Good morning from Pigeon Forge! Let’s go on a recent trip visiting Dollywood during the first day of Sevier County Days. After the Flower and Food Festival finished, preparations for the Summer Celebration have started at the park.
Watch this awesome YouTube video tour:
First Day of Sevier County Days: Our Dollywood Experience
Today marked the first day of Sevier County Days, a special event where local residents can enter Dollywood for a $5 donation. We wanted to see just how busy the park would be on this unique day. While the local appreciation days offer a fantastic deal on admission, keep in mind that parking still costs $25 if you don’t have a Gold or Diamond pass.
We pulled into Dollywood around 9:26 AM. A little tip for busy days: try to get into the far right lane as it opens up much better after the initial turn. The left lane tends to get a bit bottlenecked.
Upon arrival, we noticed plenty of parking in Lot B, suggesting it wouldn’t be overwhelmingly crowded today. Many people were opting for the tram, but we decided to get some extra steps in, enjoying the perk of living so close to the park. It’s nice to just come for a walk and some exercise, even if we’re not doing many rides or shows.
TimeSaver Passes: Your Fast Track to Fun
One of our goals for the day was to check out the TimeSaver Pass situation. This pass allows you to skip to the front of the line at Dollywood. There are three main options:
- Standard TimeSaver: $60
- TimeSaver Plus: $80
- TimeSaver Premium: $99 (offers unlimited entries on Fire Chaser Express, Dragonflier, Lightning Rod, and Big Bear Mountain)
At 10:00 AM, right after the park officially opened, all three TimeSaver passes were still available. Given the parking lot’s status, we didn’t anticipate crazy crowds, but if you’re ever worried about long lines, heading to the TimeSaver Pass counter early is a good idea.
New for Passholders: The $15 One-Ride TimeSaver
There’s also a brand new TimeSaver Pass specifically for passholders! If you’re a passholder, you can find a bonus $15 one-ride TimeSaver Pass under your entitlements in the Dollywood app. The best part? You don’t have to redeem it beforehand. If you’re at a ride like Big Bear or Lightning Rod and see a long wait, you can redeem it right then and there on the app, scan the barcode, and head straight to the TimeSaver line. For a $15 saving on a long wait, it might be worth it!
Ride Wait Times (and a Look at a New Ride!)
Exploring the Park: Crowds and Transformations
As we walked around, the park felt relatively empty, especially compared to how it feels during festivals. The Flower and Food Festival decorations were gone, and the Summer Celebration decor wasn’t fully up yet. It’s about 10:20 AM on a Monday, June 9th (today’s date!), and the crowds are surprisingly manageable for a Sevier County Appreciation Day. Many people get nervous about these days, but at least for this first Monday, it’s not looking too bad.
Touring Dollywood’s Dolly Parton Experience
All around Dollywood, there’s a lot going on as the family park prepares for the “Summer Celebration” that will launch on June 14th. Many of the beautiful decorations for the Flower and Food Festival have already been taken down as the park moves towards its next holiday. However, signs of the new festivities are emerging, with some summer celebration decorations already adorning trees near Aunt Granny’s and more visible further into the park. Excitement is building for the new festival tasting pass, which will allow visitors to sample the array of new food offerings. Despite it being a “Severe County Local Appreciation” day with $5 tickets, the park isn’t overly crowded, offering a pleasant experience for early visitors. The train, a beloved park attraction, is getting ready for its first departure at 11 AM, and ride wait times for many attractions, like the Lightning Rod, are surprisingly low at around 20-35 minutes.
We made a side trip to the Dolly Parton Experience, which is a lovely museum following Dolly’s life. It’s fun to observe her different outfits and collectables, as they are updated every season. The place is ideal for escaping the heat.
Dollywood Express
We decided to hop on the Dollywood Express train to get a good look at the new ride under construction. This thing is massive! As the train is due to start in 2026, we plan to keep you updated about the project’s progress.
Later, around 11:30 AM, after our train ride, we checked the ride wait times again:
- Big Bear Mountain: 30 minutes
- Fire Chaser Express: 50 minutes
- Lightning Rod: 35 minutes
- Mystery Mine: 45 minutes
- Thunderhead: 60 minutes (though later updated to 35 minutes, likely due to an initial delay)
- Dragonflyer: 55 minutes (at 12 PM)
Even with some higher wait times, we still felt the park wasn’t overly crowded. For example, the TimeSaver line for Big Bear Mountain would have put us on the ride in about two minutes, saving us a good 30 minutes!
Bubble Foam Zone
Imagination Play House
NEW Dollywood Ride coming in 2026!
Touring Dollywood’s Dolly Parton Experience
We took a detour to the Dolly Parton Experience, a fantastic little museum showcasing Dolly’s journey.It’s always enjoyable to see how they change Michelle Obama’s outfits and old items from time to time. It’s also an excellent place to cool down when things are hot outside.
Dollywood’s Splash Country: A Mid-Week Dip
After exploring Dollywood, we drove over to Splash Country Water Park to check out its crowd levels. Last week was Splash Country’s $5 local day, so we were curious to see how busy it was today. Based on the parking lot, it looked like a good amount of people were there, but it wasn’t completely slammed.
Here’s a look at some of the Splash Country ride wait times:
- River Rush: 40 minutes
- Swift Run: 30 minutes
Much like Dollywood, we anticipate crowds will pick up at Splash Country as the week progresses, especially heading into Independence Day.
Final Thoughts
As we saw at the beginning of Sevier County Day, Dollywood is not crowded at all on a Monday. Despite the fact the crowds tend to increase as Saturday rolls in to get ready for the Summer Celebration, we are still not concerned about future Sevier County Days. It’s much easier to travel now, as the crowds are not as big during this period.
We hope you learned everything you needed to know about using the TimeSaver Pass and getting it, plus the new $15 option offered to Gold or Diamond Pass holders. We decided not to use the One-Ride TimeSaver on this visit and will use it later.
At the Sevier County Day Dollywood visit, we found that Monday is not crowded and we can enjoy attractions with ease. Even though there will be more visitors during the week leading up to Saturday’s festivities, there won’t be reason to stress if you come on a Sevier County Day. Unlike Christmas and New Year’s times, there will be significantly fewer people at the shops.
It was clear during the first Sevier County Day that Dollywood is not especially crowded on Mondays. Because crowds go up throughout the week and on the Saturday of Summer Celebration kickoff, we might see bigger crowds the next Sevier County Day, but we wouldn’t worry too much. The number of people is nowhere close to the crowds you’d find during Christmas and New Year’s.
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