Dollywood plans new attractions honouring the singer Dolly Parton

Dollywood Parks and Resorts is developing several new experiences built around the life and legacy of Dolly Parton, the singer who created the Tennessee theme park in 1986 and died on August 25 at 80.

"Many of us had extensive conversations with Dolly through the years about how she would want us to carry her vision forward," said Eugene Naughton, the park's president, adding that Dollywood will stay a place where families find fun and kindness.

The first named addition is the Dream Maker, an on-site character who will work the Wildwood Grove area of the park. Through stories and interactive segments, the character is meant to push guests to dream big and lift others up, which is a fair summary of the founder's public message across five decades.

Guests will get a way to answer back. Kiosks placed through Wildwood Grove will invite visitors to leave notes and memories about how Parton influenced them, and the Dolly Parton Experience, an exhibit the park already runs, will get a new entrance in her honour.

Work is happening outside the gates as well. In the coming months the Sevierville Chamber of Commerce will unveil "In Dolly's Footsteps," a walking tour taking in places around the area that mattered to Parton when she was young.

A standing memorial has sat at Dollywood's welcome plaza since she died following a brief battle with cancer, and the park has described it as a place for visitors to reflect rather than a temporary display. Her death at 80 followed a year in which she missed a Dollywood appearance over health problems, and the park is now the largest permanent country monument any performer has left behind.