OT: Pigeon Forge, Tennessee

[2Tiggers]

We are looking to take a trip to pigeon forge for spring break and I have a few questions.

We have planned Dixie Stampede and The Titanic museum but we want to try some other things...

What would you recomend us to do? I just read about parrot mountian and garden and that sounds nice.

Thanks disers!

 

[2Tiggers]

one more thing... How is Tennessee weather in April?

 

[mama2ella]

The Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg is wonderful! (and near m fave place to eat The Pancake Pantry)

weather wise..weather.com says the averages are in the high 60's to 70's depending on when in the month you are going. I would plan on bringing some kind of jacket for the evenings.

 

[VroomVroomLightning]

We are heading down next week for a our mini Spring Break vacation! I agree that Ripley's is something that you have to check out! The Old Mill for food is sooo good. We find ourselves sharing there because there is so much food! Any plans on where you are staying yet?

 

[melanie18]

We've gone to Gatlinburg in April the last three years. Can be chilly in the morning, but is generally jeans & t-shirt weather.

If you love steaks, try The Alamo or The Peddler (our absolute favorite). You can't beat The Log Cabin for good, reasonably priced breakfast. We've eaten @ Pancake Pantry too, but it was pricey and has ridiculous wait times on occasion.

Ripley's Aquarium is nice. Roaring Forks Motor Trail is a great way to spend a morning (and maybe see some bears!).

So jealous, I'm dying to go back again this year, but it's just not in the cards for us. Have fun!

 

[AshleeH]

Ripley's Aquarium is our favorite! Dollywood is fun - but if you go, don't go into it thinking it will be like Disney World! Night and day! However it is a fun little day trip and my kids really enjoyed it.

We also enjoyed the car museum (cars from everything from the Beverly Hillbillies and Andy Griffith Show to Jurassic Park to Transformers). We enjoyed the Sky Lift and also love to do smaller scale things like putt-putting and go-carts. Ripley's Believe It Or Not Museum was interesting - I won't go through it again, but it was unique. I don't know if you have young kids, but you can do things in the Smokies or go rafting.

Weather in April is usually very nice - warm during the days and cool in the evenings. It very rarely gets hot around here until May (but with such a mild winter this year, it's really hard to predict what spring and summer will be like - it could be hot and humid by the end of this month).

 

[Bete]

World Fest at Dollywood. This festival gives you a little bit of a feeling like Epcot's World Showcase if you see the shows.

Of course, take a ride to the Smokies. You can pack a picnic lunch for it. We took in 2 sides of the mountains: the Gatlinburg way and the Townsend way.

Take in some of the evening entertainment. There are enough theaters; so, you can find something everyone will like.

 

[richmond282]

(and near m fave place to eat The Pancake Pantry)

Y-U-M! Love that place.

We love Dollywood and Splash Country (probably too cold for that though). You could always try that indoor waterpark. Everybody says it's fun, but I've never been.

 

[McKelly]

We've gone to Gatlinburg in April the last three years. Can be chilly in the morning, but is generally jeans & t-shirt weather.

If you love steaks, try The Alamo or The Peddler (our absolute favorite). You can't beat The Log Cabin for good, reasonably priced breakfast. We've eaten @ Pancake Pantry too, but it was pricey and has ridiculous wait times on occasion.

Ripley's Aquarium is nice. Roaring Forks Motor Trail is a great way to spend a morning (and maybe see some bears!).

So jealous, I'm dying to go back again this year, but it's just not in the cards for us. Have fun!

OMgosh that Roaring Forks Trail was NERVE wracking for me. The road is skinny and I can't imagine doing it if it was muddy from the spring thaw. I might just be a big chicken though. LOL Cades' Cove in the national park might also provide some good wildlife viewing opportunities.

I agree that the Aquarium is very nice.

 

[North of Mouse]

OMgosh that Roaring Forks Trail was NERVE wracking for me. The road is skinny and I can't imagine doing it if it was muddy from the spring thaw. I might just be a big chicken though. LOL Cades' Cove in the national park might also provide some good wildlife viewing opportunities.

I agree that the Aquarium is very nice.

Spring thaw?? You're kidding, right? This isn't WI We do get some snow and ice at times, but our ground is almost never frozen! We have been going on Roaring Fork Trail for 47 years off and on and have never seen mud - it's a one way paved beautiful drive. The speed limit is only 10mph at the most, so absolutely nothing to be scared of. OP, April can be tricky - we have been there when it snowed, and when it was warm, but usually can be quite chilly in the Park. That's the only places we go (not to the tourist attractions) because it is so beautiful. You can go on hikes (or just stop in pull outs) and see all the beautiful spring flowers. Sometimes they blanket the shoulders of the road, have lots of waterfalls, etc. We usually bike around Cades Cove (11 mi. loop) and you can rent bikes at the entrance to it, if you don't have your own. Have a good trip

 

[Southernmiss]

We did Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg the summer before last.

