? re: family trip to Gatlinburg.

[ccgirl]

We have a timeshare there. Actually, it is where the Wild Bear Falls Indoor Waterpark is (Westgat Smoky Mountain). We love LOVE it there. My DD8 actually likes it more than WDW. My DH and myself like the price tag much better.

As others have said, the Apple Barn and Old Mill were awesome.

We really liked the drive around Cades Cove too. I believe it took about 3 hours. You can stop for "hikes" along the way. My kids found this wonderful little stream than they played in for quite a while. There are also BBQ charcoal grills (bring your own charcoal) halfway that you can use to cook along with picnic tables. We also liked Ober Gatlinburg. My DD and DH did some ice skating there as well. Funny thing is, there is so much to do we have yet to go to Dollywood. Maybe when we go this July.

Ohhh...I forgot, the outlets there were great! Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokey's was also very nice. There is a trolley that will pick us at at the timeshare and take us into Gatlinburg. IT is super cheap, unlike the parking in town. I think the parking was $9 a day.

Anyway, it is one of our favorite places.

 

[Janet Hill]

bjscheel-Wilderness at the Smokies- hotel/condo with an indoor water park. Again not cheap but really fun.

Not sure if you drink alcohol, but a moonshine store has just open, last 6 months or so, in Gatlinburg- Ole Smokey Moonshine distillery. I have not been but they are leagally producing it and can sell. I really question if its legal is it really shine?

Part of Wilderness is a Wyndham resort, so if you can find someone to rent from directly it can be quite affordable.

Ah the shine - nope not authentic watered down to only 50 proof. Then do give free samples, and my husband said he's had better (but it wasn't legal). This was many years ago and the maker is now dead (wanted to add this just in case the "revenuers" read this).

 

[mommytobug]

I just left there on Monday. There was a youth conference in Sevierville. WWe stayed at the Wilderness Lodge which is a failry new resort. The rooms had 2 queen beds and a queen sleeper sofa. microwave and fridge in room. employees were wonderful. There is a huge indoor waterpark and they run buses just like Disney between resort and where waterpark was.

We ate at Flap Jacks two days. The waitresses were awesome, and teh food fantastic and priced accordingly.

 

[mommytobug]

Fuddpuckers was great also to eat!!

 

[swilshire]

Not sure if you drink alcohol, but a moonshine store has just open, last 6 months or so, in Gatlinburg- Ole Smokey Moonshine distillery. I have not been but they are leagally producing it and can sell. I really question if its legal is it really shine?

I'm not much of a drinker, but we attended an event where this company was serving samples. I passed on the drink samples, but they had great food for sale, all made with the moonshine. The apple butter was terrific and there were salsas and pickled green beans that I recall. These would make a unique gift for the folks back home. I need to take some things with me next time we go to the Cape.

Sheila

 

[swilshire]

Fuddpuckers was great also to eat!!

FuddRuckers is a southern chain and has pretty decent burgers. They let you dress them yourself. The homemade buns are terrific.

Sheila

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

Resturants:
there is also a pancake house on the main strip that looks like a German or Dutch building I just can't remember the name right now.

This is the place that I was talking about I have no idea what the name is but you can't miss the building and i have been going there since I was a kid.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

It is the Pancake Pantry. The BEST pancakes ever!!!!!!!

 

[Styx Fan]

I have family TN and we have often taken day trips or short overnights to the area.

We have never gone to Dollywood, Cedar Point is close enough to us we would rather spend our $$ there and enjoy the mountains. Likewise we have done almost none of the touristy stuff like go-carts. Just some odds and ends.

But we love the national park It takes us at least 4 hours to do Cades Cove....maybe more. We get out at all the buildings and wander around, take some of the side hikes (or parts of them), stop at the visitors center and just generally relax. When it's hot we wade in the stream. Cades Cove is a one way loop, but there are some cross roads and one of them goes across the stream...nice place to stop. We drive slowly, letting other cars pass when we can. Better so see wildlife this way. We have seen bears a few times, lots of deer and smaller animals. Saw a wolf after they were re-released into the cove.

