Wildwood Grove Opens at Dollywood

Years in the making, Wildwood Grove at Dollywood is now open! With a price tag of $37 million, it marks the park’s largest capital investment since it opened in 1986, and it’s the first new area added to the park since Wilderness Pass opened in 2008.

Members of the media were invited to the park on Friday to preview Wildwood Grove’s 11 rides, attractions and experiences and to see Dolly Parton herself christen the new land.

The area looked vastly different from my construction tour in March. Crews worked around the clock, seven days a week to ready Wildwood Grove for its debut.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a Dollywood media event without an appearance from the legend herself.

“When I was a little girl growing up in the hills of the Smoky Mountains, I’d often let my imagination just run away—something I still do now—dreaming these big dreams about what it’d be like to venture off with a family of bears in to the woods or how fun it would be to hitch a ride with the butterflies and dragonflies,” Dolly said.

“All us kids would splash and play in the creeks and ponds around home and have these daydreams about the world around us, and that’s what’s so special about Wildwood Grove. We’ve been able to create a new area to allow families to experience some of those exact dreams we all had when we were little.

She’s very proud of this area, and it shows.

Joined by Wildwood Grove’s mascot butterflies, Flit and Flutter, Dolly invited a few little ones on stage with boxes full of butterflies to release. It was a very sweet, authentically Dolly moment.

You can watch the entire opening ceremony below:


Shameless plug: as a writer for the Dollywood Insiders blog, I was able to ask Dollywood a question during the Q&A portion of the event:

It’s at the top of my list of favorite Dollywood (and perhaps life) memories.

Later in the afternoon, Dolly had a sit-down interview with Jenna Hager Bush of the Today Show. I love how much national exposure the park gets, especially when Dolly is around.

Now let’s take a look through Wildwood Grove. Below are some of the can’t-miss rides, sights and other attractions the area offers guests.

Wildwood Tree

The centerpiece of Wildwood Grove is the towering Wildwood Tree. Standing 50 feet tall, it can be seen from much of the area.

The tree is filled with nearly 650, multicolored lighted butterflies and almost 9,000 leaves.

Beginning June 22, 2019, the tree will come to life after the sun sets as part of a daily nighttime experience.

Dragonflier Roller Coaster

For coaster enthusiasts, the Dragonflier suspended coaster is the star attraction of Wildwood Grove.

  

Dragonflier is a Vekoma suspended coaster that stands about 63 feet tall and reaches a top speed of 46 mph.

The family-friendly coaster’s gently banked turns and helices emulate the feeling of riding a smooth, free-swinging suspended coaster (a la Arrow).

I was surprised by how widely the front-seat and back-seat rides differed. The front row is my favorite — the unobstructed views are amazing, and you’re better able to see just how close you are to the ground.

I found the back of the train to provide a relatively more forceful ride. The drop was especially surprising. I was distracted admiring the area when the train lurched down into the tunnel. I was struck with the butterflies-in-stomach sensation — fitting for an area with butterflies abound.

The coaster’s 20-seat train maintains an impressive amount of momentum as it traverses through the 1,486 feet of track.

But perhaps my favorite thing about Dragonflier was how low to the ground the second half of the coaster is. I found myself reflexively lifting my legs as the train dipped into a small depression dug into the earth.

The Dragonflier queue is completely covered, which will be much appreciated once summer arrives.

The coaster’s loading station doubles as its brake run, so it was surprising to see a train enter the station with so much speed, but the deceleration isn’t at all jarring or too abrupt.

The trains are very roomy and comfortable. Yes, they are equipped with nets on either side. I don’t mind them, and I’m sure the owners of the phones, wallets and other loose articles that they catch won’t mind them either.

Photo Courtesy of Dollywood

The netting on the trains eliminates the need for an excessive amount of netting off the ride, which may block some of the views.

The 90-degree turn over the water offers a striking photo opportunity for onlookers.

Black Bear Trail

Black Bear Trail is one of the more unique rides you’ll find at Wildwood Grove.

Riders hop on the back of Benjamin Bear, one of the Wildwood Grove’s three mascots (along with Flit and Flutter).

The bears meander through a beautifully landscaped plot of land.

The adjacent pathway provides many vantage points, so onlookers can easily spot their friends and family members who are riding.

