 Rumors have been swirling about Dollywood no longer offering their “Arrive after 3pm and get the next day free” deal that they have offered for years. We have now confirmed that this rumor is true after speaking with multiple reps from Dollywood. This deal has been utilized by visitors for many years in order to maximize the number of rides and shows for the price of admission. Dollywood has not made this “public” yet, so please help us spread the word by sharing this article with your friends and family. We do not want people to show up at Dollywood after 3 expecting the deal they have always gotten only to be shocked that it no longer exists. Also, there’s always a chance that Dollywood could change their mind before the season starts, and if they do we will happily update this article and share it immediately!
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 Prosecutors have dropped charges against two Tennessee teenagers they labeled as responsible for the state's deadliest wildfire in a century, an attorney confirmed Friday.
Defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs said the state can't prove that the horseplay of the boys, ages 17 and 15, that sparked a fire in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park caused the deadly wildfires in Gatlinburg, Tenn., five days later. "My client and the other juvenile, based on the proof and the evidence, did not cause the death and devastation in Gatlinburg," Isaacs said during an afternoon news conference inside his in downtown Knoxville law office. FULL STORY  PRESS RELEASE:
In a little more than two weeks after the wildfires that spread across Dolly Parton's home area of Sevier County, Tennessee, Parton and the Dollywood Foundation launched the distribution of assistance from the My People Fund. During the four-day cash distribution, 884 families received their initial support payments. "It's a blessing during this holiday season that we are able to help as many families as we have so far," Parton said. "We know there are more families out there who need our help and we encourage them to be in contact with us before our January distribution." The Dollywood Foundation My People Fund provides $1,000 each month to Sevier County families whose homes are uninhabitable or were completely destroyed in the recent Smoky Mountain wildfires. Any family who lost a primary residence (renters and homeowners) due to the wildfires in Sevier County will be eligible. A pre-application for those affected is available at dollywoodfoundation.org. Millions of people watched "Smoky Mountains Rise: A Benefit for the My People Fund" telethon on Tuesday, Dec. 13, on Great American Country, AXS-TV, RFD-TV and The Heartland Network, and during several rebroadcasts throughout the past week. As a result, donations continued to roll in and, thanks to generous people from coast to coast and Parton's friends, the total amount raised has climbed to $9.3 million. "As Dolly said, the response has been overwhelming," said David Dotson, Dollywood Foundation president. "We will distribute all $9.3 million to the families affected. That will insure all of the money raised will go to where Dolly promised it would go." The next distribution is Jan. 26 and 27, 2017, at the LeConte Events Center in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.  PRESS RELEASE: With the excitement of what is shaping up to be a record season in 2016, The Dollywood Company today announced the addition of TailSpin Racer to Dollywood’s Splash Country for 2017.
