Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg Father's Day Trip

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

We are going to Pigeon Forge on Father's day weekend. What is a special thing to do down there for my dad and husband? Thanks for any advice. We are going down on Thursday and coming home on that Sunday.

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

What kind of things do they like to do? There is Dollywood, Titanic museum ( We liked it), walking the streets of Gatlingburg, lots of small museums, Cade's Cove (about an hour outside of Pigeon Forge, you can drive through or ride horses through a little wilderness type area and see tons of deer, birds, and bears), bungee jumping ???, chairlift in Gatlingburg, all the shopping you can handle....... just a few things I could think of.

My very favorite place to eat is The Peddler. It's in Gatlingburg. A little pricey but the food is good.

Have a great time!

 

[LilyWDW]

Hopefully someone will chime in as to some fun stuff you all can do, but I wanted to post some other information.

The earlier you can get to the area on Thursday, the better. As you get into Thursday evening and into Friday, traffic will increase to insane levels coming in. Also, leaving Sunday means possibly hitting a lot of traffic unless you are leaving quite early. I grew up in the Chicago area and the traffic during the weekends in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg is some of the worst I have been in.

Where are you staying?

I would take a trip to the Apple Barn for some delicious treats.

 

[LaDonna]

subbing because we are going the wknd before w/ my daddy

 

[smitch425]

I highly suggest Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede(in P.F.)!!! It is a little pricey, but TOTALLY worth it. It has animals, music, comedy, a FANTASTIC meal and is overall great entertainment. It is fun for ALL ages from toddlers to grandparents.

Also, the Ripley's Aquarium (in G-burg) is one of the best aquariums I've ever been to. It's pretty big and they have great tunnels with tons of sharks.

There is a Disney Outlet (P.F.) that always has amazing deals.

Definitely eat at the Log Cabin Pancake House in G-burg. I think it's across the street from the convention center near the Gilette Motel.

We LOVE visiting that area. Lot's of fun stuff to do! Have a great trip!

 

[My2BabiesLexis&Dill]

Thanks for the replies so far. So far our list of things to do includes: Chevy car show, Cades Coves, Cooters Garage, TN Moonshine tour, we are going to Dixie Stampede. Nothing else is coming to mind at the moment.

We got an awesome deal from renting points from a seller to Wyndham Great Smokies Wilderness Lodge. They have 2 indoor waterparks and 1 outdoor waterpark and the price we paid includes our admission to them. We will have a 2 bedroom unit that will sleep 8. (1 king bedroom, 2 queens in the 2nd bedroom, then sleeper sofa, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, REALLY REALLY nice) Can ya tell I'm exciting about the resort. LOL

Also, I know there was a big discussion before about Pigeon Forge,etc but I found out that if book your tickets online for Dixie Stampede you are paying too much! They add a 3.50 fee to each ticket and then a 2.10 fee for the transaction. And if for some reason you can't make it you are stuck with those tickets. If you call and place your order, you don't have to pay then, just pick up by 12 noon, the day of the show, and you are not charged the service fees per person or transaction. So that saved us 24.00 (since there is 8 of us going)

Where is a good place to eat at for dinner? My husband likes steaks but dad is into seafood. Any suggestions??

 

[MSSANDRA]

We like Dollywood. It's not WDW but if you go expecting a fun laid-back day with lots of good country music, you will have a blast.

 

[MomiTo2SwtGuys]

Thanks for the replies so far. So far our list of things to do includes: Chevy car show, Cades Coves, Cooters Garage, TN Moonshine tour, we are going to Dixie Stampede. Nothing else is coming to mind at the moment.

We got an awesome deal from renting points from a seller to Wyndham Great Smokies Wilderness Lodge. They have 2 indoor waterparks and 1 outdoor waterpark and the price we paid includes our admission to them. We will have a 2 bedroom unit that will sleep 8. (1 king bedroom, 2 queens in the 2nd bedroom, then sleeper sofa, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, REALLY REALLY nice) Can ya tell I'm exciting about the resort. LOL

Also, I know there was a big discussion before about Pigeon Forge,etc but I found out that if book your tickets online for Dixie Stampede you are paying too much! They add a 3.50 fee to each ticket and then a 2.10 fee for the transaction. And if for some reason you can't make it you are stuck with those tickets. If you call and place your order, you don't have to pay then, just pick up by 12 noon, the day of the show, and you are not charged the service fees per person or transaction. So that saved us 24.00 (since there is 8 of us going)

Where is a good place to eat at for dinner? My husband likes steaks but dad is into seafood. Any suggestions??

Huck Finns has some good seafood. It is on the strip in Pigeon Forge.

 

[Momma2Mia]

We just visited over spring break and had a ball. We loved Dixie Stampede but also LOVED The Comedy Barn. Definitely worth every dollar. Very clean family show and super entertaining. Our favorite meal was at the Mellow Mushroom (delcious pizza joint). Breakfast at the Pancake Pantry is a must. We ate at the Old Mill but I thought it was expensive and overrated.

Kristie

 

[DisneyCrafter]

BUMP!

I'm going in just a few weeks and definitely am looking for food recommendations in particular!

