September 5, 2025 • 39 mins
Exploring Dollywood: Rides, Shows, and Appalachian Heritage Nestled in the heart of the Smoky Mountains, Dollywood has earned its place as one of the top theme parks in the country—and for good reason. In this episode of The Family Vacationer, Rob sits down with Wes Ray, Vice President of Marketing for Dollywood Parks and Resorts, to explore what makes this destination so special for families. From thrilling rides like Big Bear Mountain and Dragonflier, to award-winning entertainment, Appalachian-inspired dining, and the warm hospitality that Dolly Parton herself has infused into the park, Dollywood offers something for every member of the family. You’ll also hear how guest feedback has shaped everything from wider pathways to new resort offerings, and why Dollywood consistently ranks as a #1 theme park on TripAdvisor. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: The fascinating history of Dollywood and its deep ties to Appalachian culture Family-friendly rides designed with all ages in mind New additions like Wildwood Grove and Big Bear Mountain Dolly Parton’s direct influence on the park’s design and guest experience Insider tips for making the most of your visit—whether you’re coming for a day or a week What’s next for Dollywood, from resorts to new attractions Dollywood isn’t just a theme park—it’s a celebration of heritage, hospitality, and family fun. Whether you’re planning your first visit or your fiftieth, this episode will inspire your next Smoky Mountain getaway. DollywoodDreammore ResortHeartsong Resort 👉 Don’t forget to subscribe to The Family Vacationer on your favorite podcast platform, and follow us on Instagram and Substack for even more family travel tips and inspiration. Be on the lookout for Rob's first book, "The Family Vacationer: A Parent's Guide to Meaningful Travel." Coming soon!! Remember folks to keep your passports and your hearts open.Safe travels, everyone.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Today I'm the Family Vacationer. We're heading to the Smoky
Mountains to explore Dollywood, one of the top theme parks
in the country. With thrilling riots, award winning shows, Appalachian heritage,
and Dolly Pardon's unmistakable influence, Dollywood has become a favorite
destination for families everywhere. Episode one nine starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome to the Family Vacationer with Robin.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Tracy, your go to podcast for families on the moon. Hey, everyone,
welcome back to the Family Vacationer. This is episode one one,
and this is the show where we help you create
unforgettable family travel experiences. Today we're shining a spotlight on
a place that's consistently ranked as one of the best
(00:53):
theme parks in the country, Dollywood. Nestled in the Smoky
Mountains of Tennessee, Dollywood is more than rides and shows.
It's a celebration of Appalachian culture in Dolly Pardon's legacy
of hospitality and family fund. A quick bit of history
before we dive in. The park first opened in the
(01:13):
nineteen sixties as Rebel Railroad. Over the years, it went
through a few different names and owners. Eventually becoming Silver
Dollar City. But in nineteen eighty six, Dolly Pardon partnered
with the Hershin Family Entertainment and reimagine the park as Dollywood.
Since then, Dollywood has grown into a world class destination
(01:33):
with award winning entertainment, a full water park, multiple resorts,
and even recognition as Trip Advisor's number one theme park.
And the growth hasn't stopped. New rides, new accommodations, and
new experiences continue to make Dollywood a family favorite year
after year. Joining us today to talk about all things
(01:55):
Dollywood is Wes Raimi West serves as the vice president
of Marketing for DOLLYI with Parks and Resorts and has
been deeply involved in helping shape the guest experience. Wes,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Glad to have you on. So to start off, can
you tell us a little bit about what makes Dollywood
such a special destination for families.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Well, you know, I think it's just that it's the
focus on families and making sure that we have experiences
that anybody in the family can enjoy. Our team does
an amazing job. I mean, first of all, you know,
we're Dolly Parton's theme park, So we try to do
things to make her proud of what we're doing, whether
that's our entertainment, and you know, it is her theme park.
(02:40):
So the entertainment is top notch rides and attractions that
really run the Gamut family to enjoy our culinary experience,
which is something that most people don't think about when
they visit the theme park, is how great our food is,
you know. And I have learned through my wife that
the shopping at Dollywood's actually something that a lot of
(03:01):
people don't think about as how great that is as well.
But I think all of that's great, But at the
end of the day, I think what makes the Dollywood
experience different from all the other parks, and I think
you've seen it with the number one theme park rankings
that we've been getting from trip Advisor three out of
the last four years. Those are based on actual guest
(03:23):
reviews and what we see consistently, no matter what people
enjoy when they get in the park, they all talk
about how genuinely friendly everyone is, the authenticity of the experience,
and I think that really does lend itself. Well, you're
not rushed, you can go at your own pace. If
you want to be able to do everything, you might
(03:44):
want to pick you know, a little bit faster pace,
but you really can do it at for own speed
how you want to experience it. And I think that's
really what sets it apart, is just you know, the
atmosphere in which you find yourself when you come to
Dollywood is really what makes it what it is.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Let's talk about that number one ranking. I mean that's
a big deal. You know, it's not all about competition,
but I mean you're competing against the big boys when
you get the number one theme park ranking. So what
do you think got Dollywood to that number one ranking?
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Well, I really do think it's all those things that
I kind of just touched on, but at chief among
that is the experience. So we place a lot of
emphasis on the guest experience. We've won the Golden Ticket Award.
Every year that they've had the best guest Experience Golden Ticket,
we have won it. And again with those trip Advisor rankings,
(04:39):
I think it goes back and it just shows when
you're in the park, we are doing things that really
elevate the experience for guests. We're listening, We're listening to
survey results and what guests are emailing and telling us,
looking at those Trip Advisor reviews, and we're taking what
they tell us and we put that into play in
(05:00):
the park. Great examples of that coming out of COVID,
we were hearing a lot of people that said, you know,
we want more wide open spaces, we want some of
your pathways are narrow, more places to sit and eat.
So for a couple of years after that, we didn't mansions,
we didn't have new attractions until twenty three with Big
(05:21):
Bear Mountains, so we had a couple of beers there
where we took all of our effort and we were
putting that into making some changes to the park. So
now when you're in the park, some of those areas,
the pathways are wider, there are more places to sit
and eat throughout the park, and all of that came
from actual guest experiences and reviews. Because you know, we're
in business at the end of the day to make
(05:42):
sure that it gets are happy, So we want to
make sure that we're providing them the things.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
That they want.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
And those are the reasons I think that you continue
to see us be able to have these awards. As
you said, against some very large competition, and they're all
great as well, but I think is something about the
experience when you come. It is genuinely friendly and it
is just different, and I think that.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Has a lot to do with it.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, you guys do a great job listening to consumer feedback,
and I would say not to venture too far off
the path, but so does Pigeon Forge in general. One
of our most downloaded episodes, believe it or not, it's Hawaii,
and then number two is Pigeon Forge, and I think
that is entirely because Pitcheon Forge listens to the feedback
and with what you know, everyone is trying to do
(06:33):
in that town. It's listening to the consumers that show
up and spend money in that town. So congratulations to
all of you for doing a good job and listening.
Listening is you know, that's a skill that not all
corporations have.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
So yeah, and you kind of mentioned there Pigeon Forge.
I mean, the whole area really is special. There's something
for everybody to do. I grew up about an hour
and a half to two hours away from Pigeon Forge.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
My life our away, so we now, I mean for.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Both of us, it's kind of like going back to
your childhood. It's kind of like a second home. We
take our kiup as much as we can and do
all the activities in town. Of course, take them to Dollywood,
but there's so much that you can do with a
family in town that you can easily make a week
if you want to, just with all of the attractions.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So it's a great place to come.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
And I think as our and within the industry continues
to elevate, Pigeon Forge is right there with us. And
I think a lot of folks, as opposed to some
of the other large vacation family destinations in the country,
they can come to Pigeon Forge and you fill an
entire week and have fun doing it, and it may
be a.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Little bit cheaper in some cases.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
So I think all of that bodes well for us
in the area for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Well let's bring it back to Dollywood. Let's talk about
some of the new rides that you guys have had.
