Dollywood is currently closed for the season, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t work to be done! Thanks to an update from the park, we now know that the final pieces of the park’s newest attraction, Big Bear Mountain, have been installed.
What’s Happening:
- Dollywood’s newest roller coaster, Big Bear Mountain, continues toward its opening this spring, as the last piece of track was put into place on Tuesday afternoon.
- At 3,990 ft., the roller coaster will become the longest at the park. It also will be the first ride at Dollywood to feature on-board audio.
- Dollywood ended its 2022 season earlier this month, and is currently set to reopen for this year’s season on March 10th, 2023. Dollywood has not revealed at this time if the new coaster will be debuting alongside the park when the gates reopen.
- Announced back in August, Big Bear Mountain is a new launched coaster coming to the park’s Wildwood Grove area, and was teased as part of a viral storytelling campaign that had begun a few days prior to the announcement that was made with Dolly Parton herself present.
- According to legend, Big Bear is a massive black bear who has been roaming through Wildwood Grove for as long as anyone can remember. While no one has ever seen him, telltale signs regularly appear in the hills surrounding the Grove. Dollywood guests are invited to join Wildwood Grove’s resident wilderness explorer, Ned Oakley, on an adventure to find Big Bear. From his base camp—located just a stone’s throw from the Grove’s Hidden Hollow—Oakley takes adventurers for the rides of their lives in his specially-outfitted, “four-wheel drive SUVs.”
- Featuring a top speed of 48 mph, Big Bear Mountain takes guests through three separate launches, multiple airtime hills, high-speed carousel turns, and tunnels, including a pass behind a waterfall.
- Big Bear Mountain joins the eleven other attractions of Wildwood Grove to continue the story of this hidden land just beyond the hollow log. As Dollywood’s newest land grows in size, so does its charm, making it an even more wonderful place for families to have fun, relax and be together surrounded by the beauty of the Smoky Mountains.
- Big Bear Mountain isn’t the only thing set for a 2023 debut from Dollywood. A second official resort hotel is also taking ship near the park, and guests will soon be able to enjoy Dollywood’s Heartsong Lodge later in the year. We got a special look at the beginning of the construction early last year which you can check out here.