The Appalachian Trail runs through the park, it's fun to pick a place and walk a bit of it (we had a none hiker pick us up at a designated place). Then you and the kids can say you hiked on it

Interesting story about bear.....we saw a bunch of cars pulled off the road and people gathered in a field looking up into a tree. It was a mama bear and a couple of cubs! My dad couldn't be content to watch from a ways back and ended up pretty much under the tree! He contended "there was no way that mama was coming down with those babies up there"....I said if one of those babes tumbled down, he would have been in big trouble!

Be sure to check an see if the park is running any kids programs while you are there. I have heard great things about them.

 

[intheworks]

Interesting, I will have to remember this one for our next visit. We were at a party one time & someone had some "homemade apple pie moonshine", WOW, it tasted just like you took a bite of pie, really, really good. I would love to try it again, but I'll be much more careful this time, it'll bite you.

The moon shine place in Gatlinburg gives samples of the apple pie moonshine;they give you a copy of the recipe if you make a purchase. I still have my copy if anyone's interested.

 

[cancer_survivor_06]

We went to the Biltmore this past summer during out trip I just got an email that through Mar 31st tickets are half price. It will take up a good bit of the day as long as you don't mind the drive there and back. Just thought I would mention it.

 

[mom2t]

We stayed in Pigeon Forge at Music Road Hotel. We really loved it. Sorry, no advice on any cabins but we liked the hotel we stayed in. It had a view of pigeon river and it is located at traffic light #1. And we had a nice breakfast each morning.

As far as activities, the whole family loved the dixey stampede. We also enjoyed black bear jamboree.

We did the aquarium but I didn't feel it was worth the money.

I hear they have a titanic exhibit that I would just love to visit.

Oh, and if you go to the go cart places in the morning before noon it was half price. That was nice because those things aren't cheap.

Happy planning!

We did Music Road also and loved it at Thanksgiving. There is a new Titanic exhibit that I hear is great. We did not do it because we were saving money for our Disney trip that starts tomorrow. Be sure and eat at the Alamo Steakhouse in either Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge. The steaks are the best I have ever eaten as are the special Alamo potatoes.

 

[kristenrice]

This thread is immensely helpful!

We are travelling to HHI in April and we are stopping in Gatlinburg on the way. Initially, we were going to drive from Grand Rapids to Gatlinburg, spend the night and leave the next morning for HHI. I never realized how we'd be driving right through the GSM national park, and my girls LOVE wildlife, so we decided to leave a day early. Now, we are spending two nights in Gatlinburg and we will have an entire day to spend there. I am really looking forward to Cade's Cove. The girls are so excited to go "bear hunting". If it rains, my backup plan is the Ripley's Aquarium. It is not really a destination for us, but more of a "scenic layover".

 

[tavettava]

My friend is getting married down there next month and we are going to the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

We love to go to Gatlinburg, and we go every Christmas and sometimes in the summer. I will tell you that you have to watch it, because it can cost as much as a Disney trip if you are not careful.

Places to stay:
There is a fairly new Resort up there called Wilderness in the Smokies. It has a huge indoor water park, which your kids would LOVE in the winter. Here is a link. http://www.wildernessatthesmokies.com/

I also agree that the Christmas Place Inn is a beautiful place to stay, and it's in the heart of everything in Pigeon Forge area.

We love to stay in Gatlinburg, and we have always had good luck getting some good rates at the Clarion, right on the parkway. They also have family suites, which we found out about this past time and they were very roomy. It's a great hotel, with an indoor pool.

Some of our favorite places to eat at are:

Calhouns - Locations in Pigeon Forge and in Gatlinburg. Must do for us!!

Best Italian - Gatlinburg- This is a hidden treasure, they have wonderful pizza and fantastic garlic rolls. It's a must do every trip!!

Smokie Mountain Brewery- Gatlinburg

Old Mill- Pigeon Forge It's really good and the portions are large so it's easy to share.

The Apple Barn- Love it!

Texas Roadhouse- Good food, great value.

Things to do!!

Something cheap, but entertaining, is to drive over to Cades Cove. Bring your camera because you will see lots of wildlife there. My kids really enjoy this, and the best part is that it is free.

We do like the Aquarium, but it does not take that long to go through.

