Dolly Parton grew up in the mountains around here, and her 150-acre theme park borrows heavily from her Smoky Mountain heritage. The rides range from the tame to the terrifying (including the indoor/outdoor Mystery Mine roller coaster with its weightless inversion and 85-foot vertical drop, the screamiest of them all). A few -- such as the Daredevil Falls log flume and the River Battle raft ride -- will even leave you soaking wet, so consider bringing some dry clothes. When you need a bit of a break, consider catching one of the park's 30-plus musical performances (often starring a few of Dolly's relatives) throughout the day. Younger kids will especially enjoy the steam train ride, magic shows, parades and roving costumed characters.
As you might expect, the park has numerous shops and eateries. Be sure to check out Craftsman's Alley, where black smiths, glass blowers, candle makers, leather workers, wood carvers and other artisans demonstrate their skills and sell their creations.
If you arrive after 3 p.m. your admission is free the next day. The park is open daily throughout the summer but runs on a more limited schedule during the other seasons. Winter is actually an excellent time to visit because the park is decked out in four million lights and offers several holiday theme exhibits and shows. Be aware that Dollywood generally closes for a brief period each year from early January through early spring. Dolly's Splash Country water park, open in summer only, is right next door.
Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Attractions
Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Attractions
 | Dollywood 2700 Dollywood Parks Blvd. Pigeon Forge, TN • 865-428-9488 Best For: Tots (0-2)•Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Flyaway 3106 Parkway Pigeon Forge, TN • 865-453-7777 This indoor skydiving simulator (the first in the U.S.) uses a vertical wind tunnel created by a 120-mile-per-hour blast from a jet engine that lifts you off the ground and allows you to hover between six to 12 feet in the air. Participants suit up in safety gear and take a half-hour safety and training course to prepare for their flight. Five people at a time enter the simulator, accompanied by an instructor, and take turns flying. Spectators (including younger siblings) can watch through windows that look into the circular flying chamber. You can even buy a photograph or video of your flight for an extra fee. Kids can be any age but must weigh at least 40 pounds to fly, and adults must satisfy maximum height and weight restrictions for liftoff. Be sure to bring sneakers or other closed footwear. Best For: Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Lumberjack Feud 2713 Parkway Pigeon Forge, TN This Pigeon Forge attraction is not your average dinner show. With competing ESPN Lumberjack athletes, zip lines, draft horses, flying TimberDogs and gut-busting comedy, this rowdy show will have your family on the edge of their seats. Two local logging families find themselves embattled as the timber industry is shut down by the announcement of the National Park. There's only enough land remaining for one family so they battle over it at the Pigeon Forge Lumberjack Competition. Families can sit back and enjoy a picnic basket full of mouth-watering fried chicken and BBQ Ribs. Best For: Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Ober Gatlinburg 1001 Parkway Gatlinburg, TN • 865-436-5423 The best way to get to this combination ski resort and amusement park sitting pretty 1,400 feet above downtown Gatlinburg is to take a ten-minute, two-mile ride on one of the largest aerial tramways in the U.S. Once you disembark, you can enjoy several wacky water rides in summer or the ski slopes (nine trails for all abilities), snowboarding terrain park, and snow-tubing park in the winter. (If you buy a lift ticket, show your aerial tram ticket and you'll get a discount.) While the 600-foot vertical drop is relatively tame, Ober Gatlinburg has excellent snowmaking, equipment rentals, and a ski school. (You can even rent parkas and snow pants!) In good weather (year-round) you can also enjoy the alpine slide (two hair-raising 1800-foot tracks side-by-side) and a scenic chair lift. Kiddie Land, which offers lots of small-fry activity options (including a ride on a miniature train), is open only in the summer. Indoor activities that are open year-round include a large indoor ice skating rink, various zany arcade games, a traditional carousel and the Smoky Mountain Wildlife Encounter (a mini zoo displaying regional criters). Be aware that Ober Gatlinburg does close for about ten days each year between the end of April and the beginning of May. Best For: Tots (0-2)•Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies 88 River Road Gatlinburg, TN • 865-430-8808 This $70 million attraction houses sea life from each of the world's major oceans. Some of the most popular exhibits show off octopuses, jellyfish, piranhas, weedy-looking sea dragons, all kinds of colorful coral reef critters and the absolutely prehistoric-looking Japanese spider crab. In two huge tanks, Coral Reef and Stingray Bay, scuba divers hand feed marine creatures during regular dive shows. For most guests, the hands-down highlight is navigating Shark Lagoon via a 340-foot moving walkway through one of the world's longest underwater acrylic tunnels. Here, several species of sharks live alongside sawfish, eels, and even sea turtles, giving visitors a real thrill when they glide directly overhead. Penguin Playhouse, the aquarium's newest section, invites visitors to crawl