Herschend Family Entertainment Company
Our story began over 75 years ago when the Herschend family discovered wonder deep in an Ozark Mountain cave—and chose to share it with the world. Today, Herschend is the largest family-held themed attractions company, with over 40 family entertainment brands across North America. While each brand offers something unique, all are united by a shared purpose: bringing families closer together by Creating Memories Worth Repeating®. Our 22,000 passionate hosts make this purpose possible through everyday acts of love and service—what we call Heartspitality®—the intersection of heart and hospitality. We’re proud to love in all we do, every day—caring for each other, welcoming our 20 million annual guests with warmth, and making a positive difference in the communities we serve.www.herschend.com
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Search complete. 26 mentions across 14 episodes found for "Herschend Family Entertainment Company".
Oct 14, 2026
Dennis SpiegelGUEST
Safety is the one thing that we share throughout the global industry.
Dennis SpiegelGUEST
If there's a incident, accident of some sort on a rollercoaster, and we know there are other ones out there, uh, Six Flags would share that with SeaWorld or Disney or Universal or Herschend or Merlin, whoever it might be.
Dennis SpiegelGUEST
So, uh, that'll be passed on so that they're aware of the situation.
Gordon DealHOST
Explain park responsibility here, Dennis.
MikeHOST
Who, who runs, um, uh, Dollywood?
CalebHOST
Well, Herschend.
MikeHOST
Herschend.
MikeHOST
Okay.
MikeHOST
Who runs, uh, Kennywood?
CalebHOST
Herschend.
MikeHOST
Okay, cool, cool.
MikeHOST
Who runs, uh, Waldameer?
KevinHOST
He eventually sold it.
KevinHOST
And, um, when recent years it was sold, I want to say last year, it was kind of weird where, um, it was owned by a company named palace that sold to Herschend, the company that owns, um, Dollywood and silver dollar city and a bunch of others.
KevinHOST
And then they promptly sold it within like two months to lucky strike the, uh, bowling company.
SeanHOST
Hmm.
Jake SundstromHOST
... create a word
Robert NilesHOST
... we're, we're, we're back to our f- our, our fandom of Herschend at this point.
Jake SundstromHOST
[laughs]
Robert NilesHOST
We thought we were gonna get out of it and not do it, but yeah, to, to be fair, Herschend does some of the best Christmas events in the entire country-
Jake SundstromHOST
Yeah
Robert NilesHOST
... with Silver Dollar City s- um, and, uh, with, uh, Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood, so.
KyleHOST
In 1970, it was bought by Art Modell, then the owner of the Cleveland Browns, and renamed Goldrush Junction.
KyleHOST
Jack and Pete Herschend, the owners of Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, then bought it in the mid-'70s and reopened it as Silver Dollar City, Tennessee.
KyleHOST
Parton became a co-owner of it in 1986, and the park reopened as Dollywood on May 3rd.
KyleHOST
It drew about 1.3 million visitors in that first season, and now draws more than three million a year.
KyleHOST
Attractions include the Dollywood Express Train, the roller coasters Wild Eagle and Lightning Rod, and the Chasing Rainbows Museum exhibit about her career.
KyleHOST
The park is jointly owned by Parton's company and the Herschend Family Entertainment.
KyleHOST
Other ventures of hers include the dinner theater attraction, Dolly Parton's Stampede, originally the Dixie Stampede, launched in 1988.
KyleHOST
The production company Sandollar Productions, founded in 1987 with Sandy Gallin.
Kirk ElmquistGUEST
Well, it, I, we're c- we're coming r- alongside some giants.
Kirk ElmquistGUEST
I mean, the Herschend-
Tonya MurfinHOST
Yeah
Kirk ElmquistGUEST
...
Kirk ElmquistGUEST
Family Entertainment group isn't just Pete and Jack Herschend.
Tonya MurfinHOST
Mm-mm.
Kirk ElmquistGUEST
I mean, their entire corporate headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia.
CherylHOST
Mm.
JeremyHOST
The hotel and museum were created in partnership with Herschend.
JeremyHOST
This family-owned attraction company also helped create Dolly Parton's two other resorts in Dollywood, Dollywood's DreamMore Resort and Spa, and Dollywood's Heartsong Lodge and Resort.
RickyHOST
Awesome.
Joey NolfiHOST
Oh, I sure did indeed.
Joey NolfiHOST
Um, just when you thought Herschend, the company that we all thought was gonna save Kennywood, might be turning Kennywood around, [sighs] you might be in for a little bit of a jump scare.
Joey NolfiHOST
So here is my reaction to 2026 Phantom Fall Fest at Kennywood.
Joey NolfiHOST
[spooky music] Hello, park peeps.
Joey NolfiHOST
Um, just walking past Demi's mother, Laughing Sal, right now.
Joey NolfiHOST
Um, said, "Hey, how you doing, girl?" Um, she is not part of the Halloween Haunt event here, which is now called Phantom Fall Fest, different from Phantom Fright Nights as it opened, um, about 20 years ago.
Joey NolfiHOST
Uh, y- given all of my optimism for this place now that Herschend is the owner, um, I have to say, my first Phantom Fall Fest, huge disappointment.
Joey NolfiHOST
Um, it was a lot, a lot, a lot of people, very poor operations.
SethHOST
I, I love that, um, they do that kind of thing.
SethHOST
Uh, Herschend does, uh, really good stuff with, with theming, uh, even though they're regional parks.
DaniGUEST
Yep.
SethHOST
Um, lo- speaking of regional parks, Lost Island, uh, in, um, Iowa is getting the world's first ever, um, wild moose coaster.
Sondra ShannonHOST
And also, I just, uh, on that, I mentioned the Latin American cruise.
Sondra ShannonHOST
We had, uh, uh, Silver Dollar City was, was there, and they were speaking, uh, a- on behalf of the Herschend Parks.
Sondra ShannonHOST
And they have this great story about, you know, a person who was non-verbal that kept coming back with her family, and they even moved close, I think, I think it was to Dollywood, so that she could have those interactions with guests, and that's the kinda impact we're talking about when we talk about guest interactions.
Sondra ShannonHOST
It's life-changing sometimes.
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