It’s not uncommon to have a playground type area at a theme park consisting of slides and suspension bridges. There are some huge outdoor play areas like Elmo’s Treehouse Trek at Busch Gardens, but Dollywood is in a league of their own with a massive indoor play area in the Wildwood Grove area of the park called Hidden Hollow. However, “Hidden Hollow” is a very appropriate name as the building it’s in is very nondescript and without obvious signage, so you could easily pass it by thinking it was a shop, restroom or something else. The indoor space is well air conditioned with seating for parents and is a great place for families to refresh on a hot day, get out of the rain or cold or just give kids something to do with zero wait.

The area is just massive when you walk in with there being 3 levels of obstacles for the kids to interact with and is 4,000 square feet. There’s also interactive activities for them to pay at ground level and it’s all done with light and sound in a slightly darkened room that will remind you a bit of a cosmic bowling atmosphere. The park’s website describes it as follows:

Near the Wildwood Tree, a secret play area named Hidden Hollow beckons families with a collection of kid-friendly activities for hours of play. Surrounded by a forest scene, kids of all ages get in touch with nature, climbing up tree trunk net towers, exploring tree crawls, traversing a series of blocks, and sliding down hollow logs.A separate toddler area provides the smallest adventurers with their own space to safely explore.

https://www.dollywood.com/themepark/rides/hidden-hollow/

There are a bunch of great little touches to this area I really appreciate as a parent. First, there is a huge amount of comfortable padded seats for the adults. Second, these seats provide great views of the entire play area and are between the play area and the only entrance/exit to the play area. Finally, there are bathrooms right next door making this area one stop shopping for a quick refresh.

Dollywood isn’t alone in having great play areas, but is one of the few indoor ones I’ve seen at a theme park. I do applaud any park putting in a play area and my 7 year old son always wants to stop. I admit to often telling him, “we’re not stopping, you can play on those at home for free!”, but with only varying degrees of success. However, on a busy day or a park we have season passes to a playground is a great way to pass some time and relax in a fun theme park atmosphere. Some of them are standard stuff that you could see at any park like the “one “Stay and Play Hideaway” at Lake Winnie, but several are very unique like huge suspension bridges at “Elmo’s Treehouse Trek” the or heavily themed like the “Land of the Dragons” at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, making them special for the kids.

Hidden Hollow is great indoor play area you should check out. Of course you don’t pay $90/day per person just to go to a great playground, but it’s a nice place to cool off, let the youngest take a nap, check some phone messages or give kids some instant fun and gratification when lines are long. This isn’t the “main course” of a theme park experience, but something great to mix in to balance out the day. This place is great that every family with younger kids should be sure not to miss.