We're passionate about all things Dollywood and Sevier County, and we want to share that passion with you. Come along as we explore all that this beautiful area has to offer. From Dollywood and Splash Country to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cades Cove, there's something for everyone in Sevier County.
We're also big fans of Dolly Parton, and we'll be sure to keep you up-to-date on her latest news and projects. We're sure you'll find something to love here.
This article includes all of my Videos from Opening Week AND A Photo Trip Report. Some of the pics from my visit. I want to try and include a Photo Trip report in my blog for every visit this season!
I have gathered up all of my videos so far from Dollywood's Opening Week - their 40th Season!
If they were put in chronological order, they would go this way.
Tram Ride In
Part One
Part Two
Glass Shop
From The Heart
Emporium
Emporium Short
A short about Dollywood's Project 2026.
Includes the Media Day Teaser video from Dolly and Eugene Naughton, park president....and a little construction zone footage from 3/18/25.
photo trip report - random order
Country Fair splashpad and enhancements
new permanent home for Imagination Playhouse, the Village Area
Country Fair - new signage and a new path - that used to be there a long time ago.
Country Fair - Fresh paint everywhere
Construction Update from 3/18/25, New Wilderness Pass Restaurant
Construction Update from 3/18/25, New Wilderness Pass Restaurant
Construction Update from 3/18/25, New Wilderness Pass Restaurant
Construction Update from 3/18/25, New Wilderness Pass Restaurant - outdoor dining area
Construction Update from 3/18/25, New Wilderness Pass Restaurant - this will be the Mobile Ordering Window.
Featured Menu Items
Celebration Sky, part of IWALY celebration
LOVE photo opp, part of the IWALY celebration
Face Paint and Henna Prices 2025
I doubt this is new, but new to me!
Some of the 40th merch - see my videos for lots more merch video.
This is happening later in the season.
The Depot Stage, where The Tones typically perform, has been removed.
Dollywood has placed these anniversary medallions on the buildings that have been around since day one of Dollywood, such as the Little School House seen here.
Seen at the Glass Shop
Seen at the Glass Shop
Seen at the Glass Shop
Seen at the Glass Shop
Seen at the Glass Shop
Seen at the Blacksmith Shop
Seen at the Blacksmith Shop
Here's #192 being prepped for service later in the season. Cinderella is pulling the train until then.
These two signs grabbed my attention.
This sign is at the Junction - you can't get close to it.
This sign is interesting - it has a hole where the train headlight is, and I think its a couple of LED lights in there, but not positive. It will be awhile before Dollywood is open after dark to see wether or not its a light. Wonder what this is connected to - a larger project or just a one-off thingy? This is between Blazing Fury and Tennessee Tornado.
I hope you enjoyed this visit to Dollywood! Let me know in the comments your favorite part, or least favorite parts! I would really love to hear from you!
Before we go to the video about Project 2026, I want to be clear that I do not have any official information about Project 2026. I am a life-long amusement and theme park enthusiast, Dollywood enthusiast as well as a Dolly Parton enthusiast - and maybe a good guesser? So, this is all 100% W.U.A.D. Speculation. I will build my case for what I believe the ride system will be used for P'26. Are you with me? GOOD.
Dollywood teased Project 2026 at the Opening Day Media Event.
Let's go to the video...
TRANSCRIPT: In 2026 Dollywood is going further than we've gone before.
Up, over and through the Great Smoky Mountains and down to the heart of the ancient Wildwood Tree. Follow the light to discover the unexpected. What will you find when the sun goes down?
Take flight in 2026.
What is it?
"Further than we've gone before.'' What I think that really means is, ''We've written a gigantic check to a ride manufacturer.'' I'm coming around more and more to the Mack Inverted-dynamic-do-everything powered-coaster that will feature a few medium to high-speed roller coaster gravity driven moments. I am thinking this will be similar in nature to Blazing Fury (meaning slow parts and fast parts using theatrical scenes to help tell the story, very family friendly), except brand new state of the art ride systems by Mack. This is not a record-breaking thrill ride.
Where will it be located?
It is in Wildwood Grove. It will be behind Big Bear Mountain as you walk through Wildwood Grove. It is already under construction and at the time of publishing this article - the best way to see it is from the Dollywood Express.
Less likely possibility...
The Flying Theater Concept has come up amongst enthusiasts, and many of us who speculate on stuff like this, and I just don't see that concept happening at Dollywood. For starters, it's sort of boring, in my opinion - compared to this fancy Mack coaster I'm about to try and sell you on, and I think Dollywood was rightfully sold on. Two, the flying theater concept falls into the one-and-done category until the film changes, which cannot be inexpensive. Theme Parks want people to want to ride over and over, AND they want to be able to change attractions in cost-effective ways to freshen them up from season to season...so, this detail just hammers the Mack system home for me. Dollywood wants to showcase the Smokies, per the video, so how many different movies about the Smokies can you really make - where they are different, unique and entertaining for flying theater audiences?
