Dollywood 2023 Construction Progress – April 2022

Dollywood has yet to announce its 2023 theme park plans (it did announce HeartSong Lodge & Resort last June), but dirt is already moving for the (likely) 2023 expansion of Wildwood Grove, anchored by a new roller coaster. With last year’s HeartSong Lodge & Resort announcement came the news that the resort would kickstart Dollywood’s 10-year, $500 million investment strategy. This new attraction is no doubt a result of that investment.

Update: Dollywood has announced Big Bear Mountain for 2023! Learn about triple-launch family coaster here.

I visited the park last week and got a glimpse of the sprawling construction site.

I’ll preface this with an acknowledgment that Dollywood officials presented concept plans to the City of Pigeon Forge planning commission late last year for approval. However, those plans were preliminary and are not necessarily indicative of the final product. And even the nature of those types of plans limits what we know about the ride. Therefore, I’m going to focus on what we can see so far.

To set the stage for these construction shots, I’ve included an aerial of the project site (above). As of this posting, there are two main areas to keep an eye on — the large clearing behind the “terminus” (dead end) of Wildwood Grove and the survey markers on the hillside that parallels the eastern side of the land.

As was the case with Wildwood Grove, the Dollywood Express train provides the best view of the back half of the construction site near the Wildwood Grove “dead end.”

Also, I’m not entirely sure if the area marked by yellow caution tape is related to the 2023 project as it’s set so far back from the construction activity. My initial hunch is that this is where the fireworks might be staged for this year, but that is purely a guess on my part (if you know, feel free to leave a comment below).

This area has always been earmarked for a future expansion of Wildwood Grove, so I’m not totally surprised that we’re seeing activity here.

With construction equipment now on site, I anticipate that this site will become very active over the next few weeks as the weather gets nicer (and hopefully cooperates).

As something is quite clearly being done to this area, the Dollywood Express conductors (who narrate the train ride) are once again telling guests that the construction is due to Dolly Parton having lost one of her earrings during a recent visit. It’s a funny and completely plausible explanation — she has great tastes.

To see the survey markers on the hill, you’ll need to take a stroll to Wildwood Grove.

You’ll first see most of the survey markers sprinkled on the hill that parallels the land. They start behind the Till and Harvest restaurant.

They continue toward the other end of the land. A few can be seen on the hill between the Black Bear Trail ride and the Dollywood Express route.

To learn more about Wildwood Grove, see our extensive coverage of Dollywood’s newest land from the 2019 media day here.

What are your predictions for Dollywood’s new-for-2023 attraction? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

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