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DOLLYWOOD & Splash Country
Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Herschend Family Entertainment
Buy Dollywood Tickets
 Park News - (7/26/10) Dollywood’s Pete Owens has confirmed that the park will be making a major announcement about their 2011 plans on August 2nd along with some kind of secondary announcement. Hmm… that long talked about resort maybe? You can read a few posts over at ThrillNetwork.
(7/22/10) From August 2 to 8th Dollywood will extend their park hours as part of a Dollywood Nights promotion, keeping the park open from 10am to 10pm each day. (Opens at 9am on Saturday). The park is also offering a special $25 after 5pm ticket into the park for that week where you can enjoy Mystery Mine and Thunderhead in the dark.
(6/14/10) Dollywood has kicked off this year’s KidsFest event (now through August 1st) with the Adventure Theater. The Adventure Theater will feature 8 different shows throughout KidsFest. The lineup includes:
June 11-13 - BAM! - A three-man comedy percussion show
June 15-20 - The Paper World Show by Mimirichi - Making its U.S. debut, this show from Ukraine features clowns transforming paper into the unimaginable.
June 22-27 - Mark Nizer – A comedic juggler who balances a running electric knife, a burning propane tank and a 16-pound bowling ball, all at once.
June 29-July 4 - Curtis Adams - Extreme magician
July 6-11 - The Gazillion Bubble Show - Lasers, lighting effects, and jaw-dropping masterpieces of mind-boggling bubble artistry
July 13-18 - The Passing Zone - Five-time Guinness world juggling record holders
July 20-25 - Mad Science Productions “Star Trek Live” - An out-of-this-world interactive adventure based on the most popular science fiction franchise of all time.
July 28-Aug 1 - Kevin Johnson - Ventriloquist
(6/2/10) Dolly’s Splash Country is inviting park guests on June 3rd (at 10am) to help them break the world record for the largest swimming lesson. Dolly herself is also in the news this week as she will present a donation from her foundation to the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville to benefit flood victims on June 2nd.
(5/21/10) This weekend (May 22-23rd) Dollywood will be hosting the “Dolly Helps Nashville” fund raising event. All proceeds from admission sales at Dollywood, Dolly’s Splash Country and Dixie Stampede will go to benefit Nashville flood victims. As part of the effort, Dolly herself will be making appearances in the park theaters and Dixie Stampede all weekend as well.
In other fun Dollywood news, check out this photo park review posted over at Theme Park Review that has some great shots of the new Adventure Mountain complex.
(4/5/10) Dollywood opened up this past week for their 2010 season with a special appearance by Dolly Parton. Dolly herself mentioned once again that in the future, when the economy recovers more, they are indeed planning on building “a couple of world class resorts.” Also this May they are planning bringing in a number of celebrity guests to shoot a 25th Anniversary special at the park that will be broadcast later on the Hallmark Channel.
While we’re talking about special events at Dollywood… lets not forget the parks 3rd annual Thrills In The Hills event taking place May 21-23rd. You can register for the special weekend event here.
(3/4/10) Dollywood has launched a brand new version of their website. Check it out.
(2/27/10) Incredible Dollywood vacation packages have just started at The Resort at Governor’s Crossing that offer up some free Dollywood theme park tickets if you stay at least two nights. Check out the details here… and note that this deal is listed as being good from March 27th through to October 30th, so they’ve got your summer fun covered.
(1/31/10) Not only does Dollywood now have an official Facebook page, but they’ve also got their own YouTube video channel. Enjoy!
2010 - Adventure Mountain - (4/1/10) Check out these great pictures showing off guests enjoying the new Adventure Mou
ntain ropes course attraction. I’m told that it uses Ropes Course, Inc’s patented SkyTrail tracking system to keep everyone in place and features over 100 challenging elements between the four different courses to experience.
(8/17/08) Dolly Parton unveiled the 2009 attraction plans for Dollywood this weekend which include the Adventure Mountain ropes course and zip line complex as previously mentioned as well as the new Imagine show from Le Grand Cirque that will be playing during the Festival of Nations event. Click on the video of the news report to see some video footage of the new attractions.
(8/2/08) While Dollywood’s big announcement for 2009 is expected to take place in a couple of weeks, it seems that the passholders news letter jumped the gun and spilled the beans early on Dollywood’s new “Adventure Mountain”. It says, “exploration uncovers an endless combination of high-energy feats to engage and entice the entire family! At the mountain's base or high atop the summit of this new multi-level attraction, thrills are sure to peak as guest encounter a waterfall gorge, rugged rope trails, discovery cave - even fire mountain – along the various paths that meander throughout this two-acre area. Daring zip lines even awaits those brave enough to travel through the treetops! Guests can challenge themselves in individual competitions or the entire family can compete in the contest to see who can tackle Dollywood's new Adventure Mountain.”
