If you’re going to Dollywood soon, you may be wondering how dining works — do you need to book reservations in advance or can you just walk up and dine?
Dollywood tickets
There are dozens of places to eat in the park and hotels, and the food here is shockingly delicious. Of course, there are A LOT of snacks to try, but what about when you want to sit down and enjoy a meal? Well, let’s chat about how table service dining works at Dollywood and if you need advanced reservations.
In the Park
If you’re going to the Dollywood theme park, there are NO advance dining reservations. You can’t call ahead or make reservations online, but you CAN show up at the restaurant on the day of your visit and add your party to the waitlist. This is available at spots like Aunt Granny’s Restaurant, Front Porch Cafe, and Granny Ogle’s Ham & Beans.
Butterfly Chicken Salad Sandwich at Granny Ogle’s Ham and Beans
To get the shortest wait, we recommend going early in the operating hours for these restaurants (like at the very beginning of lunch, closer to 11 AM) or waiting to go late in the day. Check the hours for the spot you’d like to dine ahead of time and plan accordingly.
Granny Ogle’s Ham and Beans
Of course, there are also plenty of quick-service dining locations around the park, and snack stands where you can walk up and eat quickly. One of our biggest tips for dining at a quick-service location is to use mobile ordering through the Dollywood app. Sometimes the menu is a bit limited, but you can often shorten your wait on a busy day.
Grilled Corn on the Cob at Miss Lillian’s BBQ Corner
But what about if you’re dining at the hotels?
At the Hotels
Dollywood is home to two hotels — Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa and Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort. Each of these spots is home to a table-service restaurant, and for the hotels, you CAN make dining reservations. In fact, they’re encouraged, particularly during busy seasons.
DreamMore Resort
Ember & Elm is the restaurant at HeartSong and Song & Hearth is the restaurant at DreamMore. Both of these spots have reservations through OpenTable, and you can find the link via their pages on the Dollywood website. You’re allowed to park at the hotels to get to your dining reservation; however, you’ll only be able to take the hotel trolley to and from Dollywood if you are staying at one of the hotels.
HeartSong Resort Room
No matter where you eat at Dollywood, you can often find some delicious eats — we had a spectacular time snacking around the park and hotels! And follow us at DFB for more theme park news, updates, tips, and tricks!
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