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.
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).
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 |