Anakeesta is one of my favorite places to visit in Tennessee! The views are absolutely beautiful,…read moreand there's so much to do for the whole family. The mountain scenery, rides, attractions, and overall atmosphere make it a great place to spend the day. Everything feels like a fun adventure, especially when you take the chairlift up and enjoy the views of the Smoky Mountains. Definitely a place I would recommend visiting if you're in the Gatlinburg area. It's a great experience for both kids and adults!

Was stuck at the top of Anakeesta for 3 hours due to lightening. The management lacks any sort of…read moreevacuation plan. Another guest commented that they were continued to bring guests up on the gondola until there was a lightening strike some distance away. There was no clear communication to guests. They were taking people down in 3 small buses on a one-lane road. Beyond the lack of management and any sort of emergency plan to evacuate several hundred, if not more, people. The entire operation is a giant cash grab. In order to do most of the activities, an additional fee is required. As the storm moved in, they were still taking people's money. Definitely there are better options for families in the Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge areas that are more reasonable in costs and better value. Wanted to have a good time. Left disappointed. No plans to come back. Not how I expected to be treated as a paying customer. Young employees not trained to respond to the situation. Just disappointing the unsafe conditions they put every family that was that was at Anakeeesta in. Just unprepared and unacceptable. There are other situations that require emergency responses, and I highly doubt they are prepared to respond.

Wow. Pricey, but great experience. Should be some sweet memories for the kids - and us!!…read more Special shout-out to Chad (no idea about last name), who was taking tickets before we got on the lift. Super nice guy - professional and helpful (good tips) - friendly and welcoming. Sending us off with a God bless was a nice touch, although I could see that sounding funny to some folks, ha ha. (Dear God, please watch over us on this chair lift...) It was the kids' 1st time on a chair lift / ski lift, and it was a good one. Had to go open-air. No one freaked out. They even took selfies together on it. So sweet. Great views on the way down! Lift was rebuilt in... 2019 (?) after wildfires destroyed it, but they maintained a great old-school feel. Now! To the top. The SkyBridge. THE SKYBRIDGE. WOW. So so cool. Longest suspension bridge in North America, apparently. It was awesome, complete with grating and plexiglass at the middle. Amazing views. A little scary, sure, but so cool. Was stoked the kids wanted to walk across it multiple times. The trails up top are better than I expected. Not top tier Smokies trails, but better than expected. And more good views. Tulip Tower was cool, too. The overall SkyPark area was also beautifully landscaped. REALLY impressive - beautiful. Highly recommended.

The Gatlinburg SkyPark is a good experience worth buying tickets for. The ride up was great with…read morenice views of the town (the seats fit up to 3 people) and the bridge had good views of the mountains, and for the thrill seekers had a part that was transparent glass. At the other end of the bridge there is a drink and burger place and seats with a view. Though you might wonder why isn't this review a 5 star review. It's because the workers print out photos of you on the ride up and wait for you at the top asking you to buy them. They also take a photo of you before the ride, knocking the background out, putting it on a picture of the bridge and expecting 36 bucks for it. If you say no it goes in the trash which is a big waste. Now my family's face is shredded like iceberg lettuce and tossed into a dumpster somewhere in Gatlinburg (probably owned by Blake Shelton) The prices of the food were good, though just a notice the "frozen lemonade" is STRAWBERRY lemonade and is pre packaged.

First I want to say this place is FUN! BUT hour unlimited package is online only and I didn't see…read morewhere it said online only; it took 30 minutes for it to process with the internet speed and they have NO WiFi. All the rides are super short and wouldn't be worth it per ride but the hour package was Great deal but beware and buy before you get there!

$20 Glider Coaster - Very expensive for the lenght of the ride. OMG it is SHORT SHORT SHORT! You're…read morebtter off, in my opinion, spending $20 at a carnvial and getting more time and thrill. $14.25 seated mountain coaster (Groupon special)- this one lasts a lil longer and is cheaper. If you haven't done one, it's worth experiencing. Rowdy Bear has three floors- Ground- entrance and payment Second floor- seated coaster and restrooms Third floor- Gliding coaster Gliding Coaster- Must be minimum 80lbs and not more than 280. Two side by side tracks, but single rail for your ride. Helmets and harnesses are worn for the ride. If no line, it's quick and easy. Parking is right next to the building. You'll see an outdoor wall climb and a giant bear photo op.