There are several shows that the kids get in free: Comedy Barn & Country Tonight are two that always get good reviews. I am sure that there are more.

My kids enjoy playing putt-putt & the mirror maze too.

I, like someone else said, find that Ober Gatlinburg is not worth the money. If your children like to ice skate than maybe, but I have always been disappointed in it. I feel the same way about the yellow chair lift thing there. It's not worth the money.

The Space Needle in Gatlinburg is fun for kids, and it's not expensive.

Dollywood is always a hit for my kids. It's not Disney, but they enjoy the rides and the shows.

Then there is always shopping at all of the outlets. There are tons of them!! There is a Disney one too!! I always go into The Christmas Place and buy a new ornament for that year. We love to look around in there, and I believe that Santa is there year round.


Have a great time!!

 

[aprhj]

Maybe they just moved Cooter's, but I remember it on a corner that now has a zip line. FYI there is also a cute little park below the zip line, travel by car and go across a 1 lane bridge. It has an ADA/kids fishing area, a playground, restrooms, picnic area and Gatlinburg's trout farm.

Ahhh, someone has had some of Popcorn Sutton's shine. That man will truely be missed up in this area. Hank Willima Jr and Popcorn's widow are in talks to request a distillery and make the shine based on Popcorn's recipe. But again "legal" shine is a horse of a different color and proof.

If anyone is looking at going up in summer there are some great tubing rentals in Townsend to float the river.

 

[momw/2princesses]

We took our summer vacation to Gatlinburg last year. The Titanic Museum is fantastic!!! There are so many artifacts, documents, and pictures to look at. One the way in, they give you a card that gives information about a passenger that was on the Titanic. You can follow that person on their journey. My girls (9 & 7 then) had a great time looking for their person's name throughout the museum. At the end, you search the info to see if "you" lived or died. We stayed for hours and had so much fun talking about what it must have been like, etc. Even after we got back home, they read book after book on the Titanic. It really spurred an interest!! We can't wait to go back.

Cade's Cove is great! Be sure to pack a lunch to enjoy at one of the stops. We also visited Wonderworks which was good too.

Restaurants - Smokey Mtn. Brewery, Old Mill, Bullfish Grill, Apple Barn, Calhoun's

Outlet shopping did nothing for us. Because TN has no state income tax, the sales tax rate there is 10%. We have the same outlets here, same deals, with much less tax.

We stayed at Wilderness at the Smokies. It was wonderful!! The indoor part was oppressively hot at times, but I'm sure it would be great in winter. The outdoor pool include a lazy river and the wave machine ran about every 15 minutes or so. We rented a cabana one day and stayed out by the pool. Really fun!!

You'll have a great time!

 

[ceecee]

The Christmas Tree Inn was really beautiful....expensive though and it booked fast at the holidays. They opened a resturant across the street that was supposed to be excellent, can't remember the name. That was Pigeon Forge not Gatlinburg. Pancake Pantry has been there for a very long time and it great, but usually has a wait, they used to pack box lunches that you could take not sure if they still do, great for a picnic at Cade's Cove.

 

[rbork]

We rent a cabin when we go to the Smokies. I only do luxery cabins and you can get them at a reasonable price. We happen to use Gatlinburgcabinsonline for rentals. They do a phone check in where you basically call from your cell phone and get a code to get into your cabin. No standing in lines filling out paperwork in a rental office prior. I prefer cabins in the Wears Valley Road area. It's quiet and close to both the drag and GSNP. We loved horseback riding, Cades cove, picnicing, and hot tubbing. Can't wait to go back. Forgot to mention we liked Dollywood, Dixie stampede and the Christmas store. Would like to see a Gospel show next time we are in town. There's a good country store that sells all kinds of stuff on Wear's Valley and also a diner that has good ice cream desserts.

 

[loveysbydesign]

My friend is getting married down there next month and we are going to the Titanic Museum in Pigeon Forge.

My dh and I got married in Gatlinburg at the Little Log Wedding Chapel in 1996! I even bungee jumped at Ober Gatlinburg with my maid of honor
Sadly we haven't been back to Gatlinburg since...maybe next summer/fall we'll plan a trip there. If only we lived closer!