What to do in the Smokies?

[newscick27]

We will be heading up to the Smoky mountains this week. We have been many times. We have done most of the major things up there , the Aquarium, Dixie stampede, Black bear jamboree, shopping, Cades cove etc. We are looking for something new that we may have missed... any ideas? We have two small children, and my mother in law with us, so hiking is pretty much out of the question. We are planning on visiting the comedy barn this time. So what are your favorite things to do? Help us out!!

Thanks
Laura

 

[marshallandcartersmo]

I know you said you did the biggies, but what about Dollywood?? We live about an hour and 1/2 from there and just went for the first time. Our boys are 6 & 3 and they had a great time. It's a very pretty park, and lots of fun and good food!!
A friend of mine went to the "upside down house" in Pigeon Forge. It's fairly new (I think) and we haven't been yet but they thought it was fun. Pricey, but fun. Maybe someone else has a review on that........

 

[WISHIN4DISNEY]

Our family loves going down to the smokies too! Have you done Ober Gatlinburg yet? Its something that your kids would like as long as their not scared of heights. There's a ice skating rink, kinda like bob sledding, water slides, race cars and stuff. We liked doing the chair lift that takes you up even higher.
There is also a smaller cable car that takes you up the mountain at the beginning of gatlinburg that has putt putt on top of the mountain, its pretty neat.
I have done the helicopter tours. they are amazing. they range in prices from like $10 to $200. everyone who did the 10.00 tours said they where great and wanted to do a longer ride next time. i also have to agree dollywood is a wonderful place to visit
if you guys are going to drive through the mountains, there is a restraunt at the very edge of gatlinburg on the right (its the last one beside the gas station i think it might be called applewood) you can stop in there and get a picnic lunch that is very cheap. its neat because they have several adult ones and several kid choices and it was a lot of food. there is plenty of places to stop off and have a picnic. the highest point in the smokies is neat, but it pretty much is a straight climb up and the air is a lot thinner so if anyone has trouble walking or breathing i wouldn't recommend it.

one thing that i think is neat is the biltimore estates which is a little bit of drive but its very pretty. right now is a great time to go.

oh and my favorite is horse back riding. there are several down there and its absolutely breath taking. most of them take you up the mountains and around and back down. usually you ride for 30 minutes for like $15/$20. if you don't want to go up a mountain then its cheaper.

hope i helped some!!!

 

[kristinleigh]

Have you been to the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge? It is a great restaurant that also has several shops you can walk to. There is a general store, pottery store, toy store, bakery, etc. That is always a must for us but go for a late lunch--it is much cheaper at lunch.

We also like to drive down Wear's Valley Road (the road between Townsend and Pigeon Forge) and go in all the antique shops.

When we go in the summer the kids like to tube down the Little River in Townsend, or just stop when we are driving through the mountains and let the kids play in the river.

There is also a great driving tour in Gatlinburg. Very pretty! The last two weeks in July there is a Craftman's Fair at the Convention Center in Gatlinburg. We usually try to make that. It is a big indoor craft fair. We always find a lot of unusual things.

Have Fun!

 

[Danemom]

Just wanted to say - my kids LOVED the Comedy Barn!

 

[Jennifer Hemric]

Its called Hillbilly Golf.

 

[middleofamerica]

We used to live in Knoxville and something my two toddlers always loved to stop and do was the Christmas Village-I don't remember the name for sure. It's a Christmas themed bunch of stores in Pigeon Forge I believe. My son just loves the trains that go around out in front and the train/toy store where he could play Thomas trains and watch the model trains they have set up. Also, Gatlinburg has a neat little village area that starts on the main road and goes back with lots of neat little shops to look in, the Pancake Pantry right there is excellent for breakfast. The Apple Barn, in Sevierville, is a fantastic stop for having their apple fritters and apple julep-they are fantastic! Of course, there is a Disney Outlet store at the nearby Tanger Mall!

 

[gower525]

We never go to Gatlinburg without visiting the Apple Barn.

 

[shortbun]

We never go to Gatlinburg without visiting the Apple Barn.

Yummmm-headed there in July and can't wait for my fritters!