You mentioned Big Beer. Let's talk about some of the rides.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, so most recently it was Big Bear Mountain in
twenty twenty three, and you know, a great ride with
a thirty nine inch high requirement. Younger kids can ride it,
but it's thrilling for all ages. I think that's something
that catches a lot of people off guard when they
ride the rid is you know they expect, okay, thirty
nine inch high requirement, But I Vakoma did a great
(08:22):
job designing that ride. It's really thrilling. It's kind of
two halves is kind of.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
How I look at it.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
You've got the launch out of this in the first
half of the ride kind of takes you out through
Wildwood Grove under their fall and there's a lot of
you know, twists and turns, but a lot of speed.
And then you hit that third launch and come back
to the other more technical side of the track where
you're pulling a lot of g's and you're going under
the tunnel and all that stuff happens over there. So
(08:48):
it's a long ride experience and something that I really
feel like has cemented. It is a great place for
families to come. We focus on those lower high requirements
and Flyer was introduced in twenty nineteen as part of
Wildwood Grove and height requirement also thirty nine inches on
purpose because these rides allow families to be able to
(09:11):
have first time roller coaster experience together and at Dollywood
and on a pretty thrilling attraction. So you know, all
of that combines to really hit again, Like I said,
to the family market, that's where our niche is and
that's what you see us doing.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
And it seems like it can't be easy always to
create rides that appeal to all ages, and yet you
guys do such a great job with that. What's the
approach in creating the rides and experiences? How do you
go about, like, you know, understanding that you've got a
family that may have you know, a younger child and
(09:47):
then a teenager, and so what's the approach when you're
creating rides and experiences at Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Well, it's a lot of people who are a lot
more smart, to have a lot more background in that
are a lot more smarter smarter than me when it
comes to doing that. You know, they're looking years down
the road like all the parks do. But we're again
listening to feedback. We're listening to what families are saying
they want, what appeals to them, and what we can
do to be able to elevate that experience for them.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Is that a new ride?
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Is it? You know, something else in the park that
appeals to them, and we start that process and just
you know, put out that request and kind of go
through the process what's really going to fit the bill
of what they have been asking us for. And you know,
we've been, I think very rightfully so paying attention to
the guests because as we said earlier, the guests are
(10:41):
going to tell you how you're doing by whether they
come or not.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
And you have to be able to put.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
They want and I think with Big Bear Mountain, it
is an amazing ride that checked that box. I think
addition of Wildwood Grove was huge for us added a
whole new section of the park. Really for us. Not
only did it add a whole new section of the park,
it gave us an area where we could completely plan
(11:08):
out the ride package based on what our guests were
telling us. So you've got a mixture of rides there
that kids can do, kids can do with their parents,
parents can do and enjoy so that everybody can stay
together in Wildwood Grove. You don't necessarily have to split
it up and go your separate ways. You can enjoy
that area together. And you know, Wildwood Grove has won
the Golden Ticket for Best Kids Area every year since
(11:31):
it has been ever since it was built in twenty nineteen.
So I think again that goes back and shows that
that was the right move for us. And we constantly
hear about how great that area is and how much
guests are glad that we added it.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So Dollywood, obviously in the name has a large influence
by Dolly Pardon And this is our second time covering
Dollywood on the podcast, and we've done shows on Pitch
and Forges, and you don't have to listen long into
any of those shows before you understand how much of
a fan I am of Dolly and everything that she's done,
(12:09):
just from her philanthropy to just her musical talent and
all the songs that she's written for other people. Forget
what she's recorded, but the songs that she's written for
other people. She's got a show that I guess she's
about to launch at my al Mamta in Nashville. She's amazing.
She is absolutely amazing, and it's to me. I lived
(12:30):
in Nashville for about ten years and it feels like
she took the best parts of opry Land and brought
those back to Dollywood and just infuse that with that
rich Appalachian culture and her own legacy. How do the
new projects that come to Dollywood keep that heritage alive
(12:52):
when you're offering you know what you're talking about, these
fresh experiences.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Well, I think first and foremost everything we do run
through that filter. How does it go alongside our Appalachian
roots and keep it true to that? We also, you
know you mentioned Dollie were always, you know, when they're
looking to do a new project, they ask her, you know,
give us some insights.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So back to Wildwood Grove.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
So as they were looking at developing that area, they said, Dolly,
tell us stories and daydreams that you had when you
were a kid in the Smokies. That's something that you've
kind of touched on, but we've never really delved deep
into that. So she would just tell them, you know
when and these are based on actual things, she said.
She said, when I was a little girl, I used
(13:38):
to dream I could go out into the woods and
have lunch with the bears. You know, we have Black
Bear Trail where you ride on the back of a
bear and kind of meander out through a little ways.
She used to say that I used to dream that
I could fly with the dragonflies and the butterflies. So
that's where dragonfly you know, its name, its color scheme,
(13:58):
all of that came from the same thing with the mockingbird.
She loved the sounds of the mockingbird singing, so that's
where the mad mockingbird came from. So we go to
her for that inspiration. But so many people on our
team as well are from the area and are able
to infuse that, you know, what they grew up with
into the park.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And I think the.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Main part is being true to that and making sure
that as we add new things, we run it through
that filter to make sure it matches that very genuinely
authentic Appalachian experience. And I think that's why, you know,
we do so well the culinary options.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You know, there are so many things.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
When I go through the park, it tastes like something
I grew up eating, and you know, it's like, Okay,
this is home. So for a lot of people to
be able to come to Dollywood, to the area for
the first time, we want that experience to be just
like they're coming to our home. You know, our tagline
is love every moment. That can mean two things. We
want you to love every moment of your time with us.
(14:58):
But we want you to feel love as a guest
every moment while you're with us.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And part of that is being.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
True to our Appalachian heritage and having great food to eat,
and you know, just a great, overwhelmingly welcoming, exciting place
for you to come to, and all of that goes
together to create the overall experience. So I think everything
we do has to run through that filter to make
sure it matches.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Up to it.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Well. Speaking of new things, and I hope this is correct,
but I saw a report that said as many as
five new resorts could be coming to Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Yeah, so you know, that's kind of the master plan.
So a lot of those reports were out when we
were opening a part Song Lodge and resort back in
twenty twenty three. All that is still master planned. We're
not sure exactly what the cadence will be of those
rolling out for our guests, but we're always listening to
what our guests tell us about our resort experiences as
(15:53):
we try to plan that out. We ask them, you know,
is this the value of the property? Is that what
you want to be? Do you want something else there?
What does that look? Like, but that's always changing and evolving,
but yeah, it is. The property is mapped out for
us to be able to have up to five different
resort properties, all with their own look and feel. I
(16:15):
think we've done a great job with the two resorts
we have. That one very much is distinctly, you know, southern.
We say it's kind of if Dolly was hosting you
in her home, that's what you would expect would.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Be dream More.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
And then when Dolly is kind of looking for a
place to kind of go recharge, kind of get away
from everything, that would be heart Song. It's kind of
up on the hill, tucked into the trees, and you
really do feel like you're in the smoky mountains up
on the top of that hill. So again, we have
opportunities to be able to do a lot of that,
and it just kind of hinges on the reception that
(16:50):
both of our resorts continue to receive and what makes
sense for us moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Well, my family stayed at dream Moore, and I will
tell you that is one of the best fans only
trips that I think that we've taken. So everything about
the resort was just very well laid out. I was
we were I don't know why I was surprised, because
again I'm a huge Dolly fans. I don't know why
I was surprised at all. But everything just just made
(17:14):
sense and was, you know, beautiful and just kind of
fit into the overall theme of the of the resort area.
So well, how will the new resorts complement the existing
offerings and enhance you know, the overall Dollywood vacation experience.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah, and I think it goes back to again seeing
what the guests want and as times change, what does
that new resort product look like? What, what's the competition doing,
that's that's happening that guests enjoy. What do they are
they gravitating to? What are the price points? What's the
economy doing as you kind of look through that. So,
(17:53):
you know, like I said, it's very much an opportunity
for us to be able to ask our guests what
they want, what they enjoy, what they need out of
their resort experience. And you know, the entire resort process
has completely changed Dollywood since Dreamwoar was built ten years ago.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
If you look at what.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
You come to Dollywood to do now, Before it was
a very you know, it was a very regional park
still a regional park, but probably one of the larger
regional parks. And that changed because of that model, because
of our resorts, starting with Dream Moore, people then saw, hey,
this is a place that I can see myself staying
for a few days. I can ride the trolley back
(18:33):
and forth to the park, and just all of that
really made the Dollywood experience even more easy to do.
