If anyone knows how to tell a story, it's Dolly Parton.
How do you know if you’re in a theme park or an amusement park? The answer, surprisingly, is Carpenter bees. These swarms are a tell-tale sign and a great divider of Big Parks (Disney and Universal) and little parks a.k.a. the regional theme park.
Big Parks rarely have any wooden coasters or structures left. Nearly everything is double-coated in intellectual property. And somehow, there’s nary a bug in sight. However, regional parks, like Knott’s Berry Farm or Cedar Point, have tons of old wood. But don’t call Dollywood a regional park. Despite the bee warnings posted on several coasters, the Great Smoky Mountains resort is quickly catching up to its behemoth contemporaries and distancing itself from the pack of little parks. The Dolly Parton Experience is a game changer.
“I’m very proud of Dollywood and all the things they’ve allowed me to do here,” Parton told Fodor’s at a media event for the grand opening of The Dolly Parton Experience on May 24.
The new area, marked by a signature pink and purple palette, is a complete overhaul of the park’s former Chasing Rainbows exhibit on the Smokies superstar. Now, it’s a campus of mini museums and experiential vignettes that tell the story of Parton’s rise to fame and her career throughout the decades. This is now the most robust public collection of Dolly Parton artifacts, and yet it’s so much more than just a display of guitars and clothes. It’s all part of a decade-long, $300 million investment in updates for Dollywood, with high-tech installations that feel more like Meow Wolf than a theme park in the hills.
Top Picks for You
Recommended Fodor’s Video
The Dolly Parton Experience is three times larger than Chasing Rainbows. There’s a main museum, Songteller, with a towering, hot pink butterfly facade. Across the plaza, you’ll find Behind the Seams, a closet of rotating costumes and all things rhinestones. Next door, you’ll find Parton’s old tour bus, a fan-favorite that Dollywood brought back to the park. The final addition is a remodel of Dreamsong Theater, which now features Precious Memories, an immersive, digital homage to Parton’s family and her East Tennessee roots, as well as Dolly’s Fan Shop, a new store dedicated to exclusive Dolly Parton merchandise.
“It’s a real collection of memories and stories and not just physical things,” said Dollywood President Eugene Naughton. “Many of the experiences are digital, and, of course, that’s going to allow us to update Dolly’s story because you know she’s always going to continue to grow.”
“Low-tech girl in a high-tech world,” laughed Parton.
The Dolly Parton Experience is now more accessible as the exhibits are all on ground level. Unlike Chasing Rainbows, which was set and rarely refreshed, Naughton added that the vignettes and artifacts in Songteller and Behind the Seams will update seasonally.
“This is a living exhibit,” he said.
“I’m still living,” teased Parton.
Teched Out but Not Turned Off
Dolly Parton’s vibrant life is now outlined in Songteller with a major story arc that includes “The Porter Wagoner Show,” her coat of many colors, 9 to 5, and “Jolene.” But there are deep cuts, too. One vignette features a giant vintage TV console–wood paneling and all–playing clips from Parton’s variety show and other 70s and 80s TV collabs, from Miss Piggy to Pee-wee Herman.
“Dolly isn’t a big fan of technology,” said Rebecca Seaver, Director of Archive and Museum Services for Dolly Parton, who is Seaver’s aunt. (Seaver’s mom is Dolly Parton’s sister Cassie.) “So, we didn’t want any of the technology to be too much of a turnoff to people that don’t do tech. It’s not so high-tech that you can’t enjoy it.”
When asked how many items are in the archive, which now has an official Instagram account, Seaver laughed and said, “Thousands.”
“She has a lot of different types–not just costumes and shoes,” said Seaver. “They’ve kept call sheets and scripts and schedules. Gifts from celebrities. Or little set pieces from movies and all kinds of little things you wouldn’t think of.”
The Dolly Archive worked closely with the Dollywood team to bring The Dolly Parton Experience to life, and Seaver oversaw how the artifacts and story would be curated.
“When we started conceptualizing this project back in 2019, we wanted it to be something of the era of now,” Seaver said. “At that time, the new Van Gogh experience was a big hit, so we wanted to use new 3-D mapping technology in a way that was really clever and that hadn’t been overdone. Because I know people are a little sick of immersive experiences. So, we wanted to do that in a way that was really smart. And I feel like we did that because it’s Dolly telling her own story. You know Van Gogh can illustrate his story, but he can’t narrate it. And Dolly narrates her story in this exhibit so you really get to hear from her and hear from the people that help her. And I think that’s where people feel closer. So, I hope people leave feeling like they got a little bit closer to Dolly than they were before.”
“It feels very warm and inviting,” added Cyndi McCormack, Dollywood’s Vice President of Guest Experience and creative director of The Dolly Parton Experience. “We used technology in a way that maybe people don’t usually, and we’re making sure that it feels rich and it feels like our brand of storytelling alongside Dolly’s stories. You’ll see projection mapping and video mapping. There’s one space where we’re projecting on a giant guitar that’s over 16 feet tall. You’re seeing layers of content instead of just flat projections. It’s layered, and it’s really mind-boggling.”
