Dollywood
Reviews and Complaints

When we purchased our Gold season pass, we gave the receipt for the $15 parking charge to be refunded as has been the case since offering the Gold pass, but apparently "the higher ups" have decided we no longer should have the $15 after paying almost $200 for a pass. It's ridiculous to charge for parking anyway, but to continue to dig into our pockets for just a little more money is ridiculous, especially for Dollywood where they're making millions from ticket sales and food sales already. We've been coming for over 30 years, things like this make loyal people like us never come back.

On April 5, 2018 I purchased 6 tickets for Dollywood totaling $410.76. There was 12 of us in total going to spend the day in Dollywood, one of the major attractions when visiting Tennessee. We had 6 teenagers with us excited to spend the day riding rollercoasters and enjoying the park. It was spring break week so of course we expected lines but also knew the park would be ready for a crowd. Our first ride was Thunderhead, we waited on line for 35 minutes, loaded onto the ride and then was told the ride has broken down and we needed to disembark. We were given a fast pass for another ride, and went on our way to the next ride. We were able to ride 3 rides before getting on line for Lightning Rod. We waited on line for 93 minutes only to be told that the ride had broken down. The attendant named Al told them we could wait in line since we were next and that the ride should be fixed soon. We waited, and waited and watched the attendants send empty roller coaster car after empty roller coaster car up the tracks to test it. We even watched Al ride the ride by himself to test it. Finally we loaded onto the ride, started to go up the incline only to have the ride roll back a little and stop. Again we were told to disembark the ride it had broken down. We asked to be compensated after waiting in line for so long for a ride that had broken down and was told "Sorry we can't do that". Three rides for $410.76 thats all we got on that day. Not only were the rides clearly not ready for riders but the food vendors were not ready. Between the front of the park and the very back of the park we found one food vendor open. ONE! The food vendors in the front of the park were the only ones open and they were clearly not ready for the crowd. We waited an hour and half at Reds for $160 worth of burgers. One of the adults decided tot and in line for a soft pretzel at a vendor for 30 minutes only to be told that they were out of soft pretzels and they won't be ready for another 25 minutes.
To say were were disappointed is an understatement. We traveled from Baldwin, NY to meet family members that had traveled from Peachtree City, GA to have a mini family reunion. The 12 of us decided what better way to spend a beautiful spring break day then at the famous "Dollywood" where our 6 teenagers can enjoy some awesome rides. $410.76( for 6 tickets) in tickets, $15 to park & $160 for food for a total of $585.76. We rode 3 rides, yes I said 3 rides! We spent more time waiting for broken down rides then anything else that day. Dollywood was in no way prepared to be open that day during Spring Break, the food vendors were not prepared to be open that day as well. I would like some kind of reimbursement. I will not be traveling back to Tennessee anytime soon nor would I ever go back to Dollywood.
Thank you,
Leeanne Healy

I was discriminated while attempted to eat at this restaurant. Who can I speak with? I already made a phone call and did not hear back from anyone. I have been coming to this park for 22 years and was never treated the way I was treated. My name is Tara. My contact is [protected]. My email is tara.[protected]@gmail.com. I will keep on contacting until this issue is resolved.

On nov 27 I rec reminder to get my passes so I could get the free bring a friend for Christmas. i went online and purchased 3 pass renewals and the deal with 3 mugs. I also chose the monthly payment plan and proceeded to check out. It kept saying error but then went thru. When I received my receipt via email my card was charged the full amount instead of the monthly payment plan and no bring a friend for Christmas tickets. I called the 800 number approx 8am on 11/28. I spoke to Carolyn and gave her all my info she stated would get it takin care of and I would rec call back and email that day. I called my bank and they said it was in authorization that if they could get it takin care of that day there's me no problems. I immediately called back spoke to George and he stated he would let them know and I'd get a call back in the next little bit At 2pm I still had not heard nothing so I called back and spoke with a female she couldn't tell me nothing but wait on an email. I called back at 6 and they were closed. I called back this morning at 8 am and spoke to a lady and stated the lady that took care of it wasn't in and she had to leave earlier yesterday. I asked if there was anyone else I could speak to and she said no and that it'll take some time they couldn't take care of it in a day! This upsets me cause it sure was easy to get my money but no one seems to be in a hurry to refund and all agreed we're having problems with the online ordering. My husband and I love payday to payday and these tickets were a Christmas present for my son. We had saved money to do the monthly payment now we're going to be owing a bunch of over draft fees due to your hostess not being able to help in a timely manner. I am extremely upset that this has not been taken care of. Could some one please help my contact info is [protected] or [protected]. Thank you Brandi Thacker

