Name your favorite pigeon forge area tourist trap

[disneymagicgirl]

We come to gatlinburg once per year usually but I am here now til Friday for my husband to attend a work thing. On our family trips we avoid the touristy stuff usually, except dollywood and the aquarium. I am going to have to keep the kids busy while DH is at meetings and dinners etc, so thinking I will do a tourist attraction or two. Now is a great time since DD15 is at her dad's for a month and DH will be working....only 3 tix to buy!

We are at the waterpark hotel, so that will eat up a lot of time. Thurs pm is a company thing at dollywood and we will go back fri as well. Plan to hit the outlet mall, of course! So now to narrow down one or two of the other attractions for this week...

 

[OhMari]

Go over to Gatlinberg, it is Beautiful, unless you do not have a car. Drive up to Cade's Cove and walk up the tower. You may see seem hikers hiking the Appalachian Trail. You will not have to spend any money. I think The Smokey Mountain National Park ticket is 12-14, but well worth the price.

Tourist traps type places, I think the statue of Dolly Parton in front of the Court house is pretty cool. I like tourist stores and finding the diamond in the gem that sells authentic crafts from locals.

 

[dugarner]

I believe there is a Go Kart track on the main drag not far from the outlets in Pigeon Forge. My DD and DS spent about 4 hours there one morning with an all you can ride wristband. We had to drag them away.

 

[stacy~**]

Salt and Pepper Shaker museum in Gatlinburg!!! Such fun unique place.

 

[marius97]

No help because I never knew that place existed until we drove through it on our way to the National Park, but all I can say is...Holy Toledo that town is one giant tourist trap. I had never seen anything like it before.

FYI...We drove through there June 8(?) and it took us about 40 minutes to get from the highway to the bypass that takes you around Gatlinburg. The road had a lot of construction on it.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

We always have to do Hillbilly Golf.

 

[Burnedout]

Go karts and the aquarium were the top faves here.

 

[richmond282]

Titanic museum is pretty awesome (There's a groupon for it now too!). Wonderworks museum, Nascar speed park as well.

 

[kymom99]

Go over to Gatlinberg, it is Beautiful, unless you do not have a car. Drive up to Cade's Cove and walk up the tower. You may see seem hikers hiking the Appalachian Trail. You will not have to spend any money. I think The Smokey Mountain National Park ticket is 12-14, but well worth the price.

Tourist traps type places, I think the statue of Dolly Parton in front of the Court house is pretty cool. I like tourist stores and finding the diamond in the gem that sells authentic crafts from locals.

Cades Cove is in the valley. Clingman's Dome is up on top of the mountain, with an observation tower. The Appalachian Trail passes through that area. It doesn't cost anything to enter the National Park.

The Titanic Museum is cool, but not sure if your young kids would get it. Hillbilly Golf is fun. Also, my son always loved the roadside attractions, such as the go karts and the carnival type rides at a young age. There is a Wonderworks that I have never tried but would like to some day. You could also try horseback riding.

There used to be a petting zoo in Seviereville that was really nice. They had exotic animals and pony rides. Here's the link: http://www.deerfarmzoo.com/newsite/index.php/en/

 

[sksjasams]

I would also recommend Wonderworks!

http://www.wonderworksonline.com/pigeon-forge/

Very fun and interactive! We only had time to do the actual Wonderworks museum. If you have more time, you could make a day of it. You could do the magic show, which I believe gets good reviews and Flights of Wonder, which is a tethered baloon ride. I think the views of the mountains would be beautiful!

Enjoy your trip!

 

[lindsey]

Another vote for wonderworks. We took the grands last year and had a great time.

 

[EMode]

We were there for our Spring Break, we did go-carts, Aquarium, Dixie Stampede and the Titanic museum. I wouldn't take your young ones to the Titanic Museum if you are looking for something to keep them occupied. It is kind of a solemn memorial, its not really a "fun" activity museum.

I agree with whoever said go to Gatlinburg, its a much nicer place to walk around and there are tons of things to do there with kids. The Aquarium is nice and we did Ripley's museum which was okay.

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We live about 45 minutes from Pigeon Forge and usually avoid it like the plague during the summer months because of the crowds. I work for a school, so we sometimes get either discounts or free passes to try out some of the attractions in Pigeon Forge. They are trying to generate field trip business. In the past, my family has done Wonder Works, MagiQuest and Mirror Maze, and The Tomb. By far the best was Wonder Works.

