Dollywood flouts theme park trends with something more valuable than any IP: Dolly Parton

The out-of-the-way Tennessee attraction has become a destination for theme park fans from around the world.

By Garrett Martin  |  April 4, 2026 | 12:00pm
Images: Dollywood
Aux Features Dollywood
Dollywood flouts theme park trends with something more valuable than any IP: Dolly Parton

Dolly Parton don’t prompt. She jokingly acknowledged the teleprompter screens against the back wall of the Celebrity Theater, but she never read the words that scrolled by on them verbatim. When you’ve been in front of the public for over 60 years, you know how to run a room—especially when you own it, like Dolly does this one, and every other room in Dollywood, the theme park that’s borne her name for 41 years. Instead of talking off a screen, Dolly freestyled to the theater full of media members and VIP passholders about the park’s upcoming season, bantered with Dollywood president Eugene Naughton, and briefly touched on the tumultuous year she’s had, all with the modesty and self-effacing humor she’s known for. 

She’s been on this same stage at this same time of year telling similar jokes about Dollywood dozens of times over the last four decades, but this time something was different. Dolly turned 80 in January after a tough 2025; she lost her husband of 60 years last March, and had to cancel a December residency in Vegas to health issues. An ill-considered social media post by her sister Freida, begging Dolly’s fans to pray for her, turned what was apparently a minor malady into a full-blown health scare, stoking fears that Dolly—perhaps the one good thing left in America, the last thing pretty much everybody agrees on in this polarized era—didn’t have much time left. Her appearance at Dollywood’s opening in March wasn’t just her standard annual kickoff; it was her first public appearance in several months, and it was as much about letting the world know she’s okay as it was to promote her theme park’s new season.

Also doing okay: Dollywood itself, if you haven’t heard. Actually it’s doing far more than okay; the theme park is almost as beloved as Dolly herself. It routinely cleans up in Amusement Today‘s Golden Ticket awards, winning Best Guest Experience six years in a row, and getting especial acclaim for its family-focused Wildwood Grove section and its Big Bear Mountain roller coaster. While most major American theme parks saw attendance decline in 2025, Dollywood experienced its biggest year ever, welcoming almost four million guests during its 10 months of operation. Long celebrated for its music and food, Dollywood’s management has intentionally courted the coaster crowd over the last 20 years, supplementing its country cooking and daily schedule of musical performances with top-shelf thrill rides like the Lightning Rod, the Wild Eagle, and Thunderhead. The excitement of those coasters is bolstered by the natural beauty of the Great Smoky Mountains, which makes drops like the Lightning Rod’s 165 footer feel even bolder. High-intensity coasters might sound like a mismatch for a place that takes pride in its down-home, old-time atmosphere, but the contrast makes Dollywood suited for all ages to an extent that most theme parks only aspire to be; regardless of your age, health, or thrill level, Dollywood offers enough to keep you busy all day long. 

Dolly, of course, doesn’t ride the rides. She brings that up every chance she gets, and mentioned it again at the Celebrity Theater on opening day this year. Don’t expect to see her sing or pick at Dollywood, either; its bounty of daily performances will often include Parton family members, though, and you’ll hear Dolly’s songs played throughout the park. If Dollywood ever was a park built in Dolly’s image, it has long since outgrown that, turning into a world-class theme park that treats its namesake the same way Disneyland does: as a vital part of its identity, sure, but not as its primary attraction. Not that there’s any shortage of Dollyana on display; in addition to the soundtrack and ample Dolly merchandise, Dollywood guests can revisit almost every stage of Dolly’s life, from a recreation of the two-room house she and her 11 siblings grew up in, to the career overview of The Dolly Parton Experience. You can’t separate Dollywood from Dolly—its annual spring event, currently running through April 12, is called the I Will Always Love You Festival—but if it was simply a tribute to a single entertainer, it wouldn’t be widely hailed as one of the best theme parks in the world.

During their presentation at the Celebrity Theater, Dolly and Naughton revealed more about NightFlight Expedition, the new ride opening in Wildwood Grove later this year. It’s the biggest, most expensive addition to the park yet, and one that promises to innovate by blurring the lines between roller coasters, dark rides, and water rides. Despite that, NightFlight will be a throwback in its own way; during an era where theme parks don’t particularly care about theme and IP dominates over original ideas, NightFlight will expand on the original story told in Wildwood Grove. It’s a story that’s as deeply rooted in the culture and traditions of the Smoky Mountains as Dollywood itself; it won’t have the name value of the latest movie-based attraction at Universal or Disney, but for a certain type of theme park fan that’s as much of a reason to get excited for NightFlight as the ride experience. 

As a ride intended for all ages, NightFlight will also aim to fill a slight gap in Dollywood’s attraction portfolio. It will be thrilling, Naughton promised, but with a 39 inch height minimum, families won’t have to split up to ride it. Children as young as five should be able to board, similar to Wildwood Grove’s Big Bear Mountain; before these two attractions, most rides at Dollywood tended to be either kid-focused rides that didn’t offer much for older children and adults, or serious coasters with height restrictions that mostly limited riders to ages 10 and up. When asked how intense NightFlight will be, Pete Owens, Dollywood’s VP of Marketing and Public Relations, told The A.V. Club, “The experience itself is going to be quite a visceral one in regard to the different elements you’re going to be able to do, and what those transitions are, and whether you’re going forward or whether you’re going backward or whether you’re flying or floating. I think most people are going to get off it the first time and not think, ‘Oh, well, that was super intense.’ I think they’re going to be saying ‘What exactly happened? I’ve got to get in line and figure out what that was.’ And that, I think, is going to be the magic.”

“Magic” is a word that gets tossed around too much in the theme park industry, especially by one company in particular. It’s true, though, that a well-designed ride can feel like a magic trick. If NightFlight Expedition can combine its physical thrills with compelling themed design and an interesting story, it could be a true breakthrough for Dollywood: a ride as artistically impressive as what Universal and Disney do, but without having to use IP to prop it up.

No intellectual property can match the connection Dolly has with her audience. A few hours after the closed-doors Celebrity Theater presentation, those fans lined up several bodies deep along the main walkway through Dollywood’s entrance. They awaited an opening day tradition that was still an hour away: Dolly’s single-car parade down her theme park’s main street. For many it was their one chance of the season to see Dolly in person. When the time came, the playlist of modern country songs interspersed with Dolly classics that had been playing on the P.A. abruptly switched to what was apparently her official parade theme. One could tell how far down the parade route Dolly and her open-air replica of a 1930s roadster were based on the sounds of the crowd; its dull roar grew louder and more passionate as she grew closer. Dolly waved to the throngs of onlookers and was driven right out of the theme park at the end of the parade route. Other theme parks draw this kind of crowd with long parades full of meticulously designed, high-tech floats and teams of dancers and singers; Dolly did it with a single car, a driver, and herself. Now that’s magic.   

 

 
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