Other Rides at Wildwood Grove

Wildwood Grove is home to four flat rides: Giant Tree Swing, Treetop Tower, Mad Mockingbird and Frogs & Fireflies.

The Mad Mockingbird is a classic flying scooters ride. Each of the hand-painted “scooters” has a stationary rear wing and a moveable front wing that gives guests control of the flight of the vehicle.

The “Frogs & Fireflies” ride is a tamer ride for the younger ones in the group.

The kids I saw riding it later in the day seemed to enjoy it.

The Great Tree Swing is another classic amusement park ride — the swinging pirate ship — that has been missing from Dollywood’s ride lineup.

I love colored leaves at the base and pinnacle of the ride’s support structure.

The spinning Treetop Tower offers guests a view of the area from 40 feet above inside hand-carved acorns.

Other Attractions at Wildwood Grove

Another guest favorite (especially during weather extremes) will be the indoor Hidden Hollow play structure.

The air-conditioned space features play equipment for all ages (adults included) with couches in the middle so parents and guardians can keep an eye on the kids.

I’m sure the adults will love this climate-controlled building just as much as the kids do.

Wildwood Creek is an outdoor play area with both a dry side and a splash side.

Again, this will be another popular spot on hot days. I like that the design team kept the seasons in mind while planning Wildwood Grove.

But they also kept in mind the adults who will be watching on those same hot days. There are plenty of shade structures throughout the area.

This meet-and-greet structure will give guests the opportunity to meet the costumed cast of Wildwood Grove (Benjamin Bear, Flit and Flutter).

Till & Harvest Restaurant

The Till & Harvest restaurant won’t open until later this month (Memorial Day Weekend, May 24-26, 2019), but the exterior of the building is nearly complete.

 

And though the restaurant wasn’t open, the park had delicious samples of the food that will be served once it opens.

The food served at Till & Harvest is touted as “Smoky Mountain Mexican.” My favorite dish was the Southern Mexican Chicken Bowl.

The well-rounded dish was filled perfectly seasoned chicken, rice and some sort of queso or crema. It was topped with shredded cheese, pico de gallo and scallions.

The salsa was also very good — not too spicy with a few earthy notes. It was exactly how I would imagine a salsa from the Smoky Mountain region.

But the real stars of the sampling were the desserts that will be served at the restaurant’s (potentially dangerous to my diet) walk-up window.

This (very) decadent chocolate cake was topped with pecans and a heavy drizzle of gooey caramel.

I don’t think anyone will go hungry at Wildwood Grove. And the southwestern fare is a cuisine that’s been missing from Dollywood, so it’s a welcome addition.

 

The Mountain Grove Merchants store offers a plethora of Wildwood Grove souvenirs as well as some outdoorsy accessories.

Don’t miss the real (but not so live) tree trunk in the middle of the store. It’s attention to detail like this that makes this new land so memorable.

Landscaping at Wildwood Grove

The landscaping itself could be considered to be an attraction at Wildwood Grove. The park spent $1 million on landscaping alone, planting 400 trees and more than 2,300 shrubs.

Guests enter Wildwood Grove through two tunnel-like structures, one being a hollowed out tree trunk

The entrance and exit to the area are located in Timber Canyon near Mystery Mine. I was a little worried that the trek to Wildwood Grove would be a little too steep, but it’s not bad at all.

I love this interesting water feature outside of the restaurant as well as the tree-stump planters. Everything in Wildwood Grove is so (literally) grounded in nature.

This beautifully designed waterfall feeds into Wildwood Creek and provides some soothing background noise.

Though not landscaping per se, this mural will surely become a heavily Instagrammed spot at Wildwood Grove. While most parks would have left this backside-of-a-restaurant as only a fence, Dollywood went the extra step to create this eye-catching visual.

I had high expectations for Wildwood Grove, and they were exceeded on almost every level. I wish I had a time machine so that I could jump forward and see Wildwood Grove after all of the greenery has filled out.

For example, get this photo of Thunderhead’s drop now, because in a few years it will be covered by these trees.

But even today, the area is gorgeous.

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Use the promo code “DWINSIDERS11” for $10 off general admission when you buy tickets online at Dollywood.com!

Have you visited Wildwood Grove yet? Share your thoughts about Dollywood’s newest area in the comments section below.

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