What to do in Gatlinburg, Tennessee? Well, there is no lack of things to do! Let me tell you. Between Gatlinburg, Sevierville, and Pigeon Forge you could overdose on Dolly Parton, comfort food, and family attractions.
As Mulan's hot commander once said... "Let's get down to business."
Air Conditioned Entertainment
Air conditioned entertainment needs its own category, because Tennessee's sunshine and humidity is not to be underestimated. There is plenty to do on the main drag in Gatlinburg. Arcades, mini-golf, 4-D movie rides, and tons of shops and sweet shoppes (watching old fashion salt water taffy get pulled is seriously therapeutic).
1. The Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium The Ripley's Aquarium is a family's dream. It has hands on activities, places to climb and explore, gorgeous sea creatures, and plenty of perfect selfie opportunities. You can touch a ray, jellyfish, or horseshoe crab or climb into a tunnel and pop your head into the Penguin Playhouse. You can bet all of us twenty somethings were crawling on our hands and knees to see those things up close! There is cafe at the aquarium, but we were so close to so many quality restaurants that we never tried it.
You can get these tickets in combinations with other activities on the parkway, so make sure and see if that is worth your money. You can choose from things like:
2. Pigeon Forge Snow Not far off the main drag in Pigeon Forge, you can find Pigeon Forge Snow. This was a last minute find that was really unique and enjoyable. At Pigeon Forge snow you get to play in fake snow, which looked pretty real. Snowmen, snow angels, snow balls. More importantly, you can grab a tube and get hauled up a hill (by conveyer belt, a lazy person win!) to slide down an ice covered mountain. You don't think much of it until you go for the first time, you definitely hit speeds I wasn't expecting.
It is not cold in the room at all. People were perfectly comfortable in sandals, shorts, and t-shirts. They say it stays around 70 degrees. The perfect escape from the heat.
They also seem to often have sales on tickets. We bought ours from my phone in the parking lot! You cannot (last we checked) use this discount at the counter. So check the site when you're going and get that discount!
3. Dinner Shows! This area is absolutely inundated with dinner shows, comedy shows, and quality theatre. We went to the Dolly Parton Dinner Celebration, which is one of many dinner shows and one of two Parton Shows available.
This show is fun, the food is basic but yummy, and you never lack for something to look at. We love this show because it has a southern Cirque Du Soleil feel. There are acrobatics, stunts, rope works, trampolines, and spinning wheels of fiery doom. There are also awesome musical numbers, audience participation contests, and animals. It is a blast. You can check out the full four course meal (vegetarian and gluten free options are available) on their website.
We have animal allergies in our family, but we didn't have any issues at the show. Please keep that in mind for your own family.
4. Old Fashioned Photos If there is one thing that Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge have more of than dinner shows, it just might be spots to get your old fashioned photos done. These photos can come in prairie, saloon, southern plantation, civil war, or even roaring twenties gangster style.
These costumes come in every color and every size. They tie up the back, so if you want you can wear shorts and a tank top (us southern bells can even wear jeans y'all!) so that you aren't flashing people hospital gown style. It happened. It is scarring.
We did a bunch of research and ended up choosing Four Sisters Old Fashioned Photos after reading lots of reviews. The pictures turned out quality, but I wouldn't say they were any better than the ones I just walked in and took on the main strip in Gatlinburg. And bless their hearts, the Four Sisters also didn't tell we'd be there for nearly FOUR HOURS.
We were some hangry southern belles, let me tell you.
So, do your own research, if you want... like apparently everyone else on the planet. Ooorrrrrrrr (I'm just saying) you can walk into an unassuming studio on Gatlinburg's Parkway and be out twenty minutes later and a few dollars saved. Your choice, but I highly suggest it as a dorky souvenir you can laugh at for the next thirty years.
5. Indoor Skydiving in Pigeon Forge My 14 year old brother's absolute favorite moments (and I mean that literally as it was only a few moments) was hopping into an indoor skydiving chamber. The instructor takes each group into the chamber after they have been suited up and watched the instructional video on proper flying procedure. Each person in the group gets a few minutes of flying around while the instructor keeps them in form. The instructor doesn't let go of them. I feel like I might have been underwhelmed, but the kids seemed to have fun. The smaller the person, the more the instructor can do with you in the chamber.
There is also a very strict height/weight chart in there. It had a scale next to it. It was scary. (In other words, call ahead and make sure that this is a viable option for your familia.)
If you have some dare devil kids who need something different to do... This might be it.
Now... This is not the cheapest way to spend three minutes ($34, last I checked). But the kid didn't stop talking about it the whole drive home. 16 hours.
