Dolly Parton's Stampede — Hotel in Pigeon Forge

We recently visited Dolly Parton's Stampede with high hopes. Unfortunately, the experience fell far short of expectations: especially for the $400 we spent on four VIP tickets (two adults, two children).

To be fair, the facility was clean and the staff were friendly. The food was okay, but it’s geared entirely toward adults. Children are given full-size portions, which is wasteful and impractical. Kid-sized meal options more suited to children’s appetites would make far more sense and reduce waste. Alcoholic drinks available for purchase were watered down but still sold at a premium.

The VIP “experience” was a joke. The pre-show VIP area is just a few chairs, one small table, and a TV screen showing what’s happening live just a few feet away. The advertised meet-and-greet was simply the MC and Skeeter, a comedic relief character, signing souvenir flags. Not terrible, but hardly worth the upcharge. Allowing VIP tickets to meet the horses and riders would’ve been a much better use of that time, especially considering the boredom and restlessness that set in for our kids even before the main event started.

VIP access also did not grant any real advantage when it came to going to your seat once the stadium opened up. Everyone funnels in at once after the pre-show is completed regardless of ticket tier. Very chaotic since there are a limited amount of doors and everyone is rushing to the stadium all at once opposed to a controlled row call.

Seating assignments and structure is a major issue. Rows are reserved, not individual seats. So where you end up sitting in the row is pure luck. If you end up in the middle like we did: brace yourself. The seats are narrow, cramped, and uncomfortable. There is no room to stretch or adjust. For people like us who have back and knee problems, this was a nightmare. My husband dealt with spasms for a good portion of the show until he just couldn't take it any longer. Rather than asking 8-10 people to stand up and exit the row so he could get out, he had to resort to physically lifting himself over the bench and rolling out of the row. The seating is recessed stadium-style, meaning your shoulders are roughly level with the floor of the row behind you: that’s how tight and inaccessible the setup is. And now that I’m typing out my thoughts, this also raises serious safety concerns in the event of an emergency.

The show itself has pacing issues and no real storyline. It is sorely lacking in cohesion and as a result the energy just isn't there. The show goes from recounting the early American settlers, to a neon butterfly fever dream, to random audience competitions to try and get back to the North versus South motif. My kids, who are usually very engaged, lost interest halfway through and just wanted to leave and go swimming.

Exiting the arena was just as chaotic as entering. Everyone floods toward the stairs at once to try and pet the horses, which causes a bottleneck. After everything we’d dealt with, all this did was leave us still stuck in the middle: exhausted, in pain, wranggling fidgety kids, and trying not to snap at other families who were understandably excited. We just wanted to leave, but couldn't because of such poor event planning and lack of crowd control. It was a miserable end to an already frustrating experience.

All in all, I cannot recommend Dolly Parton's Stampede as a good entertainment investment. It’s not worth the cost, especially the VIP pricing. The lack of organization, accessibility, and engaging content made for a deeply uncomfortable evening. Save your money and consider one of the other local shows or attractions instead.

One more note on the VIP package: while it includes a downloadable souvenir photo, we were still approached and presented the option of purchasing a physical copy in a display folder for an additional $40. I did not appreciate the attempt at an upsell. Especially after what we’d already paid. It came across as a high-pressure sales tactic, and frankly, it just felt tacky after an already underwhelming...

