Gatlinburg, TN was better than I expected in many ways. The only thing I really knew about it was that it was a very touristy destination, hence crowds and bad traffic. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned over time is that touristy places are touristy for a reason. What makes Gatlinburg so well loved by people? Well, it’s in a beautiful location in the Great Smokey Mountains, it’s the perfect mix of party scene for adults, but with a ton of kid-friendly activities, and it is weird and quirky in a fun way. I mean, just walking down the main street in Gatlinburg is a feast for the eyes. The peculiar buildings, like Ripley’s Believe it or not, are like a free art exhibit. So when we had to opportunity to go there last year for a long weekend, I jumped at the occasion.
ACTIVITIES
Choosing what to do in Gatlinburg if your time is limited can be a bit overwhelming. There are literally tens of options for kid-friendly activities, so choosing only a handful of them was really hard. I knew that I wanted to do a mix of kid- friendly activities and unique experiences, so I narrowed it down to these:
1. Anakeesta
3. Rowdy Bear Mountain Coaster
4. Dollywood
6.Hiking
1. ANAKEESTA
Price: $32.99 (adults, 12 and older) ; $19.99 (children, 4 – 12) ; kids under 3 – free
Anakeesta is, in my opinion, a must do in Gatlinburg. Not only that you get amazing panoramic views over the Smokey Mountains, but you can also do ziplining, ride the mountain coaster, walk the hanging bridges, play at the children’s village, eat and drink at the restaurants there and enjoy s’mores by the fire in the evening, which makes it one of the most kid-friendly activities in the area. We got very unlucky with the weather, as it drizzled all day long, so we only lasted for about 3 hours, but in better conditions, you could easily spend a whole afternoon there.
HOW TO GET TO THE TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN
To get to Anakeesta, you have three options: ride the enclosed gondola, ride the open air chairs or, for people who are afraid of heights, catch a ride on the ridge rambler vehicles ( they look like army trucks). Anakeesta gives you the option to book a general admission (good for one year from the date of purchase) or an express pass, which is what we did, to avoid the long lines. For the express pass, you have to choose the date and time you’re going to visit, and you can only ride the open air chairs going up. The gondolas cannot be reserved for a specific time. I highly recommend doing the express pass, as the line for the gondola was huge even at opening time. The general admission and the express pass are the same price. Coming back down from Anakeesta, you can ride the gondola, even if you go up with the open air chair.
Also, if you go to Anakeesta at night, one hour before closing time, you can return for free to visit the next day.
THINGS TO DO AT ANAKEESTA INCLUDED IN THE ADMISSION PRICE:
1. AnaVista Tower – downtown Gatlinburg’s highest point, with 360 degrees view of the Smokies. You can see as far as Kentucky.
2. Vista Gardens – lush gardens, they surround the AnaVista tower, with walking trails and interactive areas of play
3. Treetop skywalk – the longest tree-based skywalk in North America, with hanging bridges suspended in the air
4. TreeVenture challenge course – climb, swing, crawl and slide your way through three levels of play in the interactive treehouses.
5. BearVenture challenge course – climb, balance and play at this challenge course inside the AnaVista Gardens.
5. TreeHouse village play area – treehouse village interconnected by multiple bridges of varying challenge.
6. Splah pad – located in the Black Bear village
THINGS YOU CAN DO AT ANAKEESTA AT AN EXTRA COST
1. Dueling zip-lines – ($87.98 / adult; $70.98 / child; restrictions – participants need to be at least 7 years old and 70 lbs; maximum weight 270 lbs)
2. Rail runner mountain coaster (single rider $12.99 ; tandem rider $14.99; restrictions – maximum combined weight cannot be more than 270 lbs; single riders have to be 7+ years old and at least 48”; passengers have to be between 3 – 7 years old and have a minimum of 38”)
3. Gem mining – tickets start at $8. Located by the Treetop Canopy Walk and the Village playground.
Prices; $39.99/adult (12 and older); $24.99/child (6 – 12); $9.99 child (2 – 5)
Nothing screams more kid-friendly activity than a aquarium, I am right? I mean, which kid doesn’t love marine life, sharks, penguins and cute fish? And the good thing is that adults usually enjoy aquariums as well.
Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is one of the better aquariums we’ve been to. We spent 3 hours there on a rainy day and I feel like we covered it all. The moving walkway through the Shark Lagoon was super fun! Getting to see ocean creatures all around us was such a unique experience! And so was the penguin exhibit, with crawling spaces, to see the penguins up close. We also enjoyed the sting ray exhibit and the shark lagoon. An unexpected, pleasant surprise was ”Ripley’s strange and unusual area”, which kept us entertained for quite a bit. And the play area, with climbing structures, in the center of the aquarium was lots of fun for our little ones.
