Jarrett
Most Obnoxious Member 2016
Sorry this is late along with the trip report. I've been really busy lately.
So when I was in Mexico, our last day there we needed to wake up at 5 am to get to Tulum (it was a cab, a ferry, a shuttle, and a one-hour bus ride there...yikes!) so I had an alarm set to 5 am. The next day (when we left) I seem to have forgotten to turn that alarm off. My phone was in my computer bag out in the foyer of our villa where my crazy ginger sister was sleeping. So it woke up a ginger. At 5 in the morning. She then picked up my bag full of heavy electronics and threw it into my bedroom violently before slamming the door, waking me up. I got out my phone to turn it off after pleading with my sister to spare my life and I was glad I did so. I pulled it out and turned the screen on to see the following text from an old high school friend:
I know it'll come up being on a theme park site, but yes, we did go to Dollywood. I do have a trip report up (click here to view it: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36602) but we did so much more there than just the park.
Saw this little balloon ride rolling into Pigeon Forge and got happy because I have CFR for that ride downloaded in RCT3.
The hillsides there are dotted with cabins and lodges.
View from our hotel the first night. We stayed in a Fairfield Inn in Gatlinburg since we added a day to the trip and couldn't get the cabin that night. But it was nice! Free cookies in the lobby!
That first night that we got there after the five hour drive from Ohio, we went out to eat at an Irish pub and then played some games across the street at an arcade. I cleaned up playing skeeball AND creamed Patricia (my friend) in air hockey!
I call this photo "absolute Gatlinburg." Mountains, parking lots, and pancake houses.
The next morning we drove to our cabin. You have to go through a golf course to get there!
That one had to be nice...
But ours was equally nice!
We had this grand room that overlooked the Smokies.
Me on our staircase.
Both of us in front of the view we had.
The cabin was no pets allowed...but it came with them anyway! We had lots of strange bugs that we found there including this huge millipede.
Or this lizard. Go back to Florida where you belong! I'll be getting plenty of you when we go to Tampa!
Time to get artsy with the point and shoot!
Cabin against the sun.
I have a few pictures from day 2 that I'll have to wait on because Patricia didn't upload them yet, but we have some of us driving go karts. After that we went to check out Titanic!
Patricia and I in front of the anchor outside of Titanic.
I liked this fountain.
It had a beautiful facade.
Me with one of the Titanic staff members. It's a bit cloudy as to what it is from afar, but what it is is a museum for the Titanic. They have artifacts from the ship and photos and such as well as a reconstruction of the grand staircase and a chilled room meant to simulate how it was when the ship sank, including a real iceberg you could touch and 23 degree water similar to what the survivors swam in after the ship sank. I could only hold my hand in it for 40 seconds and didn't regain feeling in it for an hour.
Our view at dusk.
Just a nice shot of our cabin's grand room.
The next day we ventured into Gatlinburg to go see Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and shop around.
Just a nice Gatlinburg shot I got.
The aquarium was SO cool!
Great shot I got of a mudskipper.
I enjoy photographing these things too much.
These eels were SO weird!
I'm SO tilt-shifting this!
Got some great shots of the coral.
The aquarium was beautiful!
Looks like an innocent pool of water from above...
*cue Jaws theme*
We'll return to this seemingly innocent pool of water later...
Cool shot of Patricia taking a picture.
Seahorse!
Alright, here's the secret to that pool of water I mentioned a few shots back. Downstairs there's a glass tunnel that winds through it, enabling you to literally walk inside an aquarium exhibit.
They put some decent theming down there to make it even more interesting.
It was strange to see sharks swimming over your head and next to you.
Just a cool shot from the glass tunnel in that tank.
This sawfish was strange but cool.
Shark!
Got a good shot of this fish school.
Best shot I got down there was this sea turtle near the shipwreck.
Me holding a horseshoe crab!
Japanese spider crab...and he looks mad.
Nautilus!
We checked out the new dinosaur exhibit while we were there.
It was actually better than Dinosaurs Alive.
Rays!
Penguins!