Took a group of 30 high school seniors from Michigan. The paperwork said to show up 50 minutes early. We did. The security guard was rude. None of the staff were helpful in telling us what we should do next other than "wait outside". No benches, no place to sit. Just had to stand around outdoors for 45 minutes. With 30 kids. And about 150 pissed off tourists. Twice we were told to go in. Only to get thrown out because we were not VIP. Place was bristling with "no guns, no knives" signs and even a metal detector! It was like going through an airport. Inside the gift shop, there were racks full of toy guns for kids. And once inside, Smokey Mountain Knifeworks advertisements everywhere. Talk about mixed signals. I had to walk all the way out to the van to stash my Swiss Army knife. The armed security guard said nothing that could be used as a weapon could be brought inside. I'll follow the rules. But I'll take 500 good ole boys with Buck knives over one old security guard with a worn out Glock any day of the week. If Dolly herself was there, I would have been sympathetic to the "no guns no knives" policy. But she wasn't. Once inside, they force you to get your picture taken. Try that with 30 kids! Then they stuff you into a room that is packed to the gills for the pre show. The "pre show" is a three piece band up on a stage. Kinda cool. Until I realized that the only instrument being played was the guy with the banjo. All the music was being piped in and the "musicians" were just actors pretending to play. The lady playing the bass was just faking it and dancing. The guitar player played 7 songs with the same 4 chords. I walked right up to them and she wasn't actually playing either. Just banging on the strings. I couldn't wait to get out of there. The "show" was decent. The food was really pretty good. But, they only gave you a fork and two napkins. No knife. No spoon. Dinner was a biscuit, bowl of soup, pulled pork, mashed potatoes, half a cob of corn and a Cornish hen. You ever try to eat soup without a spoon? How about eating a whole chicken with only a fork. I would have loved to have my Swiss Army knife with me to cut up meat for my wife and I. And it wasn't like you could just pick up the chicken and gnaw on it like a savage. You were in a booth with 20 people on either side of you. You aren't getting up. Going to the rest room to wash up was simply not an option.Everyone had chicken grease on everything. I felt like the messy kid eating a sloppy school cafeteria lunch. The whole thing is really a good concept. They just need to go down to Disney World for a day or two and learn how to host. I'll gladly leave my pocket knife at the resort before going to a Disney restaurant like "Ohanna". Because I know that they will not make me eat soup and a whole chick with my fingers while rubbing elbows with my neighbors in a 75' long booth. I don't want to come off as a "Karen". But when our bill was over $1,600, I expect a Diet Coke, a spoon and a smile...

The ONLY reason I gave two stars was due to an extremely bad communication problem between the man that was with us and the man that was taking tickets in line. He noticed a discussion between this lady that tried to cut in front of the man that was with us while we were having our tickets verified and got belligerent against the man that was with us but not the lady who started the ugly conversation. As we turned around to see what all the commotion was about, I saw the mean ugly look in the ticket workers eyes as the man that was with us was trying to explain how the incident started but apparently he wasn't or wanted to hear it. We tried to tell him everything will be alright and he told us we can be escorted out AFTER we had already paid for the 3 tickets, so the man that was with us apologized and the ticket guy told us we're okay to enter. After we went 10 feet inside, we were greeted with 3 other men and a heavy set lady who said she witnessed it all but my friend and I were checking out tickets and having a pleasant conversation with the elderly lady who was quoting the 3Pm starting time for us when it was already 5 PM. We all laughed and corrected her on the time when she told us she normally works the show at 3 instead of 6 , so she was a little confused 😂 That's when we started to continue but turned around and heard the male ticket master getting sarcastic at our friend and our friend was trying to explain himself. After we heard our friend apologizing and we started inside but then stopped by 3 other men who said they were there to escort us out, ANOTHER unbelievable conversation experience about the ticket man occurred. Then one of the 3 men went back to talk to the ticket master while we waited. We're all in our 70s and I'm a disabled Vietnam veteran who lives in Knoxville taking my Kentucky guests to The Dixie Stampede for some enjoyment BUT going through all this before the show even started, put a very sour taste in my mouth, aggravating my Ulcer and stirring up my COPD making it hard for me to breathe already. Needless to say this brought what was supposed to be an enjoyable dinner show to a most uncomfortable atmosphere all around us. I've lived in Knoxville for 35 years and have never had such a sour admission to any of Dolly's entertainment enterprises before tonight 27 July 2025. The whole show was ruined by the belligerent attitude this Ticketmaster took with a narcissistic conversation to our friend who was trying to explain it all started with this woman that was trying to tell him where to go and cut him off without knowing he was with us. Truly...