through still more acrylic tunnels to explore a colony of playful African Blackfooted penguins. If that's not quite close enough for your kids, they can pet stingrays at Touch-a-Ray Bay and hold horseshoe crabs at the Discovery Center. Best For: Tots (0-2)•Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Ripley's Believe It or Not! Museum 800 Parkway Gatlinburg, TN • 865-436-5096 The 12 themed galleries that make up this attraction are spread out over three stories housing more than 500 weird and wacky exhibits that your kids will talk about for days. The usual favorites include a stuffed two-headed calf (born in Gatlinburg), an authentic shrunken human head from Ecuador, a likeness of the world's tallest man (Robert Wadlow, who was 8'11" when he died in 1940), an entire room filled with various torture devices (opt to use a bypass if you have young or sensitive children). Be sure to ask about combo tickets for the other Ripley's attractions in town, which include the aquarium as well as a haunted house attraction (definitely not for young children or sensitive kids), two miniature golf courses (one of which is actually in Sevierville), a mirror maze, a moving theater and the equally unusual Guinness World Records Museum. Best For: Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Smoky Mountain Deer Farm and Exotic Petting Zoo 478 Happy Hollow Lane Sevierville, TN • 865-428-3337 This 140-acre petting zoo lets you pet and feed many of its critters, which include deer, goats, camels, sheep, zebras, reindeer, pot-bellied pigs and guanacos (which look similar to llamas). Be on the lookout for the zonkies (half donkeys, half zebras), as well. The Australian section includes kangaroos, wallabies and emus (although they're on a strict diet, so you can't feed members of the down-under delegation). Kids weighing less than 100 pounds can also get pony rides for an additional fee, and the adjacent Deer Farm Riding Stable offers horseback riding for all ages. Best For: Tots (0-2)•Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12) |
 | Titanic 2134 Parkway Pigeon Forge, TN • 866-488-6762 A half-scale replica of the front half of the Titanic, this museum attraction does much more than display hundreds of artifacts from the sunken ocean liner. It really gives you a feel for what it was like to be onboard the ship -- before and after disaster struck. You can see a recreation of a third-class cabin (as water rushes ominously down the stairs toward you) as well as a first-class cabin (the same one depicted in the Oscar-winning movie). And you'll actually get to walk up the grand staircase, built to scale from the original blueprints. After you talk with the captain on the bridge, walk "outside" to feel a wall of ice and dip your hands in water kept as frigid as the Atlantic was on that fateful night. Interactive exhibits include a station where kids can send an SOS, as well as a series of three sections of deck tilted at progressively steeper angles that illustrate just how hard it would have been to hang on as the ship got closer and closer to sinking. Costumed crew members make the experience even richer by sharing lots of colorful tales about the folks onboard. Each guest receives a passport upon entry, and at the end of the tour, you can check to see if your alter ego survived or perished. Note: Tickets are timed and they often sell out early, so call in advance to make a reservation. Best For: Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | WonderWorks 100 Music Road Pigeon Forge, TN • 865-868-1800 The fun starts outside this interactive science museum, designed to appear as if it was picked up by a twister before crashing upside down. Inside, you can experience what a 5.3-magnitude earthquake, as well as 65-mile-per-hour hurricane winds feel like. The new four-story ropes course includes 50 different obstacles for lots of challenge. In the Bubble Lab, you're challenged to make a giant soap bubble (and stand inside). There's even a rock-climbing wall and specially built bikes that make 360-degree loops when peddled hard enough. Perhaps the most bizarre experience here is the chance to lie on a bed of 3,497 nails; although the hardware is quite real and quite sharp, no one gets hurt because the supervised exhibit is designed to illustrate the principle of weight distribution. WonderWorks also includes a separate video arcade, laser tag attraction and magic-themed dinner theater starring master magician Terry Evanswood. Best For: Tots (0-2)•Kids (3-6)•Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
 | Zorb 203 Sugar Hollow Rd. Pigeon Forge, TN • 865-428-2422 Invented in New Zealand, Zorb is the sort of thing you almost have to see to believe. Take your pick of two wild experiences, both involving climbing into an 11-foot-wide clear plastic ball so that you can roll up to 30 miles an hour down an incline. One option is to be strapped inside the Zorb ball, rotating head-over-heels as you roll straight downhill. The other is to slide around unharnessed in 15 gallons of water (warm or cold, depending on the season) as you follow either a faster straight course or a slower, more disorienting zigzag route. Discounts are available for multiple rides (per person), and you'll also have the option of buying a video of your experience. Participants must be at least 8 years old, but those in your family who can't or choose not to take part will have a great time watching the others from the deck that overlooks all the action. Best For: Kids (7-9)•Tweens (10-12)•Teens (13+) |
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