Dollywood Announces New Resort and Roller Coaster
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!
FireChaser Express Roller Coaster
The new roller coaster will open March 2014 and will be located where Adventure Mountain was once located in the area near the popular Wild Eagle roller coaster. The FireChaser Express, however, will be more of a family roller coaster as the minimum height requirement will be 39 inches. The new coaster will be the nation’s first dual-launch family coaster that launches twice. It will travel forward and then backward on a winding 2,427-foot track. It will launch forward from zero to 16 mph in just 1.1 second and will then launch backward from zero to 20 mph in 2 seconds. The FireChaser Express roller coaster will feature three 14-passenger trains with an hourly capacity of 750 riders. The FireChaser Express will celebrate the volunteer-based fire departments of the 1940s who protected the neighboring Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
More info about the FireChaser Express is available on the Dollywood website at:
https://www.dollywood.com/
DreamMore Resort
The DreamMore Resort is set to open in the summer of 2015 and will feature 300 rooms with a variety of accommodations including a 2,200-square-foot Dolly’s Suite Dreams celebrity suite. There will be an indoor and outdoor pool complex, a spa and a full-service farmhouse-style restaurant that features a wraparound veranda with views of the pool and surrounding mountains. An amphitheater is planned as well as outdoor areas complete with fire pits, swings and hammocks. Dolly Parton has wanted to open a resort since she first opened Dollywood in 1986. While they have had cabin rentals available around 2 miles away from the park, they have wanted to open a resort much closer to the theme park to offer a whole new range of accommodations and package options.
The new resort will be designed especially for families with some rooms accommodating six people. The resort will also feature many “front porch” viewing areas of the Smoky Mountains as well as a fishing pond for children! Their media release states:
“Featuring a variety of accommodations, the resort celebrates the iconic Southern gathering spot, beckoning to a time when families and friends sipped iced tea, enjoyed homemade ice cream and socialized. Centered on the rich traditions of storytelling, family and togetherness, the resort will feature many special touches including family sanctuaries like fire pits, swings and hammocks plus story spots scattered throughout the grounds.”
As guests enter the lobby, they will be greeted with a glass of lemonade in the summer and a cup of hot chocolate during winter months.
The new DreamMore Resort will be located adjacent to Dollywood’s Splash Country. They have 100 acres available to develop on and the new resort is just going to use around 20 acres, which means they have a lot more expansion room to work with in the future. Dolly says it will have “Southern flair” while being “classy”. A resort such as this is something that numerous visitors have asked about for years as they search for vacation packages and lodging near Dollywood.
View from the front of the new DreamMore Resort at Dollywood:
View from the back of the new DreamMore Resort at Dollywood:
Below is the promotional video released by Dollywood for the new DreamMore Resort:
For more info about the DreamMore Resort, visit the official site at:
https://www.dollywood.com/resort/
As we get more information, artist renderings, pictures, videos, etc we will keep this post updated. Let us know in the comments area below what you think about having a brand new resort at Dollywood and a new family roller coaster coming soon!
Please share this news on facebook, twitter, etc to let everyone know!
I’m thrilled about the resort, but what about the Dixie Stampede in Destin, Florida?
Just wondering if any of the rooms going to be pet friendly with a kitchen or like a home away from home rooms , for small pets ???, ♡ Virginia
i so agree pet friendly. tell everyone you know to ask for pet friendly rooms
wonder if the next “expansion” will be timeshare? would love to trade all my others for this one!!!!! hope some of the rooms will have kitchens or at least kitchenettes (microwave and refrig)
I JUST HOPE THIS WILL BE AFFORDABLE FOR THE AVERAGE FAMILY.
WE NOW SHOP AROUND FOR THE BEST ACCODATIONS AT A GOOD
RATE AS THE ACTIVITIES FOR ALL FAMILY MEMBERS PLUS THE FOOD
ARE QUITE COSTLY. NOT TO MENTION THAT IF YOU LIVE A GOOD DISTANCE
FROM TENN. THE COST OF GAS.