This thrilling new attraction allows up to six guests to race each other on mats through the twists and turns of TailSpin Racer’s unique spiraling tube design. The race begins with riders descending a daring first drop inside intertwined, high-speed AquaTubes. After navigating the wet and wild curves, riders emerge from the translucent tubes on a traditional mat racer-style slide. From there, it’s an all-out race toward the splashdown finish. “TailSpin Racer is an exciting addition to the park that we know our guests are going to love,” explained Dollywood’s Splash Country General Manager Mike Brown. “We always seek to add slides and attractions which will leave our guests with big smiles and memories to share. I think we’ll see a lot of fun as families and friends challenge each other to races down this great new slide.” TailSpin Racer’s slides are longer than a football field in length and stand five stories above the park. The $2 million attraction, which uses ergonomically designed starting blocks, will be located alongside Big River Pavilion near the park entrance. Thanks to strong visitation to Dollywood’s Splash Country in 2016, officials added five new days, Aug. 15-19, to the park’s operating calendar. The award-winning water park now is open daily through Aug. 21 and on weekends through Labor Day. Dollywood’s Splash Country’s other family-favorite attractions underscore why the park was named America’s Must-See Waterpark in 2009 by the International Association of Amusement Parks & Attractions. The park also was named a Top-10 water park by TripAdvisor in 2016. With RiverRush, Tennessee’s first and only water coaster, the daredevil drops of Fire Tower Falls and Mountain Scream and the white water rafting journey on Big Bear Plunge, Dollywood’s Splash Country has thrill rides for the adventurous members of every family. For those who want a slower pace, The Cascades leisure pool, Mountain Waves wave pool, Downbound Float Trip lazy river and children’s water play areas are a relaxing way to cool down. Voted one of America’s best waterparks by The Travel Channel, Dollywood’s Splash Country features more than 35 water adventure slides in its breathtaking natural surroundings, the Smokies. With the upcoming addition of TailSpin Racer, an impressive lineup of water-based attractions, and fun at every splash, Dollywood’s Splash Country is the best place to beat the heat in the Smoky Mountains.  Its opening may have been delayed a bit, but folks who've finally gotten the chance to ride Dollywood's newest roller coaster are finding it was worth the wait!! The Lightning Rod was supposed to debut when the season opened this year, but the ride's builders asked for a little more time to make sure the ride was perfect. It was finally opened to the public this week, and has been drawing big crowds.
The 1950's era thrill ride lasts just over two minutes, but it took almost two years to take the innovative ride from concept to reality. Lighting Rod is the world's fastest wooden roller coaster, powered by new technology. It was designed especially for Dollywood, using the park's mountainous terrain to take riders up more then 20 stories, then dropping them 165 feet at 73 miles per hour. Dollywood followed the progress of the Lighting Rod roller coaster, from the drawing board to its first ride. Watch the documentary video, produced by Devin Olson Media, attached to this story to see the months of hard work that went in to making this newest ride a reality. FULL STORY Co-owner of Rocky Mountain Construction Fred Grubb released a statement on Thursday afternoon regarding the delayed opening of the new Lightning Rod roller coaster under construction at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood, which opened for 2016 last weekend, announced early last week that the coaster would open late and would not be ready for Opening Weekend.
In his statement, Grubb states that issues with the launch system have held up the ride's debut, and that they are continuously working with the sub-contractor supplying the launch system to the ride. While Grubb stated that work and testing is continuing, he declined to speculate on an opening date, requesting that all questions regarding the ride's opening to be referred to park officials. FULL STORY  Last Thursday, guests at Dollywood were treated to a special surprise as Katy Perry was in attendance at the park. Katy Perry, a fan of Dolly Parton, decided to attend the park for a day of fun and roller coasters while having some extra time to spend in Tennessee. According to Wes Ramey, Dollywood spokesperson, "She rode Wild Eagle twice so she enjoyed that. She stayed for the fireworks too, so she made sure that she had a chance to get the full guest experience. She wanted to come in and be a normal Dollywood guest." The park also said that she had a chance to sample the cinnamon bread and enjoyed that as well. MTV also reported that while at the park, Katy visited Dolly's Closet attraction. Here fans can purchase Dolly Parton inspired looks and have them custom tailored. However, it is unclear if Katy will actually be unveiling any of these looks on her current tour. From all reports, Katy was open to taking picture with fans while at the same time fans being respectful of her privacy. After her trip, Katy also took the time to tweet out the following:
"@katyperry We just done tore up DOLLYWOOD'S turkey legs & had a helluva country bumpin time! DOLLYWOOD photo diary of the bbq bb's coming 2morrow..." "In honor of @Dollywood check a #TBT of @KaceyMusgraves & I doing 1 of my fav @DollyParton songs: Here You Come Again: http://on.cmt.com/1pFAI5t" Imagine for a second that you have an allergy to peanuts. Even the slightest contact with them could cause serious health problems or even death. Now imagine that you also want to spend an entire day at a theme park. Obviously, it is possible but with most parks it presents a number of obstacles and dangers that may just be too much to bear. The Fresh Start program at Dollywood aims to minimize these concerns so that families can create "Memories Worth Repeating" without the hassle of having to worry constantly about food allergies. The program which started at Dollywood's Splash Country over four years ago has now spread to all of the Herschend Family Entertainment Parks. Joe Lindsey, Director of Food Services at Dollywood, was first confronted with this issue when a guest expressed his frustration over not being able to enjoy the full experience at the park. After that meeting, he was determined to make sure that others did not experience the same frustrations; frustrations that were ultimately keeping some guests from fully enjoying their Dollywood experience.