We're going to Wonderworks this time. It looks great for kids and grownups too. How little are your kids? Google it and see if they would like it. Also, over in Hartford. there is some family friendly white water rafting/float trip good for all ages. Check out the lower Pigeon float trips. They advertise for ages 3 to 93.

 

[Mom-to-2-Princesses]

Hi

We just got back from our third trip to the Smokies - a new thing we did this year was drive the Newfound Gap Road (beautiful!!!) to Cherokee and visit the Cherokee museum. My girls (8 and 11) really enjoyed it and we learned a lot about the history of the area. Also in Cherokee there were many stores with Indian themes and even Indians dressed in their full gear to attract customers.

We also love Hillbilly Golf located on the left hand side of the road as you are entering the Gatlinburg area. For the same price as the other Mini-Golfs you ride a tram up the side of the mountain and then play the golf course (you don't go super high, but it is fun and you don't see the road anymore) You also get to ride the tram back down.

Another fun thing we always do is find a nice spot in the river for the girls to climb on the rocks. You MIL can sit and watch. Obviously there are many good spots for that, but we like to go in the Greenbrier entrance and park by one of the bridges. We spent a good three hours playing, relaxing, and reading.

OK, this may sound wierd - but my kids also loved Ripleys Believe it or Not Museum (and I did too!) It was very well presented and fascinating. It is located in Downtown Gatlinburg. We did that last year when they were 7 and 10).

Have a great time - the flowers were beautiful last week. Everything was blooming early based on the warm weather they were having. I hope the colder weather hasn't ruined that.

 

[kdkbrebel]

The smokies is our 2nd fav vac spot, disney being first of course. We went last summer, and are planning on going back next summer. We did the whitewater rafting, horseback riding, hiking, saw a bear , Dollywood and splash country, dixie stampede, black bear jamb, aquarium, all the ripley's stuff, obergatlinburg, comedy barn, cades cove, smokies jubilee and I can't think of everything else right now. I second the drive through the mountains and just relaxing by the water. I am sure there are many things we missed that we are going to try to hit next year. Hope you have a great trip.

 

[Lady V]

hello! I actually live in Sevierville so if you need any help let me know!!
As far as 'the upside down house'-that is WONDERWORKS and is pretty fun but for me not something I would do again.
Also-If you are going to see the Comedy Barn then you should try to get tickets to the MIRACLE as well. They are owned by the same people and you can get a discount and the MIRACLE is an amazing show! (about the life, death, resurection, and ascension of Christ) oh-and my kids love Comendy Barn...
The Old Mill is awesome! And if you come before 3:30 you can still get lunch which are HUGE portions for about half the price of dinner. Applebarn does have great fritters but Old Mill has better food in my opinion. But both are wonderful.
Also-depending on when you come-the Christmas Village mentioned above has it's own themed hotel opening in a couple of months so that might be fun...it's right across the street from the store.
If you decide to do all the Ripleys stuff you can get a combo discount ticket. There is the Space Needle in Gatlinburg where you can go up this elevator and get an amazing view.
There is a lot to do and yet it is still so peaceful. have fun!

 

[sammielynn]

I'm from the area also. We love the Comedy Barn, cades cove, Sugarlands visitors center, the stores in Gatlinburg and PF and just splashing in the streams. We really like the stream area at Metcalf Bottoms.

 

[beth_cam]

I'd suggest maybe a trip into Cherokee as well. The trip is pretty if you like mountain roads. Also in Cherokee is Santas Land. It is a little amusement park. With some rides and some animals and Santa.

