Why Dolly Parton Doesn’t Ride the Coasters at Dollywood — and Why She Might Finally Break Her Own Rule
Why Dolly Parton Doesn’t Ride the Coasters at Dollywood — and Why She Might Finally Break Her Own Rule
Christopher EdwardsThu, May 21, 2026 at 5:20 PM UTC
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Credit: Theo Wargo/Getty -
Dolly Parton has co-owned Dollywood since 1986. But the Grammy Award-winning singer avoids the theme park's rides
The new NightFlight Expedition ride, opening this year, combines roller coaster and water raft elements in a unique indoor experience
Despite recent health challenges, Parton continues working on projects including a Broadway musical and a Nashville museum and hotel
Dolly Parton has been co-owner of Dollywood, the whimsical Tennessee theme park named in her honor, for 40 years. But the country music icon isn't a fan of riding the park's many attractions.
Parton has shared a few reasons she avoids her own park's thrills over the years. In a 2023 interview with Peachtree TV, she revealed that she suffers from motion sickness. “I don't like to ride the rides, everybody knows that about me," she said. "I have a tendency to have motion sickness. And then I'm a little bit claustrophobic. I don't like to be closed in. And I just think 'Well, I just have too much to lose.'"
She joked, "My boobs could fly out, my hair could fall off. Any number of things could happen to me on those rides."
In a March 2026 speech at Dollywood, Parton said her aversion to rides dates back to childhood. "I used to get sick on the merry-go-round as a kid on the playground," she shared.
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.
Credit: Ron Buskirk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty
As the iconic theme park prepares to open its biggest attraction yet — a $50 million indoor roller coaster called NightFlight Expedition — the Grammy winner, 80, has said she is thinking about changing her tune.
"I usually don't ride the rides, but this one sounds so magical, I might just check that one out," Parton said in a video announcement of the ride last fall.
Dolly Parton at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee on March 13, 2026.
Credit: Angelina Alcantar/News Sentinel / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn
NightFlight Expedition is part roller coaster and part water ride.
The five-and-a-half-minute amphibious ride will "immerse guests in an extraordinary Smoky Mountains adventure. Riders will “soar” on a nighttime flight, embark on a “whitewater rafting excursion,” “traverse a mountain ridge on a roller coaster” and “navigate a mysterious shimmering lake by boat,” according to a press release.
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The ride will be located in a 44,000 sq. ft., temperature-controlled, attraction building in the park's Wildwood Grove area. It's a collaboration between Dollywood, Herschend Creative Studios and manufacturer Mack Rides.
Previously scheduled to open in spring of this year, Dollywood tells PEOPLE that they hope to announce an opening date for the attraction "in the very near future."
Rendering of the NightFlight Expedition at Dollywood.
Credit: Dollywood
Parton, whose husband Carl Dean passed away at 82 in March 2025, said she missed the September 2025 unveiling of the NightFlight Expedition concept due to a kidney stone that turned into an infection. In the following months, she has been open about her health challenges.
In a May 4 video announcing the cancellation of her Las Vegas residency, the singer shared details about her health.
"I've told you before that I've always had problems with my kidney stones," Parton said. "Lord, they dig more stones out of me a year than the rock quarry in Rockwood, Tenn. But seriously, my immune system and my digestive system got all out of whack over the past couple of years, and they're working real hard on rebuilding their strength."
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She later noted that despite her health difficulties, she is still working, making videos, recording and going to Dollywood, in addition to preparing for her museum and hotel opening in Nashville this year. She also said she's been spending a lot of time "rewriting and reworking" Dolly: A True Original Musical, which is set to debut on Broadway "this fall or early winter."
In April, Dollywood was ranked the #2 amusement park in the U.S. by TripAdvisor. The National Amusement Park Historical Association has named it the top theme park in the U.S. the last four years.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
