Credit: Inside the MagicEarlier this week, fans heading to the Dollywood theme park were surprised when a water main break shut down the park. While Dollywood’s Splash Country and the Dollywood Resort remained open, the main theme park was closed to guests.
Please see this park update for Wednesday, July 17. pic.twitter.com/AU3CsNWH0R
— Dollywood Parks & Resorts (@Dollywood) July 17, 2024
Obviously, it was disappointing for fans who came to the park on that specific day to show up only to have all the rides and attractions closed due to that water main break.
Luckily, the issues were resolved, and Dollywood Park opened for guests the following day, putting the problems to rest. However, guests were blown away by a surprising aspect of this entire incident.
When Dolly Parton opened her park, she wanted guests to experience what it was like for her growing up in Eastern Tennessee. She wanted customer service and her welcoming nature to come across to everyone who stepped foot in Dollywood Park.
Related: Miley Cyrus Can Only Contact Godmother Dolly Parton ‘Through Her Lawyer’
I always thought that if I made it big or got successful at what I had started out to do, that I wanted to come back to my part of the country and do something great, something that would bring a lot of jobs into this area. Sure enough, I was lucky, and God was good to me, and things happened good.
I would honestly say that with all the awards and all the other things that I’ve done in my life, Dollywood is one of the greatest dreams that I’ve ever had come true. I am so proud of that I can’t even begin to tell you. Dollywood is real special to me.
To that end, fans were blown away by the guest services that Dollywood offered when the park was shut down. Guests were amazed that Dollywood was honest about what happened when other theme parks wouldn’t even tell guests why a particular ride was down, let alone an entire land.
Transparency is really refreshing https://t.co/FW27awIxl3
— Sir Veillance 🕵️🎢 (@SVeillance) July 18, 2024
Related: American Treasure Dolly Parton Suspends Her Public Appearances Indefinitely
Dollywood guest services took to social media to let guests know that they could call to get a refund for their admission ticket for the day or use it on any other day this year. The Dollywood Park also apologized to guests, telling them, “The closure prevented us from creating memories worth repeating for you and your families yesterday, and we want to make it right.”
We sincerely apologize to all guests who were impacted by the water main break. The closure prevented us from creating memories worth repeating for you and your families yesterday, and we want to make it right.
— Dollywood Parks & Resorts (@Dollywood) July 18, 2024
Related: Welcome to Dollywood: Parton Shows Ryan Reynolds She’s the Boss
When you compare that to what happened at Disney World, when Frontierland was completely shut down for a similar reason, guests could not get answers about the problem, nor did park officials offer a refund for the day. It made Dollywood look great by comparison, and fans took notice.
With Dolly Parton’s name and reputation in the park, park officials made sure that guests were made whole and knew what was happening at every moment. And that was refreshing and unusual.
What do you think of the honest approach that Dollywood took to its shutdown?