But also we take everything from the park and really
make sure it's infused into the resort properties, so you
continue to get that great Dollywood experience regardless of whether
you're in the park, whether you're at Splash Country at
the water park, or whether you're in the resorts.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Well, aside from the rides in resorts, you mentioned one
of these areas, let's talk about them both. Are there
any new entertainment or dining experiences on the horizon that
family should be excited about.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Well, we have a brand new restaurant that just opened
up this year, the Wilderness Past Restaurant. Great selection of
items up there. Smoked sausage, which I absolutely love, There's
pulled pork, there's a chicken up there, just all kinds
of great options for guests to love. There's amazing biscuits
up there. I love a good biscuit and there's some
great ones there, so that's a great option for guests.
(19:32):
And then with entertainment, we're always looking to see what
our guests again are telling us they want to see.
I think if you look at our summer festival that
just ended, we had a Gazillion Bubbles, which is probably
one of the most requested shows that we have. And
then we also had the Pirandi Stunt Doll Experience, which
last year the Pirandis were only able to be with
(19:53):
us for about a month because of the guests, they said,
we want them all summer long, so we had them
all summer long, and I would say just about every
show was filled to capacity, so folks were really enjoying
both of those. But we are always looking to see again,
what's new, what's groundbreaking. We were the first part to
(20:13):
have a drone show ninally during the summer, back all
the way back in twenty twenty. We worked with the
folks at Intel to develop the show and now they
of course sell drones to all kinds of other companies
who we work with now. But if you look at
that experience as well, it's to look at what the
guests want, what they're seeing other places. How can we
incorporate that into the park. But just listening to them,
(20:36):
that's going to guide what we do next. This year
we had play On, which is a fortieth anniversary retrospective show,
so we had guests telling us, you know, we enjoyed
this show or this show throughout the years, wish it
could come back, and you know, there are reasons why
some shows come and some shows go. But we found
that as an opportunity where we could take some of
(20:58):
those highlight moments of those shows they love and put
them into one show that has run all summer long,
and we'll run for a few more weeks. But play
On was definitely a part of that. So we're again,
I've said it a lot, but it really does come
back to taking guest feedback and seeing.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
How we can incorporate that into what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
All right, let me put you on the spot. What
is your absolute favorite dish of any restaurant in the park.
For me, I can't go to Dollywood without cinnamon bread.
That's just me. Yeah, what is your favorite?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, so that is that's very tough for me.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
I'm like you, I will say I love the cinnamon bread,
but I'm a savory I just love savory foods. I
can now I get a loaf of cinnamon bread every time,
and I joke with everybody at work that when I
have to work late, the only way I'm allowed to
come back.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Into my house is if I have a.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Loaf of cinnamon bread, kind of as a peace offering
to bring back in as I come. But when it
comes to the food items, I would say I love
the ant Grannies Buffet because I love the fried chicken,
and I can get all I want of the sides
to go along with it. But if I'm talking about
a quick serve restaurant, I really do love the new
menu at the Wilderness Pass Restaurant. And then I also
(22:12):
love the pit the pulled pit ham at Granny Ogles
hem and beans. So but I that's a tough question
to ask you, because I can walk myself through my
mind through the park right now, and I can say, oh,
I would like to have you know all of those things.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
In addition, I can eat the potato tornado.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
I will take one of the sausage sandwiches at the
Big Skillets.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I can eat everywhere in the park, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, you know, for for some places, you know, the
T shirt is the souvenir. I question whether or not
somebody's even been to Dollywood if they don't walk out
with cinnamon bread. That's just me.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
I mean, you know, well, you know, the cinnamon bread
has become so famous that it now has its own
line of merchandise. So you can have the cinnamon bread
and the T shirt.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Okay, there you go. Well, for pim that are planning
their very first visit to Dollywood, what's some insider tips
or must do activities that you'd recommend.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
The first thing I would say is to go to
the website or download our app and really stuff with
the park. Like I said, you can you can do
most of it in a day. If you want to
really enjoy and do it all, you probably need a
couple of days. But look at the show schedule, see
what makes sense for you and your family. If you're
if you love coasters, we have some of the best.
(23:31):
We have a great portfolio. They really do run the
gamut from wild Eagle and Lightning, Rod Tennsey, Tornado on
the much more you know, extreme thrill side, but big Bear, Mountain,
Firechaser Express, Dragonfly. They may be on the other end,
but they pack a punch as well, And then you
know you've got Mystery Mind, Thunderhead, everything in between. In
(23:53):
terms of coasters, if you've got people in your group,
we're very I think a good location for a multi
generation only experience as well. So if you've got family
members who do not care for rides but they love shows,
love shopping, there's something for them to do while everybody's
off riding coasters, and then you can come together enjoy
a great show and a great meal. And you know,
(24:15):
we say it all the time. It sounds cliche, but
there really is something for everybody to do at Dollywood,
and I think that is the case, especially for a
multi generational group that maybe not every theme park experience
is able to provide. And I think that is another
one of those things that sets us apart.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I agree. The last time that my family was at Dollywood,
we came. My daughter was singing with her high school
choir in Dollywood, and my parents came with us and
we were all riding rides and they were going show
to show. So it absolutely is one of those places.
So all right, I'm gonna see if I can get
some secrets out of you. Probably not, but I'm gonna try.
(24:54):
Anyway you can try, I can try with you. Won't
be the first with all the continued growth. What are
the long term visions for the park? Will there be
another park? Is that on the drawing board? What's the
future look like?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Well, I think everything is possible.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
You never know.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
And I think Eugene not In our president, does a
great job of keeping a ten year ruling plan for
us to work from. So you know, he's always staying
ten years out. When we roll through a year, he's
adding two more on to the end of it, just
to make sure that we're set up well and we're
prepared now in doing the things now that prepare us
(25:35):
for what we need down the road to be ready
for increased attendance, new attractions, whatever that looks like, adding resorts,
whatever we need to do to be able to support
attendance growth over the next ten years. And like I said,
he's always updating that each year. It's fun to look
at and you know, he's always making changes as we go.
(25:57):
But I think that's what's vitally important to what we do,
is keeping that forward look ahead, and like I said,
I'm I'm not the person that is the smartest person
in the room to be able to do that. I'm
just the lucky one that gets to talk about it
when it is finally made public.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
So that's what's fun about where we work.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
You've got that kind of leadership, and then you've got
Dolly parton herself there as well, and I think that's
what makes it fun because her dreams are infused into
everything we're doing at the same time, and that really
does make for one of those situations where, you know,
when Dolly, there are days I wake up and more
news is out and I'm like, man, you know, when
(26:35):
i'm her age, I hope I can just get myself
out of bed and breakfast at the.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Performing shows and coming up with new businesses.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
And it's just amazing and it gives us something exciting
every single day to you know, figure out what's next.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah, and it really is amazing. I can remember when
when Dolly first took over the park and how small
the park was then, and you know, I was with
my parents and they were like, you know, why is
Dolly why a theme park? You know, why is she
doing that? But considering where it's gone, and I mean again,
never doubt Dolly, I mean yeah, she's going to come
(27:14):
through exactly.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
And you say why, And she had two reasons that
she started Dollywood. She wanted a place first so that
people could come to the area experience the beauty of
the Smokies that she grew up with. She knew people
would fall in love with the beauty of the area
when she came, so she wanted to give them something
a reason to come.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:35):
And then too, she wanted to employ the people of
the area. She calls them her people. A lot of
them are literally her people. She you know, members of
her family have been employed at the park through the years,
but she considers everybody of the area her people, and
she wanted to be able to provide a place for
them to be able to work and make a living.
And you know, forty seasons later, she has certainly been
(27:56):
able to do that. And we keep adding, and it
just goes back to the vision she had to be
able to do something like that.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
In her home forty a while. I didn't that means
I'm old, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I know, I don't. Yeah, I don't want to talk
about that the first time I think I was through
the gates, I was a couple of years old.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I don't remember my first trip to Dollywood, but I
do know I've been going basically my whole life.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
So well, I went to place, I went to a
music related school in Nashville, like I said, And when
Opryland closed, a lot of the super talented people that
were in the shows at Aprey Land would go to
Dollywood in the summer and perform there. So I mean
the legacy of just amazing shows that started almost right away.
