there and enjoy everything that the park has to offer. And I'm not just saying, like, if there's a ride you don't want to go on, that's fine, but you got to want to experience most of the park. Yeah, but if that's not the case, then I would go with friends because, you know, if one person doesn't want to ride rides as long as somebody in a group does, you're all set. And then I would probably do the Log Cabin. That would be fun. Yeah.
- [16:31]
B
Log Cabin feels so like I'm in Tennessee. I'm doing this, you know, Smoky Mountain experience all the way. And it feels like, oh, I'm living kind of like how I, as a New York City person, imagine like what life is like if you live there. I mean it in kind of a bougie way, but you know what I'm saying.
- [16:50]
A
Yeah, I know. I love it all. I love the vacation experience, especially if it's surrounding a theme park experience. It's my favorite.
- [17:00]
B
Now. One thing I just want to go back to real quick. I know you said that you're not going to walk in there with a big blonde wig on and high heeled cowboy boots. You're not going to be dressed like Dolly, but you might shop there, there Are lots of shops and you might pick up some merch and so on. So just to go back to that, if you were to buy merch, are you the kind of person who would get a T shirt that has a picture of Dolly on it? Would you get something like a spangly cowboy jacket because she's got lots of cowboy wear there too. Would you try to embody the great Smoky Mountain country western feel? Or would you embody Dolly herself with merch that has her face all over it?
- [17:39]
A
I get you. You know, I've changed over the years. Like back in the day, in my 20s, I was a buy merch, buy shirts, and some of them were ugly as hell.
- [17:54]
And then my fashion sense started to change and evolve as well. And I stopped buying shirts that, like, I would never wear outside. And I don't need more just shirts or things like that. And then I've gotten to the point where now if I'm gonna buy merch, it has to be something that, like, I can, like, go out and, like, wear, like, as a fit as well. Like, you know, if I'm out chilling, like, I can wear it. And people would be like, man, you still dress good. And there are some merchants, like, apparel that you can do that with, like, depending on what you buy. So I could see myself buying a shirt or two or a hoodie or something like that. But I wouldn't just buy it for the sake of buying it. So, yeah, I don't know what I would buy. A Dolly Parton, like, shirt with her on it could be cool because that's a pretty popular fashion thing right now, like, wearing, like, graphic tees with, like, popular artists and things like that. You can kind of dress that up and kind of still look hippish and cool and stuff like that. So I would probably give something like that, you know, rock Dolly. And I love Dolly in all forms. But, like, that picture that circulates online of Dolly Parton when she was young. And then people are like, man, I gotta see what Jolene was looking like if brother was leaving her, like, just that picture, I would rock a picture with that dolly on it. Cause, like, that's such a fun meme. And she's beautiful in that picture. And that would be a fun shirt to wear.
- [19:28]
B
Nice, Nice. I will say, last time I was at Dollywood, I got a sequined jacket that I wear all the time. When I go to parties or live shows or special events. I just have the silver sequined jacket. And people are always like, where did you get that? And I'm like, I gotta confess, I got it for $20 in Dollywood and I wear this jacket every time I dress up. And I also have a dolly hoodie I got in Dollywood. But I think what I would do going to Dollywood, I wouldn't wear either of those items. I might wear one of my existing Dolly T shirts because I have a few of them. And then I would be like you. I would go in open minded and see what is something that I would wear again here and cause. Cause it is easy to fall into the trap of like I'm just gonna buy merch because I'm here. But I think I would be like you Jacquees and think thoughtfully about it. Like would I genuinely like to wear this outside of this theme park in day to day life?
- [20:22]
A
I love it. Yeah.
- [20:23]
B
I love this vacation. One last thing though. How are we getting to Dollywood? Are we gonna road trip there? Are we flying there? What are we doing here?
- [20:31]
A
There is no part of me that wants to road trip anywhere.
- [20:37]
Not a single part of your life.
- [20:38]
B
In la, are you just trapped in a car way too often already?
- [20:41]
A
Yes. And also, but like I'm just get me there, get me there. Like I don't even like driving to San Francisco. Like get me there. Like, why would I spend six hours in a car when I can get there in 45 minutes? So for Dollywood, like I'm on a plane and like since this is a vacation and money is not an issue, I'm flying first class. Like I'm getting my butt there immediately.
- [21:06]
B
Well, I think that you're gonna be happiest flying. I'm gonna road trip. I'm gonna road trip, but I'm not gonna drive. The people in my car are gonna do all the driving and I'm just gonna pick out the playlist and the playlist is entirely Dolly Parton. And that's what's gonna happen on the road trip.
- [21:20]
A
I love that.
- [21:21]
B
We're gonna get dumb gas station food and beverages. We're gonna maybe sing. We're gonna enjoy the change of scenery between Brooklyn and Pigeon Forge because there's a big change in scenery on that drive. And we're gonna, you know, jump out of the car whenever we see a weird roadside attraction like oh, giant dinosaurs or here's an enormous rocking chair or whatever it is at the side of the road. We're gonn.
- [21:48]
And then when we get to the Mecca, we're gonna park the car and not drive the car again the whole time. We're in Dollywood. We're just gonna relax.
- [21:56]
A
I have to add one thing to your trip.
- [21:58]
B
Okay.
- [21:59]
A
You're gonna pick me up from the airport.
- [22:03]
B
Yes, we are picking you up from the airport. And then you're gonna sing Jolene at the top of your lungs with us.
- [22:08]
A
Love it. Yeah, I can do that for 40 minutes. That's fine. That's fine. Yeah. And then we'll all be happy. We'll all be happy.
- [22:16]
B
Yes, we'll all be happy. Oh, my gosh. I love this dream theme park vacation. And I love that you're the person that I got to think about all this with, because, Jacqueese, you truly know more about theme parks than most people.
- [22:31]
A
I love it.
- [22:31]
B
And you were definitely the best person to do this with.
- [22:34]
A
So this was great.
- [22:35]
B
I'm feeling great. I'm feeling jolly, and I'm actually feeling pretty sleepy and ready to dream about Dollywood now. So I'm gonna turn in.
- [22:45]
A
You know what? I am too. I gotta get rested for all the roller coasters we're gonna ride, so I'll talk to you next time. Good night, Krista.
- [22:53]
B
Good night, J.
- [23:07]
A
Sa.
- [23:35]
Sam.
- [24:03]
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