Dolly Parton Set to Open New Water-Snow Park in Nashville

The Queen of Country herself, Dolly Parton, is set to open up yet another attraction in Tennessee, though this time the park will be a little different. The new park is something called a water-snow park and is being described as the first of its kind in the country. The park is set to open in Nashville and will join Parton's many other Tennessee attractions.

Announced on Thursday, the same day as the singer's 66th birthday, the new $50 million park is 114 acres and is believed to be opening in the summer of 2014. According to a statement from Parton, "I'm not a bit afraid of competing with myself. They are far enough apart. I live in Nashville, so it's natural for me to have two working places."

The new water-snow park will be a partnership with Gaylord Entertainment, the same company that owns the vast Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center as well as the Grand Ole Opry county music show also located in Nashville. During the first full season of the park, 500,000 visitors are expected and the park will use 450 full and part-time employees.

As far as details go, there aren't many. Chairman and CEO of Gaylord Entertainment stated that there will be special winter festivities as well as "lots of music" and that an additional 35 acres have already been purchased in the event of expansion. Dollywood and Splash Country bring in around 4 million visitors each year. The park opened back in 1986 with the water park opening in 2001. In addition to those parks, Parton owns the Dixie Stampede dinner theater located in Pigeon Forge.

Being a winter park as well as a summer, there are concerns that the cold winter weather may hinder attendance. However, as far as Parton is concerned, "Unless there's a blizzard, we'll be ready for 'em." Reed also added that he believes the new park will help increase attendance at Parton's other attractions as well.

Overall, thoughts on the project are positive with Reed and Parton describing their partnership as a 50-50 with no worries about financing. "We have a strong balance sheet and an icon like Dolly with us," Reed said and Tennessee Governor Bill Hastlam added, "The idea is a big one. If you think about it, the state lives off sales tax. And this will be something that will mean new dollars for Tennessee."

Source: Detroit Free Press - Dolly Parton plans water, snow park
CBS News - Dolly Parton plans Nashville water/snow park

SMBnow.com is news of, for and by SMBs!
SMBnow.com... The Small & Medium Business Magazine!

New Pirate Dinner Theater Replaces Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede on the South Carolina Coast

Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede is out and her new Pirates Voyage is in as the country singing sensation hoists the colors high in her new dinner theater show on the coast of South Carolina.

According to Parton, "We just needed to do something new and different." Parton was in South Carolina on Friday for the opening of the first show which features actors portraying pirates and mermaids. The show also includes real horses as well as sea lions. "We have been successful for 18 or 19 years," Parton added, "but pirates is a great theme - children love it, seniors love it."

The Dixie Stampede show closed last year and an $11 million renovation of the building took place, which included the construction of a 15-foot, 750,000-gallon indoor pool. 30-foot pirate galleons are located at either end of the theater while the sunken wreck of a third ship is located in the middle of the set.

Parton mentioned that the new theme has nothing to do with the Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise but did add "that's a good plus. It's wonderful the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' No. 4 came out and it's No. 1 in the world. The timing couldn't be better but we didn't base it on that as much as having a wonderful theme."

Parton went on to say, "we've been talking about this for a few years. We thought it would be more fitting being here on the beach just to have something like that and we didn't want to build an additional one so we just thought that we would convert the Dixie Stampede."

Depending on how the show does in Myrtle Beach, Parton said she may attempt to bing the show to other seaside markets as well. "It was always planned for Myrtle Beach. We had a Dixie Stampede in Orlando and it didn't do very well. We're going to try this and see. If this is going well here, we may do some more beach destinations with the pirate theme."

The new pirate show is the second new major attraction to go up in Myrtle Beach this season. The tallest Ferris wheel in the eastern United States went up back in May and stands 200 feet tall and cost $12 million to make. It also has one million LED lights on it and each of the 42 gondolas are air conditioned.

So if you are planning on taking the family on vacation this year, Myrtle Beach may be the place to go. You can spend some time at the beach, ride one of the nation's biggest ferris wheels and see an awesome pirate show at a dinner theater. I'm sold already!

Source: Yahoo! News - Dolly Parton launches pirate show on SC coast

Put your eye on the problem with Camera Security Now, installing security cameras since 1999. We install in the US and we can help you do it yourself.

Call us toll free 877-422-1907 between 8am EST and 5pm PST M-F. Talk to an expert about your serious security camera needs.