Okay, so here's my quick little trip report from our mountains trip~! It was a great time. I didn't think about work once the whole time, which was a huge relief in itself. Work has been pretty high pressure and high stress lately with our big user conference coming up and a coworker going out on maternity leave (she's due next week!).
So the break was very much needed. The cast included me, DH and DS (3.5). Plus my parents, both early 60s. My sister Wendy, her hubby Mike and their two kids, a girl 7 and boy 4. My other sister, hubby and her new baby (6 months) were also along. So 8 adults, 3 kids and a baby.
We drove, rented one 12 passenger van and then took my parents town and country mini van (fully loaded). My parents, sister/BIL with the baby and us in the big van, my sister/BIL and their 2 kiddos in the mini van. WE drove on Sat am to just outside Nashville, in Lebanon, TN to stop for the night. We would have driven through, but we just weren't sure how the baby would do in the car that long (or the kids). We stayed at a decent holiday inn and enjoyed a nice dinner at Cracker Barrel. the baby was great the entire trip. She had two major blowouts (as in diapers) and my sis had to throw one of her outfits away it was so bad. Poor thing! But she was an angel. Will was pretty well-behaved except one little fit.
We finished the drive on Sunday am, it was just about 3 hours further or so (15 hours or so all together we drove). We arrived in Pigeon Forge and found our cabin right behind Dollywood. We had a great 4 bedroom, 3 bath cabin with a den, pool table and hot tub and great views. We saw some cabins that had amazing views.
We got settled in, bought groceries and relaxed that night, but headed out for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings to catch our Dallas Mavericks in the finals. They won the whole thing that night and we were so excited. My mom and BIL are especially BIG fans. We were sad we missed the big parade they had later in the week at home for them.
Monday was our Dollywood day. We bought the 3 day pass for $90 per adult and William was free (3 and under). We could get into Dollywood or the waterpark for 3 different days within a 7 day period. We arrived at opening and it wasn't too crowded the first few hours. We rode the new Barnstormer ride, which was fun and then they did a water ride. William was one inch too short- he was 41" and it was 42". He was bummed. So we then split off from the group as they were doing more coasters. We headed to the kids area, did the train and other kiddie rides which he loved. We enjoyed some of the great food too. William loved playing in the "beach" as he called it, a sand play area.
We left by 3pm or just after as mom was worn out and getting overheated. It was so warm that day and all the hills were hard for her (legally blind and tires easily). Dollywood was nice- lots of shade and loved all the trees, fountains and water running through it. It was pretty clean too. William loved watching some employee cleaning off all the trash cans. Compared to our local Six Flags, this was a LOT cleaner and nicer. It wasn't WDW, but it was still nice.
We headed home and cooked out on the grill that night.
Tuesday was our big mountain day. We had a nice breakfast at one of the many pancake houses in Pigeon Forge. I swear there was pancake house every 100 feet, and then a mini golf or go-kart place. It was pretty touristy there on the strip. I'll get into Gatlinburg later.
So we drove into the national park, taking both vans. We drove up through the Cades Cove loop, which took some time. We stopped to check out the old mill and village. We saw wild turkey, deer and the other van saw a black bear and cubs, but we couldn't find a place to stop (too many cars stopped), so we missed it. We stopped on the way up play in the creek and throw rocks, which Will loved.
my parents with all of the grandkids!
After the mountains, we headed back down to check out Gatlinburg for a bit and shop. It was very crowded though on the sidewalks and the cheesy stores aren't our thing. Tons of the 10 tshirts for $5 type places etc. We did a little shopping in a few areas before heading back and getting ready for dinner at the Old Mill in Pigeon Forge. Great food!
More to come tomorrow!
So we are keeping it as an option. 
I think letting DH get Will to sleep first is the best idea, then I can run out and not worry about a cranky toddler and still get our groceries and even do a little fun shopping in peace! 
I might just have to give Captain Cook's a try then. The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards heading to BLT, check in, walk to MK, get his AP, then take the monorail loop around from MK to Poly and eat at Capt Cook's. If for some reason we can't do the AP at MK, we will do DTD instead. But this way, we are close to home (BLT) and can ride the monorail too, our first 'ride'!Then we pulled away from the gate about 10 minutes early. Better early than late, I guess!
oh really- i have never heard that, so good to know. i'll make sure we get there plenty early then!!!!
Okay, then this seals the deal for Capt Cooks. I hated to do Contempo Cafe since we will probably eat there a few times already during the week, so this way we try something else. Plus, dole whips!!!!
But it is nice knowing we could still go pretty cheap if we needed to! 
We are giving AirTran a try. Lots of people seem to like them. The few complaints I've read don't seem too terrible or out of the ordinary. I plan on getting there super early. 
Hope they realized something is up and fixed it.
