YES! Please visit Gatlinburg! After the fires this winter, they need tourist dollars more than ever
That should have been my first thought, since everyone I know owns a place up there, and we don't have to rent them, I kinda forget about it being a tourist place, but yes, it'd be super fun for your family ages!
We're planning to go to the area again next spring, late March/early April. It's one of our favorite vacation places so I'm already starting to do my research again.
OK - so I have looked over all the responses and while I would love another cruise or an all-inclusive, we all actually decided on Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg. The kids are REALLY excited about it and it is somewhere none of us have ever been. So thanks to those who suggested it! A few other people I know suggested it as well.
Now - to find a place to stay. If I rent a cabin, are there companies that anyone suggests renting through? I saw lots of bad reviews of a place called Cabins USA, but have not dug into any others yet. If we stay in a hotel, does anyone have some suggestions? Preferably one that has 1 or 2 bedroom suites and lots to do and a great pool area.
Thanks!
Oh, that is great that you decided on Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg!! I hope you have a wonderful time! So much to see and do. You could get on-line and research activities and stuff, also you can request one of their vacation planning booklets too. We did a couple new things on our last trip, the Alpine Coaster for one. It was awesome! DH and I could have ridden together, but we chose to go separately and it was a blast!! I would do it again! There was also a new place, it was still under construction and not quite finished, I think it was called Foxfire or Firefox, not sure. They had a zip line (we didn't do that) and a swinging bridge. The bridge was fun to walk on. And "The Island" was just being built too, HUGE ferris wheel - we bought the 2 ride pass so we could ride during the day and again at night. They were building a hotel there when we visited, restaurants, etc. We love driving through the National Park too, there are lots of places to stop and hike on the trails - some lead to waterfalls. Just so much there, you can't do it all in one trip.
We have rented cabins twice from Sunset Accommodations and had great luck with them. Our third visit their website was down so I decided to "just look" on Aunt Bug's Cabin Rental page and found one we liked so decided to rent from them. Big mistake. Big, BIG!! Would NEVER rent from them again. The cabin was filthy, stuff like the placemats on the table had crusty bits of food so obviously hadn't been washed, throw rugs in the kitchen had dirt under them so hadn't been cleaned, the kitchen floor was sticky, lipstick writing on the mirror in the bathroom, and lots more stuff we had to deal with. I spent two hours cleaning the cabin myself. The hot tub had a leak and we had to constantly add water, the outdoor grill was broken, etc. All they would do was say "sorry." Some of their reviews are good so some people have had okay luck with them, but there are poor reviews too. I'm not sure who we will rent a cabin from next time, as the owner of Sunset had some health issues and closed their business rather abruptly. There are LOTS of cabin rental places. I'll just have to do a search on here to see places people recommend, and go to Trip Advisor as well and see what other companies' ratings are.
Gatlinburg hotels - the Dollywood one would be convenient if you're going there, Edgewater is super centrally located, as is the Doubletree.
Cabins - I know a lot of people that own thier's outright, but I've used Cabins of the Smokeys to rent really large ones for a big group a couple of times. They were great.
I just called one of my best girlfriends who owns a place there, now we're going next weekend. Thanks Dis!
You are so lucky you have friends with their own cabins so you don't have to rent one!
I wish we could go at the time of the year when the drive to Clingman's Dome is open, but it's always still closed when we go in late March/early April. That's the best time for us to go though so we always have to miss it. We always enjoy the arts & crafts area, especially Alewine Pottery and I always buy something from there, last time it was a lamp. Not sure what I'll want on our next trip. I love the pieces they make with actual leaves. So pretty. And so many restaurants to choose from - we love Bennett's BBQ, Huck Finn's, The Apple Barn, The Old Mill, and others. Already looking forward to going back again. We generally stay 2-3 nights at the Hampton Inn in Gatlinburg (by Obergatlinburg) first and enjoy that area, then we rent a cabin for a week in the Pigeon Forge area.
You said you're going next weekend, come back and let us know how it was!
We haven't driven on the dragon, but the year we shared a cabin with DH's sister and her husband they took their motorcycle on it and said it was beautiful so we need to do that. I do enjoy beautiful drives. 