They also had a baby penguin that was hatched a while ago. I'm not sure what the stuffed animal is doing with it, maybe it's mom?
You could pet the rays too!
That glass tunnel from the surface.
All of us after the aquarium!
It rained in the aquarium so we got to see the Smoky Mountains live up to their name when we left.
Here's a nice shot of the little aqueduct/canals that ran through the city after it rained.
Funny story: My dad went to Gatlinburg a lot as a teenager and when he went to this restaurant they charged him for packs of sugar. Outraged by their nerve to do this, he bought five and poured them all out on the stoop! When I went with my family in 2008 they didn't charge us for them.
This is the distillery at Davy Crockett's Whisky. Unlike my Mexico trip, no drinking since I wasn't legal.
We didn't actually see any bears on the trip, but Patricia and her mom both heard something raising a ruckus behind the cabin one morning.
Patricia bought this turtle at the aquarium and named it Ricardo and the necklace when we went shopping. Ricardo's blingin'!
Gotta love that mountain mist.
The next day was the park, but I have a separate trip report just for that. I posted the link earlier.
Scary-looking spider.
Dixie Stampede was the next day. The little saloon where the preshow takes place is great fun. Plus you can get a boot-shaped souvenir cup!
Patricia and Dolly!
The preshow's great. I still need to upload it but I have a video of them playing "Rocky Top" while making a huge mess and toilet papering the place that's really funny.
Patricia with our server.
Both of us in the stadium!
The show was great! And our side won the competition! Go North! *waves blue flag*
EMS showed up as soon as the show ended for some reason. Someone must've exploded from all the food we had.
The next morning we found this scary brown recluse spider. Most venomous spider in North America? No thanks. We didn't even try to squish him.
Patricia and her family stayed behind that day but I went to Dollywood because I was up for it. Again, check the trip report for what went down.
And then we went home. But not before I grabbed this hat! I joked with my family about wearing it to Banshee's media day? Should I? Tell me below!
Well that was our adventure in Gatlinburg, and probably my last non-coaster trip report for a while. But hey! BGT this October is still traveling!
So when I was in Mexico, our last day there we needed to wake up at 5 am to get to Tulum (it was a cab, a ferry, a shuttle, and a one-hour bus ride there...yikes!) so I had an alarm set to 5 am. The next day (when we left) I seem to have forgotten to turn that alarm off. My phone was in my computer bag out in the foyer of our villa where my crazy ginger sister was sleeping. So it woke up a ginger. At 5 in the morning. She then picked up my bag full of heavy electronics and threw it into my bedroom violently before slamming the door, waking me up. I got out my phone to turn it off after pleading with my sister to spare my life and I was glad I did so. I pulled it out and turned the screen on to see the following text from an old high school friend:
I know it'll come up being on a theme park site, but yes, we did go to Dollywood. I do have a trip report up (click here to view it: viewtopic.php?f=31&t=36602) but we did so much more there than just the park.
Saw this little balloon ride rolling into Pigeon Forge and got happy because I have CFR for that ride downloaded in RCT3.
The hillsides there are dotted with cabins and lodges.
View from our hotel the first night. We stayed in a Fairfield Inn in Gatlinburg since we added a day to the trip and couldn't get the cabin that night. But it was nice! Free cookies in the lobby!
That first night that we got there after the five hour drive from Ohio, we went out to eat at an Irish pub and then played some games across the street at an arcade. I cleaned up playing skeeball AND creamed Patricia (my friend) in air hockey!
I call this photo "absolute Gatlinburg." Mountains, parking lots, and pancake houses.
The next morning we drove to our cabin. You have to go through a golf course to get there!
That one had to be nice...
But ours was equally nice!
We had this grand room that overlooked the Smokies.
Me on our staircase.
Both of us in front of the view we had.
The cabin was no pets allowed...but it came with them anyway! We had lots of strange bugs that we found there including this huge millipede.
Or this lizard. Go back to Florida where you belong! I'll be getting plenty of you when we go to Tampa!
Time to get artsy with the point and shoot!
Cabin against the sun.
