ANNOUNCEMENT UPDATE: Dollywood is making 30 big announcements throughout 2015…to see what has been announced so far, click here!
The extremely popular Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show in Pigeon Forge was featured in the season finale of “Tanked” on Animal Planet on January 16! “Tanked” is a TV show following Wayde King and Brett Raymer, business partners and best friends who own Acrylic Tank Manufacturers in Las Vegas, NV. On the show, they showcase some of their most outrageous, truly one-of-a-kind aquariums they design for customers all over the world. They designed and built an incredible “moonshine aquarium” for the lobby at the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Show in Pigeon Forge! The aquarium weighs almost five tons, holds 1,100 gallons of water, and features over 50 fish! The show was a lot of fun as the cast of the Hatfield & McCoy Dinner show got involved as well.
The popular Island in Pigeon Forge has been adding some excellent restaurants, attractions, and stores but now they are adding one of the most exciting hotels to the Smokies in 2014…Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville Island Hotel! This Margaritaville hotel will be one of the very few in the entire world offering a tropical experience right in the heart of the Smokies…so if you love the mountains and the Caribbean, then the Margaritaville Hotel in Pigeon Forge, TN is the perfect place for you!
For the very first time in the history of Pigeon Forge, moonshine is legally being sold and ushering in a whole new era in the Smokies as the Pigeon Forge Ole Smoky Moonshine distillery, store, and tasting bar is now open at The Island in Pigeon Forge. The Ole Smoky Moonshine Gatlinburg location opened in 2010 and has become America’s most visited distillery and the brand has exploded in popularity becoming the leading distiller of premium moonshine in the United States. The Ole Smoky Moonshine Pigeon Forge location allows visitors of Pigeon Forge to taste and purchase Ole Smokey Moonshine without having to battle traffic to get to the Gatlinburg location and will also have much more parking available at its Island location.
Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville is coming soon to Pigeon Forge, TN! The new Pigeon Forge Margaritaville is planned to open with a special ceremony at 9:30am on June 16, 2014. It is located at The Island in Pigeon Forge, which is a large new entertainment complex featuring the 200ft Great Smoky Mountain Wheel as the centerpiece. It’s surrounded by shops, restaurants, and all sorts of fun things to do. Margaritaville in Pigeon Forge is sure to be a popular new restaurant as soon as it opens!
With the approval of liquor by the drink in Pigeon Forge TN, there have been numerous restaurants opening in town including the addition of a Hard Rock Cafe in Pigeon Forge, TN which opens May 20, 2014! The current Hard Rock Cafe in Gatlinburg is closing and relocating to Pigeon Forge.
Dollywood recently ran a poll for people to vote on their favorite thing to eat at Dollywood with the finalized choices being apple pie, cinnamon bread, specialty apples, and kettle korn. First off, all of these treats are incredibly delicious and extremely popular! However, there could only be one king of treats to be voted the absolute best thing to eat at Dollywood. After hundreds of votes, the winner was the extremely tasty, fresh-baked cinnamon bread from Dollywood’s Grist Mill! Read below to see what makes this cinnamon bread the best thing to eat at Dollywood.
Pigeon Forge has had quite a few big restaurants coming to town or opening soon such as Cheddar’s, Margaritaville, and Hard Rock Cafe. Dick’s Last Resort is one of the new restaurants coming and will be opening on April 8, 2014 at The Island in Pigeon Forge. There is currently a Dick’s Last Resort in neighboring Gatlinburg, so it’s unclear at this time if it will relocate or if they will keep both locations. Hard Rock is in a similar situation, but Hard Rock will close the Gatlinburg location when they open in Pigeon Forge…so perhaps Dick’s Last Resort will be doing the same…we’ll let you know when we find out.
UPDATED Thursday October 17, 2013 – With the government shutdown now over, the federal government has completely opened back up which means all of the national parks including the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are open once again. This includes all hiking trails, campgrounds, picnic areas, overlooks, etc. The opening takes place right at the peak of the fall colors at the highest elevations of the Smokies so it’s a perfect time to get out and enjoy the beautiful fall colors in the Great Smoky Mountains!
Dollywood has been an incredibly popular attraction in the Smoky Mountains for decades and it’s about to get even bigger! Dolly Parton has announced a $300m expansion that will include a new roller coaster that will open in March, 2014 and a brand new 300 room resort that will open in the summer of 2015! These are the first of many new attractions and resorts planned in an expansion that Dolly hopes to make this the biggest and most popular attraction in the whole country. We’ve got details on each below and will keep this post updated as even more info rolls in. If you love Dollywood, then you’re going to love these new additions!