When I was growing up in Middle Tennessee, my family would take trips to Pigeon Forge nearly every year. As a young theme park enthusiast, Dollywood was always the highlight of the vacation for me.
When Opryland was suddenly stolen out from under Nashvillians in the late ’90s, Dollywood and the cohort of theme-park-adjacent attractions in the tourist-heavy Gatlinburg and Sevier County area became the only in-state options left for families looking for a day of thrill rides, carnival games and fried food in a permanent location. With all due respect to the various fairs that pop up every year in Middle Tennessee, the lack of true theme park experiences in the area has always baffled me.
Louisville’s Kentucky Kingdom & Hurricane Bay, about three hours drive from Nashville, is the closest theme park to Music City. The former Six Flags property closed for a few years in the early 2010s before seeing a revival a little more than a decade ago. It has since passed through a pair of ownership groups, and is currently operated by Herschend Family Entertainment, the same company that runs Dollywood and the classic Midwest tourist destination Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo.
One of the companies that attempted to revive Kentucky Kingdom during its two-year dormant period was the Koch Development Corp. (no, not those Kochs), the ownership group behind Holiday World in Santa Claus, Ind. The — you guessed it — holiday-themed park is roughly the same distance from Nashville as Kentucky Kingdom.
Depending on traffic, you can make it to Six Flags Over Georgia in less than five hours if you’re lucky. Located outside Atlanta in Mableton, the park is filled with DC and Looney Tunes-themed attractions like other Six Flags properties.
Kings Island, located in Mason, Ohio — a suburb northeast of Cincinnati — is probably the best option for thrillseekers within a five-hour radius of Nashville. However, true coaster-heads would tell you to make the 10-plus-hour trek to either Busch Gardens location (Tampa, Fla., or Williamsburg, Va.), or to go all-out with a pilgrimage to the roller-coaster mecca Cedar Point.
Located on Lake Erie in Sandusky, Ohio, Cedar Point is consistently ranked among the most thrilling theme parks in not just the United States, but in the world. Considering the trip takes “only” eight-ish hours from Nashville, the park is worth a visit for anyone even remotely interested in theme parks.
Until Storyville Gardens — the rumored Opryland replacement with an edutainment bent that began to generate headlines locally in 2021 — actually makes progress in its development, these will continue to be the best options for any Nashvillians looking for a weekend of thrills.
Five destinations for the perfect weekend getaway — plus details on the best theme parks in the region
