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DOLLYWOOD & Splash Country
Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Herschend Family Entertainment
---- THE LATEST BUZZ ----
(12/29/14) Festival Events and Parking Improvements for 30th Anniversary (MORE...)
(12/24/14) Dollywood Attacked by Fake Sounding Lawsuit (MORE...)
(10/24/14) Dollywood has something BIG planned for 2016 (MORE...)
(10/23/14) Dollywood Tops Off DreamMore Resort Structure (MORE...)
FireChaser Express Grand Opening & Review - Click Here
 General Park News - (12/24/14) I have no love for frivolous theme park lawsuits… and unfortunately it looks like Dollywood is now the latest victim of one. According to TMZ a Tennessee couple is attempting to sue Dollywood for nearly half a million after claiming that the woman slipped out of the park’s Waltzing Swinger ride (wave swinger), falling 10 feet where she struck her head and now suffers from brain damage. The couple blames the park for running the ride in wet weather, making it more slick.
What makes no sense however is that like all wave swinger style rides, the Waltzing Swinger ride at Dollywood holds guests into their seats during the ride with a steel bar across the chair, held in place by connecting the crotch strap attached to the front of the seat, which prevents any rider from being able to ever slip out of their seat, no matter how wet or dry the conditions are. In fact, the only way one would ever slip out of the seat would be if they were to reach out in mid-ride, unclip the crotch strap, and try to slip out of their seat on purpose in order to try and file file a frivolous lawsuit.
So unless there is evidence that the crotch strap somehow broke, I can’t see this lawsuit going very far, as there is a long and sad history of people across the nation who risk true personal injury by trying to fall out of rides, down stairs or whatever else is handy, in order to file a lawsuit in the hopes of a quick out of court settlement.
 (11/6/14) Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas holiday celebration event taking place from Nov. 8 to Jan. 3rd, 2015 will feature a collection of Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer characters this year: Rudolph, Clarice, Yukon Cornelius and you can’t forget The Bumble (Abominable Snow Monster). You’ll find them all in Rudolph’s Holly Jolly Junction, where you can join in the Reindeer Games or visit Clarice’s kitchen to decorate custom Christmas cookies.
Returning this year will be Dollywood’s A Christmas Carol show which uses holographic technology to bring Dolly Parton to the stage as the Ghost of Christmas Past. “Parton’s Ghost of Christmas Past, Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmases Present and Future are life-sized holograms, appear via the cutting-edge technology. This heartwarming tale about the transformation of Ebenezer Scrooge features a 16-member cast, fully orchestrated musical tracks and period costuming.”
Other returning shows include: Christmas in the Smokies, An Appalachian Christmas, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, O’ Holy Night, Christmas with the Kingdom Heirs and Carol of the Trees. There will also be the nightly Parade of Lights procession as well as the return of Santa’s Workshop.
 Summer 2015 - Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort - Under Construction - (10/23/14) Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort hit a major construction milestone on Wednesday as they topped off the resort by adding the upper spire to the top of the resort hotel. The resort is still on track to open in Summer 2015.
(10/10/14) An interesting announcement came out earlier about Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort. “Just as Dolly has fostered a love for stories and reading among the younger generations of the United States and many other countries, the International Storytelling Center showcases the power of storytelling through entertainment, history, culture, knowledge and, most importantly, dreaming. Dollywood's DreamMore Resort is proud to announce a partnership with ISC to help bring the beauty of storytelling to our front porch, fire pits and more.”
According to Amy Owenby, VP of Hospitality for The Dollywodo Company, “Dollywood fans have come to love our parks for the stories we tell. We are now thrilled to partner with the International Storytelling Center as we work in the coming year toward integrating storytelling in a meaningful way into our new resort.”
(9/25/14) Dollywood has shared a new Time Lapse video showing off the construction progress to date for their new DreamMore Resort opening in Summer 2015.
(9/1/14) Dollywood’s shows off a new aspect to the DreamMore Resort this week online, The Farmhouse! The Farmhouse is the name of the resorts new full service restaurant and you can see a picture of what it will look like inside on Twitter.
(7/31/14) Dollywood has posted a great new aerial image showing off the new Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort under construction this week. Also fun news, you can now stroll the streets of Dollywood on Google Map’s Street View.
(7/2/14) A reader visiting Dollywood drove past the construction site for Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and took a couple of quick pictures. Nice to see that things are progressing quite nicely and I can’t wait to see how this amazing new resort turns out next Summer.
(5/14/14) New pieces of concept art have been posted showing off even more of Dollywood’s new DreamMore Resort, now under construction for a Summer 2015 opening, have been added to the resort’s preview website. The new art pieces depict the Lobby and a new Exterior View of the resort, and if you scroll down more you can find an aerial view of the construction site that I think may have been taken fairly recently as well.
(5/7/14) Dolly was on hand at the new DreamMore Resort construction site the other day, as a special ceremony was held to “bless the site” (by Dollywood Chaplain Joey Buck and Cherokee nation Elder Jerry Wolfe) as well as allow Dolly to unveil her first four personal items that will go into the Dream Box display.