From this was born Fresh Start. Fresh Start's goal is simple--Give every guest the same opportunity to enjoy a meal with family. Though a simple goal, the program itself requires an intense amount of time and dedication on the part of all those working in food services to accomplish. First, a guest must inform the host of his or her food allergy. The manager on duty then specifically identifies what allergy or allergies need to be prepared for. The host uses this time to completely sanitize the tables, chairs, menus and all items on the table. In the kitchen, an area that is completely sectioned off from the rest of kitchen containing all the equipment needed for food preparation is readied for use. A sealed kit containing sanitized utensils such as cutting boards, knives, tongs, towels and gloves is opened. One cook handles the entire meal from start to finish. When the meal is done, plates and utensils also in the Start Fresh kit are used to plate the meal. Finally, the chef brings out the food to the guest to ensure that no cross contamination occurs. The program is fully implemented in two restaurants at Dollywood where nearly every food allergy can be handled. Eight more restaurants at the park can deal with many of the major allergies. Amazingly, the park charges no extra money to prepare food in this way. Even in cases where the ingredients may cost more money such as gluten free hamburger buns, the park charges no extra money. The goal according to Joe Lindsey is to "create that family experience" and "providing family time where they can bond and creates memories that they can go back and talk about." Over the few years that Fresh Start has been implemented, it has had numerous successes. However, one stands out vividly in Joe Lindsey's mind. One particular family from Chattanooga had a daughter named Katie who had severe food allergies and had experienced several episodes of anaphylactic shock over the course of her life. Because of this, Katie rarely ate out or visited places that weren't completely safe. The family through research had stumbled upon Dollywood's Start Fresh program and wanted to enjoy a day at the park. After contact with the parent, Dollywood and Mr. Lindsey assured the family that Katie would be safe. It was the first time that the family could go on an outing together and be able to enjoy the day without concern. "That's probably been the most rewarding story and the most successful one" stated Lindsey who added that the both Katie and the family were quite emotional and grateful for the efforts that the park put into creating memories for them. Overall, the Start Fresh program has been a huge success at not only Dollywood but across the entire family of Herschend Family Entertainment parks. However, even though they have experienced great successes, Joe Lindsey and his department are striving to make the program better and even more accommodating each year. Studying the latest research and relying on those people who have food allergies are the greatest resources which, in turn, lead to changes that make the program better each year. "We're not perfect yet, but we continue to work on it daily" states Lindsey, adding that this is "what we want to be noted for, we want to make our guests feel special." The last time we reported on the status of Dollywood’s SBNO Timber Tower, HUSS was seeking dismissal of Dollywood’s $500,000 lawsuit. Dollywood was suing HUSS Park and Attractions (HPA) and HUSS Parts and Services (HPS) for “breach of contract, breach of warranty, and negligence,” after having their new ride down for service more than it was up and operational during its short life, and being charged for it despite the ride never working properly.