I visited Ober Mountain in early January of this year and spent 2 days enjoyng activities…read more The first day consisted of participating in the fun pass, which gave us a list of activites we could do on the mountain like going to the zoo, ice skating, ice bumper cars, scenic lifts, etc. As an adult, the pass felt a little underwhelming but I can imagine a kid enjoying their time with this pass. I would recommend that you find a groupon/deal to get it at a cheaper rate rather than the usual $50/ticket they offer it for because I genuinely do not think it is worth the $50. I would definitely NOT recommend the fun pass for adults, but would for children (at the discounted price). Our second day on the mountain, we went snowboarding and that was a very fun time for my group and I. Ober has snow machines, so it is not real snow and instead is icy, artificial snow. I can imagine during the colder season, it may be softer and covered much more. I went in early January for reference. The employees are very nice with helping you strap in boots and understanding how to strap into board as well. I decided to do a lesson, which I would recommend for anyone who has not snowboarded before. Although I enjoyed my time, I do agree that it is fairly pricy, considering the size of the mountain compared to other resorts I have seen. I understand the weather determines which lifts are avaliable but the "snow" was ice, no where near snow texture. I think a day of snowboarding would cost roughly $150+ here for day pass and gear rental. My downsides for Ober are the price, the fun pass, and the snow.

We visited Ober Mountain and had a really fun and memorable experience as a family. We had already…read morepurchased our Fun Pass tickets, and redeeming/printing them at the kiosks was quick and easy. One of the highlights was riding the Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway up and down the mountain--it was truly an experience in itself with amazing views. Once at the top, there was plenty to do. The kids loved the carousel and rode it multiple times every time we passed by. We also enjoyed the ice bumper cars, the wildlife habitat, and visiting Gatlinburg SkyLift Park. One of the most magical moments of the day was when it started snowing during our SkyLift ride--it was absolutely beautiful and something we won't forget. It was definitely very cold, but the scenery made it completely worth it. Unfortunately, the mountain coasters were closed due to the rain turning into snow, but there were still plenty of other activities to enjoy. The only thing I wish we had gotten to do was ice skating--the line and wait time were just too long before we had to leave. Overall, it was a very fun experience that everyone in our family enjoyed. We would definitely visit again!We visited Ober Mountain and had a really fun and memorable experience as a family. We had already purchased our Adventure Pass tickets, and redeeming/printing them at the kiosks was quick and easy. One of the highlights was riding the Gatlinburg Aerial Tramway up and down the mountain--it was truly an experience in itself with amazing views. Once at the top, there was plenty to do. The kids loved the carousel and rode it multiple times every time we passed by. We also enjoyed the ice bumper cars, the wildlife habitat, and visiting Gatlinburg SkyLift Park. One of the most magical moments of the day was when it started snowing during our SkyLift ride--it was absolutely beautiful and something we won't forget. It was definitely very cold, but the scenery made it completely worth it. Unfortunately, the mountain coasters were closed due to the rain turning into snow, but there were still plenty of other activities to enjoy. The only thing I wish we had gotten to do was ice skating--the line and wait time were just too long before we had to leave. Overall, it was a very fun experience that everyone in our family enjoyed. We would definitely visit again!

This coaster was across the street from our hotel. We decided to give it a try on our last day in…read moreGatlinburg. When we arrived at the mountain coaster the staff was very eager to ask any questions we had about the coaster. It was our first time on one. The girl at the ticket counter was confused when we paid her cash and needed change back. As a matter of fact, she was so confused that she forgot to hand us back our change altogether. We did remind her about the change and she had to get the manager to get it for us. I really enjoyed the coaster. The only issue is the coaster only takes about five minutes to ride and it costs $21 per adult to ride. After the ride we entered the gift shop and purchased t shirts and pictures and spent another $70. So we ended up spending $110 for fifteen minutes of fun. I would recommend this coaster if you have never been on one but it might be more fun at night as the coaster has lights.

We wanted to check out a mountain coaster before we checked out and went to this one our last night…read morethere. Going at night was awesome to see it lit up and added to the vibe. Other than that, this coaster was over extremely fast. I felt you spend more time going up rather than going down. If you can get a deal, go for it. Full price? Possibly best to shop around for the fact it was over within no time.

Cool experience. My son liked it. Paid for the special ticket but no one checked it. Quite a bit of…read moredownhill and uphill walking. Music and lights were neat. No bathrooms once you get started. Neat experience but not sure it was worth the cost considering the ski lift isn't operational and you have to hassle with the truck ride up and down.

