Gatlinburg-- Just got back

[InMemory]

Is the sky lift Ober Gatlinburg? If that's the case I'd switch sky lift and wonder works it will allow you more time to play. You will be rushed getting to the show and won't get your money's worth out if Wonderworks. Hit Old Mill for lunch and take all the time in the world at Wonderworks. Logistically it makes sense traffic will be bad on a Sun and they will be closer together. I've been to Hatfielss and McCoys and its good dinner but I think younger set would enjoy Comedy Barn more and it's cheaper. We skipped the aquarium the last few times. It's nice but doesn't take very long for the price. Save your money and go the chimneys picnic area. Depends on your kids but mine are just as happy there and it's free! Have fun!

 

[InMemory]

And Roaring Fork is closer to sky lift logistically it makes sense. Yada yada thats just my opinion... lol!

 

[dr&momto2boys]

That's great info!

In all likelihood, we will skip the sky lift because it's about $65 for our family and doesn't look like it will be worth that much to us. The plan I listed would cost about $1200 for entertainment (not food) and we want to get it down to $700. It will cost us about $550 just for Dollywood and Splash Country but we are a theme park loving family and are really looking forward to them.

I'm trying to talk my 7 year old out of the aquarium because it's so expensive and I remember it didn't take us a long time to go through it either... but it's his one request. We'll see.

My kids really like mirror mazes! And Hillbilly Golf sounds cool... to be lifted up the mountain and golf down.

We need to go over all these activities with the kids and prioritize.

 

[bugsmama11]

Here is the first draft of our itinerary: (We need to cut down on entertainment expense and add in or change some restaurants.)

Day 1 Sunday
Depart 9am
Arrive 11:42am in Ashville NC
Grocery Shopping
Dinner at The Old Mill
Sky Lift

Day 2 Monday
Breakfast at Apple Barn
Sugarlands Visitor Center
Deer Farm Zoo
Dollywood at 3pm

Day 3 Tuesday
Dollywood
Dinner at Miss Lillian’s

Day 4 Wednesday
Arts and Crafts Trail
Splash Country At 3pm

Day 5 Thursday
Splash Country
Dinner at ?

Day 6 Friday
Breakfast at ?
Aquarium, Mirror Maze, etc
Hillbilly Golf
Apple Barn Village in Sevierville

Day 7 Saturday
Pack a Picnic
Drive Roaring Fork
WonderWorks
Hatfield and McCoy Dinner Show or Lumberjack Feud Dinner Show

Day 8 Sunday
Depart 12:15pm from Ashville NC
Arrive 1:01pm

I would make a suggestion that on day 2 you are back and fourth a lot...here's a plan that may work at bit easier.

Day 2: I would do bfast at Apple Barn and then the Deer farm as they are both out that direction, then head to Sugarlands and then Dollywood. Otherwise, it will be Apple Barn, all the way down the parkway into the park to Sugarlands, then all the way back out towards Sevierville and then back down into PF to Dollywood. Just trying to save ya some time and gas!

I would say skip the Aquarium if it can be done, it's so not worth the money.

We have never done WonderWorks, but I hope we can squeeze it in this trip!

 

[pandamom]

We vacationed there last year and are planning on going back this August -- love the area! The deer farm is small but was one of our favorite places. If you plan to drink alcohol back at the timeshare I would suggest you bring it with you. Liquor (dh picked up tequila for Margaritas) and beer were much higher priced there then in our home stores. Have fun!

 

[rbork]

Bush's Baked Bean factory tour and museum is FREE! One day of DW was good for us. I payed extra for QBOT and it was worth it for us. Instead of the Waterpark and crowds, we've done tubing or rafting instead. Another free thing is definitely the GSMNP. The Moonshine and Whiskey places downtown offer FREE tastings too. (Ok, so the kid's weren't with us on this day.

The Donut Friar was a favorite spot for a quick breakfast. The NASCAR park was also fun. You can buy an all day wrist ban and then go back and forth between outlets and there. It is right by outlets, FiveOaks Ziplining and the AppleBarn.
I however do not recommend Ober Gatlinburg. I thought it was to much money for a an ariel tram that they sardine ppl in. Drove up to Ober instead. Stayed for 10 minutes and then left.

I usually save a ton of expenses by eating in some days.
Good Luck and have a good time.

 

[hammie59]

Someone mentioned to skip the aquarium because it's not with the money. I disagree. I will admit that when the ticket guy gave me my total for 4 ppl, my jaw dropped. But I have young children and that was to be the highlight of the trip. Anyhow, by the end of our day, I thought it was worth every penny. If you have already done it, then maybe skip and spend the money on a new adventure.

 

[smitch425]

No trip to Gatlinburg is complete without at least one breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House...

http://www.logcabinpancakehouse.com/gatlinburg.html

We are going back for Spring Break, and the kids can't wait!

 

[Stargazer]

I'm trying to talk my 7 year old out of the aquarium because it's so expensive and I remember it didn't take us a long time to go through it either... but it's his one request. We'll see.

My kids really like mirror mazes! And Hillbilly Golf sounds cool... to be lifted up the mountain and golf down.

We need to go over all these activities with the kids and prioritize.

Another fellow planner for Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge
If you decide to do the aquarium, don't forget that you can do combo tickets that can help cut the cost too.
https://tickets.ripleys.com/gatlinburg/

Definitely keep watching Groupon and Living Social too - they usually will post more deals closer to summer. Of course, just watch the expiration dates to make sure your vacation dates are covered. Currently, there are a few for Rainforest Adventure Zoo, horseback riding and white water rafting.

