Dollywood Fans Adjust to Covid Changes

PIGEON FORGE, Tenn. — The line of guests waiting to ride Lighting Rod, a 1950s-era roller coaster, wrapped around gift shops and food stands in Dollywood’s vintage-themed Jukebox Junction area, just 15 minutes after the park’s opening on April 23.

Among those anticipating a daring thrill on the wooden-and-steel-hybrid ride, Sydney Held, 24, and Amy Pereira, 23, passed time by braiding each other’s hair, trying to avoid getting strands tangled in their bold blue and pink face masks.

The two women traveled to Dolly Parton’s theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee from Auburn, Alabama for a staff retreat with their church after getting fully vaccinated. This is only the second time that they have traveled during the pandemic; the first was a work-related trip.

“I feel safer here than in Alabama,” said Pereira. “The mask mandate just got let down there, so nobody wears masks. This is the first time that I’ve seen everyone around me wearing masks since April 9th.”

After the opening of Dollywood’s 36th season in March, the park has altered policies to follow CDC recommendations, such as a relaxation of mask enforcement outdoors and the elimination of temperature checks.

Before the delayed season opening in June of 2020, the park made more than 700 operational changes to manage the pandemic, according to Public Relations Director Wes Ramey from The Dollywood Company. Masks were mandatory in all areas of the park and temperature checks were required prior to entry. Rules regarding social distancing in queue lines, increased sanitizing in high-traffic areas and a capacity for park attendance were also in effect.

On April 12 of this year, the park released a statement that Dollywood guests are no longer required to wear masks outdoors when they can socially distance. Masks are still required in queue lines, at the entry gates and on trams or trolleys.

Guests and workers must complete a health self-assessment online before entering the park. Dollywood workers will continue to wear face coverings at all times, according to Ramey.

“As of now, we are operating at a reduced capacity, so attendance is less than it typically would be at this time,” Ramey said in an email. “However, we feel we are doing pretty well, especially compared to where we anticipated we would be.”

After riding the trailblazing Wild Eagle, America’s first wing roller coaster, 28-year-old Kayla Sullivan was seated at a table in the park’s Great Smoky Mountains-inspired area, Rivertown Junction. She was saving seats as her friends bought food.

Sullivan is a teacher from Cincinnati. She came to the park for her first time with friends to celebrate a birthday. She felt comfortable because she is vaccinated and said that she would have felt just as safe if she had not been.

“I’m a teacher, so I’m in this all day,” Sullivan said, gesturing to the crowds around her. “I think everybody is at this point. Everybody is in it all day.”