Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge, TN

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

We have put in a request with SFX for a 2BR unit in either place for the first week in June this year. The date is absolutely fixed as we have to sync with other people. Our Son, his wife and our 2 grandsons live in Humboldt, TN and they will be joining us for the week. My wife and I just got back from spending several weeks with them at their home in Humboldt.

Any info and/or advice that anybody has will be welcome. Our plan is to fly into Nashville where our kids will meet up with us and then we will proceed on to the timeshare. We also plan to spend a few nights in Nashville to see the Grand Ole Opry and any other points of interest.

I do have a few questions.

1. Would it be better to stay in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge or is there any difference? I realize that they are close together.
2. Does anybody recommend a particlular timeshare resort? Our grandsons will be 4 years and the other one 10 months old.
3. Points of interest or must sees.
4. Info on Nashville, especially good hotels and getting tickets for the Grand Ole Opry etc. There will just be my wife and I in Nashville as the rest of the family will go back home to Humboldt after our timeshare week.

Other than our week in the timeshare, my wife and I have a very flexible schedule.

I would really appreciate any input from you good folks.

For you good folks of Tennessee I just wanted to let you know that we really enjoyed our visit there and it is one of the very few states that we would consider living in if we coudn't live in California.

[iceeu2 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close iceeu2]

Oh, John, how did your children end up out in God's country? Humboldt-home of the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival! Brings back a whole bunch of memories.

Anyway...now I live in North Georgia and we go to the Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge area quite often. As you already know, they are close together. When we have the grandgirls with us or when we want to do some outlet shopping, we usually stay in Pigeon Forge at our home resort which is Laurel Crest. However, when it's just the 2 of us we prefer to stay at Mountain Loft on Hwy321 in Gatlinburg.

We have toured other timeshares in the area and love Sunrise Ridge out in Pigeon Forge and the new Crown Park Resort right smack dab in the middle of downtown Gatlinburg.


Be sure to drive the Roaring Fork Nature Trail. An absolute must see that is really beautiful. Others will probably recommend a drive thru Cades Cove, but traffic can get backed up and with little ones can get montonous.

Great shows for the little ones are Black Bear Jamboree(dinner show) and The Comedy Barn(great for all ages). Dollywood is a grand amusement park with lots of good shows and rides and pretty decent food.

Have a fun Tennessee vacation!....ask your children if they have ever heard of the thriving metropolis of Friendship, TN!

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Oh, John, how did your children end up out in God's country? Humboldt-home of the West Tennessee Strawberry Festival! Brings back a whole bunch of memories.

Our son is the head coach of the men's soccer program and also the assistant athletic director at Bethel College in McKenzie TN. He won the regional coach of the year honor for 2006 which includes 14 universities so needless to say we are very proud of him. Actually we would still be very proud regardless.

[shaggy Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close shaggy]

John, you are talking about 2 of my fav areas, Nashville & Gatlinburg. Have you read my travel tales of my stay in Gatlinburg? I also have pics of my trip on Snapfish if you want to see them.

In Nashville, don't dare miss the GOO, take a tour by Tootsies, have a drink there and check out that area. Really good music, by up and coming new artists. Talk about up & coming new artists go to the Nashville Palace on talent night. All I can say is WOW!! Enough said. Eat dinner or lunch at Monell's. It is a sit down with a bunch of new friends and pass the food. It keeps coming and coming. I am ready to go back to Nashville.

I agree with the Comedy Barn, I hit the floor laughing so hard. (theoretically) I like Gatlinburg better than PF but that's just me. If you are in the mood for BBQ try Smoky Mtn BBQ & Wings on ski mtn road light #10. Very small place with good /great food. It's the new secret. If the kids like fish they have a great aquarium there. Shaggy

[robin Banned Find all posts View Profile Close robin]

We have put in a request with SFX for a 2BR unit in either place for the first week in June this year. The date is absolutely fixed as we have to sync with other people. Our Son, his wife and our 2 grandsons live in Humboldt, TN and they will be joining us for the week. My wife and I just got back from spending several weeks with them at their home in Humboldt.

Any info and/or advice that anybody has will be welcome. Our plan is to fly into Nashville where our kids will meet up with us and then we will proceed on to the timeshare. We also plan to spend a few nights in Nashville to see the Grand Ole Opry and any other points of interest.

I do have a few questions.

1. Would it be better to stay in Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge or is there any difference? I realize that they are close together.
2. Does anybody recommend a particlular timeshare resort? Our grandsons will be 4 years and the other one 10 months old.
3. Points of interest or must sees.
4. Info on Nashville, especially good hotels and getting tickets for the Grand Ole Opry etc. There will just be my wife and I in Nashville as the rest of the family will go back home to Humboldt after our timeshare week.

Other than our week in the timeshare, my wife and I have a very flexible schedule.

I would really appreciate any input from you good folks.