On Sunday, November 19, 2017, my family and I spent the afternoon in Dollywood. The kids rode rides and they had cinnamon bread and we looked at the lights and in the stores. We saw the characters of Rudolph and took pictures. All of this we did while waiting for it to be time for one specific show and the parade. Imagine our disappointment when we arrived to see the show, only to be told the show had been cancelled for the night. The only show we wanted to see in the park was cancelled. So we decided not to wait for the parade and we left. Not happy I might add.

My family was visiting Dollywood on Tuesday, November 21st when the incident occurred. It was approximately 5:00 p.m. while we were waiting in line to see Santa, when a female worker walked by us with a group of people who skipped us in line and then rudely pulled the chain across and said Santa was going on break and he couldn't take anymore! There were no other families behind us..otherwise we would have understood. It was just my son & daughter. It upset our kids very badly because we were leaving the park & Santa was out last stop! We didn't have time to wait until the break was over. It was very rude and absolutely uncalled for. It wouldn't have took 2 minutes for them to set on his lap & snap a picture!
The overall park was nice but we will Go elsewhere.

We paid $35 for the picture deal, and we were told that we could give ALL the picture places in the park. We went as a family of 8 so we thought this would be a great idea. We bought it in Santa Land, and used it there fun and a great thing. The next area we go to is a snow globe, and the worker says you have to pay $5 for any of the Christmas stuff. Which in my lies this was wrong, and we were told half the truth to get us to buy it. We went on with our trip. We started riding coasters together so we could have family pictures of us all together. Well, another thing the woman didn't tell us is that none of the camera boths for the rides were open. After, 5 rides we finally get someone to tell us if you know about what time you road the ride they can look it up, and add it to your card later. We are on a family trip 4 adults and 7 children. There was no way we would of done the card if we would of know that most of the booths were not open and we would of knew we had to pay for the Christmas scenes.

We were looking for a nice get-away weekend with my 87-year old father-in-law.  It is a shame that it turned out the way it did.  Upon investigation, the cabins are a lease back deal.  Typically, that means somebody buys the cabin and then the company (Dollywood) rents them out and shares a percentage of the proceeds with the owner.  Apparently the owner of the cabin we rented called "Sweet Memories" is very profit motivated.  The cabin itself is nice but the devil is in the details.  For a total of $1, 040.56 for a three day stay, I was expecting a higher level of accommodation.  

Unfortunately we were very displeased in general.  When we checked into our cabin the floor (and carpet) were wet in front of the loveseat by the entrance door.  The tub in our bedroom had standing water in it with a wet towel in the bottom of the tub.  The furnishings look like they just came from Goodwill.  Kitchen chairs rickety, tables stained, rocking chairs on the porch missing seat slats, bedroom chest of drawers top drawer falling out, dead bugs on the window sills, finger prints on kitchen cabinets, etc.   Right in line with everything else, the mattresses were absolutely horrible, the linens worn and funky and the beds creak like an old sailing ship. The kitchen drip coffee maker had old coffee pouch left from some other guest (who knows how long ago).  The kitchen utensils are about as cheap as can be.  Forks with bent tines, etc.  I did not expect to have to service the forks before using them.  The paper products (paper towels & toilet paper) are also the lowest quality I have ever seen.  There was a hot tub on the patio and after seeing the inside of the cabin we were apprehensive about using it.  I opened the hot tub cover and noticed that there were zero sanitary products in the floating dispenser.  Needless to say, we nixed the hot tub.  I understand they are interested in maximizing profits but there are other alternatives.  The quality of the cabin's interior amenities seemed like what you would expect from a cheap motel, not from a place bearing the Dollywood name.

