Tag: HeartSong Lodge & Resort

Celebrate 65 Days of Christmas at Dollywood Resorts

Christmas, Dollywood, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa, Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort, Family & Kids Cooking, Holiday, Holiday dining, Holiday events, Holiday Travel, National Parks, Tennessee, Uncategorized

Starting on November 1, guests staying at Dollywood Resorts in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, will get to experience the magic of the holiday season over the course of 65 days. Dolly Parton’s iconic resorts have been busy adding extra glitz and glam by stringing lights, hanging garland, fluffing trees and lining up festive entertainment to complement Dollywood theme park’s award-winning Smoky Mountain Christmas festival, making the destination a must-visit holiday experience.

Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, shines extra bright with classic green and red décor, warm white lights, a showstopping 30-foot Christmas tree, and a nightly outdoor tree light show that’s synced to holiday tunes.

Santa’s elves make an appearance through Camp DW holiday-themed events and crafts, with opportunities to write letters to Santa. (Crafts come at an additional fee.) The whole family can also enjoy roasting s’mores in the resort’s back yard and listening to bedtime stories – all books selected from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library – in the barn. This year the resort is also introducing a new entertainment offering in the form of Christmas carolers.

DreamMore Resort’s signature restaurant, Song & Hearth, serves buffet-style family breakfasts and dinners featuring Southern classics made with seasonal flair. For guests visiting on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, the 300-room resort will offer a curated holiday buffet of comfort foods like warm biscuits, a carving station, popular country sides and specialty desserts.

Dollywood’s Red velvet-flavored funnel cake, a holiday treat, is topped with sweet cream cheese icing and whipped cream.

The Spa at Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort gets into the holiday spirit with seasonal treatments designed to help guests de-stress as they navigate one of the busiest times of the year. They can choose from a peppermint and mocha-scented mani-pedi combo, a chocolatey facial that will leave skin hydrated and glowing, or an iced peppermint mocha massage that uses chilled infinite globes to soothe sore muscles and provide complete relaxation. To learn more about the spa and its treatments, check here.

Guests who prefer woodland creatures, Santa’s reindeer and holiday décor inspired by nature should choose a stay at Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort. On December 5, the 302-room lodge will host a tree-lighting event centered around its Murray Cypress Christmas tree, which measures more than 25 feet and that’s traveling from a family-owned farm in Jesup, Georgia. The event will be hosted by Dolly’s niece, Heidi Parton, and include music, popcorn, warm drinks and a holiday sing-along.

Heidi Parton

The merriment continues throughout the season with nightly musical entertainment, including special performances of holiday favorites at Acoustic Lobby every Friday and Saturday evening, and outdoor fireside sing-alongs of popular Christmas carols. Guests can also visit Camp DW and choose from a variety of festive craft activities available at an additional fee. HeartSong Lodge will also introduce Holly Claus, Santa’s niece, who will interact with guests on select dates from Thanksgiving Day weekend onward.

HeartSong Lodge’s culinary team offers a feast of locally sourced fare at its signature restaurant, Ember & Elm. Dine here for a breakfast buffet or a la carte items, or at dinner for its thoughtfully crafted menu featuring Smoky Mountain Christmas festival favorites. The lodge will also host a family-friendly buffet in its main ballroom on each major holiday.

A stay at either of Dollywood’s pair of resorts is the best way to experience the more than 6 million lights at Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas festival because both hotels offer exclusive benefits like complimentary transportation, TimeSaver Passes, morning priority access to park attractions, package delivery of park purchases and more.

For the ultimate holiday getaway, book the resorts’ Christmas Tree Décor Package, which includes a decorated 3-foot faux Christmas tree, a letter from Santa’s elves, baked cookies, a commemorative ornament, a Christmas-themed gift for each child in the room, and an assortment of holiday candies. The package is available throughout the duration of the Smoky Mountain Christmas festival at a starting rate of $364 per night.*

To learn more about Dollywood Resorts and to book a holiday getaway, please visit www.Dollywood.com/Resorts.

About Dollywood Parks & Resorts

A highly awarded and widely recognized leader in the amusement industry, Dollywood Parks & Resorts – which is celebrating its 40th anniversary season throughout 2025 – consists of the 165-acre Dollywood theme park; the 35-acre Dollywood’s Splash Country; and two award-winning resort properties: Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa and Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort.

Dollywood sells an average of 2,700 to 3,000 loaves of its famous cinnamon bread daily.

As unique as its namesake and owner Dolly Parton, Dollywood is the 2010 Applause Award winner, the theme park industry’s highest accolade; winner of 64 Golden Ticket Awards; and recipient of 28 Brass Ring Awards for Live Entertainment.

