8Despite the sprawling corporate theme parks the House of Mouse has built in California and Florida, the best theme park in America is found in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, according to a new survey.
Dolly Parton’s Dollywood theme park in the east Tennessee hills topped the list, the National Amusement Park Historical Association announced in a news release.
The 39th annual NAPHA Amusement Park and Attractions Survey found that Dollywood beat out Disneyland in California in the theme park category. Dollywood came in second to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia, in the Most Beautiful Park category. Busch Gardens has been on top in that category for 35 years.
The survey said that Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania, was the Favorite Traditional Amusement Park. That park also had the Favorite Wood Coaster, the Phoenix.
The Favorite Steel Coaster is the Millennium Force ride at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, while the Bobcat at Six Flags Great Escape in Queensbury, New York, was named the Favorite New Attraction.
Dollywood was named America’s favorite theme park in 2023 and 2022, after being tied with two others in 2021, according to Fox Business.
With more than 50 rides and attractions, Dollywood brings in more than 2 million visitors each year.
In a recent interview, Parton noted that the park is now four decades old.
“One of the things they did for the 40th anniversary was put a big sign up on the hill there above Dollywood that says ‘Dollywood’ like the Hollywood sign,” she said, according to the Associated Press.
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“Years ago, when I thought, ‘Well, someday I’m going to have my own theme park and I’m gonna change that H to a D and have Dollywood.’ So, they finally, after 40 years, put that sign up, even though I’ve talked about it for years,” she continued.
“So, we’ve got a lot of wonderful things planned for the whole season that’s celebrating the 40th anniversary. It seems just like a few years back, but it’s like everything else: I was with Carl for 60 years, and Dollywood’s 40 years old. And that’s just hard to believe because I’m only 27,” she said, referencing Carl Dean, her husband, who died in March at the age of 82.
Parton said that Dean’s death was a blow, but she leans on faith to walk her road without him.
“I am a person of faith, and I truly believe that I’m going to see him again someday. And I see him every day in my memories and in my heart, and in all the things that we used to do and all the things that we’ve built together,” Parton described.
“You just kind of have to learn to kind of make new plans — but that’s the hardest part,” she said.
Parton said she is never truly alone.
“I really feel his presence,” she said.
“I just try to go on, because I know I have to. And he was ill for quite a while, and part of me was at peace that he was at peace and not suffering anymore. But that still doesn’t make up for the loss and the loneliness of it,” she continued.
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