Silver Dollar City opened Fire In The Hole 2.0 (link to blog article). It is very well executed. It's a modern-day version of Blazing Fury...that is what they replaced. I'd encourage you to go to my blog post and look at the details in the scenes - the use of projected scenes is well done and uses the latest/greatest technology. I think Dollywood will tap into whatever resource was used there - for Project 2026. Dollywood said (I think)- we can use this Mack ride system to tell this story about the Smokies in a beautiful way. We can utilize space better with these scenes with the rides capability to spin 360'. We can get your feet close to waterfalls and streams.
There may be a scene of fireflies taking over whole areas of the Smokies like they do in real life. I imagine a big helix going around this ancient Wildwood Tree mentioned in the video. We'll see how it plays out.
Here's something else that crossed my mind as I was writing this part - Puy d'fou is supposedly - the Cherokee Indian development at Exit 407, with the Phase 1 of Buc ee's - part of their massive plan included a "museum /play/entertainment/education center'' - by Puy d'fou. THEY ARE AMAZINGLY DETAIL ORIENTED IN ALL THEY DO. Honestly, it's like a near-perfect recreation of everything. Google their theme parks or go to their website and dig around. They confirmed their involvement in Exit 407, then there was a pause on the project from the developer about the order of the Phases. That is the last update I recall - but this is on Dollywood's radar no doubt - this desire to be detail oriented now involves serious competition in your own backyard, where it did not exist.
Back to this amazing Mack Inverted Power Coaster...
There are a few examples of these Mack coasters- and their heavy theming - let's look at a few pics from RCDB. I'll link to each pic below it - if you want to click on it and look at other pics - go for it.
This is Arthur, at Europa Park in Germany - which happens to be an amusement park owned by - guess who? MACK. The park operates like a Showroom for amusement rides, as well as a theme park. Side note: Mack Trucks - Americans are more familiar with Mack Trucks, which is a separate division of the same German company. Amusement rides are industrial equipment, jazzed up.
Features of this Mack Inverted Ride System, include:
8 trains with 3 cars per train. Not sure how many trains DW will opt to get, if they go this route.
Riders are arranged 4 across in a single row for a total of 12 riders per train.
Each car can rotate 360 degrees, so imagine the possibilities with looking at scenes in the dark ride portion of the experience. Scenes can be bunched up together and the car spins around to reveal a different scene to you - another cost-effective possibility!
Variable speed as determined by the needs of the story and the parks choices.
Gravity-driven sections. Parts of the ride will likely be driven by gravity, just like we see on Blazing Fury. I have to imagine we'll be flying over water features, forests with lightning bugs, big fields of flowers, barns and structures from the past, just like what you experience when you go to the Smokies - according to the teaser video I posted at the top of the article.
On-board audio to help tell the story.
Note that Herschend's two most recent additions have both included on-board audio...
SDC's brand new dark ride, Fire In The Hole 2.0, features on-board audio.
As did DW's Big Bear Mountain...Herschend loves it.
HIGH CAPACITY: 1,500 PPH (depending on amount of trains and other variables)
Conveyor Belt Station - easy loading and unloading.
The layout can be customized to the needs of the park. Some of the existing models of this coaster feature indoor sections as well as outdoor sections. All of the models have some gravity driven parts at some point in the ride - just like what you see on Blazing Fury - that's the kind of comparison I am referring to.
Now, going back to the DW video, they said "Follow the light to discover the unexpected. what will you find when the sun goes down?" To me, it sounds like they want to keep this as a ''night experience'' - so, if that holds true then I am not sure popping out into the 98-degree hot summer day, will fit into that experience they are hoping to achieve. They may choose to keep it entirely indoors to be able to have a consistent storyline for every ride. OR that could mean ''follow the light'' as in, the light at the end of the ride tunnel. We shall see!
Dragon Gliders, seen above, does not feature an outdoor section, but does enter into a large room that includes smaller rides....and DW could benefit from more indoor rides, or even semi-covered rides for when its raining....if they went with an all indoor version.
Here we see an outdoor section of Jurassic Flyers. Not sure what the interior scenes look like, but obviously they are dinosaur related, and no doubt highly themed per Universal's standards.
Not a lot of info on RCDB about this one - it's under construction. He does say it's similar, if not the same layout as Arthur....so two definitely are clones and I think the other two are custom layouts.
