After a Major Merger, Dollywood’s Parent Company Shuts Down One of Its Theme Parks

Earlier this year, Herschend agreed to buy Palace Entertainment and its 20 U.S. parks across 10 states from European theme park company Parques Reunidos. While Herschend may not be a household name, many theme park enthusiasts know some of its biggest assets, including Dollywood, Silver Dollar City, the Harlem Globetrotters, and Kentucky Kingdom.

The acquisition gave Herschend some of the country’s best-known theme parks, including Kennywood and Dutch Wonderland in Pennsylvania and Lake Compounce in Connecticut, America’s first theme park. Herschend Parks averages around 20 million visitors annually, putting it on par with United Parks and Resorts, owners of Busch Gardens and SeaWorld, who average around 21 million visitors annually.

However, Dollywood is the crown jewel of Herschend’s theme parks. The Dolly Parton creation is routinely voted the best theme park in America, beating out giants like Disney World and the Universal Orlando Resort.

Despite the popularity of Dollywood, the merger between Herschend and Palace Entertainment has not been entirely rosy. Earlier this year, Herschend sold three of the 20 properties it acquired to Lucky Strike Entertainment, mostly known for its bowling alleys. The three properties were Raging Waters Los Angeles in San Dimas, Calif., Castle Park in Riverside, Calif., and Wet ‘n Wild Emerald Pointe in Greensboro, North Carolina.

And now, just last week, Herschend announced that Malibu Norcross in Gwinnett County, Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, will close its doors after more than 20 years in business. The go-kart amusement center’s final day of operation is today, September 28.

With the sale of three properties and the closure of a fourth, Herschend has already rid itself of 20 percent of the properties it acquired from Palace Entertainment in March. The company did not give a reason for the closure of the metro Atlanta park.

Herschend did not disclose how much it paid for Palace Entertainment, but Bloomberg reported that the theme park company took out a $1.1 billion loan right around the same time as the acquisition. With dozens of other properties across the country, the reduction of these properties could simply be that there was a redundancy in the company, and selling or closing these properties made more sense.

For now, Dollywood rules supreme over the theme park landscape, and with new attractions coming in 2026, it should continue to rule its throne for a long time to come.

What do you think of Dollywood’s parent company shedding some of its smaller theme parks? Let us know in the comments.