Any Gatlinburg Must-Sees?

[iluvamystery89]

DH, DD and i are going to gatlinburg next week and i was wondering if there are any attractions/places you'd recommend? i haven't been there in 8 years and we didn't do much then cause we went for my brother's wedding, so any suggestions are greatly appreciated! :sunshine2:

[mia214jia]

We went a couple of years ago. The Ripleys Aquarium is really nice and in Pigeon Forge there is a WonderWorks Attraction. It is a upsidedown house filled with all sorts of activities...for kids. :rotfl My DD10 loved it! And of course there is DollyWood! Very Fun... waterpark is a allday event.
Have Fun!!

[sammielynn]

Comedy Barn in Pigeon Forge! Anything in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. I love Cades Cove, drive the loop.

[iluvamystery89]

thanks! i've already got wonderworks and cades cove on my list-looks like it's going to be COLD our first couple of days, so i'll need some indoor things to do! no waterparks for us! lol

[luvhockey]

Just curious how your trip went. We're going to the smokies for the first time 5/30-6/7.
We're staying at the south end of Pigeon Forge.
Angela

[iluvamystery89]

our trip was ok :) it's definitely NOT disney world (which was our original destination, but TN was cheaper, or so we thought) and the prices are VERY high. DD liked the aquarium, wonderworks and fort fun (i'll admit, i enjoyed the laser tag). she did NOT enjoy the ice skating (i LOVED it!) but she had a ball horseback riding. we wanted to go to cherokee the morning after it had snowed so we drove to cades cove and back while we waited for the road to cherokee to open-the museum of the cherokee indian was very interesting and the price was reasonable ($24.00 for 2 A, 1C). DD also did some "gem mining" at the 3 bears gift shop in pigeon forge and she found a 1 ct. sapphire, 2 carat emerald (both of which we had cut & polished and the sapphire mounted in a pendant), 3 hunks of garnet, 2 hunks of ruby, a piece of aquamarine, 2 pieces of amethyst, 2-3 pieces of tourmaline, a piece of citrine and several pieces each of white & pink quartz (it was a $15.00 bucket). as to our cabin...well...LOL...it looked REALLY nice on the outside, but we quickly found out it had NO insulation, which meant NO privacy. we could hear the tv in dd's bedroom upstairs as clearly as if it was in ours. the bathroom & kitchen floors were dirty and stained, there were wasps INSIDE and on our next-to-last morning, the utility company came out and TURNED OFF THE WATER! i was fuming, but i calmly waited the 10 minutes until the rental company opened then called them. they contacted the cabin's owner then sent maintenance out to turn the water back on. we rented through mountain rentals of gatlinburg. overall, my DD really enjoyed herself, which of course is my main concern. it wasn't much of a vacation for me with the cooking and cleaning up afterwards, though. we had a great lunch at the alamo steakhouse (DH's favorite) and i had enough leftover for supper, lol. it was great to get away and i'm glad we went for DD. i hope you enjoy your trip and that your rental/room is much better than ours! LOL

[luvhockey]

We're staying in a hotel a block off the strip, overlooking the river. A little more quiet but no kitchen to make me feel guilty about not cooking.
The bucket of dirt at the gem place is one of the things my 9yo DS wants to do. My 6yo DS wants to play in the streams and walk on logs!
We're doing Dollywood, going to see a Smokies baseball game, (run the bases/free kids food night), and lots of stuff in the park. Thanks for the update.
Angela

[andrea2289]

My husband and I were married in Gatlinburg so I love it there! If you like to shop, and find amazing deals, go to the Tanger Outlet Mall in Pigeon Forge. At the Lenox Store I once found $79 crystal/gold nativity sets marked down to $7.00. They were beautiful. All my sisters got one for Christmas LOL - There is a Nascar Speedway right next to the outlet mall, so my DD and I go shopping while my DH and DS go ride the go-carts at the Nascar place.

There is restaurant called The Old Mill...in my opinion a MUST see! You HAVE to make reservations OR be there right when they open. It is very popular and they almost always have a long wait. The meals all come with their corn chowder, fritters, salad, green beans, choice of potato and dessert. It is all down home country cooking! Yummy! There is also The Old Mill Square right behind the restaurant that has a lot of unique little shops and a really good homemade candy shop and an old fashioned toy store.

In downtown Gatlinburg you could walk and look all day. Ripley’s Believe It or Not might be a little scary for your son, but the aquarium is very popular! My DH and DS always do the sky lift and love it!

There is a TON of hiking all over the area. Some of the trails go to beautiful overlooks. We always spend at least one afternoon doing this.

We liked Wonderworks and Dixie Stampede is a ton of fun, but is a little pricey!

Hope this helps! Have fun!!

[iluvamystery89]

i have to say, the candy shops in downtown gatlinburg were absolutely heavenly! all that homemade fudge and candy is enough to put 5 lbs on ya just by looking! we got to see a man making taffy at the ol' smoky candy kitchen (after we bought two boxes of wintergreen taffy for my MIL, lol) and i found my DGM a jar of crab apple jelly & my mom a large jar of smoky mtn. honey at aunt mahalia's candies.

[mia214jia]

I would love to go back with just my DH but with 3 kids it would be hard to find someone to watch them for a few days. Oh well,,, I can only wish.

[luvhockey]

Andrea thanks for the tips
Angela