Dollywood resort
The staff is kind and attentive – from the people who greet you at the door to the. If you are considering staying at the DreamMore Resort, here is what you can expect: A Disney FeelĭreamMore Resort has a very magical, Disney-like quality to it. We stayed at the relatively new Dollywood DreamMore resort.
We hadn’t visited since Ezra was a baby, so it was a fun opportunity to get away and enjoy the park with older kids. "But people come and sometimes they like to say, 'Well, let's get out of these woods for a minute and let's go down to Dollywood.The Dollywood DreamMore Resort in the Great Smoky Mountains is a great option for families looking to enjoy a special experience.įor spring break, Elias, Adeline and I visited Dollywood DreamMore Resort and Dollywood for a hosted press trip. "The national park has always been great for campers," Parton said. Visitation to the national park averages more than 9 million people a year.ĭollywood is positioning itself as a tourist destination in itself, even as it shares many of its visitors with the black bears and grand vistas of the Smokies. Parton said the nearby Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a magnet that has drawn visitors for decades. "It is the most amazing feeling," Parton said. But the mountains will always be home, Parton said, and she's glad to bring employment there. She is preparing for another European tour now. Her success as a country music artist and an actress has pulled her to Hollywood and many overseas locations. She's proud to be part of the transformation of the mountains gateway community. The Sevier County where Parton grew up was mostly hardscrabble farming and a few summer forays into selling trinkets to tourists. "It makes all of us in the city smile," Downey said "Every year Dollywood has a new announcement, but this one is so big it dwarfs all the others."
The announcement by Dollywood is exciting for the town. On an average day, there will be 50,000 guests in Pigeon Forge - a small city with a permanent population of 5,784. "We're basically 100 percent tourism," Downey said. Leon Downey, executive director of the Pigeon Forge Department of Tourism, emphasized the importance of the Dollywood expansion. Research by Dollywood showed executives the resort will make a difference for many people looking to vacation in the mountains.Ī survey showed 80 percent of people asked about visiting the theme park, who had not yet come, indicated having a resort on the property would be important to them.ĭollywood is putting up a new website, to help market the hotel, even as it is under construction. Children of elementary school age will be able to ride it.
It's a ride described as exciting, but not as intense as the Wild Eagle or Dollywood's water coaster, RiverRush. The first of the new attractions will be Fire Chaser Express, scheduled to open next year. "It's the bigger scope of these attractions that we'll be adding that's different," Ross said. The plan includes multiple additional resorts as well as more rides and shows. "In 10 years' time, we will have spent more than we've spent since the inception back in 1986. The total dollar investment in the next decade will exceed the company's spending on Dollywood so far, said Craig Ross, president. People walking into the lobby will be greeted with a glass of lemonade in the summer and a cup of hot chocolate during winter months. Parton noted that during her upbringing nearby, people tended to congregate on front porches or in the kitchen.Ī fishing pond will be on the property where children can catch their first whopper and there will be fire pits where families can roast marshmallows. There will be a lot of "front porch spaces" at the resort.