Stunning attraction with changing laser and lighting features. Tranquil walk, with many different…read moretwists and turns, and a superb score, well worth doing. And it's also a changing attraction with the seasons, winter, no leaves on the trees, gives an almost etherial feel and then w/ summer's lush leaves and greenery another totally different experience.

We got ghosted on a ghost tour!…read more I would give this place 0 stars if I could - this is not a reputable company despite the positive reviews on other websites. My friend and I had some time to kill before the rest of our group arrived, so we decided to book a ghost tour at 8:30 PM. Booking was pretty easy and quick via a third party site - the site did mention that we would be notified if the tour was cancelled due to not enough seats being booked. We booked the tickets around 4 PM that day, but didn't receive any notification that the tour had been canceled, so we headed towards the meet up spot around 8:00 PM. The instructions said to meet by 8:15 PM at the Dolly Parton statue near the courthouse to avoid any issues with traffic/parking. My friend and I arrived at 8:10 PM but no one else was around aside from a couple of tourists taking pictures of the statue. 8:15 PM rolled around and the tour guide was nowhere in sight.. We still did not receive any communication about the tour being canceled (we even received a couple of text messages reminding us of the upcoming tour time) so we decided to wait until 8:30 PM to see if maybe the tour guide was running a little late. 8:30 PM rolls around and the tour guide never arrived. We tried calling the phone number on their website but the number is disconnected. Their email address also does not work and was undelivered, so there's no way to contact this company. We gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited for 5 more minutes before deciding to leave. The company had the audacity to send an automated text message after the tour asking us to rate the experience. A huge disappointment as we were looking forward for a fun night. There were other ghost tours we could have booked, but we chose this place due to the good reviews and proximity to our Airbnb. DO NOT (BOO)K.

tour was cancelled last minute and they have not refunded me for over a week. don't waste your…read moremoney!

While in Gatlinburg we needed a family activity to do, so I went on Groupon and found a deal for 4…read moretickets for $32. You have to enter through the Arcadia arcade in order to get into the tower. Once we gave our Groupon voucher to the worker she advised us that we can ride the tower again the same day as long as we brought back our receipt. We entered the elevator and took it all the way to the top. When we got to the top deck it was a nice view with breeze. It's a spacious deck with a 360 view and that's about it lol. Great for photos and videos. Overall this was a good family activity for cheap. Once we were done we did play in the arcade at the bottom which is huge. I feel for $32 for a family of 4 it was worth every penny and you got a second ride out of it.

First of all the arcade is amazing, there are so many things in this building, they have a…read morepizzeria, arcade, a space needle, and a bowling place. The only reason I'm writing this review is because of the manager Amanda, they are the best human being In Tennessee I swear, she was so kind and generous that they gave us a hand in the arcade game we played, and not only that the girl in the prize counter was amazing too. She had so much patience helping us to choose between so many prizes and I really love what she helped me pick out definitely a 10/10 family hangout place

This was on our short list for our trip, based on our visit decades ago, and it did not disappoint…read more This time we came with our own kids, and they just had a blast. The aquarium sea life itself is great with all the favorites: a big shark tank, the electric eel, the dragon fish, the ray touch tank, the octopus. It also has that Ripley's goofy charm, a big climbing playground in the middle for the kids, a mermaid show, and even a penguin march through the middle of the exhibits. You can buy food and drinks (including local beers) in between the exhibits. The city parking garage is right behind the location and the trolley drops off right beside the front door. If you have kids, you'll want to spend some time here.

If you've ever wondered what it feels like to be a salmon swimming upstream during peak season,…read morejust visit Ripley's Aquarium on a busy day. I didn't take many pictures because I was trying to live in the moment--and also because I was too busy dodging people who apparently trained for this event at the "Cutting in Line Olympics (my kid came up with that analogy.) This place was packed. I mean Black Friday at the Best Buy packed. Half the time I couldn't even see the tanks because someone's unk decided the best viewing angle was directly in front of my face. Patience was not the theme of the day. Luckily for him I'm not only patient but handsome. But then... the shark tunnel appeared like a gift from the aquarium gods. We hopped onto a slow-moving convey like a lazy river at a Vegas hotel, for people who don't want to walk. Honestly, I wish the entire building worked this way. Zero chaos. Zero pushing. Just vibes and sharks gliding over your head like "Come on in the waters fine" The stingrays were another highlight--majestic, chill, and many different sizes. Crowds aside,(but not really) those two moments made the visit worth it. If you go, bring patience, comfortable shoes, and maybe a bullhorn to get people's attention. But once you hit the sharks, it will be smooth sailing. FYI I will never go again but it was pretty cool in general..