Full disclosure: the aquarium gets really crowded, especially on a rainy day, so if you are concerned about COVID exposure or you don’t like crowds, this is not the place for you.
3. ROWDY BEAR MOUNTAIN COASTER
Prices: $17/single rider (restrictions: must be 10 years old and 56”); $12/tandem rider (restrictions: must be between 3 – 9 years old and at least 38”)
What a fun experience this was! I would do it over and over again (if I didn’t have to wait in line every time!). We didn’t know if our 3 year old would be scared going at 35 miles/hr, but from the expression on his face in the picture, you can tell how much he enjoyed it. He kept asking to go ”just one more time”. We considered going back later in the day, but after hiking and dinner we were all too tired to do it. However, this is one activity I am really excited to do again when we go back to Gatlinburg.
Since there are a lot of options for mountain coasters in Gatlinburg, I did a lot of research until I decided which one we were going to do. I wanted adrenaline, but also safety, especially since we had our littles with us. Rowdy Bear uses the latest intelligent distance control system, which doesn’t allow carts to come into contact with each other. Basically, you control how fast you want to go in some areas (up to 35 miles/hr), by pushing the handles forward to go fast and pulling backwards to slow down. In other areas, you are automatically slowed down, so there is no risk of collision.
The Rowdy Bear also had the option to do mountain gliding, which looked like a lot of fun. We couldn’t do it, because our kids were not tall enough yet.
4. DOLLYWOOD
Prices: $84/adult ; $75/child (4 and older). We got a pretty substantial military discount through Ted and ended up paying 30% less for our tickets, so $58.80/adult and $52.50/child.
Maybe because we love amusement parks so much, but I don’t think a trip to Gatlinburg is complete without a visit to Dollywood – the epitome of kid-friendly activity. We spend a whole day visiting the park and we didn’t cover it all. We focused on the little kids areas only. For people who have more time in Gatlinburg and want to dedicate multiple days to the park, Dollywood gives the option to purchase 2 or 3 day ticket combos and the prices are only slightly higher than the one day entrance.
As I mentioned before, Dollywood is huge and navigating it can be overwhelming. These are my tips for making the best of your trip to Dollywood:
1.Familiarize yourself a bit with the layout before going there, by looking at maps and watching videos, so you can get a sense of which sections are best for our kids’ ages. The best areas for little kids are Country Fair and the newly added area of Wildwood Grove.
2. Get the Preferred Parking, especially if you have little kids. Regular parking is $25 and the preferred one is $40. Paying that much even for regular parking is a bit outrageous, so you might be tempted to go with the cheaper option to save $15. Which is what I almost did. I am happy I changed my mind at the last moment, because I had no idea how huge the parking lot is at Dollywood. Paying $15 extra was totally worth not having to walk for half an hour in the heat, kids in tow, especially at the end of the day, when we were all exhausted.
3. Get there early. When we went, the park opened up at 10 am and there was already a line to get in when we got there. Try to park by 9;45, so you can be among the first ones to enter the park. 15 minutes can make a big difference, especially once the huge tourist buses start to arrive.
4. Bring a stroller or rent one once you get there.
5. Measure your kids as soon as you enter the park, so you can get the right bracelet based on their height. That way you know exactly which rides they can or can’t do.
6. Take advantage of all the little play areas tucked away between coasters, restaurants and other attractions. Our kids do best when they can freely move their bodies, so we stopped at different playgrounds to give them breaks from waiting in lines. The play areas are: Lil’ Loggers’ Landing, Granny’ garden, The Pig Pen, Lil’ Pilots Playground and Firehouse Fun Yard (perfect for cooling off).
7. Get the cinnamon bread – it is an iconic Dollywood treat and it is delicious! They run out of it fast, so make sure you buy some around lunch.
8. Bring a change of clothes…or multiple ones, if your little one is not comfortable being in wet clothes.
9. Make sure you give yourself plenty of time for the Wildwood Grove. We went to Country Fair first, as it was closer to the entrance. We spent half a day there and by the time we got to the Wildwood Grove, we were already a bit tired. I wish we had done this area first, as it is so fun and whimsical with its Wildwood Tree surrounded by butterflies, the Wildwood Creek, where the kids can splash, the Treetop Tower, that looks like acorns and leaves hanging in the sky, the Great Tree swing, that gives you such a thrill and the Black Bear Trail, because what is more fun than riding on the back of a bear?
10. Finally, last thing on my list is something that you shouldn’t do and that is waiting in line for the Rockin’ Roadway – at least not for as long as Dollywood has trouble with staffing. This was the fist ride we did and we waited in line for a whooping 1 hr 45 min!!! Normally, they have two lines going for this ride, but because they were short-staffed due to Covid, only one side of the ride was open. We absolutely did not think the ride was worth the wait. You get to go for a very slow ride in a Corvette or a Thunderbird, around a 50’s themed track. If this is something that you feel like you would absolutely want to experience, my advice is to wait until the end of the day and see if the lines get shorter.
