Dollywood’s Parent Company Shuts Down Another Theme Park, the Second One in a Week

For the second time in less than a week. Herschend, the parent company of Dollywood, has closed one of its theme parks, and for the second time, it’s a park in Georgia.

Earlier this year, Herschend agreed to buy Palace Entertainment and its 24 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 Dollywood’s popularity, the merger between the two companies has not been perfect. Earlier this year, Herschend sold three of the 24 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 just last weekend, 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 company followed that up by closing Mountasia in Marietta, Georgia, this week after a decade in business.

With this latest closure, five of the 24 properties Herschend purchased from Palace Entertainment have been closed or sold. That brings the total number of Herschend-owned properties to 49 nationwide.

While Herschend continues to shed some of the properties it purchased from Palace, there is no reason to fear that Dollywood is going anywhere anytime soon. Dollywood is the company’s crown jewel and will keep going as long as Dolly Parton does.

What do you think of Herschend shutting down another property? Let us know in the comments.