For you good folks of Tennessee I just wanted to let you know that we really enjoyed our visit there and it is one of the very few states that we would consider living in if we coudn't live in California.

It depends on what you're looking to do. Gatlinburg is more quaint with many shops, restaurants and the usual touristy stuff like Ripleys and the Aquarium. It's a better town for walking from place to place than Pigeon Forge although they do have the trolley cars.

Pigeon Forge is one long highway with one motel and restaurant after the other. You really need a car in Piegon Forge to get around and the traffic is usually heavy, but PF has more for children to do with Dollywood and Dollywod's Splash Country and other entertainment venues for children. They also have comedy shows, musical shows, amusement parks and Dolly's Dixie Stampede.

In my opinion Gatlinburg is best for adults and Pigeon Forge is best for children.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Thanks for the Info. Our plans have changed and we will be making the trip next year. It will be different as it will just be my wife and I. Our son and family recently moved to Texas so they won't be with us. I will try for Gatlinburg. It is a tough request because it will have to be the Memorial Day week 2008 in order to coordinate with our stay in Nashville for the Country Music festival.

We will be going regardless of whether we get the timeshare week or not. We have decided to stay at the Opryland Hotel on their 5 day Country Music festival package. We will just stay in hotels or whatever in Gatlinburg and Knoxville.

[robin Banned Find all posts View Profile Close robin]

Thanks for the Info. Our plans have changed and we will be making the trip next year. It will be different as it will just be my wife and I. Our son and family recently moved to Texas so they won't be with us. I will try for Gatlinburg. It is a tough request because it will have to be the Memorial Day week 2008 in order to coordinate with our stay in Nashville for the Country Music festival.

We will be going regardless of whether we get the timeshare week or not. We have decided to stay at the Opryland Hotel on their 5 day Country Music festival package. We will just stay in hotels or whatever in Gatlinburg and Knoxville.

You'll love Opryland Hotel as it's absolutely awesome with the huge atrium. The timeshares in Gatlinburg that are walking distance to the main strip are Gatlinburg Town Square and the new Park Place (??). However, I would also recommend Westgate (half way between Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge) for their new indoor water park. You can catch the trolley there to both towns.

If you desire to stay in a hotel, there are plenty to choose from in Gatlinburg.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

Robin,

Thanks for the info. We will only stay in a hotel in Gatlinbuerg if our request from SFX for a timeshare week does not come through. It will actually be more convenient to stay in a hotel because it will be much easier to coordinate with our stay in Nashville. I have talked to the good folks at the Opryland Hotel and they will notify me in December when their 2008 packages are available.

[1950bing Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close 1950bing]

If you have kids, PF
If not, Gburg.
Just remember, Gatlinburg is full of timeshare hawks. " Come see my timeshare place. "
Treat them just like drugs, just say NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

If you have kids, PF
If not, Gburg.
Just remember, Gatlinburg is full of timeshare hawks. " Come see my timeshare place. "
Treat them just like drugs, just say NO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There will just be my wife and I so we would actually prefer some place that is not kid friendly.

I have had lots of experience in dealing with timeshare hawkers. That is no problem for us as we just ignore them.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

We just did this trip a few months ago. We got an exchange into 2 bedroom unit at Gatlinburg Town Square for the first week of June and then drove to Nashville and spent 2 nights at the Opryland Hotel.

Don't get me wrong, Opryland is an interesting place to stay but IMO it's not one of the top resorts I've ever seen. There are a LOT of grounds, the pools are only so-so and a little small for a property this size and, you better have good walking shows on as it's spread out over 50+ acres. Walking from the parking lot (if you self park) to the hotel can be quite a distance. Opryland is beautiful and worth a stay at least once in anyone's life but I'm not certain I'd pay their price a second time.

As far as Gatlinburg vs Pigeon Forge I like Gatlinburg but would take Pigoen Forge if I couldn't get Gatlinburg. The ONLY reason we prefer Gatlinburg is it's proximity to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Less traffic/time to get into the park. Gatlinburg IMO is nothing but a huge tourist trap with a ton of T-shirt/souvenier shops, restaurants and Ripley's attractions. There wasn't a lot that was worth spending money or time on for us.

Pigeon Forge is a little more spread out and we found a little better shopping and/or restaurants there. It also wasn't always bumber to bumber traffic as it was on the strip in Gatlinburg. So Pigeon Forge does have it's advantages if you're wanting maybe a little more space but, like I said, for us the attraction was the national park and not either town. Therefore we perfer to be closer to the park.

That last part of May first part of June there is an odd event that occurs in very few places on this planet. Synchronized firefly's! and they can be seen close to the Elkmont campground in the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. Just be sure to wear bug repellent and take a flash light with a piece of red cloth to cover the light. The flashlight uncovered disrupts the firefly's and it takes them longer to synchonize. Unfortunately for us, while we were there a lot of people either didn't know this or didn't care. I don't believe we ever got the full affect but it was very interesting anyway.

