2023 Season Pass info released by Dollywood

Hi Everyone,

Dollywood has released the details about their Season Pass structure for 2023.  It appears that there are several changes from how things have been in the past, so let's dig in to it.

Updates to this article are at the bottom of the article.

Types of Passes

There are three passes to choose from, Silver, Gold and Diamond.  Silver, the basic season pass, is $149.  Gold is $214 and Diamond is $314.  The prices do not include taxes (~12%) and it should be noted that there will be a discounted price for children and seniors, which has not been announced at this time.  Furthermore, there is a discount for military folks and that includes active duty, veterans, military reservists, spouses and dependents.  That discount has not been announced at this time either.

There is one additional pass for children born in 2018 or 2019.  The Pre-K Imagination Season Pass is available for free with registration.  Link here.

Dollywood Blog has provided a nice piece that discussed the benefits of each tier.  Its called Diamond Vs. Gold Vs Silver and you can read that here.

Splash Country

You can turn Silver and Gold passes into a two-park pass by adding Splash Country for $65+tax.  Since Diamond includes Splash Country, you can add a Dining option for $50 +tax.

Payments

For all of their passes you can chose to pay in full or opt into their payment plan.  If you choose to use the payment plan, then the monthly payments are spread over 10 months.  For Silver it's $16.93/mo.  For Gold it's $24.31/mo.  For Diamond it's $35.67/mo.

Blackout Dates

Dollywood has added blackout dates to the 2023 Calendar.  The Silver pass has the most blackout dates.  Gold and Diamond do not have any blackout dates.  I have confirmed, that if you renew a 2022 Silver Pass, you will be able to enjoy the Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival THIS YEAR, but in 2023 you will need to plan for the blackout dates of November 24 to the end of the season on January 6, 2024.  You will have 3 or 4 weeks in November to enjoy the 2023 Christmas Festival.  If you purchase a 2023 Silver Pass, you will have blackout dates this November & December 2022.   

Here's a Pro-Tip: These blackout dates are there for a reason.  Dollywood WILL BE extremely busy during the listed blackout dates.  If you're wanting to visit when it's not bananas crazy, then avoid the listed blackout dates all together.

Let's look at the comparison table below of the three passes.

source: here

It's all the usual stuff they offer, parking, discounts, etc.  The quantities have changed this year.  For example, my Gold pass in 2022 gave me one Christmas Bring-A-Friend pass in 2021 and then 4 more Bring-A-Friend passes for 2022, and now it's 2 BAF passes for 2023.  But, they took away the BAF blackout dates, so my guests can go anytime - that's a plus.  So, just carefully look everything over so that you'll have a good understanding of what you have to work with.  My Gold pass for 2022 was $184 and for 2023 its' $214, so if I did the math right, that's a 16% increase.   That's the year-to-year difference for me.

Purchase Passes

If you pre-registered OR if you already have a 2022 season pass, then 2023 passes are on sale beginning today, Monday, October 17th.  For everyone else, you will have to wait until October 31st when they go on sale for you.   If you're on the fence about it, I suggest buying sooner than later because they remove entitlements as time passes, so for the maximum number of benefits, buy now. I will add that Dollywood has done a Black Friday offer in the past.  They obviously don't announce in advance what that offer is, but I think last year they offered an upgraded version of the two-park pass and threw in a dining plan that you would receive one meal at every visit.  And they had a refillable mug special too.  If you want to read more about last year's Black Friday deal, you can look at this article from Amusement Today, here.

Helpful Links and Resources

For a link to Dollywood's Season Pass info page, Click Here.  You can purchase passes at this link as well.  There's also a "Passholder Hub'' web page for current passholders and that is billed as a one-stop shop for everything pertaining to your Season Pass....find that here.

The Dollywood Blog has a post explaining why the Gold Pass is the best choice.  Read that here.  One note, I see that the blog post mentions in point #4 that with the Gold Pass, you can upgrade parking to the Preferred Parking for $10 and conversely, the Comparison Chart says $5.  I'm not sure which is correct.

My Advice

Well, there are so many different scenarios, I'm not sure where to begin.  If you go to Dollywood more than two times, then one person in your party should have the Gold Pass, and the rest could have Silver.  That way the Gold Pass would get you free parking and the meal discount.  And that worked great in years past, but now with so many variables, I need a bulletin board with red twine and stickies to figure and sort it out.  That said, I recommend studying all of this and put your plan to paper before you pull the trigger.

I also suggest reading the FAQ Blog Post that Dollywood has published.  To read that, click this link.

Wrap Up

That's a lot of info and I hope I did it justice.  Season Passes have gotten very detailed and specific, and I would suggest you double check all of this because it is complicated.  I see lots of questions about passes on social media, and I get how its challenging.   In the olden days you just had a season pass, and that was that.  NOT ANYMORE! 🤣  

2023 Will be a big year for Dollywood.  Their 38th season will introduce us to Big Bear Mountain, their longest roller coaster yet, new festivals and much more that hasn't been revealed yet.

If you have any questions, you can ask them in the comments, and I will do my best to find an answer for you!

Thanks for reading!  

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UPDATES TO THIS ARTICLE, BELOW:

10/31/22 - Update from Dollywood Bloggers - Read Here.  2023 Season Pass Resources, FAQ, etc.

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10/20/22 infographic from Dollywood:

source - Dollywood's Facebook Page: Link

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10/19/22 - Update from Dollywood Bloggers - Season Passes Most Asked Questions - Answered

Click Here To Read It 

10/21/22 - Update from Dollywood.  NO BLACKOUT DATES FOR ALL CHILD SEASON PASSES.

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Dollywood Insider Article - "After a Year of Tracking My Season Pass Savings..."

Insider Meridith Jones lays out all her savings from having Season Passes for her and her family.

Read that here. 

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