There’s no place like home for the holidays and that is why Dolly created Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmasfest. Dolly’s love of Christmas is represented in this one-of-a-kind festival. It is complete with millions of Christmas lights and holiday entertainment for the whole family. Dolly talks about the festival explaining,
“I just love Christmas here in my Smoky Mountain home and I wanted a place where families could spend time together and make some priceless memories. So we strung two million lights and transformed Dollywood into a magical winter wonderland.”
Also added in 1990 was Imagination Station, an interactive children’s play zone in the Country Fair area.
A new fixture began attracting Pigeon Forge visitors to Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede. In 1990, the Stampede placed some of the horses in new stables next to the Pigeon Forge Parkway. A publicist was quoted by a local newspaper as saying,
“You’d be surprised how many people pull up here just to look at the horses. Then they decide to come to the show.”
The new stables and horses were not the only thing drawing crowds to Dixie Stampede, thousands of cheer on trained pigs, chickens and bulls each day. With the success of the first season, the Stampede found many visitors, especially enjoyed the stunt animals. Since that time, show producers have made sure the stunts and animals were in the spotlight.
Each year, the Stampede spends about one million dollars to for show upgrades and most importantly, to ensure the horses and other animals receive excellent training and care.
By 1990, Dolly’s Dixie Stampede in Pigeon Forge was being billed as one of the largest dinner attractions in the world. For its third season, this unique dining experience found another way to thrill audiences, an electric light parade.
With more than 30 horses and their riders and 15,000 sparkling lights, Dolly and her team wanted to make sure there was something for everyone. General Manager Jim rule said,
“It has everything, including action-packed adventure for the men, romance and beauty for the ladies, fascinating animals for the kids and laughter for all.”
Dolly echoed that statement, saying,
“It’s the most fun place to eat in the Smokies!”
Rule told a local newspaper there were lights on the horses’ saddles, bridles, stirrups, and breast harnesses. The lights are also on the riders’ hats, shirts, vests, pants, boots, guns and holsters.
Audiences to Dolly’s dinner attraction also looked forward to synchronized horse drills, horse barrel racing, Brahma bull riding competition, buckboard wagon racing and women’s horse racing.
Another highlight of the third season was a stage descending to the center of the arena, with Southern Belles singing and dancing.
Dollywood’s fourth season was celebrated with the opening of the park’s first outdoor roller coaster, Thunder Express! As Dolly released hundreds of lightning bolt balloons, she launched the first ride out of the station.
Situated into the mountainside of the park's rugged terrain, Thunder Express at Dollywood was a mine themed roller coaster featuring two trains. Dolly said,
“My brothers and sisters and me came up with some pretty odd contraptions when we were little, but our imaginations had never conjured up anything quite like this.”
Following a successful first season for Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Dinner Attraction in Pigeon Forge, the show's producers wanted to give the fans something new. That was done with a few new additions to the animal lineup and more friendly competition.
Added to the horses and bulls guests saw during the first season at Dolly’s dinner attraction, chickens and pigs were worked into the second season. Audience members were called on to chase chickens in a race to see if the North or South would claim a victory. The thoroughbred pigs raced the stadium to bring home another win for their side.
These animal antics were not the only differences between the first and second season. The producers wanted there to be more action for the audience. A publicist for Dixie Stampede was quoted as saying,
“We want to get onto this rivalry between the North and South.”
