On August 25th, 2026, the world lost an icon and legend, Dolly Parton.
Welcome to Dollywood!
In addition to being a singer, songwriter, and country music legend, Dolly Parton was also an actress who starred in several movies, including Steel Magnolias and 9 to 5. She was also the Dreamer-in-Chief of the Dollywood theme park, which was inspired by her upbringing in Sevierville, Tennessee. Dollywood has just revealed how they plan on honoring Dolly’s legacy, and we think it’s perfect.
Following the tragic loss of the iconic Dolly Parton, Dollywood has just announced how they plan on honoring her legacy and contribution to not just music, but to the world. Dollywood is adding a new “portal” into the Dolly Parton experience along with a new grand finale to the I Will Always Love You section of the Dolly Parton experience.
Concept art of the new entrance
Additionally, the banners around the park to honor Dolly will stay up near the Dolly Parton experience.
Dollywood Banners
Dollywood is adding a tribute kiosk in Wildwood Grove to digitally document their Dolly stories. “We’re giving an option for those stories to be personal and private, but you’ll also have an opportunity to check a box to share your story publicly,” said Eugene Naughton, new President of Dollywood. They intend to use those stories publicly to showcase Dolly’s impact long-term.
Tribute kiosk concept art
One of Dolly’s favorite parts of the park was the Robert F. Thomas Chapel, which is being redone in her honor. A new waterfall will be installed with a special reflection area with a sculpted, stained-glass guitar. Naughton hopes this spot will be a great place for Dollywood visitors to reflect on Dolly Parton’s philanthropic impact.
Stained-glass guitar concept art
Dolly will also be immortalized in the park with a character inspired by her, the Dreammaker. The Dreammaker will enter Wildwood Grove to interact with kids of all ages and share Dolly’s passion for dreaming big and having stories.
The Dreammaker concept art
All of these will be open in early March of 2027. We’ll be on the lookout for even more Dollywood updates you need to know about. In the meantime, make sure you stay tuned to Disney Food Blog for the latest theme park news and beyond.
Dollywood Has Officially Ruined ALL Disney World Hotels for Me
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Disclosure: In nearly all circumstances, Disney Food Blog writers and photographers pay full price for their own travel, hotel, food, beverage, and event tickets. We do this because it’s important to us as journalists to ensure not only that we give you unbiased opinions, but also that you can trust us to do so since we’re paying our own way. On rare occasions, when we are invited by a company to attend a preview as media, and when we choose to accept that invitation, we will always make you, our readers, aware of that situation. Today, we were invited by Dollywood to attend their announcement about honoring Dolly Parton. Note that when we attend events as media we are 1) Not required to review that event/food on any of our channels, and 2) Not required to review that event/food favorably. You can always count on DFB to give you a 100% unbiased and honest review of any event that we attend, food that we eat, or beverage that we drink. You can see more in our Disclosure Policy. Thank you for reading. — AJ