The park is located near Great Smoky Mountains National Park and earned the Golden Ticket Award for the Best Park in the world in 2023. In 2022, 2024 and 2025, Dollywood was named by Tripadvisor as the theme park in the country based on actual guest reviews. It also has been recognized as a top U.S. theme park by USA Today on multiple occasions.

Dollywood is open mid-March through early January and offers rides and attractions, shows and crafters authentic to the East Tennessee region. Dollywood’s Splash Country, recognized by the Travel Channel and Tripadvisor as one of the country’s most beautiful water parks, operates from mid-May to mid-September. Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa and Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort provide guests with spectacular mountain views and family-friendly amenities next door to Dollywood theme park and Dollywood’s Splash Country. For more information, visit Dollywood.com. Park operating days and hours vary.

Dollywood Readies for Its Biggest Season Yet

Dollywood, Regional & Ethnic, Resorts

Big Bear Mountain Roller Coaster and HeartSong Lodge & Resort Opening This Year

 Construction progress continues on two major projects at Dollywood Parks & Resorts. This year, Dollywood will unveil a new roller coaster, Big Bear Mountain, and a second resort, Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort, which are parts of a $500 million expansion plan that was announced in June 2021.

Big Bear Mountain, set to open this spring, adds to Dollywood’s already impressive portfolio of world-class roller coasters. At $25 million, the ride is the most significant single attraction investment ever at Dollywood, while its nearly 4,000-foot length will make it the longest roller coaster at the park. Big Bear Mountain includes highly-detailed ride vehicles (resembling four-wheel-drive SUVs) that will take guests on an expedition in search of the elusive “Big Bear” in the hills just beyond Dollywood’s newest area, Wildwood Grove, which opened in 2019.


At a little more than three-quarters of a mile long, Big Bear Mountain provides park-goers with plenty of thrilling moments, including three separate launches, multiple airtime hills, high-speed carousel turns and tunnels, and a pass behind a waterfall. The minimum height requirement is 39 inches, meaning even smaller guests can enjoy the thrills, and the coaster will reach a top speed of 48 mph.

With the addition of Big Bear Mountain and the continued appeal of Dollywood’s seasonal events, Dollywood Parks & Resorts has seen an increased need for additional lodging to complement its original resort, Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa, which opened in 2015. Tucked away in a beautiful cove in the rolling foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, the 302-room, five-story lodge is being designed to provide a space of awe and inspiration for guests around every turn. The property is set to open this fall.

Dolly Parton welcomes guests to the Season Passholder Day at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, TN on March 10, 2023. © Curtis Hilbun

From spacious accommodations to well-planned amenities, the resort will offer a variety of spaces to recharge and relax. The lodge will feature an impressive atrium with four-story, lantern-inspired windows, as well as a two-story HeartSong Event Center. Many of the guest rooms feature balconies that provide sweeping views of the resort’s vast property, as well as the surrounding beauty of the Smokies.


Both the coaster and the lodge give nods to the beauty of the natural surroundings in which the theme park exists, a tribute to the “Tennessee Mountain Home” that Dolly Parton sings about and loves so much. In addition to all the family entertainment offered by Dollywood Parks & Resorts, this area of Tennessee is home to Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is the nation’s most visited national park.

There’s much to see and do in the region, which is part of the reason for adding the second resort. To keep up with the growing demand for even more fun at Dollywood, the park’s operating calendar is also growing this year and adding 21 more days of operation.

For more information about Dollywood Parks & Resorts, please visit Dollywood.com.

About Dollywood Parks & Resorts

The Dollywood Company consists of the 165-acre Dollywood theme park; the 35-acre Dollywood’s Splash Country; and Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa. Currently under construction, the 302-room Dollywood’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort is scheduled for completion later this year. As unique as its namesake and owner Dolly Parton, Dollywood is the 2010 Applause Award winner, the theme park industry’s highest accolade; winner of 48 Golden Ticket Awards; and recipient of 28 Brass Ring Awards for Live Entertainment.

The park is located near Great Smoky Mountains National Park and was named in 2022 by Tripadvisor as the theme park in the country based on actual guest reviews. It also has been recognized as a top-three U.S. theme park by USA Today on multiple occasions. Dollywood is open mid-March through early January and offers rides and attractions, shows and crafters authentic to the East Tennessee region.

Dollywood’s Splash Country, recognized by the Travel Channel and Tripadvisor as one of the country’s most beautiful water parks, operates from mid-May to Labor Day. Dollywood’s DreamMore Resort and Spa, a favorite of USA Today voters and Tripadvisor reviewers, provides guests with spectacular mountain views and family-friendly amenities next door to Dollywood theme park and Dollywood’s Splash Country. For more information, visit dollywood.com. Operating days and hours vary.