Family Attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN
Family Attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN
Grab your kids and your camera and get ready for a fabulous few days to visit the family attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN!
Wait to hear about the awesome family attractions we visited while staying in the Pigeon Forge area which is nestled in the beautiful Smoky mountains of Tennessee.
First up, Titantic Museum!
When you are driving down the street your eyes catch this attraction and you say Whoa!
Upon entering the ship, I was given my boarding pass. Today I was going to be Margaret Fleming, a maid to a first class lady. Would I survive the voyage? I wound find out at the end of the tour.
Pictures are not allowed to be taken inside the museum so you will have to come visit yourself to see…
- View $4.5 million + of Titanic artifacts
- Walk the $1 Million exact replica of Titanic’s Grand Staircase
- Touch an iceberg and feel 28-degree water (my kids complained all day thier hand was numb. ha!)
- Shovel “coal” in Titanic’s Boiler Room
- Learn how to send an SOS distress signal
- Experience the Sloping Decks of the ship’s stern as she descended (the boys spent tons of time walking this)
- Sit in an actual size lifeboat and hear true passenger stories
- Visit Tot-Titanic – an interactive area for young guests 8 and under (fun!)
We enjoyed not only learning about his horrific event, but really feeling what it was like. There is one real life display where water is actually flooding a stairwell and the lights are blinking. I had goosebumps. I can’t imagine being a part of that night!
I loved reading their stories. Who were these people? What made them come board the ship that day? Can’t you just imagine the excitement of having the honor to be the Titantic’s first passengers?
As we were leaving both boys said, mom I thought this might be kind of boring, but I liked it! They were on the lookout for their character from their boarding pass – pictures of what they looked like and who their parents were. The audio tours were also split up for adults and kids, with the boys having a scavenger hunt while we listened to the details.
Did we all survive? We did. Even hubby who was a crew member. Male crew members were the least likely to survive.
This really is a Family Attraction everyone will enjoy!
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It was a very rainy day in Pigeon Forge and the whole world was in line to visit Ripley’s Aquarium. It must be the place to go!
This aquarium is voted #1 by Trip Advisor. That is an awesome score to have and we were excited before we even got there!
Where do I even begin? I took a ton of pictures so need to narrow it down here a bit for you…
We walked into this view overlooking Discovery Bay where you can touch Horseshoe Crabs and walk around to play with other interactive displays including saying hello to Nemo!
The kids can climb in that tub to get a closer look…my child disappeared before the picture was snapped. sigh.
This area leads to my boys favorite part of the aquarium….dinosaurs. Yes Dinosaurs at the aquarium!
Not just plain models, but large moving reptiles. P’Diddy is standing right next to one here, but ask him if he went near the T-Rex. No he didn’t!
C’Man climbed in as close as he could get in the penguin room and took some great up close and personal pictures!
Do you spot him in this photo?
I had two favorite parts. The first was Shark Lagoon. Step on the moving floor and glide underneath the sharks! eeeek! You get really close, but it awesome. I could see all their teeth and everything!
We spotted a cool looking hammerhead shark, a sea turtle and other various sea life that we were ooohing and ahhhing over.
As we were moving along, I was chatting to the lady next to me and telling her she HAD to go touch a stingray.
Did you know that stingrays were soft? They have a surprisingly sleek feel to them and honestly I could sit there and pet them all day.
Fantastic place with so much to see!
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For dinner we headed to the hottest place in town! Dixie Stampede!
We had been to a show a few years ago before P’Diddy was born and I could not wait to share this dinner show with him!
It couldn’t have started out better. As we were walking in we visited the horses in the show and there was one that shares his name. He thought that was SO cool!
We arrived inside just in the time for the Saloon Show to begin. We sang and clapped our hands country style for about half an hour. It was great!
Then into the arena we went for the show to begin. This is another place where photography is not allowed so I just have a couple of pics to show you.
We sat family style on long benches with counters in front. Our waitress walked in front of us to serve our food – 7x! She brought a whole rotisserie chicken (even for the kids!), bbq pork loin, creamy vegetable soup, homemade biscuit, corn on the cob, baked potato, and then dessert. And kept our drinks refilled throughout the show!
We hooted and hollowed and watched the riders with their horse stunts. It was a show where the north vs the south and the audience was split into two. Who would win in the end?
It was super fun and my boys couldn’t stop smiling.
Afterwards we went down to visit the riders and see the horses. P’Diddy wanted to pet them all, but he did get to touch Gig, Peppy, and Hummer. He talked about these horses for the rest of the night…and the next day…and the next. ha!
Definitely a place to go!
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The next day it stopped raining and our family attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN continued. We headed to Parrot Mountain and Gardens.
Beautiful!
The place is nestled right in the mountains. We found birds~ toucans, hornbills, magpies ~ sitting on their perches out in the open before we even walked in the gate. This was going to be cool!
After walking through the mountain gardens for a bit, while stopping every so often to check out new birds, we came to the hands on area. There were birds everywhere and we could touch, hold and feed them all.
This is the kid section where the birds are smaller and the perches are shorter for them to reach.
My boys were a bit hesitant, but the awesome staffed made them feel comfortable. The birds were comfortable too…
All the birds looooved Hubby. He did great with them even whistled their tunes (visit my Instagram video).
Beautiful gardens with beautiful birds on a beautiful mountaintop. How could you not want to visit?
Phew! That was a long post, but I wanted to share all the Family Attractions you NEED to visit when traveling to the Pigeon Forge area.
We can’t wait to go back!
Don’t forget to check out my post on the place to stay ~ Wilderness in the Smokies Waterpark Resort!
Have you ever visited this area in Tennessee?
What family attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN can you add?
Thank you to these fabulous family attractions for letting my family visit in exchange for this post.