When it's time to take a break from working 9 to 5, thousands of Chicagoland residents are packing up and heading south to Dollywood. Here's what makes the theme park so magical.
So, what is so magical about Dollywood? I ordered some rhinestone fringe jeans, took a trip to speak with Ms. Parton herself and experienced the area through a Midwestern lens.Getting to Dollywood and the greater Smoky Mountain region requires a bit of a concerted effort. Making no stops, it’s about a nine-hour drive from Chicago to Pigeon Forge. A nonstop flight from O’Hare to Tyson McGhee Airport near Knoxville clocks in under two hours, plus an additional hour of driving time.
Gliding along the highway under a sweater-weather gray sky in a rental car after my flight, there was virtually no traffic, and drivers were slow . Just beyond the churches, homes and farms that speckled the route was the sight of the Smoky Mountains, beckoning my arrival in the distance.Outdoor amenities at Dollywood's DreamMore Resort & Spa include Adirondack chairs around a fire pit, a hot tub, a pool, a playground and yard games, on March 10, 2023, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Entering the lobby feels like walking into a house. There are living room spaces on each side of a double staircase and a balcony that faces a two-story wall of windows that look out to the pool and mountains. Song & Hearth is a restaurant inside Dollywood's DreamMore Resort & Spa, seen here on March 9, 2023, in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
According to Parton, the brood would collect and wash their selections, then her mother would figure out which child needed some extra love or attention and choose their stone to season the pot. Visitors move through the Showstreet area of Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, on March 11, 2023. Coaster junkies will also want to check out the FireChaser Express and Wild Eagle in the Wilderness Pass area, as well as the Mystery Mine and Thunderhead in Timber Canyon.
The authentic coal-fired steam train is Dollywood’s oldest attraction, dating back to 1961 when the park first opened as Rebel Railroad, and rightfully remains one of the most popular Dollywood stops to this day. Just steps away is the Robert F. Thomas church, which has roots dating back to 1973. It was later dedicated to the minister-doctor who delivered Parton and her siblings. Like most other things here, it’s saturated in local history.
Parton said she loves seeing families flow through all summer, followed by an influx of couples in the fall who come for the romantic late-season festivals. Add in hearty meals, live glassblowing, and enough singing and dancing to fill your cup, and “there’s really something for everyone,” she said. Food is served family-style at Aunt Granny’s Restaurant, a sit-down diner named after Parton’s nieces’ and nephews’ nickname for her. Servers of all ages are dressed in the style of an old-school country grandma, complete with a floral-patterned bonnet. Guests choose two or three meats and four sides for the table, and each person gets a drink and a dessert.
Chris Seabrook, one of two Dollywood executive chefs, was brought on in 2021 after a veteran career working as a corporate chef. “We have a slew of people that come and travel in here from all different states that have different tastes,” he said. “So in my mind, I’m thinking, ‘How can I round it out to actually make sure that the palate is pleased by everybody?’ Because there is something for everybody here.”
Whatever you do, I urge you to try the Grist Mill cinnamon bread. Made inside Dollywood’s working 1982 grist mill, the first to be built in Tennessee in over 100 years, this should be high on your must-do list, as the line quickly creeps out the door. As you get closer to the counter, you see bakers preparing the dough with sweeping brushes of butter and dunelike mounds of cinnamon and sugar.
This fall, Parton will also open a new property adjacent to the DreamMore called the HeartSong Lodge & Resort — a cabin-themed hotel with 302 rooms, each with a mural depicting a magical wilderness scene and many with private balconies. “We’ve had wonderful people all through the years, but I think it has to do with how you treat people,” Parton told me. “I think it instills a great deal of pride in the people that work here that we care enough about them to want them to do good.”
I spent several childhood vacations making the three-hour drive to the Wisconsin Dells, staying at a themed hotel and getting caramel-covered apples and old-timey photos taken. In this way, the commercial aspect of Pigeon Forge felt familiar. Neon-colored buildings, eccentric billboards and windows filled with sun-bleached T-shirts stand out in the foreground of rolling, vibrant greenery and miles of nature and untouched land.
The menu, for alcoholic drinks anyway, didn’t offer prices, but I went with a mysterious blue drink I saw bobbing about the room. The Blue Mermaid was $15 and came with a skull-shaped plastic souvenir glass. Considering a can of beer at Wrigley Field isn’t much cheaper, I swallowed the price and sipped on it the entire show.
The political environment was a put-off, Shattuck said, and something she and her wife always weigh when considering a vacation. “When we were in the Pigeon Forge area, down by the main strip there, there is an overwhelming amount of Confederate-friendly signage, ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ signs on loud trucks, a lot of Trump paraphernalia,” Taylor recalled. “But when you’re in Dollywood itself, it’s a very LGBTQ-friendly environment. It’s a much different vibe once you’re in Dollywood.”
It’s fun, varied and immersive. It’s a smaller and more manageable Disney World enveloped in the enchanting scenery of the Smokies, honoring Dolly’s roots, traditions, and all the people who have made herself and the park what it is today.
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