Top 10 Indoor Things To Do in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge
The point of coming to the Great Smoky Mountains is to get outside and enjoy the mountains. But sometimes the weather isn’t cooperative. Whether it’s cold and snowy in winter or there is a storm blowing through in the spring, summer or fall, the mountains are notorious for weather that changes frequently or with little warning.
So, any time you come to the mountains for a nice getaway, there’s a chance you’re going to have to mix things up and learn to enjoy the great indoors. With this is mind, we will start with the top 5 indoor things to do in Gatlinburg and then list the top 5 for Pigeon Forge.
1. Ripley’s family of indoor attractions
The people behind Ripley’s Believe it or Not have certainly invested in Gatlinburg. There are a total of 11 Ripley’s attractions in the Smokies and all but one is in Gatlinburg. If you happen to be in Gatlinburg on an inclement weather day, a combo pass of Ripley’s attractions may be the way to go. Now, four of the attractions – by my count – are outdoors. I don’t recommend spending money on the Mirror Maze, so your best bet is the Aquarium plus Five Attractions bundle.
You can get tickets to the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, the Believe it or Not! Odditorium, the Haunted Adventure, the Motion Blaster, the Super Fun Zone Laser Tag and the Super Fun Zone mini-golf (listed as separate attractions) starting at $80 per ticket per adult. You can adjust as necessary. The stars of the bundle are the Aquarium and Odditorium, both among the best attractions in Gatlinburg. The others become valuable ways to spend a bad weather day as add-ons.
2. Distillery crawl
Is your Gatlinburg vacation for adults? Then a great way to spend a bad weather day is an old-fashioned pub crawl – or in this case distillery crawl. The strip is filled with a variety of distilleries, each of which typically offers a tasting flight. The trick is to keep a good eye on the radar and each time you get a little weather break, make you move to the next distillery. The good news is that on today’s strip, you’re never that far away from your next drinking stop.
3. Wild Bear Falls
Wild Bear Falls is an elaborate indoor water park located within the Westgate Smoky Mountain Resort. The park features a pair of water slides, a lazy river, a splash pad, and an interactive tree house with flowing water, slides and a 300-gallon bucket. There is also a hot tub and indoor/outdoor sauna.
4. Fannie Farkles
There may be better arcades in Gatlinburg, but Fannie Farkles has a little something extra with giant corndogs, grilled sausages and freshly squeezed lemonade with which to refresh yourself between rounds of arcade games. That classic arcade feel with carnival food at the ready? Count me in.
5. Melting Pot
There are several dining options in Gatlinburg where you can linger over a good meal. But at The Melting Pot – a chain of fondue restaurants – lingering is part of the point. Enjoy a three-course fondue meal of hot melty cheese, a rich savory course and a chocolate dessert. There’s time for conversation. There’s time to savor your meal and maybe enjoy a nice bottle of wine. It can be hard to slow down and savor a meal in a tourist place like Gatlinburg because customer turnover is built into the process but a bad weather fondue meal where time is a built-in part of the experience? Perfect.
Top indoor things to do in Pigeon Forge
6. Sky Pirates of Mermaid Bay
For the most part, indoor mini-golf in Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge is a disappointment. Most of the places that have indoor mini-golf haven’t allowed enough space for the experience so you get a lesser round of mini-golf. However, the relatively new Sky Pirates with the outdoor course on the roof and the indoor mermaid course – offer a quality indoor mini-golf experience that doesn’t feel like playing in a phone booth.
7. Dinner show of your choice
I am on the record saying I would like Pigeon Forge’s dinner shows better if it was just the shows – which are pretty good – and not the dinners – which are pretty bad. However, on a bad weather day in the Forge, the various dinner shows take on improved appeal. The Pirates show is my favorite with all the diving acrobatics. Also, who doesn’t love a good seal act? After that, I’d vote for Dolly’s Stampede before the Hatfield & McCoy’s but really, it’s just a matter of preference. The dinner show experiences are built upon the same template; the variations are mostly cosmetic. Essentially, do you prefer dueling pirates, horses or hillbillies?
8. Take in a “museum”
Like dinner shows, Pigeon Forge has a variety of museums that have little to do with the mountains. You can explore a mini Titanic or visit the Alcatraz East Museum, which I find unseemly. Do I want to check out the newly acquired Martin Luther King Jr. artifact which has been added to the museum’s assassinations collection? I’m not sure I do. Still, it’s probably better than Beyond the Lens – which was formerly and bizarrely attached to the National Enquirer tabloid. I also include WonderWorks and the Hollywood Wax Museum in this category. Which one should you pick? It’s a personal preference. I find WonderWorks and Titanic are legitimately the most educational while the Wax Museum is probably our family’s favorite.
9. Pigeon Forge Snow
This recommendation depends, I suppose, on the kind of weather you’re escaping. Is it snowing outside? Then paying someone to come inside to go sledding for an hour seems like the kind of thing people would have done in a Ray Bradbury short story about life on Jupiter. But is it hot or stormy or rainy? Then coming in to do a little indoor snow tubing seems perfectly natural. We like Pigeon Forge Snow. The tracks are steep and fast, if a little redundant. Sledding repeatedly on a perfect course is still fun, but it lacks a little of the pizzazz of the real thing.
10. TopJump Trampoline & Extreme Arena
Does someone in your travel party have a little energy they need to burn off? Welcome to TopJump where you can bounce, jump and dodge that energy away. In addition to the open jump trampolines, the climbing center, the kid zones and the basketball dodgeball, TopJump has its Fire & Ice Ninja course as well as a large arcade and the Sugar Rush Candy Store where you can soothe the pain of your snapped Achilles’ tendon with a massive lollipop.
Are you planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains soon? Make sure to check out our coupons page before your trip!
Have a question or comment about something in this article? Contact our staff here. You may also contact our editorial team at [email protected].