Lengthy earlier than Dollywood opened its gates in Pigeon Forge on Could 3, 1986, Dolly Parton had designs on constructing a theme park within the Nice Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee, the place she grew up.
A 2023 USA Today article quoted the award-winning singer-songwriter as saying that when she would go to the county honest as a baby, she thought to herself, “If I make it huge, if I get wealthy like I used to be dreaming I would, that I would like to do one thing particular, to come back again house and construct a park of my very own.”
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In a 1982 interview with Barbara Walters, simply 4 years earlier than the park opened, Parton shared that she dreamed of constructing “Smoky Mountain fairyland,” akin to Disneyland in East Tennessee, “one of the vital great locations on the earth.”
Anybody who has adopted Parton’s illustrious profession is not going to be shocked that she made her dream of creating a place “the place the tradition and other people of the Smoky Mountains could be celebrated and loved by everybody” a actuality.
Now in its fortieth season, Dollywood has grown and altered an incredible deal since opening its gates, however one factor stays the identical — Dollywood nonetheless is and can at all times be a vacation spot the place households can have enjoyable and make reminiscences amid the pure fantastic thing about the Smokies.
This is a take a look at the park’s historical past and a peek at what’s in retailer for Dollywood’s future.
Earlier than Parton lent her moniker to the park, it operated underneath completely different names and possession because the early Nineteen Sixties. In 1986, the Herschend household (who additionally personal and function Silver Dollar City) bought a stake to Parton, upgraded a number of park components and renamed it Dollywood.
Parton grew up only some miles from the park, and the partnership allowed her to meet her dream of bringing guests to the gorgeous Smoky Mountains whereas supporting her local people. Parton nonetheless co-owns the park with the Herschends.
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A number of of Dollywood’s opening-day points of interest are nonetheless in operation, together with the Dollywood Categorical steam prepare, Dolly’s Tennessee Mountain House (a duplicate of the two-room cabin the place Parton grew up), Smoky Mountain River Rampage, Aunt Granny’s Restaurant, the Again Porch Theater and the Robert F. Thomas Chapel (named for the physician who delivered Parton), the place guests can attend a weekly Sunday service.
Just like the Dollywood Categorical prepare, the park continued choosing up steam within the Nineties.
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Throughout this time, the park constructed a number of main expansions: the 7-acre Showstreet space close to the park entrance, the Nation Truthful space with basic rides and carnival video games like those that impressed Parton to open her theme park, and an space impressed by Parton’s hometown of Sevierville referred to as Jukebox Junction.
In 2001, Dollywood opened its water park, Dollywood’s Splash Nation. The water park is celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary season this 12 months.
A few of Dollywood’s hottest curler coasters opened within the 2000s and 2010s.
In 2007, Dollywood opened a curler coaster that turned my physique and my understanding of physics the wrong way up. Should you’ve ever ridden it, you understand I’m speaking about Thriller Mine. This metal coaster has some gravity-defying maneuvers, together with a 95-degree, 85-foot vertical drop, that left me speechless.
Throughout this time, the park additionally opened Thunderhead, a picket coaster; Wild Eagle, the primary wing coaster within the U.S.; and Lightning Rod, one other picket coaster with a high velocity of 73 miles per hour.
In 2015, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa opened its doorways. DreamMore was the park’s first on-site lodge, with a design that completely encapsulates Parton’s stardom and Southern attraction. This resort was joined by the once-in-a-lifetime alternative to remain in Parton’s former tour bus in 2022 and the opening of Dollywood’s Heartsong Lodge & Resort in 2023.
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Additionally in 2023, TPG was available for the grand opening of Dollywood’s latest and longest curler coaster, Big Bear Mountain. Parton herself made an look (on the earth’s most endearing bear costume) to sing a track she wrote for the grand opening.
Final 12 months, the park opened The Dolly Parton Expertise, an interactive museum with displays masking Parton’s profession. Guests will journey via Parton’s profession, costumes, household and extra.
The park has greater than doubled in measurement since opening in 1986 and hit document attendance numbers final 12 months. There are additionally rumblings that the park will increase once more in 2026. There aren’t many particulars but, however Dollywood revealed at this season’s grand opening media occasion that will probably be a “revolutionary new expertise not like something anyplace else on the earth.”
Parton did way more than lend her title to Dollywood. From the native artisans demonstrating their experience and promoting their wares contained in the park to the nods to her childhood and star-studded profession, Parton’s life and legacy are constructed into the DNA of this beloved park.
“On opening day in 1986, I used to be simply hoping that folks would actually wish to come go to a theme park with my title on it. And although I at all times attempt to dream huge, I will admit I used to be a little bit bit nervous that first morning,” Parton shared in the course of the fortieth season opening occasion. “However individuals did come out to assist us that first day, and I am so proud to see that Dollywood has continued to develop via the years to change into a spot of enjoyable and togetherness for everybody who has come to go to,” she added.
Parton could have been shocked by Dollywood’s early success, however anybody who has visited this gem of a theme park is not in any respect shocked that it has change into one of many nation’s premier household journey locations.
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