by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:41 AM ET, Thu May 16, 2019
As travelers begin to prepare for summer vacation, the Dollywood theme park in Tennessee recently unveiled a $37 million, six-acre expansion.
According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, Dolly Parton's family amusement park in Pigeon Forge opened the new Wildwood Grove area on May 10, which features 11 nature-themed attractions based on Parton's childhood in the Smoky Mountains.
Guests at the park will be able to enjoy The Dragonflier roller coaster, the Hidden Hollow play area, an acorn-themed Treetop Tower ride, the Wildwood Creek aquatic play area, a Smoky Mountain Mexican restaurant and more.
"When I was a little girl growing up in the hills of the Smoky Mountains, I'd often let my imagination just run away - something I still do now - dreaming these big dreams about what it'd be like to venture off with a family of bears in to the woods or how fun it would be to hitch a ride with the butterflies and dragonflies," Parton told Southern Living.
"All us kids would splash and play in the creeks and ponds around home and have these daydreams about the world around us, and that's what's so special about Wildwood Grove," Parton continued. "We've been able to create a new area to allow families to experience some of those exact dreams we all had when we were little."
The main attraction in the new Wildwood Grove area is The Wildwood Tree, which comes to life every night starting June 15, illuminated by 650 butterflies and nearly 9,000 leaves.
In total, the expansion marks a 20 percent increase in the size of Dollywood and is part of a $300 million investment in the park.
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