Pigeon Forge/Atlanta Trip

Hello to all, I have done a search about Dollywood and SFOG and have gotten some great info but would like to get a little more from anyone please. While this is not our first road trip by a long shot, neither I nor my wife or soon to be wife(yes the ball and chain is being attached shortly) have ever been to Tennessee and would love some info.

As for Six Flags I haven't been to this one since Batman was new and she has never been. Really looking forward to Goliath. This is our itinerary for the trip.

May 24-Leave Central FL and Arrive in our beautiful cabin in Pigeon Forge

May 25-Unwind and Sight see

May 26-White water rafting/ober gatlinburg

May 27-Free Day

May 28-Dollywood

May 29-Depart Pigeon Forge early am and arrive at SFOG for the day

May 30-Atlanta Aquarium/Return home

I have already purchased the cabin, dollywood tickets, sfog tickets, hotel in Atlanta, and booked our white water rafting. I am really wondering if anyone has any info on some other things we can see or do in Pigeon Forge? Any good places to eat we might not think to go to? Is the Atlanta aquarium worth a visit? Please any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Also, could I get some tips for Dollywood and SFOG.

Such as,

Is the early buffet breakfast at Dollywood good or even worth it?

Do they serve BEER?????

Average Wait times for a summer Thursday visit, I know there is no way to know but maybe an estimate please.

And can someone give me a game plan for SFOG like go here first then here etc.....And do they serve BEER???

I would really appreciate some info, anything you can give me some insight on would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a ton!!!!

If your gonna do the Aquarium, consider doing the World of Coke. Its right next door - about half the price, about half the crowds and probably five times cooler IMO.

I wouldn't do the buffet. Heck I wouldn't even eat a whole meal at Dollywood. Just snack all day and share with your fiance. Lots of really awesome food to sample, the bbq is solid and the cinnamon bread is killer.

No beer at either park. One is run by religious people, the other would but is in a county run by religious people. The first is ok by me, the 2nd, not so much.. but whatever

For Dollywood - go left and do the Mystery Mine/Thunderhead part first and head to the back from there. At Six Flags, go to Superman first (generally the longest line), do the rides at the back, then Gotham, then Goliath and finally the front of the park (assuming you get there at opening at least)

The Aquarium is DEFINITELY worth it.........if you guys are into zoos and aquariums. Don't listen to Joe, he's on crack. The ocean > Coke bottles.

I do agree with him on the food at Dollywood though. It's better just to snack all day. The options are plentiful.

Ditto on his park navigating advice as well. Also, I think Dollywood will have their new ziplines open by the time you're there. I believe it's gonna be a $40 upcharge.

As for your itinerary, it looks pretty good. You'll have plenty of time to see everything Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg has to offer. You're from Central Florida, so Pigeon Forge is just a redneck Kissimmee.

I'll throw this out there as a possibility....Lake Winnie. I don't know how big you guys are on side trips and credit whoring, but LW is just outside Chattanooga, which is about a couple hours away from Pigeon Forge. It's definitely a cool little park to hit up if you get the chance.

Here's a few trip reports for you, if they help any. Exhibit A, Exhibit B, and Exhibit C.

^Thanks guys I really appreciate the info. I do plan on going on the zip lines at dollywood. I have always wanted to do a zipline and while 40 bucks is up there for an upcharge attraction, I still think its worth it. The fiance is all about the thrills but no so much about the credit whoring and themepark travels.

I would love to make detours to Lake Winnie and Carowinds but I'm still getting crap about our 2005 trip. BGW,PKD,SF Great Adventure,Hershey Park, and Dorney Park. Man that was a trip over 50 new credits, and all I heard was my feet hurt.

I'm pissed about the beer but hey what ya gonna do. The jury is still out on the aquarium I am leaving it up to her. Guys thanks again!!!!!

My take:

The Georgia Aquarium is the best of the three aquariums that exist in the area you'll be traveling through (the others being the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga and Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg), but I like all three. (Coke, on the other hand, I could take or leave. Please keep in mind that Joe would prefer to ride a Coke-themed kiddie coaster over The Voyage, so his worldview may be questionable. )

Dollywood's breakfast buffet isn't anything special. I would recommend the Red Rooster in Pigeon Forge, instead. You just haven't lived until you've experienced Moon Pie Pancakes.

As for beer at Dollywood, let me put it this way: Pigeon Forge is just now thinking about allowing hard liquor to be sold, but Dolly has allegedly threatened to pull out if they try it. Does that answer your question?

