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Kimmie
Dollywood is a theme park owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation. It is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood has 3,000 people on its payroll, making it the largest employer in that community.
In addition to standard amusement park thrill rides, Dollywood features traditional crafts and music of the Smoky Mountains area. Dollywood also owns the adjacent Dollywood's Splash Country, and the chain of Dixie Stampede dinner theaters. 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.
Dollywood hosts 2.5 million guests in a typical season, as of 2009, up from 1.3 million visitors in 1986, when the park opened on the site of Silver Dollar City theme park. As of 2010, the park was the biggest "ticketed" tourist attraction in Tennessee each year for more than a decade. Parton attributes much of the success of the park to its location close to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Since (as of 2010) 88 percent of tourists in Tennessee drive rather than fly, the economic impact of a large tourist attraction like Dollywood helps the economy in that region of the state, according to Susan Whitaker, the state tourism development commissioner. The theme park's operating season runs from early spring until around Christmas.
Dollywood is also the site of the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Southern Gospel Music Association, an independent non-profit corporation.
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."
The park first opened in 1961 as a small tourist attraction by the Robins Brothers from Blowing Rock, NC, named "Rebel Railroad", featuring a steam train, general store, blacksmith shop, and saloon. The park was modeled after their first successful theme park Tweetsie 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. In 1976, Jack and Pete Herschend bought Goldrush Junction and renamed it "Goldrush" for the 1976 season. But 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 became a co-owner, and the park was renamed "Dollywood". In 2010, Parton said she became involved with the operation because, "I 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."
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 2010, prices for admission to the park were $56 for adults and $45 for children.
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.
In 1986, Dolly Parton became a co-owner, and the park was renamed "Dollywood". In 2010, Parton said she became involved with the operation because, "I 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."
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 2010, prices for admission to the park were $56 for adults and $45 for children.
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.
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 Dreamland Forest 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.
- Showstreet - Attractions include The Showstreet Palace Theatre, Friendship Gardens, The Celebrity Theatre, and The Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame.
- Rivertown Junction - Attractions include The Tennessee Mountain Home, The Back Porch Theatre, and the Smoky Mountain River Rampage whitewater rafting ride.
- Craftsmen's Valley - Attractions include The Dollywood Grist Mill, The Valley Theatre, Eagle Mountain Sanctuary, Wings of America Theatre, Robert F. Thomas Chapel, Calico Falls Schoolhouse, the Tennessee Tornado coaster, Blazing Fury coaster, Daredevil Falls flume ride, and craft exhibits.
- The Village - Attractions include The Dollywood Express steam train, Heartsong, a Carousel, and the Magic Laughmaker.
- The Country Fair - Rides include The Dizzy Disk, the Amazing Flying Elephants, Lemon Twist, Shooting Star, Sky Rider, Veggietales Sideshow Spin Kid's Rollercoaster, Waltzing Swinger, Piggy Parade, Busy Bees, Lucky Ducky, Dolly's Demolition Derby, The Scrambler, and the Wonder Wheel.
- Timber Canyon - Attractions include the Mystery Mine coaster, Timber Tower, the Thunderhead coaster, and Lumberjack Lifts.
- Jukebox Junction - Attractions include the Rockin' Roadway car ride and The Pines Theatre.
- Owen's Farm - Attractions include the Mountain Slidewinder water-toboggan ride, The Barnstormer, a barn and plane styled Giant Swing attraction. It will also include soft pigs, planes and other things for the visitor's enjoyment.
- Adventures in Imagination - Attractions include "White Lightning" simulator ride and the "Chasing Rainbows" Dolly Parton museum.
- Wilderness Pass - Attractions include the River Battle water ride, the SkyZip upcharge attraction, and Adventure Mountain, America's largest rope course, Wild Eagle, America's first winged coaster.
Dollywood's Festival of Nations offers five weeks of cultural events by performers from around the world. Join your kids for a fun-filled day at Kidsfest, the South's largest children's festival. Come hungry to the Barbeque & Bluegrass, featuring the biggest names in bluegrass music while you savor the country’s tastiest barbeque. Southern gospel music takes center stage while master craftsmen demonstrate their skills at the National Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration. Bring the entire family and spend the holidays with us. Moments become memories at Dollywood's Smoky Mountain Christmas.
Throughout the operating season Dollywood hosts six different festivals:
- Festival of Nations
- Barbeque & Bluegrass
- Kidsfest
- Dollywood Nights
- National Southern Gospel and Harvest Celebration
- Smoky Mountain Christmas
Information courtesy of Wikipedia and Dollywood.com.
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