NEEDS TO BE AFFORDABLE FOR FAMILIES WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE COST IN
TERMS OF GAS TO TRAVEL THERE, ACTIVITIES WHILE THERE, AND FINALLY COST
OF FOOD. WE NOW SHOP FOR THE MOST AFFORDABLE LODGING, BUT STILL
NICE TO STAY AT WHILE THERE. THANK YOU
I hope there will be pet friendly rooms and areas where we can walk them and have them with us around the resort!!!! We come to pigeon Forge 2 to 3 times a year and we want to relocate here when my Husband retires. We love it there!!
We Went to Dolly wood in 2004.It was awesome so we went again this year.We where very disappointed.Dolly wood has become very commercialized.Way to many shops to buy things.Some of the rides we remembered was gone.There use to be workers walk around in the old time cloths and shows in the street.We took our oldest daughter and her family.She has wanted to go because we talked how great it was for years.She was disappointed.There are plenty of place to stay already.Put money into the park.Open up the place that are just close up.It needs more water rides.
I think Dollywood is so wonderful. I went the first time in 1987 when I was dating my husband. We have gone several times each year since. When we got married in 1991 we went on our honeymoon in Pigeon Forge and back to Dollywood. . I always get season passes. It is such a special place because everything changes. The shows, special events, food, and additions are great. I always say if Dolly likes it, then it must be good. I think the idea of a resort is a great idea. I can’t wait to stay there. All the rides have always been so much fun. We have been there so much we are recognized when we go to Aunt Granny’s. I like to see the same people working there year after year. It means the employees are treated well. I will be back in September when we come down to the car show. Keep up the good work!
l my self , dolly has enough money already that’s why most of us can’t come down there,
I’m hoping Dolly allows this to be affordable and hope she’s not becoming money hungry like David Segal of Westgate. If it’s affordable we’ll stay here during one or more of our 5 annual trips.
PET FRIENDLY ROOMS ARE A MUST. MY BABY IS A 15 LB SHIATSU AND she wears diapers and is bathed daily. She is taken every where we go. So this place needs pet friendly rooms. and not a kennel.
I will only be able to stay in the resort if it will contain a pet friendly room that accommodates my 65 lb. fur baby! He goes with my daughter and myself everywhere!
Build a place for pets only. I would not want to stay where a pet had been. They pee and who knows what else on the carpet. Of course who knows what humans do in this rooms too.
We visit the Smokies 2 or 3 times a year. I hope the new place has a down home fell to it. We enjoy stepping back in to the past so to speak. That’s is kind of the feeling you get going to the mountains. We love the Dixie Stamped, and by the way we never go on vacation with out our 2 dachshunds. They are family too! Must have pet rooms, and be reasonable!
Let’s be realistic. Very few places now will allow you to bring in your “65lb fur baby”. I can see both sides of the issue but, no one wants to invest millions in a new resort and then have pets in the rooms. People are lucky they can still have smoking rooms. I wouldn’t be surprised if those too are soon a thing of the past. One option is to charge an additional “pet fee” that can be reimbursed after the trip if no issues or damages are found.
Dollywood is already expensive after you factor in travel to get there, lodging -where ever it may be, food, drinks, games and souvenirs. IF, they would charge less admission people would spend more inside the park or if they charged less for the items in-park, people would spend more and come more often. If people don’t feel taken advantage of, they are happier to spend more of their money with that company. All just my opinions, thanks.
They should have a certain section for pet friendly rooms and a section of rooms where pets are not allowed. Some people have pet related allergies and some people dont want to be in a room where a pet has been for different reasons. So if they do pet friendly it should be away from non pet friendly rooms
Yes this should be pet friendly and affordable, same price as getting a cabin. Maybe different levels of prices, so every1 can enjoy. Come twice year & after booking this Nov. found out the towns changed the Christmas lighting to after Vets day. That’s a bummer. HAs always had chilli cookoff and lighting same week always the wed b4 Vets. Changes like that shouldn’t b made lightly.