Happy Trails
As Mulan's hot commander once said... "Let's get down to business."
Air Conditioned Entertainment
Air conditioned entertainment needs its own category, because Tennessee's sunshine and humidity is not to be underestimated. There is plenty to do on the main drag in Gatlinburg. Arcades, mini-golf, 4-D movie rides, and tons of shops and sweet shoppes (watching old fashion salt water taffy get pulled is seriously therapeutic).
1. The Ripley's Believe it or Not Aquarium The Ripley's Aquarium is a family's dream. It has hands on activities, places to climb and explore, gorgeous sea creatures, and plenty of perfect selfie opportunities. You can touch a ray, jellyfish, or horseshoe crab or climb into a tunnel and pop your head into the Penguin Playhouse. You can bet all of us twenty somethings were crawling on our hands and knees to see those things up close! There is cafe at the aquarium, but we were so close to so many quality restaurants that we never tried it.
You can get these tickets in combinations with other activities on the parkway, so make sure and see if that is worth your money. You can choose from things like:
- • RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT!
- • HAUNTED ADVENTURE
- • 5D MOVING THEATER
- • MIRROR MAZE
- • MINI GOLFS
- • GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS ATTRACTION
2. Pigeon Forge Snow Not far off the main drag in Pigeon Forge, you can find Pigeon Forge Snow. This was a last minute find that was really unique and enjoyable. At Pigeon Forge snow you get to play in fake snow, which looked pretty real. Snowmen, snow angels, snow balls. More importantly, you can grab a tube and get hauled up a hill (by conveyer belt, a lazy person win!) to slide down an ice covered mountain. You don't think much of it until you go for the first time, you definitely hit speeds I wasn't expecting.
It is not cold in the room at all. People were perfectly comfortable in sandals, shorts, and t-shirts. They say it stays around 70 degrees. The perfect escape from the heat.
They also seem to often have sales on tickets. We bought ours from my phone in the parking lot! You cannot (last we checked) use this discount at the counter. So check the site when you're going and get that discount!
3. Dinner Shows! This area is absolutely inundated with dinner shows, comedy shows, and quality theatre. We went to the Dolly Parton Dinner Celebration, which is one of many dinner shows and one of two Parton Shows available.
This show is fun, the food is basic but yummy, and you never lack for something to look at. We love this show because it has a southern Cirque Du Soleil feel. There are acrobatics, stunts, rope works, trampolines, and spinning wheels of fiery doom. There are also awesome musical numbers, audience participation contests, and animals. It is a blast. You can check out the full four course meal (vegetarian and gluten free options are available) on their website.
We have animal allergies in our family, but we didn't have any issues at the show. Please keep that in mind for your own family.
4. Old Fashioned Photos If there is one thing that Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge have more of than dinner shows, it just might be spots to get your old fashioned photos done. These photos can come in prairie, saloon, southern plantation, civil war, or even roaring twenties gangster style.
These costumes come in every color and every size. They tie up the back, so if you want you can wear shorts and a tank top (us southern bells can even wear jeans y'all!) so that you aren't flashing people hospital gown style. It happened. It is scarring.
We did a bunch of research and ended up choosing Four Sisters Old Fashioned Photos after reading lots of reviews. The pictures turned out quality, but I wouldn't say they were any better than the ones I just walked in and took on the main strip in Gatlinburg. And bless their hearts, the Four Sisters also didn't tell we'd be there for nearly FOUR HOURS.
We were some hangry southern belles, let me tell you.
So, do your own research, if you want... like apparently everyone else on the planet. Ooorrrrrrrr (I'm just saying) you can walk into an unassuming studio on Gatlinburg's Parkway and be out twenty minutes later and a few dollars saved. Your choice, but I highly suggest it as a dorky souvenir you can laugh at for the next thirty years.
5. Indoor Skydiving in Pigeon Forge My 14 year old brother's absolute favorite moments (and I mean that literally as it was only a few moments) was hopping into an indoor skydiving chamber. The instructor takes each group into the chamber after they have been suited up and watched the instructional video on proper flying procedure. Each person in the group gets a few minutes of flying around while the instructor keeps them in form. The instructor doesn't let go of them. I feel like I might have been underwhelmed, but the kids seemed to have fun. The smaller the person, the more the instructor can do with you in the chamber.
There is also a very strict height/weight chart in there. It had a scale next to it. It was scary. (In other words, call ahead and make sure that this is a viable option for your familia.)
If you have some dare devil kids who need something different to do... This might be it.
Now... This is not the cheapest way to spend three minutes ($34, last I checked). But the kid didn't stop talking about it the whole drive home. 16 hours.
Happy Trails
