Many of us hoped Dolly Parton was immortal and would live forever, but apparently Dolly herself recognized this wasn’t the case and worked with Dollywood park leadership to prepare for the time she would no longer be with us. Park President Eugen Naughton was quoted in an interview with WVLT saying, “She gave us the gift of time to prepare for what was going to eventually happen here. We have plans until 2036 that she laid emphasis on us as a leadership team that I am confident in.” It also appears that Dolly had input and gave approval for the memorials in the park that will honor her including a new guitar sculpture to be placed in the Dollywood fountain near the park’s chapel and a special reflection area for visitors to write about how she impacted them through her music and philanthropy. If you wondered how the park came out with these tributes so rapidly following Dolly’s death, this is the reason. The park was also very quick with posts on social media that the park would be open the day after her death as it was what she wanted and with reassurance that Dolly’s vision for the park would be retained.. it also gives reassurance to the thousands of employees as Dollywood is the engine to the economy of this area.

“She gave us the gift of time to prepare for what was going to eventually happen here.”

Dolly’s declining health also probably had a lot to do with NightFlight opening and still needing some fine tuning. The behind the scenes talk is that Dolly very much wanted to be a part of the ride’s opening given it was the park’s largest ever single investment. Privately there’s been a concession that things were moving fast trying to make things happen to be sure Dolly could be part of the opening. Dolly ended up being able to take part in the opening by a prerecorded message, but she was able to be part of opening day, My personal opinion is that anything the was “rushed” about NghtFlight was more subconscious than conscious as the park leadership sincerely loved Dolly and no doubt wanted her to see the ride operating.

Dollywood has big plans over the next decade to invest $500,000,000 in new additions and upgrades. Dolly’s official title was “Dreamer “. In the same WVLT interview President Eugene Naughton said, “She knew what she wanted Dollywood to be … she taught us how to dream big,” This includes five new resorts, renovating existing areas and some new additions, all approved by Dolly before her death. Dolly Parton was a great philanthropist, leader, musician, friend and all around great human. She showed this in how she lived and in how she died by being sure the people and place she loved would be well taken care of after she was gone. Dollywood’s future seems secure and the park will continue to honor her life and legacy through the jobs and opportunities it creates in the community she loved as well as the memories it creates for the guests who visit.