Wait times at Dollywood are rarely extreme. Capacity is decent at most rides, and while most of the attendants are elderly, much of the parks clientele is only there for the shows.

There really isn't much whitewater rafting in the immediate area, despite what you may have seen or heard. Which is to say, it exists--but most of it is literally in another state (North Carolina).

I personally prefer Lake Winnie to SFOG, but to each their own. If you were to swing by Chattanooga, though (on this trip, or some other), I would highly recommend a visit to Rock City, as well.

Just my $0.02

Joe would drink a Pepsi for this.

In Pigeon Forge, you might want to try Zorb: http://www.zorb.com/smoky/

Thanks guys for the info, Electerik I have been following your awesome report about the area. My fiance tells me that the whitewater rafting is only like 30 minutes away but upon further review I found out its more like 90. Were probably still going to go because she wants to real bad, and since I am a coaster junkie and she puts up with my habit I guess I will let it slide.

Those pancakes look awesome, I will be sure to show them how we eat in Florida upon my arrival. Any other restaurants we might want to hit up while were there. Oh and as far as the Lake Winnie and SFOG I would love to go to lake Winnie and SFOG for Goliath and acrophobia but I only have time for one and she loves the B&M speedcoasters so I told her they have one and that's that.

thrillerman1, thanks for the info on zorb it looks cool. We will have to see how time goes. Then again everyone should make time to be put into a giant ball filled with water and rolled off a cliff

Any other restaurants we might want to hit up while were there.

The Flying Horse Grill has good, slightly eccentric food, and features a carousel! (But don't worry, it's in its own room, so noise from it isn't an issue.) It's in Pigeon Forge, near traffic light 2, right across from The Incredible Christmas Place and next door to MagiQuest (aka, Adventure Quest).

Calhoun's is also good. It's a small, local chain--with one in Gatlinburg and one in Pigeon Forge. Great food, relatively elegant (for Sevier County), but not overly pricey.

Also, The Pottery House Grill is The Old Mill's second, somewhat more contemporary restaurant, and a great place for lunch.

It's not talked about much, but there is a full-service restaurant in Dollywood, as well--The Back Stage Grill, in the Rivertown section of the park. It isn't anything spectacular, but I'm betting the wife would enjoy sitting down and being served at some point during the day.

It's not talked about much, but there is a full-service restaurant in Dollywood, as well--The Back Stage Grill, in the Rivertown section of the park. It isn't anything spectacular, but I'm betting the wife would enjoy sitting down and being served at some point during the day.

Ha, I am willing to bet money on it, thanks for all the information I really appreciate it. I can't wait to go, 20 days and counting.

Since you have to Rush through the Smokies to make it to SFOG, I say use the free day to explore the smokies national park.

A beautiful place. Also Gatlinburg has some cool stuff as well, Basically its like International drive in O-town, minus the high rises but you get my point.

If you like Go-karts the the best place ever is the Nascar Speed park.

Also for a nice relaxing dinner, Try the Peddler in Gatlinburg. Best steaks around, and its the only thing in Gatlinburg thats not Tacky.

If you like micro breweries, the Smoky Mountain Brewery in Gatlinburg is good stuff. You can order a sampling of their different beers, and their pizza is DIVINE! Here's a link: http://smoky-mtn-brewery.com/page.asp?id=125

Apparently there's one in Pigeon Forge also, but I have only experienced the G'burg one.

So how did your trip go? Hope you enjoyed your time here in Tennessee!

We had a blast, it was very peaceful and just relaxing to get away for a couple of days. Dollywood was terrific, gatlinburg was great, and all the food was superb. We hit six flags over Georgia on the way home as planned and it was OK, besides the terribly slow operations. Highlights of the trip were our cabin, which was so awesome,Thunderhead is my new number one wooden coaster, and the bear scaring the crap out of me to investigate my garbage at 2 am. The only downside of the trip was gas prices going up about twenty five to thirty cents a gallon about 10 days before we left. Oh and Goliath also jumped into my top ten steel list. Thanks for asking!!! There is a photo TR around here somewhere if you want to see some more pics. Thanks for reading.

Great photos and good to hear you had a great time! Can you post a link to your photo TR? I think I may have missed it while I was on the TPR Scandi trip.

Here is the link, I never finished the SFOG part of the trip report. But oh well no big deal, like I said we had an awesome time. I have to say I am jealous of all the TPR trips besides Japan, Scandinavia would be my top pick. Thats just to cool, well welcome back to boring normal life

http://themeparkreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=50916

^ You should finish it up. Photos usually don't have as early an expiration date as we think.