All time
NightFlight Expedition has the longest average wait at Dollywood, at 50 minutes, followed by Dollywood Express Train Depot (38 minutes) and Lightning Rod ® (31 minutes). 26 of the 36 rides have an average wait of 15 minutes or less.
| Ride | Overall average wait time, mins |
|---|---|
| NightFlight Expedition | 50 |
| Dollywood Express Train Depot | 38 |
| Lightning Rod ® | 31 |
| FireChaser Express ® | 30 |
| Big Bear Mountain | 25 |
| Dragonflier | 24 |
| Smoky Mountain River Rampage | 23 |
| Mystery Mine ® | 22 |
| Tennessee Tornado | 18 |
| Thunderhead ® | 17 |
| Blazing Fury | 15 |
| Rockin' Roadway | 15 |
| Wild Eagle ® | 15 |
| Black Bear Trail | 14 |
| Daredevil Falls | 13 |
| Firehouse Fun Yard | 12 |
| Hidden Hollow | 12 |
| Sky Rider | 12 |
| The Mad Mockingbird | 12 |
| Shooting Star | 11 |
| The Scrambler | 11 |
| Treetop Tower | 11 |
| Whistle Punk Chaser® | 11 |
| Barnstormer | 10 |
| The Amazing Flying Elephants | 10 |
| Demolition Derby | 9 |
| Great Tree Swing | 9 |
| Drop Line® | 8 |
| Lemon Twist | 8 |
| Lumberjack Lifts | 8 |
| Piggy Parade | 8 |
| The Waltzing Swinger | 8 |
| Frogs & Fireflies | 7 |
| Busy Bees | 6 |
| Lucky Ducky | 6 |
| Village Carousel | 6 |
NightFlight Expedition sees the longest peak waits at Dollywood, with its daily maximum averaging 84 minutes, ahead of Lightning Rod ® (61 minutes) and FireChaser Express ® (53 minutes).
| Ride | Average maximum wait time, mins |
|---|---|
| NightFlight Expedition | 84 |
| Lightning Rod ® | 61 |
| FireChaser Express ® | 53 |
| Big Bear Mountain | 45 |
| Dragonflier | 43 |
| Smoky Mountain River Rampage | 42 |
| Mystery Mine ® | 41 |
| Dollywood Express Train Depot | 39 |
| Thunderhead ® | 35 |
| Tennessee Tornado | 34 |
| Rockin' Roadway | 30 |
| Wild Eagle ® | 29 |
| Blazing Fury | 27 |
| Black Bear Trail | 24 |
| Daredevil Falls | 23 |
| The Mad Mockingbird | 21 |
| Whistle Punk Chaser® | 21 |
| Sky Rider | 19 |
| Treetop Tower | 19 |
| Barnstormer | 18 |
| Shooting Star | 18 |
| Firehouse Fun Yard | 17 |
| The Scrambler | 16 |
| The Amazing Flying Elephants | 15 |
| Demolition Derby | 14 |
| Drop Line® | 14 |
| Great Tree Swing | 14 |
| Frogs & Fireflies | 13 |
| Hidden Hollow | 13 |
| Lumberjack Lifts | 13 |
| Lemon Twist | 11 |
| The Waltzing Swinger | 11 |
| Piggy Parade | 9 |
| Village Carousel | 9 |
| Lucky Ducky | 8 |
| Busy Bees | 7 |
Dollywood is usually quietest in September, when crowd levels average as low as 28%. The busiest month tends to be March, at around 64%.
| Month | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| Jan | 52 |
| Feb | — |
| Mar | 64 |
| Apr | 54 |
| May | 47 |
| Jun | 53 |
| Jul | 55 |
| Aug | 40 |
| Sep | 28 |
| Oct | 55 |
| Nov | 48 |
| Dec | 44 |
Thursday is typically the quietest day of the week at Dollywood, averaging 43% compared with 64% on Saturday. On average, weekdays are 8 percentage points quieter than weekends.
| Day | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| Sun | 44 |
| Mon | 46 |
| Tue | 52 |
| Wed | 45 |
| Thu | 43 |
| Fri | 44 |
| Sat | 64 |
So far in 2026, Dollywood is running 7 percentage points quieter than at the same point in 2025 (51% compared with 58%). Of the full years on record, 2025 was the busiest, averaging 54%. 2020 and 2021 are left out of these comparisons because COVID-19 closures and capacity limits affected crowd levels in those years.
| Event | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| 🎃 Harvey's Boo Bash | 95 |
| 🎟️ Passholder Preview Day | 89 |
| 🏃 Run Dollywood Race Weekend | 83 |
| 💕 I Will Always Love You Music Festival | 63 |
| 🎉 Festival of Nations | 56 |
| 😎 Smoky Mountain Summer Celebration | 55 |
| 🌸 Flower & Food Festival | 50 |
| 🌾 Harvest Festival | 47 |
| 🎵 BBQ and Bluegrass Festival | 47 |
| 🎄 Smoky Mountain Christmas | 46 |
| 🎸 Rock The Smokies | 33 |
| Day | Crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| December 30, 2024 | 100 |
| September 25, 2024 | 99 |
| April 27, 2019 | 99 |
| November 25, 2024 | 99 |
| October 07, 2020 | 99 |
| September 06, 2020 | 99 |
| April 28, 2019 | 99 |
| December 29, 2018 | 99 |
| April 05, 2021 | 99 |
| December 28, 2019 | 99 |
| Day | Crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| December 21, 2018 | 0 |
| September 26, 2018 | 0 |
| December 04, 2020 | 0 |
| October 31, 2018 | 0 |
| September 16, 2018 | 0 |
| October 29, 2018 | 0 |
| October 16, 2018 | 0 |
| November 22, 2019 | 0 |
| November 28, 2018 | 0 |
| November 27, 2018 | 0 |