Before Dolly Parton was a global music superstar with her own theme park, she was a Nashville, Tennessee, newcomer writing home to her family.
Over the speakers inside Songteller, a walk-through exhibition space at Dollywood, visitors can hear her read from a letter she wrote to her parents after her move to Music City. “I got to Nashville OK, and I thought I’d better write and let you know ‘cause I knew you’d worried about me, and I don’t want you to be worried about me ‘cause I’m gonna be alright,” she said. “If I try long enough and hard enough, someday I’ll make it.”
That she did. Songteller, part of the Dolly Parton Experience that opened at the park in 2024, tells visitors what led
up to that moment and what happened next. The attraction is made up of various exhibits that showcase the life and storied career of the icon, whose family confirmed her death this week at the age of 80.
“I hope that's what people can feel,” Parton told USA TODAY at the time of the opening. “It's just about the journey.”
What is the Dolly Parton Experience?
Housed in multiple buildings, the experience is triple the size of the Chasing Rainbows Museum, which closed at the end of the 2021 season.
Songteller, located in that museum’s former space, takes guests from Parton’s childhood through her early days in Nashville and eventual icon status. Visitors can see a replica of the coat of many colors her mother made for her – alongside a photo of the dry cleaning receipt she wrote the song of the same name on – learn about how she met husband Carl Dean at a laundromat, and see her guitars on display. Those include an acoustic Gibson covered in paisley-pattern rhinestones that she used during a 2005 tour.
Footage from many of her performances and films is sprinkled throughout, but an immersive 360-degree projection-mapped show takes viewers to Dolly’s childhood home in Locust Ridge, Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and other landmarks from her life.
In the building directly opposite – formerly the Dolly’s Closet boutique – Behind the Seams feels like stepping into a giant walk-in closet. The exhibit features Parton’s clothing, shoes, wigs and more. Some, like a bell-bottom jumpsuit designed by Lucy Adams that Parton wore on her 1970s variety show “Dolly,” had never been displayed before. Guests can also play stylist and dress a cartoon version of Parton in different outfits using magnets.
Rebecca Seaver, Dolly’s niece and director of museum and archive services, said at the time of the opening that her aunt was “known for her songwriting and her look, and so it's nice to have all of those facets of who she is kind of represented in a really, really stunning way.”
Parton blushed at some of her past looks when she looked back, though. “I just laugh out loud sometimes,” she said at the time. “I thought, ‘What was I thinking? Was I really serious?’ Now, I know I was because nobody would make such a fool of themselves if they didn’t think they were looking good. And I guess at that time, it was kind of acceptable.”
“But, of course, I still have big hair,” she added. “But, you know, you can kind of tame it a little.”
At the entrance to Dreamsong Theater, guests can listen to Parton tell stories about her family and faith as part of the Precious Memories exhibit while they wait to see a show. The narration appears alongside childhood photos and footage with her relatives. “We had her record the stories in studio,” said Cyndi McCormack, vice president of guest experience at Dollywood and creative director of the Dolly Parton Experience. “We believe Dolly tells her own stories better than any of us.”
Dolly’s Home-on-Wheels, one of her former motor coaches in service from 1994-2009, was also relocated to a new spot in the Dolly Parton Experience, and there is an on-site boutique, Dolly’s Fan Shop, with exclusive items.
Who can visit the Dolly Parton Experience?
The experience is open to all guests.
Does the Dolly Parton Experience cost extra?
The experience is free, but visitors must have valid park admission.
The Dolly Parton Experience is among several recent additions to Dollywood, which announced a 10-year, half-billion-dollar investment campaign in 2021. And Parton foresaw more growth.
“That's what's great about dreams,” she said. “You dream new dreams every day, and dreams expand. And I've always said you put wings and feet and legs on them.”
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: After Dolly Parton's death, fans can revisit her story and legacy here
