Dollywood 40th anniversary documentary now streaming

“The Dollywood Dream,” available on the Dollywood Parks & Resorts YouTube channel, takes viewers back to 1961 when the property in Tennessee’s Smoky Mountains was first developed through today—and even looking towards the future. The documentary includes firsthand accounts from Dolly along with her Dollywood partners, Jack and Pete Herschend, former park presidents Ken Bell and Craig Ross, current park president Eugene Naughton, Dolly Parton Productions’ Ted Miller, former park GM Barbara Joines, and Dollywood VP Pete Owens, sharing their personal experiences and insights.

The unsung heroes of the Dollywood 40^th anniversary story are the Herschends, who acquired the Pigeon Forge property in the 1970s and went on to create Silver Dollar City, Tennessee. However, it’s their shared values that have enabled Dolly and the Herschends to transform that original attraction into one of the most successful partnerships in the theme park industry, resulting in a guest experience that’s “unparalleled at any other park.”

“Throughout the day at Dollywood, we have an opportunity to be friendly to folks so they’ll want to come back again and again, and we call this ‘creating memories worth repeating,’” Dolly says in the documentary. “It’s like inviting someone over to your house. The first time the come, it’s because you’ve invited them, but if they come back again, it’s because you’ve treated them special while they were there.”

While other theme parks were making the news, Dollywood was quietly adding innovative record-breaking attractions year after year, including:

1998 – Daredevil Falls, the tallest and fastest flume drop ride in the world when it was built

2004 – Thunderhead, named the #1 wooden coaster in the world twice (and has never been out of the top ten)

2007 – Mystery Mine, the first-of-its-kind attraction in the U.S.

2012 – Wild Eagle, America’s first wing coaster

2014 – Fire Chaser Express, the first forward and reverse launch family coaster

2016 – Lightning Rod, the first launched wooden coaster and fastest wooden coaster when it was built

2023 – Big Bear Mountain, the largest family roller coaster

Awards and Accolades

Since 2022, Dollywood has been named: 

• Tripadvisor’s #1 U.S. Theme Park based on actual guest reviews (2022, 2024)
• Forbes’ Top 300 Best Customer Service (#27 out of all industries; one of only two theme parks on the list) (2024)
• Forbes’ America’s Best Midsize Employer (2022, 2025)
• USA Today National Top Workplace (2022, 2025)
• National Amusement Park Historical Association (NAPHA)- Favorite Theme Park (2023, 2024, 2025)
• Southern Living: Best Attraction in the South (2024)
• #1 attraction in the world “Guests Want to Return To” (2024)
• Newsweek Top Customer Service Award (2024)

Dollywood’s next 40 years

According to Dollywood VP Pete Owens, the “single largest attraction” in Dollywood’s history” is already planned for 2026 in the park’s Wildwood Grove area, which will celebrate nighttime in the Smokies.

Also in the works are three additional resorts, including an outdoor resort, which will allow guests to experience “camping Dolly style.”

“I am so proud of Dollywood and I’m humbled by the fact that it touches so many people,“ Dolly said in the documentary. “I’m hoping that we just go further and further and do more things for more families. Why wouldn’t something so good just keep growing?”

Click here for more information about visiting during the Dollywood 40th anniversary.