Dollywood Planning New "Family Attraction" for 2023 Season

© Bing Maps

Dollywood has received approval from the Pigeon Forge Planning Commission for a new project for 2023, covering 20 acres at the park and located adjacent to the Wildwood Grove area.  The documents highlight that the new attraction to be located within the project is a "family attraction," but plans that were released as part of the approval show what looks like a new family roller coaster.

The area in yellow in the image above show the part of the park that will contain the new roller coaster, in general terms.  The news article mentions that the new expansion will feature all service facilities for the new ride, along with a food area - the bulk of that will be over on the left.  The ride's track then extends out along the backside of the Wildwood Grove area, doing a turnaround on a graded slope that borders the area.

© Dollywood

These are the plans that became public as a result of the meeting.  You can compare these to the aerial above, they are pretty close in layout.  On the larger image you can follow the twisting track of the ride, and there are also small dots that to me would be the footer locations for the coaster.  They stay pretty close to the ride's path which generally means the track will stay close to the ground (think Hagrid's at Islands of Adventure).  There also appears to be a lack of a lift hill, which matches the rumors that the ride will feature multiple launches to gain its speed.

The only odd thing about these plans is that they seem to effictively block off the rest of the land cleared up by the train loop - a sizable portion that was expected to be developed over time.  Then again, if there is a will there is a way, I'm sure the park can work around the new ride to keep building in the future.

Per the news article Dollywood does not have any comment on the plans yet, but they will announce the details of this new attraction when they are ready.