Wildlife watching in the park seems to be best either in the early morning or around dusk. We mananaged to see bears on three different occasions while in the park as well as various other animals. I wish I had a little better camera than what I had when we were there. If we go back, I will invest in nice SLR digital camera for the trip.

I have pics of our unit at Gatlinburg Town Square, Opryland hotel and the national park on our webshots page at dougp26364's photos and albums on webshots if they might be of any help.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

I realize that the Opryland Hotel is not the best. I checked the reviews in Trip Advisor. However I want their 5 day package which includes everything. I don't care about the swimming pools as we probably wouldn't use them anyway. We only use public pools if they are unique. We have our own swimming pool at home that is nicer and larger than most hotel swimming pools.

Our only reason in going to Gatlinburg is for the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We have no interest in tourist traps. Your description of it reminds me of Branson Mo. We spent a week at Branson and will never do it again. It is one of the junkiest tourist traps I have ever seen.

How many days do you think are enough to see the park? Bear in mind that we are not hikers. We may just stay in Knoxville and skip the timeshare altogether. Even though it is a 40 mile drive from Knoxville to Gatlinburg, I believe it will be a lot nicer and we will have a lot more flexibility than staying in the timeshare. Our schedule is flexible except for Nashville.

[dougp26364 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dougp26364]

I realize that the Opryland Hotel is not the best. I checked the reviews in Trip Advisor. However I want their 5 day package which includes everything. I don't care about the swimming pools as we probably wouldn't use them anyway. We only use public pools if they are unique. We have our own swimming pool at home that is nicer and larger than most hotel swimming pools.

Our only reason in going to Gatlinburg is for the Great Smokey Mountain National Park. We have no interest in tourist traps. Your description of it reminds me of Branson Mo. We spent a week at Branson and will never do it again. It is one of the junkiest tourist traps I have ever seen.

How many days do you think are enough to see the park? Bear in mind that we are not hikers. We may just stay in Knoxville and skip the timeshare altogether. Even though it is a 40 mile drive from Knoxville to Gatlinburg, I believe it will be a lot nicer and we will have a lot more flexibility than staying in the timeshare. Our schedule is flexible except for Nashville.

My wife is not a hiker so we didn't do any of the trails with the exception of me hiking up to the top of Clingmans Dome. We were in the area for 6 full days and spent one of those days out at Dollywood. We managed to explore the Cades Cove area prett well, drove over Newfound Gap road and drove out to Cataloochee one afternoon. There were still two or three area's that I'd like to get to and a few trails I'd enjoy hiking up eventually. If we'd have spent the entire time we were there going through the park I think we could have said we covered a very good portion of what can be seen without hiking.

If you hated Branson then my guess is you'll really dislike Gatlinburg. It's a lot like Branson but crammed into a smaller area and without the shows. While we don't mind Branson (we go three times/year as a getaway from work) I can't imagine spending time in Gatlinburg without the park. There were very few really good places to eat, large crowds, bumber to bumber traffic and enough T-shirt shops/souvenier stands to choke a mule. We loved the park and would go back again but we really didn't care for Gatllinburg proper.

[JWC Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close JWC]

If you hated Branson then my guess is you'll really dislike Gatlinburg. It's a lot like Branson but crammed into a smaller area and without the shows. While we don't mind Branson (we go three times/year as a getaway from work) I can't imagine spending time in Gatlinburg without the park. There were very few really good places to eat, large crowds, bumber to bumber traffic and enough T-shirt shops/souvenier stands to choke a mule. We loved the park and would go back again but we really didn't care for Gatllinburg proper.

I can't imagine spending time in Branson without the shows so I guess it is a lot like Gatlinburg except one has the park and the other has the shows.

After your description, I am positive now that we will stay in Knoxville. What does Dollywood have to offer for adults?

[robin Banned Find all posts View Profile Close robin]

How many days do you think are enough to see the park? Bear in mind that we are not hikers. We may just stay in Knoxville and skip the timeshare altogether. Even though it is a 40 mile drive from Knoxville to Gatlinburg, I believe it will be a lot nicer and we will have a lot more flexibility than staying in the timeshare. Our schedule is flexible except for Nashville.

Knoxville is just another mid size city ... not much to see there. The drive from Knoxville to Gatlinburg is sometimes bumper to bumper traffic. I would prefer Gatlinburg over Knoxville any day for accomodations. All the action is there and in the Pigeon Forge area. If you can make it to Chattanooga, that's an interesting city with lots to do and see.

As far as the Opryland Hotel in Nashville, I think it's absolutely awesome although I've never stayed in one of their rooms. You can get a room that faces the humongus atrium, however those rooms are not cheap. I believe they also have a river flowing through the hotel now, but I haven't seen it yet.