There are obvious management issues here.  I approached the lady at the front desk and voiced my concerns about the cabin and the mattress issues.  She told me that opinions regarding mattresses are purely "subjective".  She also said that after housekeeping did their thing, the cabin was "inspected" by another individual.  Like I said, it's a management issue.  I asked for the name and contact info for the general manager and she gave it to me.  I called the number and left a message for the GM to call me back.  I also sent an e-mail early in the afternoon.  It is now 8:45 that same day and I have not heard a word from the GM.

We have decided to leave a day early and I asked for a refund via e-mail to Tania Lindsey ([protected]@dollywood.com) for the unused Saturday evening due to the issues I mentioned above.  If you are used to clean, quality accommodations, a well stocked kitchen and responsive management, go elsewhere.  We should have checked Yelp before booking.   Oh, and if you call, expect to be connected to a phone robot.  Their message says that your call is important but if it really was, they would have staff to answer the phones.

Follow Up: When we arrived home there was a message on our phone from a woman named Patty, caller ID [protected]... She said that they would credit us for one night and that her supervisor would call us. We have not heard from the supervisor as yet.

All things considered, we should be refunded for the entire amount. We travel frequently and we were under the impression that a Dollywood Cabin would be a wonderful experience. It was a dive.

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Friends drove to Gatlinburg from PA for vacation just a week ago, October, 2017. Man and woman (late 80s) have a service dog with all paperwork. They also had great grandchildren with them. The service dog was refused entry to the park. So no one got to go to Dollywood. Seems this is a violation of the Disabilities Act. Every other place they went from restaurants, shows and Dixie Stampede and hotel they were never refused entry.

I am here for one day with my three children. Having planned to come here for a while we were excited that it was an 80 degree day in late august with no lines. Upon going into the Barnstormer, We noticed that there was no line and absolutely no one else in there. It 3:15 and was empty. Earnie (the man running the lines) first told my son to read that he was in the fast pass line and he must go around. They all three and myself went around and my son noticed it said groups of 3 or more on the floor so he proceeded to that part of the line. Earnie raised his voice to my son and said "What did I just tell you". He as well as my other kids and myself walked around to the next line and he said to my son "You listen next time I tell you something. ". After this he continued to mumble under his breath. Through this all my son was silent. Now I asked my son what he said because I could not hear him. My son was visibly upset and would not tell me and begged me not to say anything. We had to get away before he would speak to me about it. I am outraged that an employee at this establishment would act with such rudness and anger. He has ruined my child's day and in turn ruined ours. I am not one to write such letters but since my son begged me not to say anything to the man I had to do something. We paid way too much to have this man ruin our day.

When entering I was asked if I was in the military (probably because I had my navy shirt on) when I said I was she asked for military identification, when I explained that I didn't bring my wallet only cash she told me your lost on your discount(the discount would have been nice since there were four of us) then after walking around the park your biggest roller coaster was down as well as another so we decided let's go take the train only to find out that was down when I asked a worker at the train how long would it be down, the answer I received was I have no idea I'm not a mechanic...very disappointing experience at Dollywood

How is it you pay over $60 a person to enter this park and half the rides aren't in working other and the few that are working are shut down for inclement weather ""in ther area"" not even doing anything at the park itself. So basically we paid 60 a person to stare at each other. After drive over 3 hours to get here, we are pissed off! Better off going to another park!

This happened at DollyWood monday May 15th the worker named KATHY working the bumper cars just looked at my son without measuring him and said he couldn't ride the ride. She was very rude to my son and my family. My son is four we measured him ourselves his head touched the yellow and that means he was tall enough to ride. She still said no. We told her he wasn't even riding alone that he was riding with his uncle. She still hatefully said no. I have no clue what this old woman's problem was but she did not like my child he is four years old never done nothing to that woman. All my son wanted to do was ride the bumper cars with his uncle. I would like for her to be wrote up or fired. Kathy's behavior was unacceptable, rude, and unfriendly.

