Walt Disney World, Disneyland, and Universal Studios couldn't top this amusement park located in the Great Smoky Mountains of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. That's right, Dollywood, co-founded by Dolly Parton, was ranked by TripAdvisor as the top amusement park in the United States.
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In the website's 2025 Travelers' Choice Awards, the park reached the top of the Best of the Best: Amusement & Water Parks category. It commended Dollywood's "down home feel" as well as its "high-velocity roller coasters and thrill rides."
What Led Dolly Parton to Open Dollywood?
Why did singer, actress, and fashion icon Parton want to open an amusement park, anyway?
If you know anything about the "Jolene" singer, she always finds ways to give back. For example, her reading program, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, has given a whopping 264 million books to children around the world since its inception in 1995.
Dollywood was born from that desire to give back. It was a way to create jobs for those in the community near her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee. She also wanted to celebrate the culture, music, and traditions of the area.
Parton decided to partner with the existing Silver Dollar City theme park and transform it into a place that celebrated and preserved her Appalachian roots while giving the East Tennessee economy a boost.
This Isn't the First Time Dollywood Snagged the Award
Dollywood's success is no accident. It has earned the Best Amusement Park honor three times in the last four years.
TripAdvisor also placed DollyWood eleventh on the list of Top 25 Amusement Parks in the World. In fact, it's the only North American park to make the Top 15 on the worldwide list.
These rankings are based on the reviews and opinions of TripAdvisor's large community of users over the last 12 months.
"This award is humbling because it is derived from real reviews left by our actual guests describing their time here at our parks and resorts," Dollywood president Eugene Naughton said in a statement.
The National Amusement Park Historical Association named Dollywood the country's favorite theme park in May. It's the third time in a row the theme park was bestowed with the honor. Walt Disney World ranked second.
