It’s So Much Bigger Than Dollywood

Ranking the properties owned in the Smokies owned by Dolly Parton and her partners

You might have thought that Dollywood and the Stampede would have been enough. But Dolly Parton’s footprint in Pigeon Forge continues to grow.

By my count, including Dollywood, Splash Country, and the two resorts as separate entities, Dolly and her various partners have a total of 10 major attractions in Pigeon Forge alone. They also own properties in Panama City Beach, Florida; Branson, Missouri; and Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Dollywood

What can we say about Dollywood? Over the 40-year partnership between Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment, Dollywood has been one of the best-managed theme parks in the world. And there has been steady improvement across the decades. Dollywood is not only one of the premier theme parks in the country, but also in the world. There is much more improvement on the horizon.

When NightFlight Expedition opens this spring, it will also open a new era for the park. It’s hard to understand, unless you were there back in 1986 or before, how far this park has come. It was a chintzy little, rinky-dink mountain theme park. How it managed to grow to where it is today while maintaining its old charm is nothing short of a miracle. It’s a tribute to the leadership and vision the park has had over the last 40 years. Honestly, the model ought to be taught in business schools around the country. 

Dolly Parton’s Stampede Dinner Attraction

Dolly was on a roll in the 1980s. Then known as the Dixie Stampede, this dinner theater show featuring equine excellence and Hee-Haw style humor opened in 1988. It has set the industry standard for excellence ever since. It remains the world’s most visited dinner attraction.

Though it underwent a name change to make the facility more welcoming to all, it has added new offerings to keep it fresh and maintain its originality, helping it flourish – shout out to Skeeter. It’s a bummer that the dinner’s not better. However, in a place where attractions come and go, this classic is going strong. 

Dollywood’s HeartSong and DreamMore

Dollywood has taken a page out of the Disney and Universal playbook with these resorts. They realized they were leaving money on the table by bringing all these visitors to the area but not capitalizing on the hotel experience. Yes, there are some Dollywood cabins and the like. But they don’t really rise to the level of consideration for this list.

DreamMore and HeartSong are sister facilities offering high-quality accommodations, dining, and some preferred park amenities. When the hotel plan was announced, spread over 10 years as part of a $500 million expansion, I was dubious. The plan was for as many as five resort hotels. I don’t think the park – even with the GroveWood expansion – is going to be enough to warrant that kind of hotel capacity at the DreamMore and HeartSong price points. I contended then and still do that it would require an actual second gate (an additional theme park) to achieve those numbers. 

However, since then, I’ve heard park officials say that, internally, they consider GroveWood to be equivalent to a second gate. Looking at GroveWood through that lens, I could see it. There remain expansions beyond NightFlight Expedition. So we will see. 

For right now, the current hotels are somewhat better – and pricier – than most of the area competition. They signal where Dollywood’s future and vision are headed. 

Pirates Voyage

Personally, I like Pirates Voyage better than Stampede. I prefer the aquatic acts to the horses, but I am in a distinct minority on that. The dinner served is very similar to what you’d find at Hatfield & McCoy’s and the Stampede, so much of this choice comes down to your preferred theming. 

Dollywood’s Splash Country

This is a typical themed water park. Lots of good rides and slides, a massive lazy river, and more places to cool off in the hot summer months. The water park competition in town is growing. As such, it feels like Dolly and her partners will eventually need to announce something big, an expansion or a renovation, to back everyone else off. But for now, this is a perfectly good water park.

Titanic Museum Attraction

World Choice Investments – Dolly’s company that owns the dinner theaters and such – bought the Titanic Museum back in 2024 and is in the process of upgrading it. For the record, Dolly’s Dollywood partner – Herschend Family Entertainment – owns a piece of WCI as well, but not as large, rumored to be around 17%.

The Titanic Museum is what you’d expect. It’s a nice museum/attraction focusing on one of the more fascinating historical events of the last 125 years. In addition to historical artifacts, exhibits, replicas, and displays, the museum lets you experience 28-degree water to get a sense of what those passengers felt as they tried to survive.

There’s also an interactive feature that decides whether you would have made it. I don’t care what the interactive feature says, I would have made it because I’d have gotten hammered like the baker who stood at the propeller next to Jack and Rose when the ship went down. Incidentally, for the 2026 season, the museum is adding more on Chief Baker Charles Joughin. It is said that he survived thanks to the large amount of whiskey he drank. 

Frizzle Chicken Café

I didn’t know Dolly had this one, but it makes sense. For the record, this is the dividing line between attractions I’d wholeheartedly recommend and those I would offer less robust support. We love the Frizzle Chicken Café, a breakfast and lunch restaurant where large animatronic chickens roost in the rafters and serenade diners with clucked versions of popular songs, show tunes, and more.

Honestly, if the dinner attractions had food as good as you’d get here, I’d be a happier dinner theater attendee. In a town of boring, cookie-cutter pancake houses and breakfast places, this fever dream of a singing chicken place really stands out. 

Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Feud

Cornpone humor. Mediocre food. Theming set around a Kentucky blood feud. This is a lesser version of the other two dinner theaters, in my opinion, but to each their own. 

The Comedy Barn Theater

I liked Hee Haw when it was out, especially in the earlier years. It was running on fumes and at the end. But I can’t get into the Comedy Barn where the humor is done in the cornpone, Hee-Haw style. I know it’s popular with some folks, and I’m glad for them. Enjoy what you enjoy without shame. But this one? It’s not for me. 

Did you know Dolly and partners owned all of these businesses? Let us know what you think in the comments and on the socials!