(28:42):
So it's been a pretty amazing ride, if you will,
If you'll excuse the pun, but you mentioned, you know,
a couple of days. So if a parent was looking
at Dollywood and trying to figure out, well, how many
days is it going to take for us to really
enjoy the park? And I know, professionally you may have
a you know a certain amount of time, but what
(29:04):
would you say to a parent is a good amount
of time to make sure that they can really enjoy
everything that Dollywood, in the water park and the resorts,
all of that has to offer.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I have a ten year old and an almost eight
year old, so I can kind of speak to this
one from personal experience. So you know, we go to
Dollywood all the time. If you've not been to Dollywood,
I think you really you know, first need to consider
what your kids want to do. Do they enjoy rods.
If they do, you can fill a day doing rids
(29:37):
all throughout the park. If you want to throw in shows,
it may affect some of your ability to be able
to do all the rods. But again, the shows are great,
so I think especially during this ser with those shows,
the kids love those. But you know, with our Harvest
Festival it's coming up, amazing talent comes into performing those shows,
(29:58):
nationally known talent. Christmas Festival, which comes up at the
end of the year, was the fifteen time Golden Ticket
Best Christmas Event. We were the only park to ever
win that award that actually retired the award and just
named Dollywood Smoking Mountain Christmas the Legend of Christmas events
in theme parks.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
So there's all kinds of great shows to enjoy for families.
And then like I said, you've got to eat the
food along the way. Kids love the food just as
much as the adults do, so make sure they get
to do that. But if you're here when Splash Country
is open. It's a beautiful water park. It's literally built
back into as I would say, because I'm from around here,
a holler, but it is back kind of into the
(30:41):
natural beauty of the Smokies. It's built with a lot
of the slides literally are built into the hillside.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
So not a ton of metal towers throughout the park.
There are a few, but not a ton, so it
really does take advantage of the natural topography and those
slides kind of have you weaving down the side of
the into the splash at the bottom. So the water
park definitely is a day and then the resorts are
a great place to come back to the evening with
programming at both of the resorts as part of Dolly
(31:11):
Parton's Imagination Library, you know, we give books to kids
all around the world every month until they're five years old.
We took that program and rolled it into the resorts
and we have a story time every evening so the
kids can come down in their pajamas and they can
listen to one of the books from the Imagination Library.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
We have, you know, fire.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Pits to roast marshmallows and just sit out and look
at the stars. So it really is a complete experience.
If you're coming from a distance, definitely plan on. If
you want to do both parks, I would definitely plan
on two days. You might need a third, But if
you're looking at Pigeon Forge Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
you can easily spend a couple of days just exploring
(31:54):
the park if you enjoy the outdoors. It's the number
one most visited national park in the entire A lot
of people don't realize that by far exceeds attendance to
that park than the other national parks, so it's definitely
something to check out. You've got Gatlinburg and then there's
the surrounding area. So if you're coming from a long distance,
(32:16):
you can easily spend a week. But if you've never
been to Dollywood, I definitely recommend a couple of days
just to make sure that you're able to experience everything.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
You mentioned how important it is to Dollywood to gather
feedback from consumers. How do you do that? How do
you listen to your guests? Is it you know, questionnaires?
Like what's the way that you get that feedback?
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Yeah, so that's the first way is definitely through visitors, surveys,
So we're surveying folks as they come to see what
they liked about their experience while they were with us.
Of course, we have a call center, we have emails,
guest services emails that we have a number of people
right here on the property that are taking care of
and answering and taking that feedback and providing it to
(33:06):
the responsible teams that can make the decisions on what
they're seeing. Obviously, Trip Advisor reviews, reviews you know, on
our social channels, all of that goes into what we
do to inform our decision making. We're always looking to
see what folks are saying about the experience, you know,
and social and all these review sites and all of
(33:28):
that has you know, it's really changed how you take
that feedback because it's instantaneous now. So there are things
that we'll see that we you know, if it's a
situation where we can make some quick adjustments based on feedback,
we will do that. So it's very important anywhere that
we can take that feedback we do. And you know,
(33:49):
I think what's really fun is all of us walk
the park on a regular basis all the way up
to Eugene and he makes sure that folks know he's
approachable too. We're all approachable. If you've got any questions, suggestions, concerns,
we listen to all of them and find the ways
that we can take some of that back and put
(34:09):
it into the guest experience to make it better every
single day.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I love it well putting you on the spot again.
Can you can you share a favorite memory or a
story from your time working at Dollywood that really just
encapsulates the spirit of the park.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Wow, you know there have been a lot, and off
the top of my head, I'm not sure that I
can pinpoint just one. I think what's special for me
is I grew up coming to Dollywood. So, like I said,
from the time I don't even remember I was coming
to Dollywood. I always come with my parents, my grandparents.
(34:48):
Now for me, we now come with my wife and
I bring our kids, her parents, my parents, whoever is
in town. We go to Dollywood and we have the
ability make those same memories. So for me, just because
it's meant so much that I've enjoyed through the years,
I enjoyed knowing that when I'm in the park or
(35:10):
even doing something like this and explaining to people why
they should come to the park and give Dollywood a try.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
It means something to me.
Speaker 4 (35:18):
I'm invested in it and to know that we're able
to provide those same memories for other people.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
That's what's special about the park.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
To be able to see first time guests come through
the gate and to talk to guests who are there
for the first time. And the ones I really love
are when they tell you they thought it was going
to be one way and now that they're there, they
couldn't believe it was as great as it is. And
we hear those all the time. I was talking to
some guests just the other day. It was a couple.
(35:48):
They were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary and it was
on that day and that's what they chose to do.
They drove from Florida to come to Dollywood. They had
come about three years, and they said, we had so
much fun that we knew this is where we needed
to come to celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary. And I
was like, how special is that that you decided this
(36:10):
was the place. Out of all the things you could
have done to celebrate fifty years of being married, you
decide you wanted to come to Dollywood and enjoy the park.
So I think that that's what's so cool, is to
be able to let people know that Dollywood is different
than a lot of places that you'll go, and it's
sometimes hard to put that into words and explain it,
even though that's what my job is to do. It's
(36:32):
one of those places that you really do need to
come and experience it for yourself and then when you
leave you'll understand. Yeah, and that's the easiest way to
say it.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I totally agree. Well, finally, where can our listeners find
more information and stay up to date on all things Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Well, they keep that one easy for me. So it's
just Dollywood dot Com. Or you can call our call
center and someone right there on the property, actually right
across the hallway from me is our call center and
that's where they answer the phones. It's just one eight
hundred Dollywood or download the Dollywood app. Like I said,
it's got everything right there ready to go for your trip.
(37:11):
You can get the show schedule, ride waight times, and
see the map, menus, everything right there.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
So we try to make it easy.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Well, Wes, thank you so much for joining us today
and giving our listeners an inside look at Dollywood. It
is crystal clear why so many families consider it a
must visit destination. Thanks so much for your time, Thank.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
You for having me. I appreciate it, and we'll.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Do it again for our listeners. We'll have links to
Dollywood parks and resorts in the show notes so you
can start planning your Smoky Mountain get away today. And
before we wrap up, I'm excited to share that the
very first family vacation or book it's coming soon. It's
packed with stories, tips and inspiration to help you create
your own unforgettable family travel memories. Stay tuned here on
(37:56):
the podcast and on our socials for the release date,
and don't forget to subscribe to The Family Vacationer on
your favorite podcast platform and connect with us on Instagram
or substack for even more family travel ideas and inspiration. Remember, folks,
to keep your passports and your heart's open. Safe travels everyone.
(38:22):
I'm guiding fool.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
All the beach places and the hotel spaces, amusement.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Buck rides and water slides.
Speaker 5 (38:34):
Mountain ranges and seasonal changes.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
I'm lead to serve. I'm the Family Vacationers I've got
skin food.
Speaker 5 (38:48):
On all the beach preces and hotel spaces, amusement block
rats and water slides, mountain ranges and seasonal change.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Is I'm here to sir.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
I'm the family vacationer. Yeah, family vacationer.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Yeah. Family
Today I'm the Family Vacationer. We're heading to the Smoky
Mountains to explore Dollywood, one of the top theme parks
in the country. With thrilling riots, award winning shows, Appalachian heritage,
and Dolly Pardon's unmistakable influence, Dollywood has become a favorite
destination for families everywhere. Episode one nine starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
Welcome to the Family Vacationer with Robin.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Tracy, your go to podcast for families on the moon. Hey, everyone,
welcome back to the Family Vacationer. This is episode one one,
and this is the show where we help you create
unforgettable family travel experiences. Today we're shining a spotlight on
a place that's consistently ranked as one of the best
(00:53):
theme parks in the country, Dollywood. Nestled in the Smoky
Mountains of Tennessee, Dollywood is more than rides and shows.
