Any Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge tips for must sees and discount info?

[Shellydm]

Hello!

We are so excited we are going to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge in early April.

We have never been before so its a bit overwhelming to figure out what to do, what not to miss, and if there are any discount sites or places to get package deals for some of the touristy sites.

We are a proudly claimed cheesey family and love all the touristy things to do like Ripleys, the Titanic Museum and so on. I so don't want to miss anything fun for a family. Our daughter is 7 so it must be family friendly.

We are going to Dollywood for a day but other than that we planned on just driving around Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg and going to any neat places we see like Ripleys museums and so on.

We are staying around 4 nights and staying at the Christmas Place.

I would love any tips on great family museums/attractions, places to eat, or a neat dinner theater , stores not to miss and so on.

Also, any websites or places to get good info. I am googling and am overwhelmed by all the sites. Hoping there was one or two great sites that sum up all attractions,places to eat and so on.

Are there any tips or ways to get discounts if you buy package deals on different attractions but buy them together to save money?

So sorry for all the q's. Can't wait to hear any tips or info or anything regarding Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge/Dollywood. I'd love to hear if your family liked it or not.

Thanks,
Shelly

 

[mad madam mim78]

We love gatlinburg!!! There's sooo much to do. I'll just tell you a few of the things we like.
Love a pancake breakfast.
Love the ripleys museum. It can scare small kids though.
Love a trip to Cade's cove. (Avoid when it's really hot though)
Love the skylift.
Love hitting a hiking trail.
Love the smokey mountain brewery. It's in a strip mall behind firehouse mini golf.
Love getting fudge!!!
Love mama's farmhouse restaurant.


Things we didn't really care for.

Those go cart parks. They are fun but soooooo expensive.
The ripleys aquarium. It's ok don't get me wrong but it was pricy and only took about 1-2 hours to complete.
Cherokee.......a bit of a tourist trap. Not a whole lot to do there and a pretty decent jaunt through the mountains.

Things I want to do in the future.

Dixie stampede. I hear its great. Wonder works museum. The titanic museum. And hillbilly golf.

 

[Andrea]

My best friend and I are going the first weekend of April also. I came here looking for advice also.

Only thing I found out is you an go to dolly wood after 3 pm you get the next day for free

 

[Shellydm]

Wow! Thank you for the wealth of information! I really appreciate it! I'm glad to hear you and your family love it there. I'm sure we will too from the sounds of it.

I'm going to look up all the things you mentioned like Hill Billy Golf etc , sounds like so much fun!! Thanks also for the tips on what to avoid or not really worth the money! That really helps us in deciding on what to do!

Thanks a million!
Shelly

 

[Shellydm]

Thanks Andrea! Great tip! I didn't realize that, but will definately do now!

Thanks,
Shelly

 

[goofy67]

Go eat at the Apple Barn. They have some neat gift shops and also have a desert restaurant that has the most awesome fried apple pies you have ever put in your mouth! There is a new wax museum that had just opened when we were there last summer and it was great. We usually go at least once a year sometimes twice. We do a lot of shopping in the outlet stores. I think you will find plenty to so for all ages.

 

[Shellydm]

Thanks Goofy!

The Apple Barn sounds great! Is everything pretty easy to find there? Will we see the outlets when driving down the main road or are they harder to find?

Is it easy to find things random things to do by driving by them and basically window shopping until something catches your eye and you pull in or are a lot of things hidden unless you know about them first?

Thanks, Shelly

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Hillbilly golf
breakfast at the Pancake Pantry
the aquarium
dinner at Smoky Mountain Brewery

those are our "must-dos." We usually make it down to Gatlinburg about once a year.

 

[mad madam mim78]

OH!!! I almost forgot the deer farm. It's a petting zoo. It's kind of off the beaten path but that was such a great find. My kids were feeding camels and reindeer, goats, emu.......you name it we probably fed it. So much fun.

 

[okw19]

Pancake Pantry!!! Breakfast & Lunch are great there. Excellent french toast with cinnamon syrup and then great burgers for lunch. It's a Gatlinburg classic and is right across the street from the Guinness World Records museum.

 

[ceecee]

Old Mill resturant best ever! We like it better than Apple Barn. You can get tickets for multi things on the downtown Gatlinburg strip...putt putt, laser tag, bumper cars, etc. Oberer Gatlinburg is fun and there's a place with smoky bears which is cute to see. The Aquarium was great and so is Dollywood.

 

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Go to the National Park and drive through Cade's Cove. Keep your eyes open for animals and stop, get out and look around. You can go for a horseback ride in the park too.

 

[maslex]

I'm jumping in, looking for info also. We're heading there the week of July 4th.

W did go there back in 2010. We went to Dollywood 2x and then over to the water park (Splash Country, I think) my boys had a blast there (they were 13 & 14 at the time)

This time around I know we're going to The Comedy Barn (heard it's family friendly). Hatfiled & McCoy Dinner Show. We'll also be having dinner at the Apple Barn and Old Mill Restaurant. Heading over to drive Cades Cove, driving around and stopping for a picnic lunch.

But like you, we're also going to be driving around Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and stopping when something strikes our fancy.

Any other ideas would be great.

 

[brooke789]

Ice Skating at Ober Gatlinburg!

We always go to the Hard Rock Cafe (were married there 9 years ago).

There is a salt & pepper shaker museum (seriously) and in the same development is a cute little winery.

There is a nice little family run pottery place called Alewine.

There's tons of hiking to do. We've hiked just about everything including the 16 miles to the top of Mt LeConte (I think it's the highest peak in the Smokies/Appalachian).

