Volume 1, No. 9. June 1, 2001
It's a waterpark!
Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, announces
the arrival of Dolly's Splash Country, May 19, 2001. Measurements: 25 acres,
five body slides, four tube slides, one family raft ride, one 25,000-square-foot
wave pool (7,576 square meters), 1,500-foot lazy river (455 meters), interactive
children's play pool with slides. Delivered by ProSlide Technology, SCS Interactives,
and Aquatic Development Group.
The theme park's namesake, Dolly Parton, known for her wide-ranging, tasteful
wardrobe, selected a most sensible suit to wear for the opening of her first
waterpark: a blue and black wet suit. But, then, only Dolly could make a wet
suit look suitable for any occasion.
After a low-key media introduction to Dollywood's new gated addition on Friday,
Parton showed up for the public debut at the start of a fittingly hot Saturday.
With her were Olympic swimmers Brooke Bennett, Jason Lezak, and Ed Moses, plus
Olympic diver Mark Ruiz. They led the crowd of Dolly devotees in a countdown
that unleashed a bash of fireworks and the splash of a 20-foot-tall (6 meters)
waterfall flowing into the Downbound Float Trip lazy river.
Dolly makes no public appearance without singing a song, and she dueted with
brother Randy Parton in an appropriate selection: "Islands in the Stream."
For a complete profile of Dolly's Splash Country, see the next issue of Amusement
Today.
©2001, Minton Enterprises LLC
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