Chattanooga, TN area overnight ideas.

[DisKneeKnut]

Suggestions for overnight stay???

Hi, Not sure if this is the correct area to post this or not. We are heading to WDW in mid-Oct. We are thinking about stopping in the Chattanooga area for the night. We are thinking about going to Ruby Falls, and the Civil War museum. Are there sources for discount admissions? 2 adults and 1 child (11)?

We will have been on the road for at least 15 hours, so we will break early on Friday, and get an early start arriving in Fla on Sat.

Thank you in advance.

P.S. no longer have auto membership for any discounts.

Myself, turning 47 at WDW - spending lunch with Pooh and Tigger at Crystal Palace.
BF 43 hooked - 3rd trip.
BFSon 11 brainwashed into all things Disney (by me, hehehehe).

 

[tnhillbilly]

DO NOT STAY AT THE CHATTANOOGA CHOO- CHOO. We stoped there on our way home from Florida. My DS is a train nut and DW and I thought this would be something he would like. OMG I know it is a old train station but the hotel part had this smell that was terrible.

 

[bigmac5]

On our way down to FL were stayed at a Motel 6 on the far outskirts of Chattanooga.--Never again. It had a musty/mouldy smell. We only stayed because we were to tired to relocate and the kids were in the pool as soon as we opened the door. Anyway we were gone by 5am to continue our trek

 

[DISNEY'03]

if you go to visit Ruby Falls, 1st, i don't have any discount codes, sorry, but i have advice on where to NOT stay, and where to go.

Ruby Falls is off of I-24, not exactly sure where the civil war museum is, but when you go to find a place to stay, get back on 24, until you get to where it goes to I-75 south for Atlanta. over by the Tn Welcome Center there is the better areas which are also safer. We found this out the hard way when we went down there when our ds was 4 mths old.

when you get to Ruby Falls and get back on I-24, while driving you will see like a bunch of factories, and it looks like it is kinda run downed neighborhood, that is where you do not want to get off for a hotel. pass all that up, and goes with what i said up above and you will be fine. not trying to scare you, i am just giving advice from being in that area, and not knowing that i was in a rough area. i was very glad when a waitress told us to get out of that area, and she gave us directions to the better areas of the city.

you will like Ruby Falls, and take pics while you are down in the caves. I have some really great pics from there, and with my ds being 4 mths at the time, i thought we would have problems with his ears, since you go 1500 feet below ground, he did just great. he even fell asleep towards the end of the tour.

have a great time and have a safe trip,

dina 16 days until we get to leave!!!

 

[LindsayDunn228]

I am 30 minutes from downtown and used to work in that area.

Go to the Aquarium. Your child will love it.

There are some awesome places to eat downtown. Just park your car and go walking.

 

[alicenwonder99]

Suggestions for overnight stay???

Hi, Not sure if this is the correct area to post this or not. We are heading to WDW in mid-Oct. We are thinking about stopping in the Chattanooga area for the night. We are thinking about going to Ruby Falls, and the Civil War museum. Are there sources for discount admissions? 2 adults and 1 child (11)?

We will have been on the road for at least 15 hours, so we will break early on Friday, and get an early start arriving in Fla on Sat.

Thank you in advance.

P.S. no longer have auto membership for any discounts.

Myself, turning 47 at WDW - spending lunch with Pooh and Tigger at Crystal Palace.
BF 43 hooked - 3rd trip.
BFSon 11 brainwashed into all things Disney (by me, hehehehe).

When we drive to WDW from Chicago, it's like a 10 hour trip, but actually takes us closer to 12 hours because of all the stops we have to make. We always stop in Chattanooga. Have you really considered how tired you will be when you get to Chattanooga? We really only have the energy to eat, swim at the hotel, and then get to sleep early so we can leave early the next morning to make it WDW. It takes about another 12 hours to get to WDW from Chattanooga. Well, that's with the kids. Since you only have one child with you, you probably don't have to stop as often.

