Dolly Parton's Dollywood Express

Dollywood as Destination & Train Experience

• Multiple visitors describe Dollywood as one of the best‑run US theme parks: clean, friendly staff, well‑maintained, with strong ride lineup (incl. intense coasters) and good accessibility for people with mobility issues.
• The Dollywood Express is widely praised as a fun, unique experience with real 1930s steam locomotives; some note safety briefings and cinders/soot as part of the charm.
• Others dislike how dirty the ride is, reporting clothes and skin covered in soot.

Ridership Comparison & Its Fairness

• The article’s claim that the Dollywood Express outperforms rail ridership in many states is seen by some as an indictment of US transit priorities.
• Others argue it’s a misleading comparison: the train is an amusement ride, not transportation, more akin to Disney railways or monorails than Amtrak.
• Some commenters note other “ride” systems (e.g., Disney, Las Vegas Monorail) also rival or exceed many real transit systems.

US Rail, Density, and Car Culture

• One camp says US sprawl, low national population density, and car ownership make large‑scale passenger rail unrealistic; buses or future autonomous minibuses are seen as more plausible.
• Critics counter that:
  • Density averages hide dense regions and corridors (e.g., Tennessee vs US average; comparisons to Sweden, Finland).
  • Infrastructure shapes density, not just the reverse; rail stations can spur walkable development.
  • Highways and roads are heavily subsidized too; road “user pays” narratives ignore large public funding and externalities.
• Historical and political factors cited: GI Bill–driven suburbs, federal highway investment, zoning and segregation, civil‑defense logic favoring dispersion, and union‑busting via trucking.

Freight vs Passenger Rail

• Commenters note that freight trains have de facto priority over Amtrak, badly hurting reliability despite nominal legal passenger priority.
• There’s debate over responsibility: underfunded Amtrak vs freight railroads’ incentives.
• Some propose nationalizing track infrastructure while leaving operating companies private.

Dolly Parton’s Role & Reputation

• Strong affection for Dolly Parton as a near‑universal “saint” of East Tennessee: admired for music, humility, and targeted philanthropy (e.g., Imagination Library, local jobs via Dollywood).
• Speculation about her as a hypothetical presidential candidate leads to broader discussion of US polarization and how public figures lose goodwill once they enter partisan politics.

Environmental & Symbolic Concerns

• The coal use of the steam train (several tons per day) alarms some, who see it as emblematic of misaligned priorities.
• Others argue a handful of heritage steam trains are negligible compared to millions of cars and should remain authentic.

Theme Parks, Walkability, and “Fantasy Transit”

• One thread suggests US theme parks turn walkable streets and good transit into “make‑believe” environments, reinforcing the idea that such urbanism is fantasy rather than a normal way to live.
• This connects to interest in car‑free planned communities and to Dollywood/Disney as places where Americans briefly experience pleasant, human‑scale environments before returning to car dependency.