I have a few pictures from day 2 that I'll have to wait on because Patricia didn't upload them yet, but we have some of us driving go karts. After that we went to check out Titanic!
Patricia and I in front of the anchor outside of Titanic.
I liked this fountain.
It had a beautiful facade.
Me with one of the Titanic staff members. It's a bit cloudy as to what it is from afar, but what it is is a museum for the Titanic. They have artifacts from the ship and photos and such as well as a reconstruction of the grand staircase and a chilled room meant to simulate how it was when the ship sank, including a real iceberg you could touch and 23 degree water similar to what the survivors swam in after the ship sank. I could only hold my hand in it for 40 seconds and didn't regain feeling in it for an hour.
Our view at dusk.
Just a nice shot of our cabin's grand room.
The next day we ventured into Gatlinburg to go see Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies and shop around.
Just a nice Gatlinburg shot I got.
The aquarium was SO cool!
Great shot I got of a mudskipper.
I enjoy photographing these things too much.
These eels were SO weird!
I'm SO tilt-shifting this!
Got some great shots of the coral.
The aquarium was beautiful!
Looks like an innocent pool of water from above...
*cue Jaws theme*
We'll return to this seemingly innocent pool of water later...
Cool shot of Patricia taking a picture.
Seahorse!
Alright, here's the secret to that pool of water I mentioned a few shots back. Downstairs there's a glass tunnel that winds through it, enabling you to literally walk inside an aquarium exhibit.
They put some decent theming down there to make it even more interesting.
It was strange to see sharks swimming over your head and next to you.
Just a cool shot from the glass tunnel in that tank.
This sawfish was strange but cool.
Shark!
Got a good shot of this fish school.
Best shot I got down there was this sea turtle near the shipwreck.
Me holding a horseshoe crab!
Japanese spider crab...and he looks mad.
Nautilus!
We checked out the new dinosaur exhibit while we were there.
It was actually better than Dinosaurs Alive.
Rays!
Penguins!
They also had a baby penguin that was hatched a while ago. I'm not sure what the stuffed animal is doing with it, maybe it's mom?
You could pet the rays too!
That glass tunnel from the surface.
All of us after the aquarium!
It rained in the aquarium so we got to see the Smoky Mountains live up to their name when we left.
Here's a nice shot of the little aqueduct/canals that ran through the city after it rained.
Funny story: My dad went to Gatlinburg a lot as a teenager and when he went to this restaurant they charged him for packs of sugar. Outraged by their nerve to do this, he bought five and poured them all out on the stoop! When I went with my family in 2008 they didn't charge us for them.
This is the distillery at Davy Crockett's Whisky. Unlike my Mexico trip, no drinking since I wasn't legal.
We didn't actually see any bears on the trip, but Patricia and her mom both heard something raising a ruckus behind the cabin one morning.
Patricia bought this turtle at the aquarium and named it Ricardo and the necklace when we went shopping. Ricardo's blingin'!
Gotta love that mountain mist.
The next day was the park, but I have a separate trip report just for that. I posted the link earlier.
Scary-looking spider.
Dixie Stampede was the next day. The little saloon where the preshow takes place is great fun. Plus you can get a boot-shaped souvenir cup!
Patricia and Dolly!
The preshow's great. I still need to upload it but I have a video of them playing "Rocky Top" while making a huge mess and toilet papering the place that's really funny.
Patricia with our server.
Both of us in the stadium!
The show was great! And our side won the competition! Go North! *waves blue flag*
EMS showed up as soon as the show ended for some reason. Someone must've exploded from all the food we had.
The next morning we found this scary brown recluse spider. Most venomous spider in North America? No thanks. We didn't even try to squish him.
Patricia and her family stayed behind that day but I went to Dollywood because I was up for it. Again, check the trip report for what went down.
And then we went home.
But not before I grabbed this hat! I joked with my family about wearing it to Banshee's media day? Should I? Tell me below!Well that was our adventure in Gatlinburg, and probably my last non-coaster trip report for a while. But hey! BGT this October is still traveling!
