Who is going on opening day??

[WebmasterTim]

Who all is going on opening day or that first week??

[stacyb]

I forgot when is the first weekend. I need to get my tickets when our income taxes come back. This year will be cheaper since my oldest will be in NY all summer working

[WebmasterTim]

Schedule

2

[sillysmom]

Hi all. I am coming down on April 7th, with my hubby and 11 year old daughter for the week. This will be our first trip to PF. We are so excited! Before I go any further, Tim thanks so much for this forum. I am a bit on the crazy side about each and every vacation we take. Lots and lots of planning, reading reviews, and checking the web. I found your link at trip advisor and was soooo glad. Now that thats done, let me tell you about what I've planned so far and you can give me your input. We are leaving from New York on Thursday the 6th, so we will arrive some time Friday (we want to be there by the time the parade starts at 6), we are staying at the Red Roof Inn (great deal by the way!), we've purchased the season passes for Dollywood (1 Gold for the discounts, 1 regular and 1 child), I have booked the Comedy Barn, Black Bear Jamboree and the Dixie Stampede, I have front row seats for each. Tuesday we are planning on going to do all the Ripley's stuff in Gatlinsburg since Dollywood is closed. We still have time to fill, I contacted someplace about a bus tour through the smokies, but they haven't gotten back to me yet, so if anyone knows a good tour place, please let me know. We just don't like 6 hours tours, 2 or 3 hours would be great. On Friday, we are driving to Memphis, and staying at the Heartbreak Hotel, and Saturday we're going to Graceland (can't wait!), then we're going to start driving home Saturday afternoon, hopefully we'll get home by Sunday night. So guys, thats my plan, can't wait to read more posts, and hope to hear what you think of my plans!

[WebmasterTim]

You will have a great time in Pigeon Forge!!! If have not been there before you will be amazed. There is so much going on now that if you went every week there would be something new each time. They are building all of the time. We were there week before last and had a great time. The only bad thing about the area is the traffic. If you go there and know that the traffic is going be bad and expect the traffic to be bad you will be OK. Thru the week it is not quite as bad but on weekends it is pretty bad. They are building new roads and that should help some.


I think that instead of trying to find a guided tour of the area that you might just drive on your own to a couple of places. There are really only a couple of main roads so it is hard to get lost. There are a couple of side trips that you might think about taking on your own.
1. Cades Cove is an eleven mile one-way loop around a beautiful valley just south of Gatlinburg. It is really a ¾ day trip. We have seen turkeys, deer, raccoons, and even a bear at Cades Cove. If you could make it to Cades Cove it would be great but I would not feel bad if you were not able to make it there.

http://www.cadescove.net/ (http://www.cadescove.net/)

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/gsmsite/cadescove.html (http://www.nps.gov/grsm/gsmsite/cadescove.html)



2. Roaring Fork A true example of wilderness and frontier life awaits visitors mere blocks away from downtown Gatlinburg on the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail. This 6-mile auto loop travels through time, beginning in modern Gatlinburg and moving back to early 19th-century homesteads and finally regressing to primal, unspoiled nature.
Cherokee Orchard
The trip begins on Cherokee Orchard Road. In the 1920s and 30s, this area was a 796-acre commercial orchard and nursery with over 6,000 fruit trees. A short three miles later stands Noah “Bud” Ogle’s Place, located at the end of Cherokee Orchard and the beginning of the one-way motor loop. The Ogle homestead beautifully illustrates pioneer engineering—this was one of the few area homes of the time with running water, naturally pumped into the house from a nearby spring via log troughs.
Frontier Life
Part of the motor trail follows the original road bed, which was hewed with picks and shovels in 1850. Like many old roads, it took the path of least resistance by way of the creek. The wagon passage served as an access route to White Oak Flats (now Gatlinburg) for the 25 families carving an existence out of these heavily forested hillsides. Three of their homesteads lie along the roadway—those of Jim Bales, Ephraim Reagan and Alfred Reagan. Of the many areas settled in the mountains, Roaring Fork was one of the most unforgiving, largely due to the boulder fields which made farming extremely difficult.
Waterfalls
Trails to three dramatically different waterfalls begin on the motor loop. Thousand Drips Falls, a small but nonetheless spectacular waterfall, can be seen from the road near the end of the trip; these thin streams of water have been cutting away at the bedrock for centuries.
3. One of our favorite things to do is get some chicken, barbeque, or just some dessert and go to Chimney top picnic area. From the sugarlands visitor center you continue along US 441, you approach the Chimney Tops at the 4.5 mile mark. Here you will find the Chimney Tops picnic area which is home to one of the few remaining stands of mature cove hardwoods in the U.S. The Little Pigeon River runs through the picnic area. This river is named for the huge flocks of passenger pigeons which once filled the skies over the Smokies.

[WebmasterTim]

Try some of the local places to eat. There are several barbecue places, Corky's and Bennett's are some of the favorite ones I think.

http://www.bennetts-bbq.com/

One of the most famous places to eat would be the Apple Barn

http://www.applebarncidermill.com/

there are lots of shops there and it is very pretty there. You can eat in an glass enclosed porch with a view of the river. There is almost always a wait to get in so just plan on enjoying a walk down to the river or sitting in on the porch or in the gazebo.

The http://www.pancakepantry.com/ in Gatlinburg. It is like the Apple Barn there will always be a wait in line, but the line moves fast. I am not sure how many hundreds of people they sereve per hour but it is a lot. We always have to get the Peach Delight crepes. They also say that they can prepare box lunches for picnics.