How Dollywood Insiders Help You Plan Your Trip

• Bobby Montgomery

The Dollywood Insiders page is a great resource you can use to get ideas and help you prepare to make the most of your time at Dollywood Parks and Resorts. You may wonder, “who are these Dollywood Insiders sharing this information?” In short, Insiders are Dollywood-lovers who (through an application process) are selected to create content designed to help other park guests plan an incredible visit to the Smoky Mountain park. Dollywood considers the Insider program to be like another arm of the media, so Insiders are invited to participate in preview events and behind-the-scenes tours with the intention that this panel will share what is going on from the guest perspective. Insiders are park and resort guests just like you, who share practical advice from their experiences.

For example, if you love taking pictures, you can find the Most Instagrammable Spots at Dollywood. If you’re planning to attend Dollywood’s Harvest Festival with your family, you can find Tips for Taking Children to Great Pumpkin Luminights and even Packing List Tips on the Insider’s page. If you have a question, type key words into the search bar, and you’ll likely find an answer to a question like Can I Bring My Stroller to Dollywood? My personal favorite topic is food. This year, I’ve enjoyed posts like Food on the Go and Flower & Food Festival Picks for Picky Eaters. 

You still may be wondering how this Insider program works. So, I’ll share some of the back-of-house details: each July, Dollywood posts applications for the next Dollywood Insider panel on the Insiders landing page. Hundreds of Dollywood fans apply, and 20 are selected. Dollywood requires the selected panelists to attend an orientation for onboarding. Before orientation, we have to submit our content ideas and we get a chance to discuss the topics there. We’re assigned deadlines to produce this content, thus providing a personalized flow of information to other guests.

Insiders are responsible for executing our content ideas throughout the year. We can lean into our own knowledge from years of visiting Dollywood, and/or we can use what we learn from the special events we attend. In addition to blogs and videos that are posted on the Dollywood Insiders page, we also share about Dollywood on our own social media platforms. Between the festivals, rides, food and entertainment, Dollywood always has something new to enjoy. Keeping an eye on Dollywood Insiders is one way to stay in the loop. Especially if you’re looking for tips, tricks and Dollywood advice, visiting the Insiders page before you go to the park can arm you with information that will help you visit like a pro.