Dollywood

Dollywood
Slogan "Love Every Moment "
Location Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, US
Coordinates 35°48′21″N 83°31′44″W / 35.805702°N 83.528838°W / 35.805702; -83.528838[1]Coordinates: 35°48′21″N 83°31′44″W / 35.805702°N 83.528838°W / 35.805702; -83.528838[2]
Owner Dolly Parton with Herschend Family Entertainment
Opened 1961 (as Rebel Railroad)
1970 (as Goldrush Junction)
1976 (as Goldrush)
1977 (as Silver Dollar City Tennessee)
1986 (as Dollywood)
Operating season March–December
Area 150 acres (0.61 km2)
Rides
Total 27
Roller coasters 8
Water rides 4
Website www.dollywood.com

Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville-Smoky Mountains metroplex in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Hosting over 3 million guests in a typical season—Presidents' Day to the Christmas holidays—Dollywood is the biggest "ticketed" tourist attraction in Tennessee.[3]

In addition to standard amusement park thrill rides, Dollywood features traditional crafts and music of the Smoky Mountains area. The park hosts a number of concerts and musical events each year, including appearances by Parton and her family, as well as other national and local musical acts, and is the site of the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame.

Wild Eagle, America's first wing coaster, entering the brake run.

Alongside sister waterpark Dollywood's Splash Country (35-acre (14 ha)), and Dollywood's DreamMore Resort (100-acre (40 ha))[4] (circa 2015), and Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction (5 acres), Dollywood is the anchor of Parton's 295-acre (119 ha) Dollywood amusement resort.

History

The park opened in early 1961 as a small tourist attraction by the Robins brothers from Blowing Rock, North Carolina, named "Rebel Railroad", featuring a steam train, general store, blacksmith shop, and saloon. In the spirit of the Civil War centennial visitors could ride the train and experience an attack by Union soldiers, train robbers, and another attack by Indians. The train and its riders were protected by Confederates who fought off the attacks, thus the name "Rebel Railroad". The park was modeled after the Robins brothers' first successful theme park, Tweetsie Railroad in Blowing Rock. In 1970, Rebel Railroad was renamed "Goldrush Junction" when it was bought by Art Modell, who also owned the Cleveland Browns football team.[5][6] In 1976, Jack and Pete Herschend bought Goldrush Junction and renamed it "Goldrush" for the 1976 season. In 1977, they renamed it "Silver Dollar City Tennessee" as a sister park to their original Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri.

In 1986, Dolly Parton, who grew up in the area, bought an interest in Silver Dollar City. As part of the deal, the park reopened for the 1986 season as "Dollywood". In 2010, Parton said she became involved with the operation because she "always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area."[3]

Dollywood has 3,000 people on its payroll, making it the largest employer in that community.[7]

From 1986 to 2010, the park doubled in size to 150 acres (0.61 km2). In 2009, the park had a six percent decline in attendance, which a park spokesman attributed to bad weather, although many other theme parks in the United States suffered attendance drops that year, as often happens to relatively high-priced tourist attractions in recessions. As of 2015 prices for admission to the park were $62 for adults and $49 for children.[3]

On November 16, 2010, Dollywood earned the industry's most prestigious award, the Liseberg Applause Award, which was accepted by Dolly Parton during a ceremony at IAAPA Attractions Expo 2010 in Orlando.[8]

Parton said in 2010 that she would like to open more Dollywood parks in the future. "We definitely want to expand with new things every year, eventually with a resort," she said. "We may eventually have Dollywoods in other parts of the country, where we can kind of be true to whatever's going on in that part of the world."[3]

During an announcement on August 21, 2013, Parton announced Dollywood's DreamMore Resort,[9] which opened on July 27, 2015.[10]

Areas of the park

Further information: List of Dollywood attractions

Dollywood is organized into ten themed areas. The Showstreet, Rivertown Junction, Craftsmen's Valley, Village, Country Fair, Timber Canyon, and Jukebox Junction areas reflect the historical eras and culture of east Tennessee, while the Owens Farm and Adventures in Imagination areas explore Dolly Parton's life and imagination. Many attractions focus on the history and culture of the Southern Appalachian region.

Dollywood features a full-size steam train, one of the park's signature attractions.

Festivals

Dollywood features five festivals, each with unique entertainment, between the months of March and December:

Park history

See also

References

  1. Google (21 August 2012). "Dollywood" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  2. Google (21 August 2012). "Dollywood" (Map). Google Maps. Google. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 King, Caitlin R., "Dolly Parton Celebrates as Dollywood Turns 25", Associated Press report as published on the ABC News website, April 14, 2010, retrieved April 18, 2010
  4. "Dollywood Plans $300 Million Expansion With DreamMore Resort". 26 August 2013.
  5. Company Info Dollywood.com (accessed July 16, 2010)
  6. PigeonForge.com (accessed July 16, 2010)
  7. Blackhurst, Rob (10 July 2009). "Is Dollywood one big kitsch joke?". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 July 2009.
  8. Dolly Parton theme park wins top industry award // Reuters, November 16, 2010
  9. "10 Year Announcement". The Dollywood Company. Retrieved 11 December 2013.
  10. Harrington, Carly (July 27, 2015). "Dollywood's DreamMore Resort in Tennessee welcomes first guests". Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  11. "Festival of Nations". Dollywood. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  12. "Barbeque & Bluegrass". Dollywood. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  13. "Great American Summer". Dollywood. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  14. "National Southern Gospel Festival". Dollywood. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  15. "Smoky Mountain Christmas". Dollywood. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  16. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Staff, News Sentinel (April 25, 2015). "Dollywood milestones". Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  17. Call, The Morning (July 22, 1996). "Nickelodeon `Slime' Winner Is Local Boy". Retrieved July 27, 2016.
  18. Advisory, Travel (June 14, 1998). "Dollywood Has Become Wetter and Wilder". The New York Times. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  19. Staff, WBIR (June 15, 2016). "Dollywood's Lightning Rod coaster officially opens". WBIR. Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  20. "New in 2017". Retrieved 30 November 2016.

External links

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