Our family came to Dollywood this past Saturday, mainly because of the show my people. My mom loved the shows so much that she bought a season pass for this year. With her buddy pass she wanted me and her granddaughter to come and visit Dollywood for mother's day weekend. We saw every show we could during the day, especially My people since it was her favorite. Mr Parton is my mom's favorite, so I was trying to get a chance to get a decent picture of Mr Parton during the show. I was respectful of the request for no flash photography for the safety of the proformers, and I didn't video anything at the shows, but I did take 3 photos during the show. Due to no flash, a decent picture is hard with the lighting so I was patiently waited for preformers to move around the lights for a possible better chance to get a pic for my mom, when a security guard came over and yelled at me while leaning over my daughter, and said " You better not be recording", I assured him I was not, just waiting to take a photo. The security guard told my daughter that, " I know she was", this frightened my daughter! Then he stood at the the end of our aisle for a half hour of the show staring at me and our family.we were unable to enjoy the show because of this, and this show is the reason we drove from SC to Dollywood. We loved the park, but we're disappointed at this show. My daughter was so upset that we didn't ever stop at the gift shop to purchase the DVD of show like we had planned, and decided not to get season passes for us at this time. Lucky we had seen several shows before this one that were great, just wish we had a better experience at this one. Thanks for your time.

Hi there!

My party and I recently visited Dollywood on Monday, May the 1st, 2017. Overall, we were very unsatisfied with our experience at the park due to the following things: before even entering the park, the lady at the gate to check my bag was very short and impolite in her way of telling me to remove it completely off my body. Once inside the park, the Dollywood ride operating staff was very monotone and unpleasant. When attempting to ride some of rollercoasters, (Lightening Rod, Tennessee Tornado, and The Wild Eagle) staff members rudely told us that they were under maintenance, which wasn't communicated to us until after having waited in line. This took up most of our day, and we were unable to ride the rides that we went there for. We proceeded to go to the Grist Mill for highly acclaimed cinnamon bread, (which tasted stale and dry), and were quickly dismissed by the cashier who clearly did not want to give us the time of day. She rolled her eyes when I asked her to charge me for an extra cup of icing and forcefully shoved my purchases in a bag. Because of all these experiences previously listed, my party and I decided to end our day early. On our way out, the tram drivers were unclear about where to get on and where to get off. They yelled excessively over their intercom, specifically directed at my group when we attempted to depart from the tram from the back, just like all of the tram stops before us. Instead, they changed their minds and made us exit via the front, and then proceeded to tap aggressively on their window and point their fingers at us when we tried to get to our vehicle through a gate which was closer then the one they made us unnecessarily walk through instead. My party and I (a group of young female women) felt uncomfortable and toyed with at the actions of these older men. Their actions were inappropriate and uncalled for. Due to the combination of these things, and the amount of money we invested in our negative experience at Dollywood, my party and I do not feel the need to spend our money at this park again.

Thank you for your time reviewing and resolving our concerns

- Jordan Rogers

Contact:
email: [protected]@gmail.com
phone: [protected]

I live approximately 40 - 50 miles from Dollywood in Greeneville TN and usually get season passes for Dollywood since it is so close and can take my grandchildren through the summer, but after my few hours there Saturday April 29th, 2017 I probably won't be back with or without my grandchildren. I got there around 12:30 went straight to the ride we wanted to ride Lightning Rod after standing 2 HOURS in line and not moving possibly 25' and seeing those whose PARENTS I suppose had paid an extra $35.00 for the Timesaver get on the ride 3 times while I as still waiting to ride once I was so aggravated with Dollywood and the world I left for the day. I was so aggravated and the more people I expressed my feelings to the more agreed with me. I Googled my sentiments and fortunately found this site which sums it up
https://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/06/26/you-can-skip-the-lines-at-the-theme-park-but-you-cant-skip-the-lesson/?_r=1
Dolly if you are trying to better our world, please get rid of TimeSaver passes...I completely understand the handicap going to the front but not the rich or richer than me...Susie Harrison