 

[totallydisney]

This spring in PF they are building Zorb, A ball like thing you roll down the hillside in. www.zorb.com Checkout www.mypigeonforge.com

 

[jjgaudiano]

ask the locals for directions, and take "the old back way"from gatlinburg toward cosby/newport. you will pass the old jellystone and crazy horse campgrounds, anybody remember the name of that highway?there are several woodcarving places and shops, but there is a place called Carvers Apple Orchard..and it is good country cookin and you can buy produce, jelly, candy,etc. also we like boone nc, tweetsie railroad(not as flashy as pigeon forge but good for a day) there is a little zoo of rescued animals about 20 minutes from there and we went up a practically one lane gravel road on a mountain to get there(think DELIVERANCE) but it was great, they had a coatimundi that seemed to have the hots for me, and my kids thought it was hilarious, you can probably get info from the boone website. we have heard Ghost Town theme park in maggie valley will reopen this season as well.wonderworks is great for probably ages 8 or so, my 4 year old had a good time, but didn,t really get the science of it,they have hoot and holler dinner show. my 12 year old liked it and food was good, but it didn't compare to black bear jam. for good mountain musuc,clogging and food try Fiddlers Feast. my 12 year old gets on stage and clogs with them!

 

[jjgaudiano]

santas land is fun for little kids, great petting zoo, but be careful on the rides, they looked like they were from the 70's and my daughter who was 3 stood straight up on one of the little airplanes while it was about 8 feet in the air!!! i don't know if it was the fault of the operator not putting her in right or if the safety straps were worn out, just be careful!!!

 

[tlriv5]

We just got back from an extended weekend in Gatlinburg yesterday. My kids are 11, 8 and 8. They love to walk the streets of Gatlinburg and see the taffy being made. We played putt putt (indoors unfortunately~it was cold!!) and went to the aquarium. We had gone last year and loved it, but the girls didn't seem to enjoy it as much this year (we wished we had picked something different, but they loved it so much last year). We ate at the Old Mill and it just didn't live up to our expectations, but we all loved the Applebarn! Yum! My family loves to hike, so I wouldn't do this hike with little ones or a MIL, but for anyone else looking for ideas do the Laurel Falls Hike, stop at Sugarland visitors center for directions. It was beautiful. THere is a hike right beside the visitors center that you could do with little ones and your MIL. It only takes about 15 minutes and there are no hills. The guide inside can tell you and it goes to Cataract Falls. It's worth seeing. We went to Cherokee last year and didn't love it. We didn't see anyone dressed up as Indian's though. I do suggest driving up to Newfoundland Gap at the top of the Mountain or to Clingman's Dome for the views. Awesome! Have fun!!

 

[briannesmom]

We just got home from there on Monday night, it was a little chilly but we had a great time. It was a very last minute trip for us so we were on a bit of a budget but still wanted to do some fun things. The ride through the National park to Cherokee was beautiful. Cherokee is a really neat little town. The had Indians in full dress doing face painting and dancing. We went to the petting zoo down towards the casino that had bears you could feed. It was a pretty cheap, $5 per adult and DD was free because she is 3. Bear food was $1 a basket and 1 basket was enough for us.
In Pigeon Forge we went to the Dinosaur Walk Museum (DD loved it) If your kids are into dinosaurs at all I would check it out. It is not a big place but it was pretty cool. There was a movie you could sit and watch and DD like the fossil dig area. We also went to Rainforest Adventure in Pigeon Forge. You walk through all the exhibits and there is a show at the end. The show is about a half hour long and you get to see and learn about all sorts of animals. You can even hold a tarantula and a snake if you want. Both of there places have coupons in the little discount books you see everywhere. The Ripleys Old McDonald mini-golf looked really cute but it was a bit too cold to do it.
We ate at the Old Mill and loved it. Really good food and huge portions. We had enough left over for lunch the next day.
When DH gets home I will upload the pictures from the Dinosaurs and Rainforest and post them for you.

Amy

 

[TN_DISNEY]

Dollywood is neat. There is something for everybody (shows, exhibits, rides, etc.).

I think this weekend is the Dolly parade in Pigeon Forge (grand opening for Dollywood). I suspect they'll block off the streets (traffic ought to be real fun during the parade).

Clingman's Dome (highest point in the park) is a must.

You stated that you might not be into much of the outdoor activity stuff (hiking, etc.), but you might want to try the bicycling in Cades Cove (they have a cutoff road that makes the trip much easier).

If you've hiked and survived the pavement at Disney, then I'm sure you can find a rather easy trail in the Smoky Mountain National Park (Abrams Falls & Ace Gap are relatively easy hikes)