It's a celebration of Appalachian culture in Dolly Pardon's legacy
of hospitality and family fund. A quick bit of history
before we dive in. The park first opened in the
(01:13):
nineteen sixties as Rebel Railroad. Over the years, it went
through a few different names and owners. Eventually becoming Silver
Dollar City. But in nineteen eighty six, Dolly Pardon partnered
with the Hershin Family Entertainment and reimagine the park as Dollywood.
Since then, Dollywood has grown into a world class destination
(01:33):
with award winning entertainment, a full water park, multiple resorts,
and even recognition as Trip Advisor's number one theme park.
And the growth hasn't stopped. New rides, new accommodations, and
new experiences continue to make Dollywood a family favorite year
after year. Joining us today to talk about all things
(01:55):
Dollywood is Wes Raimi West serves as the vice president
of Marketing for DOLLYI with Parks and Resorts and has
been deeply involved in helping shape the guest experience. Wes,
welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Glad to have you on. So to start off, can
you tell us a little bit about what makes Dollywood
such a special destination for families.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Well, you know, I think it's just that it's the
focus on families and making sure that we have experiences
that anybody in the family can enjoy. Our team does
an amazing job. I mean, first of all, you know,
we're Dolly Parton's theme park, So we try to do
things to make her proud of what we're doing, whether
that's our entertainment, and you know, it is her theme park.
(02:40):
So the entertainment is top notch rides and attractions that
really run the Gamut family to enjoy our culinary experience,
which is something that most people don't think about when
they visit the theme park, is how great our food is,
you know. And I have learned through my wife that
the shopping at Dollywood's actually something that a lot of
(03:01):
people don't think about as how great that is as well.
But I think all of that's great, But at the
end of the day, I think what makes the Dollywood
experience different from all the other parks, and I think
you've seen it with the number one theme park rankings
that we've been getting from trip Advisor three out of
the last four years. Those are based on actual guest
(03:23):
reviews and what we see consistently, no matter what people
enjoy when they get in the park, they all talk
about how genuinely friendly everyone is, the authenticity of the experience,
and I think that really does lend itself. Well, you're
not rushed, you can go at your own pace. If
you want to be able to do everything, you might
(03:44):
want to pick you know, a little bit faster pace,
but you really can do it at for own speed
how you want to experience it. And I think that's
really what sets it apart, is just you know, the
atmosphere in which you find yourself when you come to
Dollywood is really what makes it what it is.
Speaker 1 (04:02):
Let's talk about that number one ranking. I mean that's
a big deal. You know, it's not all about competition,
but I mean you're competing against the big boys when
you get the number one theme park ranking. So what
do you think got Dollywood to that number one ranking?
Speaker 4 (04:18):
Well, I really do think it's all those things that
I kind of just touched on, but at chief among
that is the experience. So we place a lot of
emphasis on the guest experience. We've won the Golden Ticket Award.
Every year that they've had the best guest Experience Golden Ticket,
we have won it. And again with those trip Advisor rankings,
(04:39):
I think it goes back and it just shows when
you're in the park, we are doing things that really
elevate the experience for guests. We're listening, We're listening to
survey results and what guests are emailing and telling us,
looking at those Trip Advisor reviews, and we're taking what
they tell us and we put that into play in
(05:00):
the park. Great examples of that coming out of COVID,
we were hearing a lot of people that said, you know,
we want more wide open spaces, we want some of
your pathways are narrow, more places to sit and eat.
So for a couple of years after that, we didn't mansions,
we didn't have new attractions until twenty three with Big
(05:21):
Bear Mountains, so we had a couple of beers there
where we took all of our effort and we were
putting that into making some changes to the park. So
now when you're in the park, some of those areas,
the pathways are wider, there are more places to sit
and eat throughout the park, and all of that came
from actual guest experiences and reviews. Because you know, we're
in business at the end of the day to make
(05:42):
sure that it gets are happy, So we want to
make sure that we're providing them the things.
Speaker 3 (05:47):
That they want.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
And those are the reasons I think that you continue
to see us be able to have these awards. As
you said, against some very large competition, and they're all
great as well, but I think is something about the
experience when you come. It is genuinely friendly and it
is just different, and I think that.
Speaker 3 (06:08):
Has a lot to do with it.
Speaker 1 (06:10):
Yeah, you guys do a great job listening to consumer feedback,
and I would say not to venture too far off
the path, but so does Pigeon Forge in general. One
of our most downloaded episodes, believe it or not, it's Hawaii,
and then number two is Pigeon Forge, and I think
that is entirely because Pitcheon Forge listens to the feedback
and with what you know, everyone is trying to do
(06:33):
in that town. It's listening to the consumers that show
up and spend money in that town. So congratulations to
all of you for doing a good job and listening.
Listening is you know, that's a skill that not all
corporations have.
Speaker 4 (06:47):
So yeah, and you kind of mentioned there Pigeon Forge.
I mean, the whole area really is special. There's something
for everybody to do. I grew up about an hour
and a half to two hours away from Pigeon Forge.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
My life our away, so we now, I mean for.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
Both of us, it's kind of like going back to
your childhood. It's kind of like a second home. We
take our kiup as much as we can and do
all the activities in town. Of course, take them to Dollywood,
but there's so much that you can do with a
family in town that you can easily make a week
if you want to, just with all of the attractions.
Speaker 3 (07:24):
So it's a great place to come.
Speaker 4 (07:26):
And I think as our and within the industry continues
to elevate, Pigeon Forge is right there with us. And
I think a lot of folks, as opposed to some
of the other large vacation family destinations in the country,
they can come to Pigeon Forge and you fill an
entire week and have fun doing it, and it may
be a.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
Little bit cheaper in some cases.
Speaker 4 (07:47):
So I think all of that bodes well for us
in the area for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:51):
Well let's bring it back to Dollywood. Let's talk about
some of the new rides that you guys have had.
You mentioned Big Beer. Let's talk about some of the rides.
Speaker 4 (08:00):
Yeah, so most recently it was Big Bear Mountain in
twenty twenty three, and you know, a great ride with
a thirty nine inch high requirement. Younger kids can ride it,
but it's thrilling for all ages. I think that's something
that catches a lot of people off guard when they
ride the rid is you know they expect, okay, thirty
nine inch high requirement, But I Vakoma did a great
(08:22):
job designing that ride. It's really thrilling. It's kind of
two halves is kind of.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
How I look at it.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
You've got the launch out of this in the first
half of the ride kind of takes you out through
Wildwood Grove under their fall and there's a lot of
you know, twists and turns, but a lot of speed.
And then you hit that third launch and come back
to the other more technical side of the track where
you're pulling a lot of g's and you're going under
the tunnel and all that stuff happens over there. So
(08:48):
it's a long ride experience and something that I really
feel like has cemented. It is a great place for
families to come. We focus on those lower high requirements
and Flyer was introduced in twenty nineteen as part of
Wildwood Grove and height requirement also thirty nine inches on
purpose because these rides allow families to be able to
(09:11):
have first time roller coaster experience together and at Dollywood
and on a pretty thrilling attraction. So you know, all
of that combines to really hit again, Like I said,
to the family market, that's where our niche is and
that's what you see us doing.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
And it seems like it can't be easy always to
create rides that appeal to all ages, and yet you
guys do such a great job with that. What's the
approach in creating the rides and experiences? How do you
go about, like, you know, understanding that you've got a
family that may have you know, a younger child and
(09:47):
then a teenager, and so what's the approach when you're
creating rides and experiences at Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (09:54):
Well, it's a lot of people who are a lot
more smart, to have a lot more background in that
are a lot more smarter smarter than me when it
comes to doing that. You know, they're looking years down
the road like all the parks do. But we're again
listening to feedback. We're listening to what families are saying
they want, what appeals to them, and what we can
do to be able to elevate that experience for them.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
Is that a new ride?