You've gotten some really good advice already as to what to do, so hope y'all have a great time! Here's a link to my Pinterest board where I put all of my brainstorming ideas (to keep it all in one place). There are quite a few links for trolley maps, attractions, and restaurants that have been recommended to us or that we've enjoyed in the past.

http://www.pinterest.com/stargazer78/gatlinburg-pigeon-forge/

 

[memy26]

No trip to Gatlinburg is complete without at least one breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House...

http://www.logcabinpancakehouse.com/gatlinburg.html

We are going back for Spring Break, and the kids can't wait!

I totally agree. We eat here at least once each trip

 

[3boymthr]

Love all the tips! We're going to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge for the first time this August. Mostly we're planning on outdoorsy stuff as kids are older and into hiking, etc. (oldest- he's 18 - is planning a solo overnight hike on the AT thru the SMNP ) but we're looking at doing some of the same things, such as mini golf and were considering the aquarium but may not given the comments here. I'm especially loving the restaurant recommendations as there are so many to choose from.

OP - one thing to do before you go is definitely order the travel guides from Gatlingburg and Pigeon Forge - one from each. There are attraction coupons in each of them - including coupons for Wonderworks, and the Lumberjack Feud and Hatfield & McCoy Dinner Shows.

Hijacking a little - we are big on white water rafting. Can anyone recommend a good guide to use? I've started pricing and even with coupons they're all about the same price (within a couple of dollars).

 

[InMemory]

We used smokymountainrafting.com. We went over spring break so it was cold! The teenagers loved the guide and he was very knowledgable about things they saw. They were spouting all kinds of animal and bird facts. Great experience. They took pictures too. You can purchase a cd of your adventure! I expected a couple shots but there were quite a few. Facial expressions when being hit by that cold water are priceless. I researched a lot of places on Trip advisor and had it narrowed down to 2 and went with this one. We weren't disappointed!

 

[InMemory]

We enjoyed eating at JT Hannah's cool atmosphere. For Mexican we enjoyed No Way Jose. Love the white cheese queso. Last time we ate at Johnny Carinos which is kind of Olive Garden style but they had Italian nachos never had anything like them. Can't wait to go back!

 

[loveswdw]

No trip to Gatlinburg is complete without at least one breakfast at the Log Cabin Pancake House... http://www.logcabinpancakehouse.com/gatlinburg.html We are going back for Spring Break, and the kids can't wait!

We love this one, too! Must eat there every trip!

 

[Dallas_Lady]

We went last summer and had a great time!

Traffic on the Parkway can be a beast. We arrived on a Saturday and it was gridlocked. We quickly learned how to use the back roads to avoid it as much as possible.

We got the 3 day pass to Dollywood. We spent 2 of the days in the water park, it was a lot of fun. The theme park reminded me of being in Frontierland at WDW.

You could easily spend several days exploring the National Park, and it's FREE! We found Cades Cove to be pretty, but crowded and noisy. We actually liked the Roaring Fork Motor Trail a lot better and there are several places to pull off and go for a hike.

We also went to Tuckaleechee Caverns. The website is very basic and even when you drive up it doesn't look like much, but it was VERY nice. I highly recommend it.

We'd planned to go to the Aquarium but just didn't get around to it. We did visit the big Christmas Place store in Pigeon Forge, if you are into Christmas decorations it's a must see!

We really enjoyed our week there, it was very relaxing (unlike WDW!).

 

[smitch425]

We love this one, too! Must eat there every trip!

Ever since a I posted in this thread I have been craving their food. Only one more month until I get to eat this again...



Sooooo freakin' good!!!!!!!!!

 

[LovesTimone]

Have you gone to "free stuff to do" in... just enter in your city and lots of stuff will pop up.

Lots of times you can check the tourism board for each city or state. There will be listing of things they have going on such as Arts and Crafts, Free music and concerts.

Cades Cove is so beautiful, and I think it is a free drive, if not I think its per car.. Take a picnic lunch they have a really nice area for picnicking.

They are also a lot of waterfalls to see, you could spend a day touring them, again bring a picnic lunch.

We love to go tubing, The last couple of years we used River Rats.. They had an option for all day, I think it was like 25.00 person which I think is a good deal for all day. They had both types of tubes they regular and ones with a bottom, and life vest for the little ones. The water was cool and its a really nice float. They also had a really nice restroom, changing area, and a BBQ & ice cream stand on site, but again you could bring a picnic.

For picnicking you should check out Groupon for deals, Check for coupons in the local flyers, for buy one get one. Subway is another good option. Some of the mom and pop place's will have really great lunch specials. There is a KFC on a back side road, we got a bucket of chicken and sides for a picnic one day.

If you are going to splurge I would do it on the Apple Barn -- YUMMY -

You could drive over the mountain into Cherokee NC, and spend the day there, also The Biltmore is about a 2 hour drive ( I think) Well worth it, it was one of the highlights of our trip last year.

Check out AAA for deals on tickets and such.

Check out Food Network, Diners, Drive Inns and Dives, for the area your going to be in, They have a listing of any place that Guy has visited. We try to hit one place where he has been when we are traveling.

Have a great time.

 

[Stargazer]

Just checked for any new groupons for our trip and they have a fantastic deal for The Track in Pigeon Forge:

https://www.groupon.com/deals/the-track-family-recreation-center

http://www.pigeonforgetrack.com/

 

[ChrisinNJ]

We are planning a trip there this summer as well. We are driving from NJ and camping. In terms of weather and crowds, are we better off going in the beginning of July or the end of August?

 

[dr&momto2boys]

^^ I think weather and crowds would more likely be better at end of August.