2026
So far in 2026, Dollywood Express Train Depot has had the longest average wait at Dollywood, at 60 minutes, followed by NightFlight Expedition (50 minutes) and FireChaser Express ® (35 minutes). 22 of the 36 rides have an average wait of 15 minutes or less.
| Ride | Overall average wait time, mins |
|---|---|
| Dollywood Express Train Depot | 60 |
| NightFlight Expedition | 50 |
| FireChaser Express ® | 35 |
| Smoky Mountain River Rampage | 26 |
| Big Bear Mountain | 25 |
| Mystery Mine ® | 24 |
| Dragonflier | 23 |
| Lightning Rod ® | 22 |
| Firehouse Fun Yard | 20 |
| Thunderhead ® | 20 |
| Hidden Hollow | 17 |
| Rockin' Roadway | 17 |
| Tennessee Tornado | 17 |
| Wild Eagle ® | 16 |
| Blazing Fury | 14 |
| Shooting Star | 14 |
| Sky Rider | 13 |
| Black Bear Trail | 12 |
| Whistle Punk Chaser® | 12 |
| Piggy Parade | 11 |
| The Amazing Flying Elephants | 11 |
| The Mad Mockingbird | 11 |
| Demolition Derby | 10 |
| The Scrambler | 10 |
| Treetop Tower | 10 |
| Barnstormer | 9 |
| Daredevil Falls | 9 |
| Lemon Twist | 9 |
| Drop Line® | 8 |
| Lumberjack Lifts | 8 |
| The Waltzing Swinger | 8 |
| Busy Bees | 7 |
| Frogs & Fireflies | 7 |
| Great Tree Swing | 7 |
| Village Carousel | 7 |
| Lucky Ducky | 5 |
So far in 2026, NightFlight Expedition has seen the longest peak waits at Dollywood, with its daily maximum averaging 84 minutes, ahead of FireChaser Express ® (61 minutes) and Dollywood Express Train Depot (60 minutes).
| Ride | Average maximum wait time, mins |
|---|---|
| NightFlight Expedition | 84 |
| FireChaser Express ® | 61 |
| Dollywood Express Train Depot | 60 |
| Smoky Mountain River Rampage | 48 |
| Dragonflier | 46 |
| Big Bear Mountain | 45 |
| Lightning Rod ® | 45 |
| Mystery Mine ® | 45 |
| Thunderhead ® | 44 |
| Rockin' Roadway | 35 |
| Wild Eagle ® | 32 |
| Tennessee Tornado | 31 |
| Blazing Fury | 24 |
| Shooting Star | 23 |
| Black Bear Trail | 22 |
| Whistle Punk Chaser® | 22 |
| Firehouse Fun Yard | 20 |
| Hidden Hollow | 20 |
| Sky Rider | 20 |
| The Mad Mockingbird | 19 |
| The Amazing Flying Elephants | 17 |
| Barnstormer | 16 |
| Daredevil Falls | 16 |
| Treetop Tower | 16 |
| The Scrambler | 15 |
| Demolition Derby | 14 |
| Lumberjack Lifts | 14 |
| Frogs & Fireflies | 13 |
| Lemon Twist | 13 |
| Drop Line® | 12 |
| Great Tree Swing | 12 |
| Piggy Parade | 11 |
| The Waltzing Swinger | 10 |
| Village Carousel | 9 |
| Busy Bees | 8 |
| Lucky Ducky | 6 |
So far in 2026, Dollywood has been quietest in August and September, when crowd levels have averaged as low as 31%. The busiest month has been October, at around 65%.
| Month | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| Jan | 87 |
| Feb | — |
| Mar | 64 |
| Apr | 56 |
| May | 49 |
| Jun | 55 |
| Jul | 51 |
| Aug | 33 |
| Sep | 31 |
| Oct | 65 |
| Nov | 89 |
| Dec | — |
So far in 2026, Sunday has been the quietest day of the week at Dollywood, averaging 44% compared with 61% on Saturday. On average, weekdays are 3 percentage points quieter than weekends.
| Day | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| Sun | 44 |
| Mon | 45 |
| Tue | 54 |
| Wed | 47 |
| Thu | 49 |
| Fri | 55 |
| Sat | 61 |
| Event | Average crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| 🎄 Smoky Mountain Christmas | 87 |
| 🏃 Run Dollywood Race Weekend | 83 |
| 🎃 Harvey's Boo Bash | 69 |
| 😎 Smoky Mountain Summer Celebration | 54 |
| 🌾 Harvest Festival | 54 |
| 🌸 Flower & Food Festival | 50 |
| Day | Crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| October 09, 2026 | 98 |
| March 31, 2026 | 98 |
| March 30, 2026 | 97 |
| October 12, 2026 | 97 |
| March 19, 2026 | 97 |
| April 08, 2026 | 97 |
| January 02, 2026 | 96 |
| April 07, 2026 | 96 |
| October 17, 2026 | 95 |
| October 05, 2026 | 95 |
| Day | Crowd level, % |
|---|---|
| August 30, 2026 | 4 |
| September 02, 2026 | 5 |
| May 06, 2026 | 7 |
| April 14, 2026 | 8 |
| August 31, 2026 | 8 |
| April 16, 2026 | 9 |
| September 10, 2026 | 10 |
| September 23, 2026 | 11 |
| August 20, 2026 | 11 |
| September 22, 2026 | 11 |