Let's check out some POV's from these attractions. First up Arthur.
Dragon Gliders
Jurassic Flyers
So, that's a look at all the installations of this Mack Inverted Powered Coaster from RCDB.
Late Breaking Development:
Yesterday, I noticed someone found the shipping information for Dollywood - from Germany to the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Hmmm - who is in Germany?? Mack is in Germany, and this is one more CLUE that this is what I think it is. I haven't had a chance to confirm the shipping information, but I will naively believe it is real. A Vekoma coaster would come from the Netherlands, a B&M - Switzerland. So, this effectively rules out many other manufacturers.
Again, this is all speculation, however I can see many of my fellow speculators are also coming around to this idea of a Mack coaster more and more as seemingly insignificant details - like a shipping tag - can help paint a picture of what's to come.
Thoughts, ideas? Let me know in the comments.
Update from the 40th Anniversary Media Day Event on May 2, 2025.
I was hoping they would spill all the beans during the event, but they chose to give us a bit of a teaser instead. According to Eugene Naughton, park president, he said that it would be hard to not notice the 44k Sq. Foot, Five Story Building going up in the construction area in WWG. And then they moved the conversation right along as if nothing had even been mentioned about it. So, that's it for now. Stay tuned for more as it develops!
Earlier Season Opening, March 8th for Season Passholder Preview Day.
New Festival - IWALY Festival. Watch my video of the IWALY Celebration in 2023 (HERE)
10am opening every day through the end of Harvest/LumiNights festival.
They have added a lot of extra days to their calendar for 2024.
Gone for 2024 - the Tuesday Closures in May, September, October & November 2023.
Also, Gone for 2024 - 6pm Closures during August & September 2023.
June & July - Closes at 10pm in 2024, vs 9:30p in 2023.
Summer Celebration will run longer in 2024. It will end on September 1, 2024, vs August 6, 2023.
Harvest Festival/LumiNights begins September 9th, 2024, vs. September 20, 2023! Nearly two weeks earlier in 2024!
Smoky Mountain Christmas begins a few days earlier in 2024, vs in 2023.
Did I miss anything?
I think these are all positive changes and they follow right along with Dollywood's fast track growth plans. I have THREE blog posts from 2022 about Dollywood's Future Plans and this tracks right along with what I wrote back then.
Here's where I think this is headed - from article 2:
Oddly enough, or coincidentally, this week, two 'neighboring' amusement parks in the Cedar Fair chain, Carowinds and King's Dominion, both announced year-round operations. Carowinds is southeast of Dollywood near Charlotte, and King's Dominion is near coastal Virginia, in Doswell, so its winters are pretty mild for the most part.
That's great news for those who work at those parks and can now be employed year-round, and it's great for the guests who are looking for entertainment in January and February. I see lots of potential in winter operations doing things that are challenging in the summer, like snow tubing & ice skating as a couple examples.
My understanding is that these two parks will be open for weekends-only during the two coldest months of winter, which obviously is weather dependent. Other parks that stay open year-round cycle the operations of the rides in and out of service, so that routine maintenance can be performed. It would not be reasonable to expect every single ride to be in operation during the winter months. That's what happens in other year-round parks such as Six Flags Magic Mountain, Knott's Berry Farm, Disney-World-Land-Epcot, Universal, Sea Worlds, & Busch Tampa.
It's interesting to me that these two parks have chosen to operate year-round. Was it a way to beat Dollywood to the punch? Done so in their own interest? It's impossible to say. Will Six Flags over Georgia follow suit? At this point I doubt it. Six Flags seems somewhat in operational disarray. Six Flags Magic Mountain has, for several years, been open year-round and recently announced that they were scaling that back, which is unfortunate for those who bought season passes who were promised year-round operations.
What would year-round operations look like at Dollywood? I don't have any insider info to know what they're thinking about doing, but based off of Ed Naughtons' comments, he said they would consider using the entrance as a sort of hub, making use of the theaters and restaurants. Chasing Rainbows Museum is not far away from the entrance, and it was closed in 2022 for a major re-thinking of the experience. Will it move closer to the entrance to align with the 10-year plan? [10/17/23 - now we know the Dolly Parton Experience will take over the space of Chasing Rainbows!]
Drop Line can operate in temps down to 5-degrees F and Thunderhead has, I think, four trains. I believe they have the two trains from Celebration City's shuttered GCI coaster, so that means two trains could be in rehab at any given time and potentially would never have seasonal downtime, or at least not very long. Mystery Mine seems to struggle with cold temperatures, so Im not sure it would open on the coldest of days. So, Dollywood could open The Entrance area/Showstreet, Timber Canyon and maybe Wildwood Grove for winter, which would allow for seasonal maintenance in the rest of the park. As years went on, they could introduce Wilderness Pass, then Craftsman's Valley the year after that. They love to incrementally grow things, so that would seem to make sense.
