One of the things I was able to do on my recent solo trip to Dollywood was the Dolly Parton Experience Tour! I haven’t seen any online reviews for this tour either, so I thought I would publish an overview and review for anyone considering it.
Dolly Parton Experience Tour
As I stated in my I Will Always Love You Tour review, I did two tours on the same day. This is the other tour I did. It began at 11 AM. Unfortunately, I was unable to fully utilize the Golden Hour time in the park due to needing to arrive early for the tour (10:45 AM). So, just something to keep in mind if you plan on doing both in one morning.
This tour is cheaper than the other tour by $20. It’s priced at $59/person, with discounts available for passholders. It includes a lanyard (seen in the post image above), an hour long guided tour of the Dolly Parton Experience area of the park, and reserved seating for the Heidi Parton’s Kin and Friends show.
The Tour
The tour was supposed to be me and another family. However, the other family never showed up. So, I was lucky enough to get a one-on-one tour of the new Dolly Parton Experience area of the park!
The tour started off with some general info on the designing of the park, starting with Juxebox Junction being themed to Dolly’s childhood. Did you know that they re-created Red’s Drive-In because that’s where Dolly had her first taste of fast food? Wasting no time, we moved over to the Songteller building. Opened last year, it does an amazing and engaging job of telling Dolly’s life story. I was very impressed with the work they have done here. The use of technology to tell her story in different rooms was cool. I will definitely be re-visiting it to slow down and look more closely at the things located here.
Next up, we walked over to Behind the Seams. This building houses some of Dolly’s clothing and accessories. Supposedly, they switch out the items here periodically. So, you should be able to make return visits and see different items showcased. I thought it was really cool to see some of her clothing up close. She’s much smaller than I imagined!
Then, we walked over to enjoy some of the Precious Memories video in the DreamSong theater. Lastly, we visited Dolly’s Home-on-Wheels, which is an old tour bus of hers. I had been in it once before, but it’s still cool to see. Plus, we were able to skip the line to go on it.
The tour also includes reserved seating to a later showing of Heidi Parton’s Kin and Friends show (or another show in the DreamSong theater if it’s not available). I think that’s a great touch and lovely way to wrap this experience up!
Is the Dolly Parton Experience Tour worth it?
Even though I was the only person on the tour, it was still a pretty quickly paced one hour tour. I didn’t really get a chance to stop and take photos or to look at the clothing/artifacts on the tour. I plan to go back to take a slower look at the stuff in the buildings. The tour was great for additional information on the park’s design and about Dolly. It’s perfect for Dollywood/theme park/Dolly Parton fans! I don’t know that children would enjoy it. Also, we were up walking for the entire hour. So, you need to be able to be mobile for that length of time. Overall, I really enjoyed this tour and think it’s worth the time and money if you like learning about the park or Dolly.
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