Dollywood plans $300M expansion
NASHVILLE — To see the future of Dollywood, you need to borrow the vision of its chief imaginer, Dolly Parton.
In the near future, Parton sees a resort hotel lobby with a three-storey window that frames Mount Le Conte — one of the tallest peaks in the Smoky Mountains .Guests will be able to book a grand suite in the hotel that the entertainer uses when she stays in the Pigeon Forge theme park that bears her name.
All of that is future tense, but not very far away. The park plans to open DreamMore Resort in 2015. It’s part of a planned $300-million expansion to take place over the next decade.
A new roller-coaster, this one aimed at families, is scheduled to open in 2014.
The resort hotel has been Parton’s dream ever since she affixed her name to the theme park 28 years ago.
“The thing we’re most excited about is finally building our resort,” Parton said by telephone from the park in the Smokies foothills.
There will be a lot of “front porch spaces” at the resort. Parton noted that during her up bringing nearby, people tended to congregate on front porches or in the kitchen.
A fishing pond will be on the property where children can catch their first whopper, and there will be fire pits where families can roast marshmallows.
People walking into the lobby will be greeted with a glass of lemonade in the summer and a cup of hot chocolate during winter months.
The total dollar investment in the next decade will exceed the company’s spending on Dollywood so far, said Craig Ross, president.
“In 10 years’ time, we will have spent more than we’ve spent since the inception back in 1986,” Ross said.