 

[momof1princess]

we vacationed in gatlinburg in april of 2008. it was still a bit chilly, and there was even snow on the ground in the mountains (made for a white-knuckle trip over the mtns. to cherokee, nc!). i would highly recommend a trip to cherokee, NC, to tour the museum of the cherokee indian. VERY informative and admissions is cheap-$8 per person! we also did the gem mining thing at the 3 bears gift shop in pigeon forge. DD found a 1 carat sapphire and a 2 carat emerald in a $15 bucket of dirt! we also went horseback riding at a place in gatlinburg (sorry, don't know the name-we got free tix with our cabin rental) which was lots of fun, and i enjoyed ice skating at ober gatlinburg (couldn't get DH out there and DD gave it a quick try, fell down and gave up, lol).

 

[scrdofbugs]

Best food we have had so far is old mill. Mamas farmhouse was good but we liked old mill better. Titanic was very nice but young children may get bored. My teenage daughter and her friend enjoyed the wax museum too. Expect to pay ALOT! Titanic and wax museum were both $60+ each for 3. Aquarium was $100for 4. There are tourist trap things to do and buy all up and down the parkway. We r staying across the street from the Christmas resort in spring hill suites. Love this location and there is a side street behind them to help u beat the traffic. Also there is a small outlet store on this side street that was nice too. Expect crowds and traffic. Have fun!!

 

[turnlisa]

We are Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg junkies with our next trip booked for 4th of July week.

Best restaurants:

• Pancake Pantry - they only take cash
• Calhoun's - best steak I ever ate
• Mellow Mushroom Pizza

Avoid Bennett's BBQ - definitely not the best BBQ no matter what they say.

For FABULOUS cupcakes, go to Cake's By Bishop on Wears Valley Road. You get to pick the type of cake and the frosting to go on it. They are definitely the greatest.

Also hit the Donut Friar in Gatlinburg - fabulous donuts.

We are Dollywood Season passholders and love this park. The people there are so nice and we have always had a fabulous time. Can't say enough good things about the splash park either. If you are planning on going for more than a couple of days, the season passes are definitely worth it.

We saw Cirque du Chine last year - and loved it. Were really surprised how few people there were and how great the show was. We also loved the Titanic.

Definitely visit Cade's Cove. There is an early morning hayride with park rangers that you can reserve from the stables at Cade's Cove. This was a great time - saw lots of deer, woodpeckers, and bear. Also learned a lot about the history of the place. My kids loved it.

 

[CoffeeCup]

We've always loved Old Mill Restaurant and have eaten there many times, but when we ate there in August, we were very disappointed. The quality of their food wasn't what it always has been, and we didn't think it was worth the wait for a table or the price. However, the same people also own Old Mill Cafe across the street from the restaurant. It's still great...sandwiches on homemade bread, homemade soups, quiche, etc. the cafe also has a bakery, and you can buy loaves of cinnamon bread, whole wheat bread, slices of cake, etc., to take with you.

 

[sillysmom]

LOVE this thread. We have been to Pigeon Forge 3 times before the last time about 4 years ago, and we will be returning on July 5, we cannot wait!

If you all that are going have anything you want to know feel free. First, you all should call and order the Pigeon Forge travel guide from the department of tourism, it is a wonderfully helpful book with EVERYTHING you want to know inside.

First let me say that we have stayed at the Red Roof Inn, everytime we have gone. They have the most friendly employees and also prices that are VERY reasonable. 24 hour indoor pool, and free continental breakfast. Rooms are always very clean and we have never had any issues with the hotel at all.

Must haves are a Dollywood season pass. It pays for itself after 2 visits. We always have gotten 1 gold card, which includes 10% anything in the park including food, and free parking. We always stop there sometime during each day and then move on to other things. We have always gone during spring break, so we've never had the opportunity to go to the water park, until this upcoming trip, so we will be purchasing the dual waterpark, theme park pass.

Everytime we've gone we have gone to the Dixie Stampede, that to me is a MUST for everyone. The show is great and the food is good as well. As for other shows, we have seen so many over the years and they do change quite often, so if there is one in particular your curious about let me know. We have also done the helicopter ride over the Smokey Mountains, which was amazing, the cablecar ride in Gatlinburg over the moutains as well, that was just ok. Been to all the Ripleys stuff in Gatlinburg as well, Aquarium is amazing, everything else is good too, but I wouldn't go back for a repeat visit.

This visit we plan on going to Dollywood of course, the Dixie Stampede, the Titanic Museum was not opened yet the last time we went, so we are really looking forward to that, the Hatfield & McCoys show, and the balloon ride behind Wonderwerks, thats new and we want to try that. Wonderwerks is pretty cool by the way, especially for younger kids.

After that, I think we will just wing it, maybe another show or two. We loved the dinner shows, but of course some are just the show, I haven't seen anything terrible in our past trips, it just depends what you like. They have something for everyone!

Restaurants, hummm, we are more just, grabbin something whereever we are, we like buffets, Golden Corral is good, and we've eaten at the park many times, really quite reasonable. We also like the Olive Garden in Sevierville.

And of course, theres the shopping.....OMG, is there ever shopping.

As I said, we love the place, any questions feel free!

 

[Shellydm]

WOW! thank you everyone for all the great tips!!! I have a notebook and am writing them all down!

Thanks a million!!! It seems like a great place and I'm getting really excited.

Should we plan on driving everywhere or taking the trolley I read about? Or is the trolley in Gatlinburg and we are staying in Pigeon Forge at the Inn and Christmas Place.

Thanks again everyone for all the FABULOUS info and tips!!!

Shelly