Our Pigeon Forge Vacation
Hello friends! We just returned from a 7 day vacation in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tennessee area. We very much enjoyed our time away and want to share with you our experiences. For now we’ll talk about where we stayed and the attractions we visited.
Where We Stayed
After researching many different websites, we landed on a cabin we found on Airbnb. The cabin is named Starlight Ridge and it is located in Sevierville, TN, just a few minutes from the Pigeon Forge area. It is a four bedroom, five bathroom cabin with a movie theater room and indoor pool on the bottom floor. The indoor pool was definitely a big selling point for us and we used it multiple times during our stay.
Three of the four bedrooms have king-sized beds and a bathroom either attached or just outside the bedroom door. The fourth bedroom has two sturdy bunk beds with 4 single beds and an attached bathroom. The listing said the cabin can sleep up to 10. It definitely has plenty of space. This video shows the living and dining room spaces.
Our Review of the Cabin
We enjoyed our time at the cabin but there are some issues we want to warn you about before you book this cabin for your trip.
- The water smells and tastes like metal! We’re not sure why the water smelled and tasted this way but we started to use bottled water to brush our teeth because the smell and taste were so bad.
- It lacks sufficient window coverings, especially in the bedrooms. They do not have enough curtain panels on the curtain rods to fully cover the windows and it does not have a blinds option. You are simply stuck with your windows being partially covered.
- The mattresses were ultra-soft. This may not be an issue for everyone but for us it was simply too soft. We felt like we were sleeping in a hole.
- The bed sheets drove us crazy! Every night the fitted bed sheets would fall off and we would have to get up and adjust them. This led to us getting poor sleep.
- One of the coolest rooms was the movie theater room but the projector would not adjust to fit the screen they had attached to the wall. Ken tried to adjust it as much as he could but didn’t want to spend hours trying to figure it out while we were on vacation.
- Location! We knew Sevierville was close but didn’t realize driving to attractions would still be 20-30 minutes. We felt like that was a waste of our time so the next time we travel there we will look for something in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg.
What We Did
We have visited the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area before so we had a few things on our list we had done previously but wanted to do again. However, this trip we did try a few new attractions. Here is a list of the fun things we did while in the area.
This was Sawyer’s most anticipated attraction! He loves history and truly enjoyed this museum. He even bought some merch from the shop that we found on clearance. I was the only one from our family to have done this attraction previously but that was 10 years ago. Small things have changed or have been added but it largely remains the same.
When you purchase a ticket for the Titanic Museum you are really purchasing a “boarding pass” with a specific time slot for boarding. When you arrive you are given a boarding pass with the name and description of an actual person from the Titanic. You also receive an audio device to wear around your neck that you’ll use throughout the attraction. The audio device allows you to listen to different people speaking about all the events, from the ship building process all the way through the sinking and you’re even able to hear from some of the survivors. Each room has large photos with written descriptions and interactive items. Kids have the chance to answer multiple choice questions in each room. You can find these attached to the walls.
The Ripley’s Aquarium is actually in Gatlinburg. We parked in the parking garage behind the aquarium for $10.00, which was the maximum charge at that time. The aquarium was a lot of fun and they had many types of sea-life exhibits. Our favorite had to be the glass tunnel with the moving walk-way. Here you’ll see different types of sharks and fish swimming on all sides of you. They also had areas where you could touch jellyfish and stingrays.
When you purchase your tickets for the aquarium you have the option of adding multiple other Ripley’s attractions in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We had the option of buying a military discount ticket that included seven attractions at a steeply discounted price. Some of the other attractions include Ripley’s Believe it or Not museum, Ripley’s Super Fun Zone, 3 different Ripley’s mini-golf, a mountain coaster, and a go-cart track. We did not do the other Ripley’s attractions yet but the tickets we bought are good for a year. We plan on doing them during our next trip.
This was our first time doing this dinner show. We’ve done Dolly Parton’s Stampede and the Hatfield and McCoy’s dinner show years ago but the Pirates show was new to us. It offers much of the same food as the others which means you get a lot of food! We had a fried chicken breast, slice of ham, corn on the cob, mac and cheese, creamy vegetable soup, and a biscuit. For dessert they offer an apple turnover. We all loved the food! They do offer meal options for vegetarians and gluten free.
The show was great! It is clear that all the performers have been well trained in gymnastics, diving, and acrobatics. They also have animal performers like sea-lions and parrots that add to the fun. As in most of the dinner shows we’ve attended there is a competition and one side of the room will be dubbed the winner by the end.
Rarely do we come to Pigeon Forge and not go to Dollywood. This is our family’s favorite attraction. We purchased a season pass at the military discount rate so we could return as many times as we wanted during this trip as well as when we go back later this year. If you plan on going to the park multiple days, take a look at the season passes. They are affordable and are typically a better deal than purchasing 2 or more days of tickets. We opted for the Gold pass for the extra benefits but they do offer a less expensive option.
We love the atmosphere Dollywood offers. It is a major family amusement park that offers everything from massive rollercoasters to small circular rides for kids, all while keeping a small family park feel. One thing you will notice immediately is its “southern hospitality” charm. Many of the employees are older and treat their “guests” like they would someone in their own home.
Dollywood has some of the best rollercoasters in the world. Ken and the older kids loved Lightning Rod and Sawyer loved their newest family rollercoaster Big Bear Mountain. There are also playground areas for younger kids that don’t like to do the rides, one of which is indoor so you can take a break from the heat and enjoy the a/c!
In addition to the rides, Dollywood has some of the best food we’ve ever had at an amusement park. During the festivals they offer different types of food and we happened to be there for the I Will Always Love You festival. We tried the chicken and vegetable succotash from the big griddle stands near the front of the park and it was amazing! One of our absolute favorites, that you can buy any time, is the cinnamon bread at the Grist Mill. One cinnamon bread was enough for our family and we paid a little extra for the icing. It is glorious!
One last thing I’d like to mention is, if you are military, ask about military discounts wherever you go. This area is very military friendly and almost all attractions offer some type of discount for military members. In most cases their family members will also receive a discount.
Thank you for reading. I hope this is helpful for you and your family if you decide to take a trip to the Pigeon Forge area. If you have any other questions please drop a comment on the post and we will do our best to answer them.
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