 

[friend2Figment]

My DH loves Bennett's Barbecue it is on the Parkway in Pigeon Forge. They also offered a buffet at certain times.

We also ate at the pizza place next to the Elvis museum but my kids are so picky we tend to stick to McDonald and Subway.

Dollywood was fun and they have places to eat in there.

 

[MoonFaerie]

Thanks for the replies so far. So far our list of things to do includes: Chevy car show, Cades Coves, Cooters Garage, TN Moonshine tour, we are going to Dixie Stampede. Nothing else is coming to mind at the moment.

We got an awesome deal from renting points from a seller to Wyndham Great Smokies Wilderness Lodge. They have 2 indoor waterparks and 1 outdoor waterpark and the price we paid includes our admission to them. We will have a 2 bedroom unit that will sleep 8. (1 king bedroom, 2 queens in the 2nd bedroom, then sleeper sofa, 2 bathrooms, full kitchen, REALLY REALLY nice) Can ya tell I'm exciting about the resort. LOL

Also, I know there was a big discussion before about Pigeon Forge,etc but I found out that if book your tickets online for Dixie Stampede you are paying too much! They add a 3.50 fee to each ticket and then a 2.10 fee for the transaction. And if for some reason you can't make it you are stuck with those tickets. If you call and place your order, you don't have to pay then, just pick up by 12 noon, the day of the show, and you are not charged the service fees per person or transaction. So that saved us 24.00 (since there is 8 of us going)

Where is a good place to eat at for dinner? My husband likes steaks but dad is into seafood. Any suggestions??

There's a car show in town that weekend? Be prepared for really bad traffic. It taken us over an hour to get from 1 end of Pigeon Forge to the other on a Fri/Sat night when there's a car show. The schools in the county actually get out early on Fridays when there's a car show because of the traffic. Which used to make me , but my kids go to school off of Hwy 66 so now I understand.

 

[crazelion]

Huck Finns has some good seafood. It is on the strip in Pigeon Forge.

Huck Finns has awesome food

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We go to Gatlinburg every year because it's my DH's favorite place. He loves it like I love Disney.

Some of our favorite places to eat are:

Best Italian in Gatlinburg
http://www.bestitalian.com/dinnermenu.html

Calhouns in PF & in GB
http://www.coppercellar.com/Restaurant-Calhouns.html

Smokey Mountain Brewery
http://www.coppercellar.com/Restaurant-SmokyMountainBrewery.html

Apple Barn
http://www.applewoodfarmhouserestaurant.com/home.html


We also love Cades Cove for a relaxing drive. The Aquarium is wonderful too. I love to go to the Christmas Place in PF to do a little shopping. There are outlets galore if you are into that also. We love to go to Dollywood, which I think is a great deal to see shows & to ride a few rides. We also enjoy walking around DT Gatlinburg at night. The kids love to play putt putt there too. I do find that the Ripley's attractions, other than the aquarium, to be a waste of time & money.

 

[Dopey420]

Seriously???!!?? Y'all like that place? I'm from the South and I find Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg offensive. I promise you, most people in the South do not spell the word "Kuntry." We don't wear cut off jeans cut at the ankle, nor do we wear straw hats and chew long pieces of grass. We eat more than pancakes. It has all the worst stereotypes of country folks.

If you love traffic and air pollution (Great Smoky Mountain National Park is the most polluted national park, look it up) then yeah, it's great. The place is just terrible, a disgrace. It is worse than Daytona Beach, just not as dangerous.

 

[ceecee]

Dollywood, Zip lining, horseback riding, three wheelers, putt putt golf, cade's cove, Oberer Gatlinburg, etc.
We love the Apple Barn and Old Mill restaurants.
I don't find Gatlinburg at all stereotyping "kuntry"???? I also don't think it was polluted either. Some of the hotels have been bought out and are not as nice as they were, but I still find it a nice getaway!

 

[USAND3KIDS]

Dollywood of course. The onlt thing I even remember about my Pigeon Forge trip.

 

[neatokimmo]

Do they fish? You will be right next to the park with tons of beautiful streams.

 

[neatokimmo]

OP, have you been there before? Just a FYI, your hotel is not in the middle of the action. That is great for noise and such but you are going to drive yourself to death in very heavy traffic. So you might want to plan your outings one day, then stay all day in their cool waterpark the next.

Cirque De Chine and Soul of Shoul Lin (I butchered both of those) are located near governors crossing. They have a discount when you buy both shows. Cirque is typical Chinese Acrobats with a really fun motorcycle in a metal ball act at the end. Shoul Lin is mostly kungfoo.

 

[mkwj]

I grew up about 45 min from there. The hotel you are at is a lot of fun. It is very similar to Great Wolf if you know that. You will be in Sevierville which is on one end and if you want to go to Gatlinburg it will be a long drive as it is on the other end of the strip. Someone already mentioned The Old Mill restaurant. The main one is Family Style, but there is also a cafe that is really good and very reasonable. One of my favorite places to eat and has a nice quaint outdoor area. If you want to shop the Five Oak outlets have a lot of nice options and it is closer to you. If there is a car show that weekend it will be VERY crowded.