Another possibility is that Dollywood adds an entire Snow Themed Area in the park that features cold-weather activities like snow tubing, ice skating, bonfire areas, stuff like that. Before it was cancelled, the Nashville combo Water Park/Snow Park was a real idea they had. They were set to partner with Gaylord, but it fell through. So, they're well aware of the types of things they could do to make a snow park work.
Like I mentioned, I have no idea what they'll end up doing. They hold their secrets pretty well. I will certainly keep my eyes peeled for any developments.
Dollywood has released some information and an awesome rendering of the New for 2024 - Dolly Parton Experience. It's set to expand into multiple buildings. Let's check it out!
Just looking at the rendering, and knowing what it looked like before as Chasing Rainbows, this looks like a fitting, if not over-the-top area that represents Dolly well. Glitter, sequins, rhinestones, diamonds - everything that sparkles! That's one way to describe Dolly and this looks like it belongs in Dolly's world - Dollywood. I do like how the big expanse of concrete is broken up with new landscaping beds and adds a lot of interest. Of course, the giant butterflies are one of the things associated heavily with Dolly and Dollywood too, they both honor the butterfly. Then, off in the distance, the two twin peaks of Lightning Rod - talk about sightlines.
Off to the right, in the theater it looks like some new programming. "Precious Memories" is what's on the marquee. On the left, the former Dolly's Closet looks to be transformed into Behind The Seams, which I imagine could be similar to Dolly's Closet - or perhaps they'll change it up? We'll find out more, I'm sure, the closer we get to the 2024 season, which, by the way will begin on March 8, 2024. That's one week before the more recent opening date of Mid-March. Dollywood is inching closer and closer to year-round operations.
Im excited to see how this looks in the end. If I recall, Dollywood mentioned they were incorporating some of the technology used in the recent Van Gogh Exhibit and Beyond Monet - that should be a real leveling up from Chasing Rainbows more traditional exhibits.
Dollywood posted this on facebook -
👄👄
Here's the three bullet points that are cut off:
Exhibits in multiple buildings spanning Dolly’s iconic career, inspiration behind her dreams, the importance of family and her signature style through the years
Feel like you're alongside Dolly as she journeyed from Locust Ridge to stages around the world
Three times the size of the former Chasing Rainbows Museum
🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋
If you're feeling nostalgic, or never got experience Chasing Rainbows - Take a look at my video filmed a few months before it closed in 2021.
Big News out of Dollywood regarding Lightning Rod:
LSM Launch will be replaced with a High-Speed Chain Lift.
The new chain lift experience will be very similar to the current launch experience.
13 mph - the speed of the chain lift, per the video.
The rides peak-speed will stay the same at 73 mph.
It was not said, but I think the structure of the lift hill will change materials, from wood to steel. Not Confirmed.
Spring 2024 New and Improved Lightning Rod will open.
Two Brand New Trains for Lightning Rod.
No mention of any changes above the chassis. We'll see!
No other specific changes were made regarding the replacement of the wooden track to IBox Steel track.
About 40% of the current track remains the original wooden "Topper Track".
In 2020/21 Off -season, the process of replacing much of the wood track to steel was completed.
Watch Dollywood's Video to hear all of the details they share:
Well, that is certainly promising news. I think we all know that Lighting Rod has had its share of down time since it opened in 2016. I know that pain of travelling far away to go ride something and then you get there, and it's down. Its unfortunate, it really is. And Dollywood realizes that, and they are going to try and remedy that. Yay Dollywood!
Dollywood, to my knowledge, has never really said what exactly the issues are, but from all the credible internet rumblings that I have heard, it boiled down to the lift hill being made of wood, which created some sway and stability issues and all the sensors working properly, and so on. So, based on what Dollywood is changing, and what Pete & Eugene said about realizing that 'now they know why launches and wooden coasters don't pair well together' - paraphrasing, but you get the idea. ...that seems to me to be the likeliest scenario.
Enjoy Lightning Rod until the end of the Harvest Festival as it will close on October 30th for a major overhaul and two brand new trains.
Follow me and of course I'll post more as details come out.
What are you thoughts about it? Let me know in the comments!
🔴🔴🔴
Here a couple of pictures of Lightning Rod from Tuesday, November 28, 2023. All of the old hardware used for the launch has been removed. The overhead structure at the top of the lift has been temporarily removed to allow for the installation of the new high-speed chain lift.
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