Dollywood, Dolly Parton’s iconic theme park in East Tennessee, has revealed several new projects to honor the late country star.
“The curtain on this first act has fallen, and now time has come to start to talk about the journey forward, the next steps that we need to do,” Company President Eugene Naughton said in a press conference. “Because Dolly would be telling us to get back to work. She knew what she wanted Dollywood to be. She always wanted this to be a place of fun and togetherness, and most of all, as our love letter showed, she taught us here at Dollywood how to dream big.”
The park will soon include a reflecting pool and waterfall, featuring a sculpted guitar. This centerpiece will neighbor the park’s Chapel, which honors Dr. Robert F. Thomas, the doctor who birthed Parton in her family’s one-room cabin.
The park will also create a new memorial footpath, a tribute kiosk where guests can share Parton stories, and a theme park character named the “Dream Maker” who will help kids “learn some of the foundational things that Dolly talked about her whole life,” like dreaming big and telling stories, Naughton said at a news conference.
Several of the projects “are planned and underway, and many of them will be ready when we open in March 2027,” Naughton said, noting that previously planned expansions—including adding five new resorts—would still occur as scheduled.
Parton founded Dollywood in 1986 after striking a co-ownership deal with Herschend Family Entertainment. Despite her team’s reservations about the theme park’s financial success, Dollywood grew into an Appalachian juggernaut, creating tens of thousands of jobs, becoming Sevier County’s largest employer and having a direct economic impact of $1.8 billion each year.
“When I first had the big idea to start Dollywood, my accountants and lawyers all thought I was making a big mistake,” Parton quipped in a 2025 interview with Forbes. “I was found out to be right, and they were found out to be gone.”
Parton died at age 80 on August 25 following a brief struggle with cancer. Dollywood put out a statement after the news broke.
“With heavy hearts, the Dollywood family mourns the passing of our beloved Dreamer-in-Chief, Dolly Parton,” the statement said. “Everyone at Dollywood shares the sorrow of countless people around the world touched by Dolly’s warmth, wisdom and generous spirit.”
“Dolly’s heartfelt wish was that Dollywood always remain a place of joy, hope and togetherness,” the statement continued. “A space where families and friends could honor her memory, not with silence, but with laughter, music and shared dreams.”