Anyway, on our last trip to WDW in January, my dd6 woke up in the middle of the night at the hotel in Chattanooga and was very sick (some kind of 24 hour virus). We had to stay an extra day in Tennessee because she was too sick to get out of bed. My dh took the other children to Ruby Falls and they still talk about how much fun it was.

If you need some hotel recommendations for Chattanooga, let me know. The staff at the hotel we stayed in when my dd got sick bent over backwards for us. In fact, they didn't even charge us for the extra night! We stayed in a different hotel on the way home and we liked that hotel, too. It was a nice room and they had a full free breakfast buffet in the morning. Both hotels were large enough for a family of 6, and both were around $100 a night.

Mary

 

[madge]

we like the Lookout Mountain area of Chattanooga, but I have no idea where Ruby Falls in in relation to that exit, LOL...we love Chattanooga, the downtown is awesome

 

[KTSMOM]

The downtown area in Chattanooga is wonderful! They have a wonderful children's museum and the aquarium is great too. They also have a park that has water fountains that the children can run through and get wet (one of those that spurts water from the ground). There is a carousel in the same park.

 

[momimouse27]

Yes, I echo the posts that the downtown area is wonderful. My suggestion is the AQUARIUM hands down! We go all the time and love it there. If they are still having the seahorse and seadragons exhibit that is unbelievable....

 

[littleprissboutique]

Hi, We live in TN and I would not suggest staying in Chat. If you are going to be coming down the interstate (I-40) I would suggest staying in Sevierville, TN. There are tons to do in Sevierville, and the time you are going you could really see the leaves changing colors here. There is DOLLYWOOD, and all kinds of other cool places to visit. The exit number is 407 off of I-40. If you PM me I could gather some information for you and mail it up to you.. We are going to Sevierville tomorrow for our anvsry. I could gather you some pamplets of the area..... Would not mind at all to help.

 

[Kermit]

We spent a long weekend in Chattanooga a few months ago. Ruby Falls is on Lookout Mountain. We stayed downtown. It's only a few minutes' drive from downtown to Ruby Falls. I would probably stay downtown near the aquarium and the IMAX, since that seems to be the nicest area. We stayed in the Residence Inn. It was a nice enough hotel. Nothing spectacular, but nothing wrong with it, either. The breakfast was good. The location was AWESOME for our trip. The aquarium, IMAX, and children's museum were all just steps from the hotel. There was a lot of good food within walking distance, too.

 

[DisKneeKnut]

Hello again.

I want to thank everyone for the great advice. I had to hit the hay last night, so I wasn't able to read the replies till tonight.

I have to say this board and members are great!!!

We're looking forward to this vacation. We leave on Oct 13th.



Thanks everyone.

 

[dfamily]

We live in Soddy Daisy (that's a real conversation starter!) which is about 25 minutes from downtown. There are several hotels in the downtown area. Residence Inn and Clarion are both within walking distance of the Creative Discovery Museum, Aquarium and IMAX Theater. There's also the Chattanooga Marriott and others. You can get discount tickets on the website, www.tnaqua.org if you think you can do 2 or 3 in the same day. We have a family membership to the aquarium (DS 7, DD 4, DS 17 months) and the kids LOVE it! You can easily see everything in one day. There's lots of water the kids can play in so be sure to bring a towel for wading. (I don't see it getting cooler here for a little while!) There's a new exhibit, Ocean's Journey, that opened in April and it's all saltwater. Seahorses and Seadragons are still on exhibit in the River Journey exhibit. Your ticket price includes both exhibits. There are several movies to choose from at the IMAX Theater also. The IMAX is on the corner near the Aquarium entrance. They are very close together. The Creative Discovery Museum is fun for kids and parents, just know that the kids will probably want to play longer than you'd really like to stay! It's about 2 blocks from the Aquarium and IMAX. It's been a long time since I've visited Ruby Falls, but it's beautiful,too. Rock City is another big attraction that is also located on Lookout Mountain (get there from downtown Chatt) and would be nice and cool in October. Please ask any questions! I love Chattanooga and welcome visitors!