Parton’s Dream Box, which will be showcased in the resort for families to view, will feature a collection of personal mementos, each representing people and moments in the entertainment legend’s life that inspired her to make her own dreams come true.
The items selected as a copy of her 2012 Dream More: Celebrate the Dreamer in You (an expansion of her popular 2009 commencement speach to the University of Tennessee), a piece of wood from Parton’s Tennessee Mountain Home’s front porch, a new song writen by Parton that will not be released until 2045 and a sealed mystery box made of Chestnut that will remain unopened until 2045.
“I want folks who stay at Dollywood’s DreamMore resort to experience the same heartfelt hospitality that they’ve come to know at my Dollywood theme park,” Parton said. “While we’re treating you like family, we’re going to create lots of simple ways for families to spend time together and really enjoy one another. All of this, plus being surrounded by views of the Smoky Mountains, folks are going to know that they are truly somewhere special when they stay with us.”
(4/22/14) Dollywood’s new DreamMore Resort is now going vertical as you can see in two new pictures sent in by a reader visiting Pigeon Forge this week.
(2/28/14) New construction images showing off Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort site have been posted here. Looks like we could see the start of serious vertical construction very soon.
(8/22/13) In 2015 a long awaited project will open next to Dollywood’s Splash Country called Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort. Yes, Dollywood is building their very own resort hotel at last. The project will offer 300 rooms in a wide variety of options, a full service restaurant, Spa, Indoor Pool, Outdoor Pool, Family Activity Center, Fire Pits, Hammocks, Swings, Storytelling Spots, special Exclusive Park Privileges and transportation to the park.
According to Dolly, “This is the realization of a dream I’ve had for more than 30 years. My DreamMore Resort conjures up thoughts of a simpler place and time when Mama and Daddy and all us kids spent hours on end just swapping stories and catching up. I want to offer families more than a place to stay; I want to invite them on the porch and in my front door where they can slow down, kick back and enjoy all that this beautiful area has to offer.”
With an emphasis on encouraging family bonding time, the resort also features a family activities center where guests can secure reservations for a variety of adventures centered around wholesome fun, including hikes in neighboring Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
You can find the concept artwork, a promotional video, extra details and sign up for the Founders Club by clicking here. It is a beautiful resort… exactly what you would expect from Dollywood. Look for Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort to open in Summer 2015.
2015 - 30th Anniversary Season - (12/29/14) The local news reports that as part of Dollywood’s 30th Anniversary season in 2015, the park has announced a $5.5 million plan to enhance the experience for arriving guests, how they park and get to the park entrance, making the experience faster than ever before. The park will also host a long series of Special Events planned to enhance your visit throughout the year. The list includes:
Festival of Nations (March 21 – April 20) / Featuring a large number of live performance acts and shows throughout the park.
Dollywood’s Barbeque & Bluegrass (May 23 – June 7) / Music and Great Food, what more could you ask for?
Great American Summer (June 13 – August 2) / Extended park hours and nightly Fireworks
Rock the Smokies (September 5-7) / Christian Music Concerts over Labor Day Weekend
Southern Gospel & Harvest Celebration (October 2 – October 31) / Gospel Concerts
Smoky Mountain Christmas (November 7 – January 2, 2016) / More Christmas lights than you can shake a stick at, huge special live holiday shows throughout the park and the return of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
???? - Parking Construction - (9/25/14) According to Screamscape sources, the new land clearing to the left of the pathway up to Thunderhead is actually to allow for the construction of a new parking lot or parking structure of some kind. Rumor has it that this may actually end up being some kind of preferred parking lot area, that will also come with a special private entrance gate into the park.
 (9/11/14) For those wondering, I’ve circled the general area where the new land clearing is being done at Dollywood.
(9/10/14) Thanks to another reader for sending in a couple more pictures of the new hillside ground clearing taking place at Dollywood alongside the path leadup up to Thuderhead. They also sent in a new picture of the DreamMore Resort building which you can find here.
(9/8/14) So what’s going on at Dollywood for 2015? We know about the new DreamMore Resort of course, but now it seems that the park may have another surprise in store for 2015. Guests to the park this weekend noticed that the entire hillside to the left of the pathway used to get from the entrance up to Thunderhead is now being completely cleared for some unknown new project. And if this is really for 2016 instead... this has to be a huge project to be starting this early. Anyone know more?
2016 - New Attraction - Planned - (10/24/14) Big things are in the works for Dollywood in 2016. According to a statement from Craig Ross, President of The Dollywood Company, the park will make a huge announcement next year about a major 2016 attraction described as “one of the biggest single attraction additions in our 30-year history for 2016.”
(2/7/14) During a video shot at ACE No Coaster Con 2014 in Chicago there was a presentation from Dollywood’s own Pete Owens. If you jump ahead about 21 minutes into the video Pete talks a bit about the future of Dollywood. To be specific he says they are already looking into a major new attraction to come to Dollywood in 2016 that will be in the same price range as Wild Eagle. So we’re talking about something in the $20 million price range… so the future looks very bright for Dollywood indeed!
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