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False, the surrounding area is popular due to Dollywood

@@douglasstone4984 Absolutely because there was NOTHING in that area until 1986 when SDC reopened as Dollywood. However, as Dolly always does, the biggest draw. in the area is the Great Smoky Mountains National Park; it started it all. In 1985, Silver Dollar City TN had right at 500,000 visitors and in 1986 as Dollywood, it drew three times that amount and it has not stopped growing since.

Dollywood is not a year round park, the topography of the park and the winter weather do not make it an ideal destination in January and February; although it is in the future plans to make it a year round destination with three more resorts in the works. As I noted below, your assessment of the situation is completely backwards Pigeon Forge was nothing more than corn fields and a few no-tell motels in the late 70s early 80s. After Dolly went into business with the Herschends and rebranded Silver Dollar City TN to Dollywood the growth has been explosive in the last forty years. Something SDC could have never done on its own. If Dollywood had not been such a phenomenal success, Silver Dollar City in Branson would not have grown exponentially either. Dolly was at the height of her career in the mid 80s and was as beloved then as she is now. However, I think most people forget that Dolly opened her own theme park the same year she turned 40. Let that simmer for a while. In that regard, she beat Walt Disney to the punch by 13 years as he was 53 before he opened Disneyland. Walt Disney World was only 15 years old when Dollywood opened. I still stumble over the fact that by the age of 40 she had her own theme park. East Tennessee is fortunate to have a "daughter" like her because she did not forget her roots and gave back in a spectacular fashion to the area where she started. Not many of us can say the same; and she did not do it by dumb luck but by working her butt off which she continues to do even though she will be 80 in less than 18 months. Dollywood has never tried to be in competition with any park, that is not the owners style they just try to be the best at what they do and considering the industry awards, growth and revenue, they are doing just that. Unlike Cedar Point or Six Flags who rely on the rides to draw people, but much like Disney whose characters are a big draw, Dolly herself is a big reason people come to the park; because people see her as a beloved character in American culture.

@@frayjr1970 im just saying now that gatlinburg and pigeon forge is how big now, it's made dollywood a even bigger success. of coarse early on silver dollar city wasn't much there and the same with pigeon forge. They've grown so big in the last 20 years it has helped dollywood become as big of a park as it is now. the good thing is they got plenty of land to expand too. they are planning a campground and more rides in the next 5 years.i think a lot of dollywoods growth though has been the huge tourist industry in the area, not dolly parton's success of expanding the park. you got to have ticket sales to pay for it all. gatlingburg is now the #2 tourist destination in the united states estimated by a lot of media sources.

Absolutely not expensive

It is expensive.