Speaker 4 (10:19):
Is it? You know, something else in the park that
appeals to them, and we start that process and just
you know, put out that request and kind of go
through the process what's really going to fit the bill
of what they have been asking us for. And you know,
we've been, I think very rightfully so paying attention to
the guests because as we said earlier, the guests are
(10:41):
going to tell you how you're doing by whether they
come or not.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
And you have to be able to put.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
They want and I think with Big Bear Mountain, it
is an amazing ride that checked that box. I think
addition of Wildwood Grove was huge for us added a
whole new section of the park. Really for us. Not
only did it add a whole new section of the park,
it gave us an area where we could completely plan
(11:08):
out the ride package based on what our guests were
telling us. So you've got a mixture of rides there
that kids can do, kids can do with their parents,
parents can do and enjoy so that everybody can stay
together in Wildwood Grove. You don't necessarily have to split
it up and go your separate ways. You can enjoy
that area together. And you know, Wildwood Grove has won
the Golden Ticket for Best Kids Area every year since
(11:31):
it has been ever since it was built in twenty nineteen.
So I think again that goes back and shows that
that was the right move for us. And we constantly
hear about how great that area is and how much
guests are glad that we added it.
Speaker 5 (11:46):
Well.
Speaker 1 (11:47):
So Dollywood, obviously in the name has a large influence
by Dolly Pardon And this is our second time covering
Dollywood on the podcast, and we've done shows on Pitch
and Forges, and you don't have to listen long into
any of those shows before you understand how much of
a fan I am of Dolly and everything that she's done,
(12:09):
just from her philanthropy to just her musical talent and
all the songs that she's written for other people. Forget
what she's recorded, but the songs that she's written for
other people. She's got a show that I guess she's
about to launch at my al Mamta in Nashville. She's amazing.
She is absolutely amazing, and it's to me. I lived
(12:30):
in Nashville for about ten years and it feels like
she took the best parts of opry Land and brought
those back to Dollywood and just infuse that with that
rich Appalachian culture and her own legacy. How do the
new projects that come to Dollywood keep that heritage alive
(12:52):
when you're offering you know what you're talking about, these
fresh experiences.
Speaker 4 (12:57):
Well, I think first and foremost everything we do run
through that filter. How does it go alongside our Appalachian
roots and keep it true to that? We also, you
know you mentioned Dollie were always, you know, when they're
looking to do a new project, they ask her, you know,
give us some insights.
Speaker 3 (13:14):
So back to Wildwood Grove.
Speaker 4 (13:16):
So as they were looking at developing that area, they said, Dolly,
tell us stories and daydreams that you had when you
were a kid in the Smokies. That's something that you've
kind of touched on, but we've never really delved deep
into that. So she would just tell them, you know
when and these are based on actual things, she said.
She said, when I was a little girl, I used
(13:38):
to dream I could go out into the woods and
have lunch with the bears. You know, we have Black
Bear Trail where you ride on the back of a
bear and kind of meander out through a little ways.
She used to say that I used to dream that
I could fly with the dragonflies and the butterflies. So
that's where dragonfly you know, its name, its color scheme,
(13:58):
all of that came from the same thing with the mockingbird.
She loved the sounds of the mockingbird singing, so that's
where the mad mockingbird came from. So we go to
her for that inspiration. But so many people on our
team as well are from the area and are able
to infuse that, you know, what they grew up with
into the park.
Speaker 3 (14:18):
And I think the.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Main part is being true to that and making sure
that as we add new things, we run it through
that filter to make sure it matches that very genuinely
authentic Appalachian experience. And I think that's why, you know,
we do so well the culinary options.
Speaker 3 (14:35):
You know, there are so many things.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
When I go through the park, it tastes like something
I grew up eating, and you know, it's like, Okay,
this is home. So for a lot of people to
be able to come to Dollywood, to the area for
the first time, we want that experience to be just
like they're coming to our home. You know, our tagline
is love every moment. That can mean two things. We
want you to love every moment of your time with us.
(14:58):
But we want you to feel love as a guest
every moment while you're with us.
Speaker 3 (15:03):
And part of that is being.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
True to our Appalachian heritage and having great food to eat,
and you know, just a great, overwhelmingly welcoming, exciting place
for you to come to, and all of that goes
together to create the overall experience. So I think everything
we do has to run through that filter to make
sure it matches.
Speaker 3 (15:21):
Up to it.
Speaker 1 (15:22):
Well. Speaking of new things, and I hope this is correct,
but I saw a report that said as many as
five new resorts could be coming to Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
Yeah, so you know, that's kind of the master plan.
So a lot of those reports were out when we
were opening a part Song Lodge and resort back in
twenty twenty three. All that is still master planned. We're
not sure exactly what the cadence will be of those
rolling out for our guests, but we're always listening to
what our guests tell us about our resort experiences as
(15:53):
we try to plan that out. We ask them, you know,
is this the value of the property? Is that what
you want to be? Do you want something else there?
What does that look? Like, but that's always changing and evolving,
but yeah, it is. The property is mapped out for
us to be able to have up to five different
resort properties, all with their own look and feel. I
(16:15):
think we've done a great job with the two resorts
we have. That one very much is distinctly, you know, southern.
We say it's kind of if Dolly was hosting you
in her home, that's what you would expect would.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
Be dream More.
Speaker 4 (16:28):
And then when Dolly is kind of looking for a
place to kind of go recharge, kind of get away
from everything, that would be heart Song. It's kind of
up on the hill, tucked into the trees, and you
really do feel like you're in the smoky mountains up
on the top of that hill. So again, we have
opportunities to be able to do a lot of that,
and it just kind of hinges on the reception that
(16:50):
both of our resorts continue to receive and what makes
sense for us moving forward.
Speaker 1 (16:54):
Well, my family stayed at dream Moore, and I will
tell you that is one of the best fans only
trips that I think that we've taken. So everything about
the resort was just very well laid out. I was
we were I don't know why I was surprised, because
again I'm a huge Dolly fans. I don't know why
I was surprised at all. But everything just just made
(17:14):
sense and was, you know, beautiful and just kind of
fit into the overall theme of the of the resort area.
So well, how will the new resorts complement the existing
offerings and enhance you know, the overall Dollywood vacation experience.
Speaker 4 (17:32):
Yeah, and I think it goes back to again seeing
what the guests want and as times change, what does
that new resort product look like? What, what's the competition doing,
that's that's happening that guests enjoy. What do they are
they gravitating to? What are the price points? What's the
economy doing as you kind of look through that. So,
(17:53):
you know, like I said, it's very much an opportunity
for us to be able to ask our guests what
they want, what they enjoy, what they need out of
their resort experience. And you know, the entire resort process
has completely changed Dollywood since Dreamwoar was built ten years ago.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
If you look at what.
Speaker 4 (18:13):
You come to Dollywood to do now, Before it was
a very you know, it was a very regional park
still a regional park, but probably one of the larger
regional parks. And that changed because of that model, because
of our resorts, starting with Dream Moore, people then saw, hey,
this is a place that I can see myself staying
for a few days. I can ride the trolley back
(18:33):
and forth to the park, and just all of that
really made the Dollywood experience even more easy to do.
But also we take everything from the park and really
make sure it's infused into the resort properties, so you
continue to get that great Dollywood experience regardless of whether
you're in the park, whether you're at Splash Country at
the water park, or whether you're in the resorts.
Speaker 1 (18:55):
Well, aside from the rides in resorts, you mentioned one
of these areas, let's talk about them both. Are there
any new entertainment or dining experiences on the horizon that
family should be excited about.
Speaker 4 (19:07):
Well, we have a brand new restaurant that just opened
up this year, the Wilderness Past Restaurant. Great selection of
items up there. Smoked sausage, which I absolutely love, There's
pulled pork, there's a chicken up there, just all kinds
of great options for guests to love. There's amazing biscuits
up there. I love a good biscuit and there's some
great ones there, so that's a great option for guests.
(19:32):
And then with entertainment, we're always looking to see what
our guests again are telling us they want to see.