Today we went to Dollywood, 4/28/17, my name is Steve Smith, email is [protected]@gmail.com, contact number [protected], please respond via email. We have always enjoyed the fair part there but there was an employee working the shooting star, name was Franco, he told us to go to the back middle 2, it was already taken so we sat in available seats, he came over there and screamed no, he then told us to go to the other side, I told him you were the one who said this side then we sat on the other side and he buckled me and he had it tight but he pulled it again, making it extremely tight to the point my chest bone was hurting and I couldn't breathe, I know this was intentional and I'm ok but he could have seriously hurt me, if any complications arise from this then I will go to the Dr and I will have a lawyer contact you, I'm sure I'm ok though, I'm mainly mad that I was made not to be able to breath like I was, I'm a 36 year old man, not a child that needed to be scolded by him and furthermore physically provoked by him. I will NOT ride any rides where he has any way of tightening anything around me. Also, the rude behavior that some of the staff has is uncalled for, I know that Dollywood does great but the customers are the ones who bring the business but people like Franko seem not to Care about that. We were even told to hurry up and have a seat on the beaver ride today, excuse me but we had a child with us and were getting his and our items put into the box, rude, rude, rude, so disappointed in the lack of professionalism shown today. I'm sure I will receive a generic response; however, this guy could have seriously hurt me today. An apology is the very least your company owes me and my guest after today. Good day.

I went to Dollywood on April 7, 2017. I paid $12 for parking. I did this fully anticipating to be reimbursed. I bought a Gold Pass last year and was reimbursed for my parking fee. I renewed my Gold pass on 4/7/17 and was told I wouldn't be reimbursed for my parking this time. I'm very disappointed in this, because of the additional amount that I have to pay to get a Gold Pass in the first place. If I had been informed ahead of time then I would have renewed my pass before the end of the season last year. Not letting your customers know this ahead of time is a poor business practice. Everything in the park has gone up this year and you will more than make your money back.

Yesterday Wednesday, December 7, 2016, I took three Individuals with me to Dollywood with special needs. Two of Dollywood's staff was extremely cruel to us. My Individuals have mobility problem, fear of crowded places and is unable to stand for long periods of time and is unable to walk up steps. The wanted to see the musical "It's a Wonderful Life" at the Showstreet palace Theater the time was 350 pm. We had walked up the side with no steps but when we got close to the door I noticed a line of people going down the steps. This is how all the quest was walking into the show. The employee working at the door yells telling me and my quest that we would half to go all the way around and get into the back of the lane. I explained to her that my people had special needs and could not walk up steps she said this is the only way their going to get in, she say they had adapted equipment and could not walk up stairs. I tried to explain that we would wait and step in line when the last person walked in. We waited when the last person in the line was walking in she turned around and begin to talk to another employee for about 10 seconds we step in line, by the time she turned around more quest had walk up the steps getting behind us, she said you can not go in yet theirs more people in line. I said they just got in line. We tried to go into the theater and she stepped in front of me placing both of her hands on my chest and begin to push me backwards into my people with special needs. we step back out of the line and i said they is such a shame in the summer time when there is thousands of quest in Dollywood they never half to wait in line she yells saying this is Christmas, last christmas no one waited in lines. when finally got to set in the theater. After the amazing performance we was walking out and I saw the employee I tired to speak nicely to her saying I'm coming here tomorrow and I would like to set down and talk with you and your manager about what happened. she became aggressive saying you wait here my manager is over there pointing. I tried to explain to her I have my people with me she went ahead and got her manager I was saying please please let wait and discuss this tomorrow. Her manager walked and met us at another entrance where about one hundred other people was standing he talks very abruptly to me saying what is your problem I said I would like to discuss this tomorrow. he then demanded that I step back into the theater, I said I have my people with me this will need to wait he said step into here now. I said no I will not, I will disuse this problem tomorrow. He then yells saying we are not the ones with the problem you are, and all the people standing out side of the theater hundreds of people staring at me and my people we were humiliated by this manager. After this my people was frighten because they thought he was going to hurt us, we left the park so I could help calm my people with special needs down. Before leaving I ask the manager what his name was but he kept yelling saying do you want my address.

I was at Dollywood Friday 5/20/16 with my niece with special needs she was wanting to ride the kids coaster but the lady running the ride was very rude and said my niece was not tall enough after letting a (normal) little boy smaller than my niece ride something needs to be done about the way special needs children are treated! it broke her little heart and it's totally uncalled for