Connected to the upcoming 75th Anniversary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Adventure Mountain will give you a glimpse into the life of a park ranger. Meanwhile, “Young tenderfoots can take an Adventure Mounatin voyage aboard a kid-sized canoe and head down the river to Camp Teachittoomee. Ranger guides introduce young tykes to kid-friendly adventures, teaching them new skills and crafts to prepare them for outdoor adventures of their own”
2010 - Slick Rock Racer - (3/19/10) Dolly’s Splash Country is getti ng ready to open for the season on May 22nd by finishing up the installation of their new Slick Rock Racer slide. You can see a neat picture showing off the massive splashdown section of the slide being installed here in this article about how the park won IAAPA’s “Must See Waterpark Award” last November.
(8/20/09) Dolly’s Splash Country has confirmed the addition of Slide Rock Racer for the 2010 season. This will be a four-lane side-by-side mat racer slide with 300 foot long runs to the finish line.
2011 - New Attraction - Rumor - (6/28/10) Good rumor was sent in by a reader taking in a relaxing visit to Dollywood this weekend. Being from the Branson area, they showed off their season pass from Silver Dollar City to get a discount on the tickets. Upon seeing this the Dollywood employee asked them what they thought of the Great Swing ride at SDC? Why? Because Dollywood is apparently getting one for 2011. Great news for sure if they follow through, so now the question is… where will it go?
(6/9/10) I’m told that Dollywood’s Pete Owens made an appearance on the last episode of Coaster Crew’s In The Loop podcast and teased that the park would be making a big announcement about their 2011 attraction in the next week or so.
(6/24/08) If the latest rumors are true Dollywood could already be planning their next big coaster project. Of course the perfect location would be to add it into that new valley area they just carved out near the back of the park, most likely going up the hill and using the terrain around the upper train loop as well. If the rumored theme holds true, we could be looking at a storyline about some kind of backwoods moonshine rocket fuel creation that will power a custom launched coaster creation. More as we find out.
The Future - Resort Hotel - In Development - (5/15/09) While things are always subject to change, we’ve heard that Dollywood may make a decision about building a possible resort hotel before the end of the summer. You can read more about the possible resort project here.
(4/23/08) We’ve got another update about that Dollywood resort hotel survey. It seems they are asking questions about three different resort concepts called Chasing Rainbows, International and Southern Style. Unfortunately you need a valid e-mail address to take the actual survey having the link will get you no-where.
(4/22/08) While I don’t have a link, a reader tell us that Dollywood was taking another guest survey not long ago asking opinions about various lodging features and what people look for in choosing a hotel in the Pigeon Forge area. Sounds like they’re doing some research for that official Dollywood Resort project Dolly mentioned was in development.
(4/14/08) During the opening of River Battle, Dolly mentioned to the local news that she wants an on-site resort hotel to be added in the next two or three years. She said that they are working on it now, but not ready to announce anything yet.
???? - Future Concepts for Dollywood - (7/4/08) Dollywood has issued a new survey about possible future attraction concepts they are thinking of. The ideas mentioned in this survey include a new festival concept called the International Lantern Festival which would be Dollywood’s take on Chinese New Year Festival of Lanterns. Three new ride ideas were also thrown out there, including Barnstormer (S&S Screamin’ Swing themed in a giant barn with old fashioned barnstormer planes), Calamity Canyon (a Mondial Super Nova with themed disaster effects going off all around you) and Lost Treasure, an Interactive Sally Dark Ride experience through a dark mine ride. They all sound good to me… why not build all three?
(9/15/06) One month after the last guest survey about possible new attractions Dollywood launches a new one it seems that focuses more on three different thrill rides this time. Choice 1 sounds like the same highly themed Master Blaster style water-coaster ride/slide up and down hills through a scenic mountain setting that was in the last survey. Choice 2 was described as an “Alpine Mountain Coaster”, but Choice 3 is the one that may get people talking... a new Rock ‘n Roll themed wooden coaster in the 50’s area of the park.
(8/15/06) Dollywood is currently taking a survey pitching several different ideas under consideration for future attractions. The six ideas include: Henhouse Scramble (an comical interactive dark ride on the back of a tractor pulled cart through a henhouse), Smoky Mountain Wilderness Adventure: The Ride (kind of an aerial tramway over the rooftops and through the trees where you have to pedal to reach top speed), A unique highly themed Master Blaster style watercoaster slide up and down hills through a scenic mountain setting, an addition to Dolly’s Imagination Library where stories come to life in front of you, Dollywood’s Starmaker Studios (where kids are brought on stage to perform in front of a real TV studio full of cameras and production equipment), World Puppy Stadium (home to the Purina Puppy Challenge where dogs can show off their talents).
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