Everything You Need to Know About Dollywood Season Passes

Are you visiting Dollywood soon and can’t decide on what type of ticket or pass to buy? Here’s the scoop on everything you need to know about Dollywood Season Passes!

It’s a question that I often got asked when I was an inaugural Dollywood Insider – should I invest in buying a season pass? Locals know that a season pass is always the way to go, but what if you’re just visiting for a few days? Is it still worth buying a season pass?

Today I’m going to tell you everything you need to know!

What is a Dollywood Season Pass?

Since every theme park handles passes a little different, it’s important to know how Dollywood treats their season passes. Dollywood’s pass runs for an operating season. A 2021 Dollywood Season Pass is good for the entire 2021 operating year.

Dollywood opens on March 13, 2021 and will end the 2021 season on January 3, 2022. Be sure to read all about the important dates of 2021 and Dollywood hours.

While a Dollywood Season Pass used to get you in the door anytime during the year, things are running a bit differently now as we are still dealing with lower capacity. At this time, Dollywood is still requiring season pass holders to make a reservation to confirm their attendance. You can read more about the reservation system here.

What types of Dollywood Season Passes are there?

There are a few different types of Dollywood season passes, which might confuse you at first glance, but don't let it. They keep things super simple.

• Dollywood Season Pass - This pass will get you into Dollywood as many times as you'd like for the entire season [be sure to see note above about registration system in place currently].
• Dollywood's Splash Country Season Pass - This pass will get you into Splash Country as many times as you'd like for the entire water park season [again, check reservation system].
• Super Pass - This type of season pass gets the passholder into BOTH parks unlimited amount of times throughout the season.
• Gold Pass [can be for Dollywood, Splash Country, or Super Pass] - The gold standard of season passes. This gets you unlimited visits to the park of your choice or both with the Gold Super Pass and comes with an array of extra benefits that we'll discuss below.

Benefits of Dollywood Season Passes:

In addition to unlimited visits to the parks for the entire season, there are many other great benefits of purchasing Dollywood season passes that include:

• Exclusive ride times on select attractions - Every Saturday season pass holders can get into the park one hour early and one attraction will be open for exclusive ride access.
• Friends & Family Discount - $5 off regular 1-Day admission for friends to the Season Pass' respective Park; Passholder must be present and purchase.
• 20% off Dollywood Cabins overnight accommodations (Passholder only); Subject to availability; for reservations, call Dollywood at 866-857-2123.

Exclusive Benefits to Dollywood Gold Season Passes:

• FREE Parking every operating day for either park. This is a HUGE benefit as it costs $12 to park at Dollywood each day.
• 20% Off Food, Merchandise, and select Rentals at the Gold Pass’ respective Park. Another benefit that can really add up on meals and souvenirs purchased at the park.

Dollywood Insider Expert Tip: Have Mom [or the person who will always be with your family visiting the park] purchase a Dollywood Gold Pass to take advantage of FREE parking and the 20% food discount. All the members of your family do NOT need a Gold Pass to get these great benefits.

Extra Benefits [outside of Dollywood]:

You may not be aware, but being a Dollywood season passholder can get you some great savings outside of Dollywood also. Be sure to check the Dollywood website for exact details on extra savings for visits to:

Biltmore, Dolly Parton's Stampede, Ripley's Attractions, Stone Mountain Park, Zoo Knoxville, and MORE!

Dollywood Season Pass Prices:

Now here's the information that everyone wants to know, right? Here's the easiest breakdown of Dollywood Season Pass prices:

• Dollywood Season Passes:
  • Regular [ages 12-59] - $139
  • Child [4-11] - $129
  • Senior [ages 60+] - $129
• Dollywood Splash Country Passes:
  • Regular [ages 12+] - $99
  • Child [ages 4-11] - $87
• Super Pass [unlimited visits to both parks]:
  • Regular [ages 12+] - $189
  • Child [ages 4-11] - $179
• Dollywood Gold Pass
  • Regular [ages 12-59] - $224
  • Senior [ages 60+] - $214
• Dollywood Gold Super Pass
  • Regular [ages 12-59] - $274
  • Senior [ages 60+] - $264

Things to keep in mind when purchasing Dollywood Season Passes:

• Children under the age of 4 do NOT need a pass or ticket. They are FREE!
• Only 1 person in your family needs to have a Gold Pass to use it's benefits, but they MUST be present at the park.
• You can save $5 per pass purchase when you buy 4+ passes in the same transaction.

Best Time to Buy:

This section is twofold as there is definitely a few best times in the season to buy. If you purchase before the park opens in March, you'll get a "Bring-a-friend Free". You'll also be able to take advantage of a long 9 month season.

One of my favorite season pass options is to buy during the Smoky Mountain Christmas festival. If you don't have a season pass for the current year, you can buy one for the next year in November and you'll get the remainder of the current year FREE!

1. You get unlimited visits during the Smoky Mountain Christmas Festival [until the park closes in early January] and ALL of the next operating season! 
2. You'll get up to 4 Bring-A-Friend passes.
3. You can spread your payments out over 6 months, with 0% interest payments.
4. You'll get FREE PARKING all of the Smoky Mountain Christmas season and the next year if you purchase a Gold Pass [more details on Gold Passes are below, but believe me, you should upgrade at least one of your passes to this amazing deal.]

But more importantly, any time is a good time to buy a Dollywood season pass. One day Dollywood tickets cost $79 for a regular adult ticket. Purchasing a regular price Dollywood season pass is only $139. Even if you only visit twice, you've saved enough to justify buying season passes!

Dollywood Insider Expert Tip: I definitely recommend buying your season passes BEFORE you get to the park. It will save you time and money, especially if you purchase a Gold season pass. Otherwise you'll have to pay to park on your first visit.

I hope this has helped you understand buying Dollywood season passes a little better. While I think the benefits speak for themselves, if you want my opinion, I always encourage visitors to upgrade to season passes. At a cost of less than 2 days to the park, with ALL the extra benefits, you definitely get your money's worth.

Visit Dollywood.com to purchase your Dollywood Season Passes today.

Want to know even more about Dollywood? Check out some of my other posts here:

This post was originally published in May 2017.