I think if you look at our summer festival that
just ended, we had a Gazillion Bubbles, which is probably
one of the most requested shows that we have. And
then we also had the Pirandi Stunt Doll Experience, which
last year the Pirandis were only able to be with
(19:53):
us for about a month because of the guests, they said,
we want them all summer long, so we had them
all summer long, and I would say just about every
show was filled to capacity, so folks were really enjoying
both of those. But we are always looking to see again,
what's new, what's groundbreaking. We were the first part to
(20:13):
have a drone show ninally during the summer, back all
the way back in twenty twenty. We worked with the
folks at Intel to develop the show and now they
of course sell drones to all kinds of other companies
who we work with now. But if you look at
that experience as well, it's to look at what the
guests want, what they're seeing other places. How can we
incorporate that into the park. But just listening to them,
(20:36):
that's going to guide what we do next. This year
we had play On, which is a fortieth anniversary retrospective show,
so we had guests telling us, you know, we enjoyed
this show or this show throughout the years, wish it
could come back, and you know, there are reasons why
some shows come and some shows go. But we found
that as an opportunity where we could take some of
(20:58):
those highlight moments of those shows they love and put
them into one show that has run all summer long,
and we'll run for a few more weeks. But play
On was definitely a part of that. So we're again,
I've said it a lot, but it really does come
back to taking guest feedback and seeing.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
How we can incorporate that into what we're doing.
Speaker 1 (21:17):
All right, let me put you on the spot. What
is your absolute favorite dish of any restaurant in the park.
For me, I can't go to Dollywood without cinnamon bread.
That's just me. Yeah, what is your favorite?
Speaker 3 (21:30):
Yeah, so that is that's very tough for me.
Speaker 4 (21:33):
I'm like you, I will say I love the cinnamon bread,
but I'm a savory I just love savory foods. I
can now I get a loaf of cinnamon bread every time,
and I joke with everybody at work that when I
have to work late, the only way I'm allowed to
come back.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
Into my house is if I have a.
Speaker 4 (21:49):
Loaf of cinnamon bread, kind of as a peace offering
to bring back in as I come. But when it
comes to the food items, I would say I love
the ant Grannies Buffet because I love the fried chicken,
and I can get all I want of the sides
to go along with it. But if I'm talking about
a quick serve restaurant, I really do love the new
menu at the Wilderness Pass Restaurant. And then I also
(22:12):
love the pit the pulled pit ham at Granny Ogles
hem and beans. So but I that's a tough question
to ask you, because I can walk myself through my
mind through the park right now, and I can say, oh,
I would like to have you know all of those things.
Speaker 3 (22:28):
In addition, I can eat the potato tornado.
Speaker 4 (22:31):
I will take one of the sausage sandwiches at the
Big Skillets.
Speaker 3 (22:34):
I can eat everywhere in the park, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, you know, for for some places, you know, the
T shirt is the souvenir. I question whether or not
somebody's even been to Dollywood if they don't walk out
with cinnamon bread. That's just me.
Speaker 4 (22:46):
I mean, you know, well, you know, the cinnamon bread
has become so famous that it now has its own
line of merchandise. So you can have the cinnamon bread
and the T shirt.
Speaker 1 (22:56):
Okay, there you go. Well, for pim that are planning
their very first visit to Dollywood, what's some insider tips
or must do activities that you'd recommend.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
The first thing I would say is to go to
the website or download our app and really stuff with
the park. Like I said, you can you can do
most of it in a day. If you want to
really enjoy and do it all, you probably need a
couple of days. But look at the show schedule, see
what makes sense for you and your family. If you're
if you love coasters, we have some of the best.
(23:31):
We have a great portfolio. They really do run the
gamut from wild Eagle and Lightning, Rod Tennsey, Tornado on
the much more you know, extreme thrill side, but big Bear, Mountain,
Firechaser Express, Dragonfly. They may be on the other end,
but they pack a punch as well, And then you
know you've got Mystery Mind, Thunderhead, everything in between. In
(23:53):
terms of coasters, if you've got people in your group,
we're very I think a good location for a multi
generation only experience as well. So if you've got family
members who do not care for rides but they love shows,
love shopping, there's something for them to do while everybody's
off riding coasters, and then you can come together enjoy
a great show and a great meal. And you know,
(24:15):
we say it all the time. It sounds cliche, but
there really is something for everybody to do at Dollywood,
and I think that is the case, especially for a
multi generational group that maybe not every theme park experience
is able to provide. And I think that is another
one of those things that sets us apart.
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I agree. The last time that my family was at Dollywood,
we came. My daughter was singing with her high school
choir in Dollywood, and my parents came with us and
we were all riding rides and they were going show
to show. So it absolutely is one of those places.
So all right, I'm gonna see if I can get
some secrets out of you. Probably not, but I'm gonna try.
(24:54):
Anyway you can try, I can try with you. Won't
be the first with all the continued growth. What are
the long term visions for the park? Will there be
another park? Is that on the drawing board? What's the
future look like?
Speaker 4 (25:11):
Well, I think everything is possible.
Speaker 3 (25:13):
You never know.
Speaker 4 (25:14):
And I think Eugene not In our president, does a
great job of keeping a ten year ruling plan for
us to work from. So you know, he's always staying
ten years out. When we roll through a year, he's
adding two more on to the end of it, just
to make sure that we're set up well and we're
prepared now in doing the things now that prepare us
(25:35):
for what we need down the road to be ready
for increased attendance, new attractions, whatever that looks like, adding resorts,
whatever we need to do to be able to support
attendance growth over the next ten years. And like I said,
he's always updating that each year. It's fun to look
at and you know, he's always making changes as we go.
(25:57):
But I think that's what's vitally important to what we do,
is keeping that forward look ahead, and like I said,
I'm I'm not the person that is the smartest person
in the room to be able to do that. I'm
just the lucky one that gets to talk about it
when it is finally made public.
Speaker 3 (26:12):
So that's what's fun about where we work.
Speaker 4 (26:14):
You've got that kind of leadership, and then you've got
Dolly parton herself there as well, and I think that's
what makes it fun because her dreams are infused into
everything we're doing at the same time, and that really
does make for one of those situations where, you know,
when Dolly, there are days I wake up and more
news is out and I'm like, man, you know, when
(26:35):
i'm her age, I hope I can just get myself
out of bed and breakfast at the.
Speaker 3 (26:42):
Performing shows and coming up with new businesses.
Speaker 4 (26:45):
And it's just amazing and it gives us something exciting
every single day to you know, figure out what's next.
Speaker 1 (26:52):
Yeah, and it really is amazing. I can remember when
when Dolly first took over the park and how small
the park was then, and you know, I was with
my parents and they were like, you know, why is
Dolly why a theme park? You know, why is she
doing that? But considering where it's gone, and I mean again,
never doubt Dolly, I mean yeah, she's going to come
(27:14):
through exactly.
Speaker 4 (27:16):
And you say why, And she had two reasons that
she started Dollywood. She wanted a place first so that
people could come to the area experience the beauty of
the Smokies that she grew up with. She knew people
would fall in love with the beauty of the area
when she came, so she wanted to give them something
a reason to come.
Speaker 3 (27:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (27:35):
And then too, she wanted to employ the people of
the area. She calls them her people. A lot of
them are literally her people. She you know, members of
her family have been employed at the park through the years,
but she considers everybody of the area her people, and
she wanted to be able to provide a place for
them to be able to work and make a living.
And you know, forty seasons later, she has certainly been
(27:56):
able to do that. And we keep adding, and it
just goes back to the vision she had to be
able to do something like that.
Speaker 1 (28:04):
In her home forty a while. I didn't that means
I'm old, Oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (28:09):
I know, I don't. Yeah, I don't want to talk
about that the first time I think I was through
the gates, I was a couple of years old.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I don't remember my first trip to Dollywood, but I
do know I've been going basically my whole life.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
So well, I went to place, I went to a
music related school in Nashville, like I said, And when
Opryland closed, a lot of the super talented people that
were in the shows at Aprey Land would go to
Dollywood in the summer and perform there. So I mean
the legacy of just amazing shows that started almost right away.
(28:42):
So it's been a pretty amazing ride, if you will,
If you'll excuse the pun, but you mentioned, you know,
a couple of days. So if a parent was looking
at Dollywood and trying to figure out, well, how many
days is it going to take for us to really
enjoy the park? And I know, professionally you may have
a you know a certain amount of time, but what
(29:04):
would you say to a parent is a good amount
of time to make sure that they can really enjoy
everything that Dollywood, in the water park and the resorts,
all of that has to offer.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
I have a ten year old and an almost eight
year old, so I can kind of speak to this
one from personal experience. So you know, we go to
Dollywood all the time. If you've not been to Dollywood,
I think you really you know, first need to consider
what your kids want to do. Do they enjoy rods.