5. ELKMONT GHOST TOWN
(Free access to the site)
While this attraction is not a Gatlinburg staple and it is, in fact, not well known at all, we thought it was worth a visit. Wondering what makes this a kid-friendly activity? Well, it has a mystic element to it, without being too scary and it teaches kids history. Both our kids are into the supernatural and when we found out there was an abandoned town somewhere by Gatlinburg, we knew we had to find it and explore it. Now, finding Elkmont is not easy at all. There is no Google map address, so you have to follow directions from other people who’ve been there before.
Elkmont was initially created as a logging community, then turned into a tourist attraction, with people building a hotel and cottages. The National Park eventually bought all the cottages, but failed to manage them. Nowadays, there are only 19 buildings standing and the plan is to restore them to their initial state.
If you want to read more details about Elkmont and other unique places we’ve been to in the past year, check out my blog here.
6. HIKING
Lastly, you can’t go to Gatlinburg and not hike. Gatlinburg is located in the Great Smokey Mountains, which means that you have easy access to amazing trails all around the city. Some of them, like Grotto Falls, Chimney tops or the summit of Mt. LeConte are very famous for their breathtaking views or waterfalls. Unfortunately, these were more than our kids could do at the time, so instead we chose some easy trails, where we could go at a very easy pace and let the kids take their time to explore their surroundings. On our walks, not only that we came across creeks and rivers and cool creatures, like salamanders, but we also happened to find an old, historical cabin. How cool is that?
We were lucky enough to have some pretty awesome trails in the back of the campground we stayed at, so we didn’t really have to go searching for any. but here are some suggestions for kid-friendly hikes around Gatlinburg, for those who need ideas.
Also, there is an abundance of trails that are perfect for little kids around Elkmont ghost town. After visiting the town, we spent a few hours just exploring the area. Little River trail is a really nice one.
WHERE TO STAY
Lodging is not cheap in Gatlinburg, but you do have a multitude of different accommodations to choose from: cabins, campgrounds, hotels, resorts, AirBnbs etc. We booked our trip at the last moment, for one of the busiest long weekends in the US (Memorial Day weekend), which didn’t help the situation. A lot of the places I liked were already booked up or the prices were very high. I knew that I wanted to invest more into experiences than into lodging, so I focused mostly on finding a good campground, at a reasonable price.
Imagination Mountain Camp-Resort seemed to be the answer. For around $100/night, we booked a ”gnome home” (basic cabin, sleeps 6, no running water inside, so no toilet or showers, you bring your own bed sets and pillows). From the pictures, the campground looked amazing. Unfortunately, we didn’t have a good experience, mostly because of how dirty our cabin was. Based on the food stains we found, the fridge had not been wiped down after the previous people had used it and I found a shaving razor (plus a handful of dust and hair) under one of the bunk beds. After talking to management and showing them the pictures, the explanation we got was that they were training a new crew of cleaning ladies and that they must have not cleaned properly. The person I talked to was very professional and kind and offered to refund us the cleaning fee. In any case, I would not return to this campground. Cleanliness is a top priority for me, since we travel with little ones. You know, the careless little creatures that lick everything, lay down everywhere and grab everything in sight – the more unusual and dangerous, the better…you know, something like a razor!
There are a lot of other accommodations that looked really nice in Gatlinburg that I would be happy to try next time. Among them are:
1. Camp LeConte – I would love to stay in one of their safari tents or tree houses
2. Margaritaville – upscale resort, with multiple pools
RESTAURANTS
We cooked some of our meals at the cabin and ate out only a few times. Our favorite restaurants were:
1. The wild bear tavern in Pigeon Forge – they serve German food, and being the European that I am, I can never say no to sauerkraut, sausage and smoked meats. We ate there twice and we tried the sausage sampler, the bacon and cheddar cheese potato bacon, the pork shank and the apfelstrudel. They were all delightful!
2. Crockett’s Breakfast camp – if there is only one restaurant that you go to in Gatlinburg for breakfast, make sure it’s this one. Not only is the food heavenly, but the decor of the place and the history will keep everybody occupied while waiting for the food. Make sure you get a thick Aretha pancake and one of their meals that comes straight in a skillet.
3. Mellow Mushroom – this is one of our favorite pizza chains in the US. We’ve eaten Mellow Mushroom in 5 different states and it never disappoints. Plus, like many other buildings in Gatlinburg, the building that hosts Mellow Mushroom has a really fun architecture and decor, perfect to mesmerize little kids. If you love mushrooms, you have to try their Holy Shiitake pizza.
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