HPA and HPS though requested dismissal of the lawsuit claiming that since they were not successors to the original company that built the ride and made the contract with Dollywood, they were not liable or responsible for the claims. The original contract, signed with HUSS Maschinenfabrik, was signed in June 2005, with a one-year limited warranty on the structure and rides operation. After filing for insolvency in October 2006, HPA and HPS took over their assets, but according to Tennessee law, “when a corporation purchases the assets of another corportation, the purchaser is not automatically liable for the obligations of the seller,” as reported by timesnews.net. Now, it has been reported by TimesNews.net that the two entities have reached a settlement and resolved all issues without “an admission of liability by either side.” Pete Owens, media and public relations manager for Dollywood said that they came to a “mutual agreement.” While the exact terms of the settlement have not been revealed, Owens confirmed that Timber Tower would be taken down and removed before March 24, the first day of Dollywood’s 2012 operating season. After the rides completion in March 2006, it only took a few months before the ride started experience problems and malfunctions. In October 2006, however, HUSS Maschinefabrik filed for insolvency and was taken over by HUSS Park Attractions and HUSS Parts and Services, according to The Mountain Press. Maintenance was performed by HUSS in January 2007 after negotiating a new contract with Dollywood. Again, within just a few months, by April, the ride was experiencing new problems, which led to the June 17 incident that year which left 38 riders stranded at the top of the tower. Dollywood then had to replace the ride’s main hydraulic pump and the circulation pump, in September and November 2007 respectively. Later, in June 2008, after just over two years of operation, Dollywood had to replace the gondola motor drive, and that year the ride was down for 627 operating hours. While Owens also told TimesNews.net that the park was looking into something to replace the ride, he noted that Barnstormer to 1-1.5 years, Wild Eagle 2+ years, and Mystery Mine took nearly 3 years of planning to come online. Coming as no great surprise, HUSS, the maker of the Timber Tower at Dollywood, is seeking dismissal of the park’s $500,000 lawsuit according to a report from timesnews.net. Dollywood has been experiencing nothing but problems with the ride since its opening nearly six years ago, including malfunctions and mechanical failures which have led to extensive downtime. This led to the park closing the ride in late 2010 due to “contract disputes,” and the ride has remained close ever since.
In early October, The Mountain Press revealed that Dollywood was suing HUSS Park and Attractions (HPA) and HUSS Parts and Services (HPS), the companies responsible for building and maintaining the ride, for $500,000 for “breach of contract, breach of warranty, and negligence.” Dollywood was displeased at being continually charged for a ride which had never worked properly to begin with and had numerous repeat problems, something HUSS apparently did not feel responsible for. Costing the park $2.2 million for the ride plus an additional $2.4 million for site preparations, the ride has been down far more than it has been up. After the rides completion in March 2006, it only took a few months before the ride started experience problems and malfunctions. In October 2006, however, HUSS Maschinefabrik filed for insolvency and was taken over by HUSS Park Attractions and HUSS Parts and Services, according to The Mountain Press. Maintenance was performed by HUSS in January 2007 after negotiating a new contract with Dollywood. Again, within just a few months, by April, the ride was experiencing new problems, which led to the June 17 incident that year which left 38 riders stranded at the top of the tower. Dollywood then had to replace the ride’s main hydraulic pump and the circulation pump, in September and November 2007 respectively. Later, in June 2008, after just over two years of operation, Dollywood had to replace the gondola motor drive, and that year the ride was down for 627 operating hours. According to timesnews.net, the lawsuit moved to the U.S. District Court in Knoxville in December, and the motion to dismiss it was filed at the end of December. HPA and HPS requested to dismiss the lawsuit claiming that since they are not successors to the original company that built the ride and made the contract with Dollywood, they are not liable or responsible for the claims. The original contract, signed with HUSS Maschinenfabrik, was signed in June 2005, with a one-year limited warranty on the structure and rides operation. After filing for insolvency in October 2006, HPA and HPS took over their assets, but according to Tennessee law, “when a corporation purchases the assets of another corportation, the purchaser is not automatically liable for the obligations of the seller,” as reported by timesnews.net. As a result, HPA and HPS do not feel they are liable, though it seems Dollywood may argue that even after HPA and HPS did further work on the ride after this, it has still not operated properly, making them at least partially responsible. No trial date has yet been set. |
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