If they do, you can fill a day doing rids
(29:37):
all throughout the park. If you want to throw in shows,
it may affect some of your ability to be able
to do all the rods. But again, the shows are great,
so I think especially during this ser with those shows,
the kids love those. But you know, with our Harvest
Festival it's coming up, amazing talent comes into performing those shows,
(29:58):
nationally known talent. Christmas Festival, which comes up at the
end of the year, was the fifteen time Golden Ticket
Best Christmas Event. We were the only park to ever
win that award that actually retired the award and just
named Dollywood Smoking Mountain Christmas the Legend of Christmas events
in theme parks.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (30:16):
So there's all kinds of great shows to enjoy for families.
And then like I said, you've got to eat the
food along the way. Kids love the food just as
much as the adults do, so make sure they get
to do that. But if you're here when Splash Country
is open. It's a beautiful water park. It's literally built
back into as I would say, because I'm from around here,
a holler, but it is back kind of into the
(30:41):
natural beauty of the Smokies. It's built with a lot
of the slides literally are built into the hillside.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (30:48):
So not a ton of metal towers throughout the park.
There are a few, but not a ton, so it
really does take advantage of the natural topography and those
slides kind of have you weaving down the side of
the into the splash at the bottom. So the water
park definitely is a day and then the resorts are
a great place to come back to the evening with
programming at both of the resorts as part of Dolly
(31:11):
Parton's Imagination Library, you know, we give books to kids
all around the world every month until they're five years old.
We took that program and rolled it into the resorts
and we have a story time every evening so the
kids can come down in their pajamas and they can
listen to one of the books from the Imagination Library.
Speaker 3 (31:30):
We have, you know, fire.
Speaker 4 (31:32):
Pits to roast marshmallows and just sit out and look
at the stars. So it really is a complete experience.
If you're coming from a distance, definitely plan on. If
you want to do both parks, I would definitely plan
on two days. You might need a third, But if
you're looking at Pigeon Forge Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
you can easily spend a couple of days just exploring
(31:54):
the park if you enjoy the outdoors. It's the number
one most visited national park in the entire A lot
of people don't realize that by far exceeds attendance to
that park than the other national parks, so it's definitely
something to check out. You've got Gatlinburg and then there's
the surrounding area. So if you're coming from a long distance,
(32:16):
you can easily spend a week. But if you've never
been to Dollywood, I definitely recommend a couple of days
just to make sure that you're able to experience everything.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
You mentioned how important it is to Dollywood to gather
feedback from consumers. How do you do that? How do
you listen to your guests? Is it you know, questionnaires?
Like what's the way that you get that feedback?
Speaker 4 (32:43):
Yeah, so that's the first way is definitely through visitors, surveys,
So we're surveying folks as they come to see what
they liked about their experience while they were with us.
Of course, we have a call center, we have emails,
guest services emails that we have a number of people
right here on the property that are taking care of
and answering and taking that feedback and providing it to
(33:06):
the responsible teams that can make the decisions on what
they're seeing. Obviously, Trip Advisor reviews, reviews you know, on
our social channels, all of that goes into what we
do to inform our decision making. We're always looking to
see what folks are saying about the experience, you know,
and social and all these review sites and all of
(33:28):
that has you know, it's really changed how you take
that feedback because it's instantaneous now. So there are things
that we'll see that we you know, if it's a
situation where we can make some quick adjustments based on feedback,
we will do that. So it's very important anywhere that
we can take that feedback we do. And you know,
(33:49):
I think what's really fun is all of us walk
the park on a regular basis all the way up
to Eugene and he makes sure that folks know he's
approachable too. We're all approachable. If you've got any questions, suggestions, concerns,
we listen to all of them and find the ways
that we can take some of that back and put
(34:09):
it into the guest experience to make it better every
single day.
Speaker 1 (34:13):
I love it well putting you on the spot again.
Can you can you share a favorite memory or a
story from your time working at Dollywood that really just
encapsulates the spirit of the park.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Oh?
Speaker 4 (34:26):
Wow, you know there have been a lot, and off
the top of my head, I'm not sure that I
can pinpoint just one. I think what's special for me
is I grew up coming to Dollywood. So, like I said,
from the time I don't even remember I was coming
to Dollywood. I always come with my parents, my grandparents.
(34:48):
Now for me, we now come with my wife and
I bring our kids, her parents, my parents, whoever is
in town. We go to Dollywood and we have the
ability make those same memories. So for me, just because
it's meant so much that I've enjoyed through the years,
I enjoyed knowing that when I'm in the park or
(35:10):
even doing something like this and explaining to people why
they should come to the park and give Dollywood a try.
Speaker 3 (35:16):
It means something to me.
Speaker 4 (35:18):
I'm invested in it and to know that we're able
to provide those same memories for other people.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
That's what's special about the park.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
To be able to see first time guests come through
the gate and to talk to guests who are there
for the first time. And the ones I really love
are when they tell you they thought it was going
to be one way and now that they're there, they
couldn't believe it was as great as it is. And
we hear those all the time. I was talking to
some guests just the other day. It was a couple.
(35:48):
They were celebrating their fiftieth wedding anniversary and it was
on that day and that's what they chose to do.
They drove from Florida to come to Dollywood. They had
come about three years, and they said, we had so
much fun that we knew this is where we needed
to come to celebrate our fiftieth wedding anniversary. And I
was like, how special is that that you decided this
(36:10):
was the place. Out of all the things you could
have done to celebrate fifty years of being married, you
decide you wanted to come to Dollywood and enjoy the park.
So I think that that's what's so cool, is to
be able to let people know that Dollywood is different
than a lot of places that you'll go, and it's
sometimes hard to put that into words and explain it,
even though that's what my job is to do. It's
(36:32):
one of those places that you really do need to
come and experience it for yourself and then when you
leave you'll understand. Yeah, and that's the easiest way to
say it.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
I totally agree. Well, finally, where can our listeners find
more information and stay up to date on all things Dollywood.
Speaker 4 (36:50):
Well, they keep that one easy for me. So it's
just Dollywood dot Com. Or you can call our call
center and someone right there on the property, actually right
across the hallway from me is our call center and
that's where they answer the phones. It's just one eight
hundred Dollywood or download the Dollywood app. Like I said,
it's got everything right there ready to go for your trip.
(37:11):
You can get the show schedule, ride waight times, and
see the map, menus, everything right there.
Speaker 3 (37:16):
So we try to make it easy.
Speaker 1 (37:19):
Well, Wes, thank you so much for joining us today
and giving our listeners an inside look at Dollywood. It
is crystal clear why so many families consider it a
must visit destination. Thanks so much for your time, Thank.
Speaker 3 (37:31):
You for having me. I appreciate it, and we'll.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Do it again for our listeners. We'll have links to
Dollywood parks and resorts in the show notes so you
can start planning your Smoky Mountain get away today. And
before we wrap up, I'm excited to share that the
very first family vacation or book it's coming soon. It's
packed with stories, tips and inspiration to help you create
your own unforgettable family travel memories. Stay tuned here on
(37:56):
the podcast and on our socials for the release date,
and don't forget to subscribe to The Family Vacationer on
your favorite podcast platform and connect with us on Instagram
or substack for even more family travel ideas and inspiration. Remember, folks,
to keep your passports and your heart's open. Safe travels everyone.
(38:22):
I'm guiding fool.
Speaker 5 (38:25):
All the beach places and the hotel spaces, amusement.
Speaker 2 (38:31):
Buck rides and water slides.
Speaker 5 (38:34):
Mountain ranges and seasonal changes.
Speaker 2 (38:38):
I'm lead to serve. I'm the Family Vacationers I've got
skin food.
Speaker 5 (38:48):
On all the beach preces and hotel spaces, amusement block
rats and water slides, mountain ranges and seasonal change.
Speaker 3 (39:00):
Is I'm here to sir.
Speaker 2 (39:02):
I'm the family vacationer. Yeah, family vacationer.
Speaker 1 (39:11):
Yeah. Family
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