So Many Culinary Choices with Dollywood’s 2023 Holiday Dining Pass

• Ellen Liston

The Christmas holidays are fast approaching, and my thoughts are turning to tinsel and twinkling lights and shopping and Santa.  It also means I’m dreaming of a peppermint, eggnog, hot chocolate, gingerbread kind of holiday, because somehow my favorite Christmas memories always involve food. From the sweet scent of fresh-baked sugar cookies complete with festive icing and sprinkles to the amazing aroma of hearty, wintry favorites to warm any day like chili and turkey with all the fixins - I’m ready for a culinary Christmas!  

Everything I want to savor in terms of Christmas cookin’ can be found in my favorite place for the holidays, Dollywood’s award-winning Smoky Mountain Christmas festival. The menus are full of flavor and festive favorites that I’ve enjoyed for years but always have great new tastes and treats that soon make it to the top of my “most delicious” holiday list. Dollywood makes it easy for all of us to not have to limit ourselves to just one or two options with what might be the must have item of the season – a holiday festival tasting pass!

When you get a holiday tasting pass, you will find yourself eating not one, not two, but five festival foods while walking among Dollywood’s six million Christmas lights! For one price, festival goers can choose from a wide variety of treats, sweets, meats and more from throughout Dollywood’s amazing array of eateries – all with a special holiday flavor. Literally, I can’t think of a better Christmas present to give myself!

Let’s get started on what we can choose on the long list of menu items available. With the days being cooler this time of year, I like to start with one of the hot and hearty selections that are part of the Holiday Dining Pass options. There are so many delicious dishes - it’s going to be hard to choose, but I think I’m going to have to start with several poultry specialties. Something new that is a “must taste” is the Stuffing Stacker, a combination of turkey, stuffing, cranberry, mashed potatoes for basically everything needed for Christmas dinner. The Christmas Toastie Sandwich combines roasted turkey pot roast, stuffing, Brussels sprouts and Swiss cheese on a delicious roll. Then, there’s Dollywood’s Southern-style chicken pot pie served in a homemade bread cone, chipotle turkey nachos, and the turkey campfire skillet. Maybe I’ll try another new menu addition – pot roast mac & cheese. These literally sound like the best combination of flavors I can think of for any season!

And life is short, so we’re going to have to consider more than one dessert options! How am I going to decide between eggnog, hot cocoa or red velvet peppermint cupcakes?  Holiday-inspired iced sugar cookies and gingerbread cookies also are among the satisfyingly sweet options at the bakery. Want even more in the sweet department? Try a chocolate peppermint ice cream sandwich, a red velvet funnel cake, an eggnog milkshake or a red velvet whoopie pie. Yum!

Want to add some sizzle for a perfect warm holiday meal? One of the specialty skillets combines candied pork belly, white potatoes, onions and peppers, while another combines the savory taste of a sweet Italian sausage rope with red and white skillet -style potatoes, onions and peppers.

All that food is sure to make you thirsty, and there are options on the holiday tasting pass menu for that, too. Spice up your Dollywood day with holiday limeade, warm up with a peppermint cold brew or enjoy a tangy cranberry orange drink. Sounds like a perfect complement to basically anything else I can taste while on my Smoky Mountain Christmas culinary experience.

If you’re planning a trip to Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas, getting several tasting passes for the family is a great way to go. Then you can try all kinds of different things and decide what your favorites are. You can get them on our website or at many food locations when you arrive at the theme park.