Dollywood's $300M Expansion Plan: Build Resort, Add Rides and Shows (+Video)

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Dolly Parton opened up about her vision for Dollywood, and she spoke of her $300 Million expansion plan for the theme park nestled in Pigeon Forge, on Friday.

Parton said that God really works in unpredictable ways, recounting the time when she had to let go of her Nashville snow and water park proposal, so she could focus on a more important project: the expansion of Dollywood.

The famous hall of famer shared that the future for the theme park is even brighter, especially now that her dream of constructing a resort inside Dollywood as well as opening new rides to the vicinity will soon be realized.

The country music singer said that this has always been her dream ever since she affixed her name to the park 28 years ago.

"The thing we're most excited about is finally building our resort," Dolly Parton said. "We're starting out with a resort that has 300 rooms... Some of the rooms will accommodate up to six people in a family."

The planned resort will be constructed on an area land that already belongs to Dollywood along with the newly-purchased 20-acre park.

"They wanted to base (the resort) on what people perceive me to be, the country girl that's made good but still loves being home," uttered Parton. "We definitely wanted to keep it with a down-home atmosphere, but we wanted it to have some class and some glamor. ... It is a lot of fun. It is the ultimate dollhouse -Dolly's dollhouse."

Craig Ross, Dollywood Co. president, projected that the company will have spent a whole lot more for the resort in the next 10 years than it previously did after the theme park had been rebranded and redesigned as Dollywood in 1896.

"It's the bigger scope of these attractions that we'll be adding that's different," Ross explained.

The first part of the expansion plan, which will be opened next year, is the Fire Chaser Express, a ride regarded as thrilling but less intense as RiverPush or Wild Eagle.

A recent poll from the Dollywood executives showed that the addition of a resort to the theme park will change the way people view the said establishment.

Finally, Parton said, "The timing felt great and when the resort opens in the summer of 2015, it's going to be our 30th anniversary... We couldn't have a nicer present."

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