Our 4 kids (ages 8 to 15 at the time) enjoyed hiking and wading in the streams much more than anything else, including Dollywood. We did lots and lots of hiking-up to waterfalls and to the highest point in the area. We toured Cades Cove and then took the "shortcut" over to the cavern at Townsend. It was a cattle trail and if we would have all leaned one way the van would have rolled down the hill--scary!

We liked Gatlinburg much better than Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge was too congested and touristy for us.

 

[powellrj]

World Fest at Dollywood. This festival gives you a little bit of a feeling like Epcot's World Showcase if you see the shows.

Of course, take a ride to the Smokies. You can pack a picnic lunch for it. We took in 2 sides of the mountains: the Gatlinburg way and the Townsend way.

Take in some of the evening entertainment. There are enough theaters; so, you can find something everyone will like.

We love World Fest at Dollywood, we were there 3 days over spring break year before last and would love to go again this year if we didn't have to work this year.

 

[chattyann]

We were just there in Feb. A really fun place to go is the Rainforest Zoo. It has all kinds of animals and a real nice animal show. You can get combo tickets to go to the Aquarium and Titanic and also to the different Ripley's things cheaper than buying each seperately.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Our kids loved a day at Ober Gatlinburg. We did Gatlinburg for Spring Break last year. It was cold enough that we needed jackets and hats, but the weather can be very finicky, especially this time of year. It is possible from anything from snow (unlikely right now with the warm temperatures we've been getting in the South) to shorts weather. Expect to bring a light jacket at a minimum (but heavy coats shouldn't be needed).

I would agree with 'North Of Mouse' that Roaring Fork isn't a big deal... so long as you know what to expect. And that is a narrow winding road that you will travel at 10mph. So long as you know that going in, it's not a big deal. (However, I could see where someone is used to wide open roads being taken a back the the 1st time the travel down an unusual one-lane road).

If you want to do Cades Cove, GO EARLY!!! The one-lane road around the Cove will get VERY crowed with no room to pass. An if there happens to be a bear within view, the resulting bear jam can keep you stuck in Cades Cove for a couple of hours (literally). The road around the cove is something on the order of 10 miles long. Even when it is NOT crowed, you can expect it to take nearly an hour to travel the loop (and that doesn't include the 30 minute ride from Gatlinburg to the Cove).

If you want to take in a little bit of the Smokies on Foot, a short walk of 1 mile (each way) along a paved trail (so you can bring a stroller) would be the popular Laural Falls. It is located a few miles away from Sugarland's Visitor's Center at the Gatlinburg entrance of the park along River Road leading to Townsend/Cades Cove.

If you like trains, you might consider a ride to the North Carolina side of the Smokies for a ride on the Great Smoky Mountain Railroad. It's not cheap (about $50 per adult) and will take up most of your day (it will be more than an hour drive to go up and over the Smoky Moutains). But if you love trains, it can be worth it. Tickets include admission to the Smoky Mountain Railroad Museum (huge collection of Lionel Trains and a large operating O gauge layout).

 

[Momma2Mia]

We were there last spring break. Highly recommend the Comedy Barn. My family loved that. Also had great pizza at the Mellow Mushroom!

 

[CatNipRules]

The Ripley's Aquarium in Gatlinburg is wonderful! (and near m fave place to eat The Pancake Pantry)

weather wise..weather.com says the averages are in the high 60's to 70's depending on when in the month you are going. I would plan on bringing some kind of jacket for the evenings.

My family and I found that they aquarium is.... in a word, lacking. Of course that could be that since we are originally from Florida we were expecting more.

We were able to pretty much finish the whole thing in about 2 hours. It definitely wasn't worth the money that we paid for admission.

I guess it depends on what you expect out of an aquarium and an attraction. For us, it was a major disappointment.

One of our favorite things to do is to walk the strip and check out all the shops. Especially the ones in the back of the ones up front. One of our favorite places is a jerky shop that sells all kinds of exotic jerky. The owners are super sweet and you can even sample some of the jerky before you buy it.

We also love driving through Cade's Cove. Unfortunately when we were there in January all we saw was deer, but we've been told that you can see bears at other times of the year.

