Dolly Parton tells Fodor’s why she’s so proud of the park’s upcoming immersive museum experience and what it’s like to see your life and biggest dreams in retrospect.
There’s a whole lot of rhinestones headed to Pigeon Forge. And so many butterflies. While 2023 was a banner year for Dollywood with new drone shows, new ways to enjoy that iconic cinnamon bread and the gorgeous new HeartSong Lodge & Resort, 2024 is the dramatic key change we’ve all been waiting for at Dolly Parton’s namesake theme park which she co-owns with Herschend Family Entertainment. Here’s everything coming to Dollywood in the new year, from new entertainment and accommodations to a brand-new park expansion with attractions and artifact-packed museum that will solidify Dollywood as the ultimate No. 1 place for fans to visit.
“It looks like 2024 is gonna be another big year for us and for families to stay at our resorts and visit our park,” Parton said at the opening ceremony for HeartSong on November 3. “We really have a lot of wonderful plans for the future,” she added.
Singing Through the Slow Season
Unlike larger theme parks like Disney or Universal, Dollywood is closed for two months in the winter. But that doesn’t mean the music stops. The Winter Music Series at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa is back from January 12 through February 24 with concerts in a controlled climate tent each weekend. The series kicks off with country stars Baillie & the Boys and will conclude with Linda Davis. Other performers include TG Sheppard, Ronnie McDowell, Aaron Tippin, Bryan White and T. Graham Brown. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for Dollywood Season Passholders and guests staying at DreamMore and HeartSong, and only $5 for resort guests who are also Dollywood Season Passholders.
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Opening With New Fanfare
Officially opening on March 8, 2024, this year will be Dollywood’s longest operating season yet with more than three weeks of additional open park days compared to 2023. And the season kicks off with the return of last year’s brand-new I Will Always Love You Music Festival, a celebration of Parton’s iconic catalog. Running from March 9 through April 14, the festival includes several new shows including “Trio,” a tribute to the album of the same name which featured Parton, Emmylou Harris and Linda Ronstadt. There will also be a show in the Celebrity Theater that chronicle’s Parton’s life and a brand-new, interactive singalong show featuring Parton’s biggest hits.
The Dolly Parton Experience
The biggest park changes will come in May with the brand-new Dolly Parton Experience which is replacing the area that used to be Adventures in Imagination. This new themed land is all about Parton’s life and legacy, with a new museum experience three times as large as the former Chasing Rainbows museum. In a press release, Dollywood said the attraction will feature “a number of interactive elements to make guests feel as if they were alongside Dolly as she journeyed from Locust Ridge to stages around the world.”
“It’s going to be spread out over the park more than what the other one was,” Parton told Fodor’s. “But I really think people are gonna feel like they’ve really been somewhere and they’ve really been informed about so many things–even though they know the stories–I think they’re gonna enjoy the new ways that we’re presenting a lot of it.”
While no new buildings are being constructed, the three structures in the area are being repurposed and expanded. Dolly’s Closet will become Behind the Seams, in line with her new book chronicling her career and iconic outfits. And the collections will rotate. There will also be a section on Steve Summers, Parton’s creative director and costume designer, with a peek at his design process and how he determines specific outfits for Parton’s appearances. The Dreamsong Theater will still be home to the show “Harmonies of the Heart,” which features several of Parton’s family members, but it will also include her family in a new area called Precious Memories. The remodeled front lobby will feature digital windows that look out into the Smokies, but they’ll change randomly throughout the day to show members of her family and their impact.
The third building, Songteller, will chronicle her life, her music and all of the people (so, so many celebrities are in store) she’s influenced throughout her career in a brand new digital experience. There will also be a dedicated merchandise store to shop all things Dolly-inspired. And the fan-favorite tour bus that used to be in the park is coming back and will be added to the Dolly Parton Experience. Based on artist renderings of the new area, it looks like there may be some kiosks with Dolly-themed eats and souvenirs, too, like 3-D butterfly-shaped balloons.
When asked what it’s like to see her life in retrospect, Parton said, “Well, the older I get the more touching it is for me to go back and have my whole life revealed to us. And this day and age and time with all the new technology and all the wonderful ways that you can make things more of an experience than we used to when we just had our physical items laid out–and that’s all great too–but now we can have my whole life done and in a grander way.”
“It still has the simplicity and honesty and the emotional part of it,” she added. “But I think it’s just a wonderful thing for people to experience and we always try to make everything more important every year but to still stay and keeping what people expect is a down home feel to everything so I’m real proud of the new experience with our new museum and the way that we put it together.
More Tennessee Mountain Homes
At HeartSong’s grand opening, it was announced that Dollywood’s first hotel, DreamMore, is undergoing a refurb for all guest floors and should debut brand-new rooms in Spring 2024 with updated carpet, paint, fixtures, pillows and bedding and artwork. The resort’s penthouse Dolly Parton Suite will also undergo a remodel.
“You know every few years I get a little facelift myself,” joked Parton. “So I think it’s only right that we should do the same for my favorite hotel.”