My daughter also recently went with a friend to the Smoky Mtn Alpine Coaster. I haven't done it, but she said it's a lot of fun. We drove by it recently and it does look fun if you aren't expecting a thrill ride.

http://www.smokymountainalpinecoaster.com/

Hope this helps!

 

[Neesy228]

We just got back from a week there. It was our first time, and yikes....It is seriously one big tourist trap.

Our kids are a little older than yours (between 8-13 years old), but they liked the Comedy Barn show. MagiQuest was a big hit. Both are in Pigeon Forge. They were also entertained by the Guinness World Records museum in Gatlinburg and Wonderworks.

There is an easy walking trail behind Sugarlands Visitors Center in the Park that leads to a small cascade/waterfall that my kids liked too, if you don't want to get your wallet drained! And the visitors center itself has an exhibit of animals you might find in the forest.

We were squarely unimpressed with Hillbilly Golf and waited forever to get back down the incline at the end of our game. Aside from some farm equipment in various places, all the holes are basically the same shape. There are better mini golf courses in the area.

Have fun

 

[OhMari]

Cades Cove is in the valley. Clingman's Dome is up on top of the mountain, with an observation tower. The Appalachian Trail passes through that area. It doesn't cost anything to enter the National Park.

The Titanic Museum is cool, but not sure if your young kids would get it. Hillbilly Golf is fun. Also, my son always loved the roadside attractions, such as the go karts and the carnival type rides at a young age. There is a Wonderworks that I have never tried but would like to some day. You could also try horseback riding.

There used to be a petting zoo in Seviereville that was really nice. They had exotic animals and pony rides. Here's the link: http://www.deerfarmzoo.com/newsite/index.php/en/

Sorry I get the 2 mixed up.

 

[disneymagicgirl]

Cades Cove is in the valley. Clingman's Dome is up on top of the mountain, with an observation tower. The Appalachian Trail passes through that area. It doesn't cost anything to enter the National Park.

The Titanic Museum is cool, but not sure if your young kids would get it. Hillbilly Golf is fun. Also, my son always loved the roadside attractions, such as the go karts and the carnival type rides at a young age. There is a Wonderworks that I have never tried but would like to some day. You could also try horseback riding.

There used to be a petting zoo in Seviereville that was really nice. They had exotic animals and pony rides. Here's the link: http://www.deerfarmzoo.com/newsite/index.php/en/

That petting zoo looks right up their alley! I would have never know about it. Thanks!!

I would also recommend Wonderworks!

http://www.wonderworksonline.com/pigeon-forge/

Very fun and interactive! We only had time to do the actual Wonderworks museum. If you have more time, you could make a day of it. You could do the magic show, which I believe gets good reviews and Flights of Wonder, which is a tethered baloon ride. I think the views of the mountains would be beautiful!

Enjoy your trip!

I was leaning towards wonder works. Yours and the other posters opinions have helped a lot!

Thanks all! Some things you mentioned we have done on previous trips. Others are great ideas. We usually stay in gatlinburg so being way out here at wilderness of the smokies is a big change! We did a short hike this morning and the wandered the outlets while waiting for our room to be ready. Went to walmart for a couple groceries tonight....insane!!

I will post back with my reviews at the end of the week. Thanks for all the help!!

 

[DisneyDiana]

Ripleys old McDonald's Farm mini-golf. It is adorable and loads of fun!

 

[MSSANDRA]

You might want to choose to do something on the tram route...traffic can be horrible.

Great suggestions so far. A few more
-My DS7 loves MagiQuest
-There is a water park that is like a sister to the Dolly Wood Park that is very nice.
-Putt Putt place on the main drag of Gatlinburg that is all glow in the dark! Very cool and fun.

Finding something to do it not hard..it's choose which one or two to do will be hard!

 

[Belle & Ariel]

Pretty close to the Wilderness of the Smokies is a place called Gattis(sp?) Pizza. It is close to Fuddruckers if you know where that is.
It is kind of like Chuck e Cheese only from what I hear better. Pizza/salad bar/dessert buffet and games.
Your kids are young for this, but for other readers here, we take Wears Valley about 15 minutes towards Townsend and do the tubing at River Rat. You start at the business and float down for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours and they shuttle you back. It is about $13 and you can go as many times as you want for the day.
It is also near the Cades Cove part of Great Smoky Mtn Park.

 

[SAMCRO]

We did the Alpine Coaster out on Wears Valley Road two weeks ago and it was great.

I'll second wonderworks, the go-kart tracks, and putt putt courses. I spent as much it 4 days in Pigeon Forge than on my last 7 day cruise.