Mellow Mushroom is a great pizza place. Very good pizza. Dick's Last Resort is fun, but not for the easily offended. Let's just say that the service is great, but off beat.

The Comedy Barn is great family fun.

My son's favorite thing to do is mine for gemstones. Don't forget to pick up a coupon book at whatever hotel you stay at. It can save you $$.

 

[RumpleMom]

We enjoyed Dollywood- be sure to ride the train, and the food at the Fried Chicken restaurant is delicious.

"Sweet Fannie Adams" is a hilarious family friendly comedy show. It's just down the street from the Gatlinburg Hard Rock Cafe. You can check it out on Youtube.

 

[merekc]

Depending on the ages of your kids...

We used to love going to the Mine. Not sure what it is called now but if you are in PF headed towards Gatlin. it is on the left. Near some gocarts.

You buy an overpriced bag of dirt and then shift through it in a water trough and look for gemstones. If you find anything you can pay to have it cut and mounted.

We loved this in our teens. I do know the last time or two we stopped the people working the "mining" area weren't as knowledgable/helpful as they were back in the 90's. Could be went from owner ran to employees. But now the kids love it.

Hopefully you are planning to go into the Smokies. They are beautiful. If you stop at the National Park (NP) visitor center there are a couple of things that we have bought that we have really enjoyed.

The first is the National Parks passport book. We bought these several years ago. Every time you stop at a National Park you can get the book stamped with a unique/dated stamp (for free). The kids love doing this and some of the places we stop have cool stamps. We can also go back now and see when were saw different things. Both kids have their own book. They also sell color sticker/stamps you can add to your book, but they are not needed. My kids have been able to use these as visuals for school projects.

The boys also were given NP ranger vests several years ago. Who knew that a vest with all those pockets would be so appealing to little boys. They wore them for several years.

Each NP also has a junior ranger program that kids can participate in (typically for free). The kids get a pamplet that they get to fill out and then get a badge (or something). Most of the times they are fairly easy but it gives them something to do/look for while you are there.

There was a Moonshine shop in Gatlinburg that I wanted to stop in last time we were there but didn't make. Thought it looked fun.

 

[2Tiggers]

We are heading down next week for a our mini Spring Break vacation! I agree that Ripley's is something that you have to check out! The Old Mill for food is sooo good. We find ourselves sharing there because there is so much food! Any plans on where you are staying yet?

We are thinking about staying at Music Road Hotel.

 

[Trishtack]

We absolutely love Gatlinburg. We go every April and usually at Thanksgiving as well. Our DD is 6 now and our last trip was her favorite by far:

1. We stay at the Wilderness Waterpark. It can be pricey so we are going to the Wyndham next to the Wilderness this April. If you stay there tickets are very reasonable to the waterpark. Con: long drive to the Park.

2. Wild Bear Falls is an Indoor Waterpark that you can buy daily tickets for. http://www.wildbearfalls.com/ Not as nice as Wilderness but definitely fun for a day. You can enter and exit if you want to stop for lunch or dinner or other activities.

3. We love Cade's Cove. We tour the Cove each time. It is 11 miles and usually including the drive to and from we spend about 4 hours on the tour. 1 to drive to and from and 3 at the Cove. Last year we saw two cubs within a few feet of us and two bear families on the drive back.

4. The Roaring Fork Trail is amazing. However, not for the faint of heart drivers. I drive a very wide crossover and we did some scratching and really scraped a rim. That trip was as it was getting dark. We saw a lot of wildlife on this trail and it is not packed with tourists.

5. We love the Rock shop as you enter into Sevierville. The staff are super friendly and even rearranged their entire shop after DH (who is paraplegic) struggled on our first visit. To our surprise on our second trip the shop was rearranged and the staff member came out and explained why. We like to mine for gems there and buy small pieces. I usually buy a couple of the small bags of dirt for surprise gifts during the year and DH and DD mine at home.

6. We enjoyed the NASCAR Speedpark in Pigeon Forge. http://www.nascarspeedpark.com/tn.aspx They had a special going the last time we were there and we got wristbands for less than $10 for the entire day.

7. We eat at The Apple Barn for the apple fritters.

8. We always do the Ski Lift and recommend Uber Gatlinburg at least once.

So sorry for the long post. We really enjoy this area as you can tell. If we want to spend most of our time at the park (and April is a good time for wildlife) we stay in Gatlinburg at a cabin. We rent through American Patriot Getaways and they have fair prices and respond well to any issues. http://patriotgetaways.com/

I hope you have a great trip!