One scene in this 360-video room recreates Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium, the former home of The Grand Ole Opry, and the specific way the light shines through the stained-glass windows and bathes the venue in a warm, ethereal glow. And somehow, the audio pulls off the illusion of the Ryman’s legendary acoustics. There’s even the visual effect of dust particles floating in the air and catching the light. It’s stunning.
Looking at the production companies that Dollywood worked with to produce The Dolly Parton Experience, there are big tech names on the list, from Roto, an exhibit design company that’s worked with everyone from The Jim Henson Legacy Museum to the Smithsonian, to Quince Imaging, a production company specializing in projection mapping and augmented reality that’s produced installations and events for The United Nations, National Geographic, the Super Bowl and more, to Decibel Studios, a tech meets special effects company that’s worked with other big parks such as Universal and LEGO.
“We’re theme park people, and we know we’re not museum experts,” said McCormack. “So, we made sure we partnered with people who are the subject matter experts in areas that we’re not. They came alongside us and helped us create a really, really wonderful experience.”
With all this new tech, there’s no room for the Dolly hologram that used to greet you in Chasing Rainbows. This writer had hoped the beloved–and to scale!–Dolly-gram would be recycled in some way. But that’s not Dolly Parton. She’s ever forward marching and, as she said in a press release for the park: “There are a lot of interactive elements and technology all through the area, but luckily for all of you, there are no holograms of me in there anywhere. I think the last thing this world needs is a bunch of ‘Dolly-grams’ running around everywhere.”
Country Curated
What we do need is a bunch of Dolly wigs. Behind the Seams is like stepping into the most amazing closet on MTV Cribs. It’s rare to see so many original artifacts on display in a theme park as so often the displays are really good replicas. But the shoes, the jewelry, the ‘90s makeup line: It’s all real. There’s even concept art, fabric samples, and remnant bins from costumes designed by Parton’s current creative director, Steven Summers, on display. It’s all authentic except for the wigs.
“None of the original wigs survived because Dolly wears her wigs for so long that you wouldn’t want to look at them after she’s done with them,” said Seaver. “So, we replicate them. And I have a wig stylist in London–her name is Sarah Necia–and she does all of the replicas of the hair that we have on display. I love a wig moment.”
Deanne Revel
But even new wigs are delicate. And some of the oldest pieces on display include vintage, custom-made Bob Mackie gowns from the ‘60s and ‘70s with wafer-thin chiffon. To protect each piece, Dollywood hired technology company Preservatech to create smart cases for each exhibit.
“If you look around at these cases, these are all state-of-the-art cases that meet the Smithsonian’s standard for artifact protection,” said McCormack. “Every case that you see has a microclimate that tracks humidity, heat and cooling. So, it helps us understand that we’re providing the best care possible for her artifacts.”
And some of the most beloved artifacts are coming to the park this holiday season. For its first seasonal swap, The Dolly Parton Experience will feature some of Parton’s iconic Christmas costumes. From Parton’s many, many Santa-inspired looks to her angel costumes in various films, there’s so much for Seaver to play with and change.
“That’s the most exciting part. And the hardest part,” Seaver laughed. “But it’s worth it.”
The Dolly Parton Experience isn’t the only recent innovation. In the last couple of years, Dollywood has added a virtual ride queue tracker and online ticketing, and now there are mobile orders for select food spots. Even the park’s TikTok-obsessed cinnamon bread has new travel-friendly packaging with anti-fog technology to keep the coveted loaves perfectly ooey gooey–but not soggy–in transit.
Dollywood’s new HeartSong Lodge & Resort features giant, bespoke video installations that rival the hottest hotels on the Vegas Strip. The new-ish Wildwood Grove, which opened in 2019, features a stunning projection-mapped Wildwood Tree with digital leaves that turn into infinite butterflies. And this summer, Dollywood’s Sweet Summer Nights drone and fireworks show returns. The nightly show, a partnership with Intel, debuted in 2021–years before many parks used drones publicly.
Dollywood turns 40 next year, and it’s definitely not a little park anymore. But it’s not a Big Park either. Big Parks have tech for the sake of tech with integrated devices and smart assistants baked into the theme park experience. But Dollywood doesn’t have a Walt Disney Imagineering department on call. Here, music will always be the most important storytelling tool. The projection mapping on the guitar in The Dolly Parton Experience is a good metaphor for Dollywood in today’s travel market and theme park industry. Dollywood is keeping up with the times and sometimes leading the pack, but ultimately, a guitar will always be more powerful.
Throughout her life and career, Dolly Parton keeps it real. But she always shines. It’s that attitude–that somehow seamless integration of the cutting-edge razzle dazzle paired with an ache for the simple life–that keeps Dolly and Dollywood different from the rest. And it’s an ethos you feel in every room of The Dolly Parton Experience.