Author: pigeon forge insider

Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille

Get information on the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille in Pigeon Forge, TN. Get directions and discover the best meal on the menu at this wonderful Pigeon Forge restaurant.

There are plenty of places to eat in Pigeon Forge from chain restaurants to small hole-in-the-wall places that you’d probably never think about stepping foot in. Some restaurants are incredible while others are…well…not. The best thing to do when getting into town (or any town for that matter) is to ask the person behind the desk of wherever you’re staying where they like to eat. Finding out where the locals go will lead you to numerous places you’d never even think of trying. While the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille isn’t a “hole-in-the-wall”, it is located right across the street from the much larger (and more popular) Old Mill Restaurant so it often gets bypassed by numerous visitors. Their loss! Don’t make the same mistake.

If you’re looking for a unique place to eat that offers a variety of foods you most likely have never tasted, then definitely check out the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille in Pigeon Forge, TN. Located

in the heart of Pigeon Forge, the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille has a setting as unique as its menu. If the weather is nice, then sit out back in the garden area where you will find a water path surrounded by flowers and foliage. It’s as perfect for a date as it is for an entire family. The inside of the restaurant has a slightly rustic feel and is just as nice to dine in.

The menu, though, is what sets the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille apart from every other restaurant in Pigeon Forge, TN. The local favorite off the menu is the Chicken Reuben with homemade potato chips. If a chicken reuben sandwich sounds unappealing, don’t worry…it sounded awful when I first read it. After the waitress talked me into it as it being the favorite item on the menu, I haven’t looked back or even thought of ordering anything else! I’ve taken family & friends to the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille and they have had a variety of dishes and loved all of them. I’ve honestly never seen someone order something that didn’t make them point out how great it tasted!

If you want a unique meal at a unique restaurant, then the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee is exactly what you’re looking for. This is one of the locals’ favorite spots for lunch…so come and see why!

Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille
3341 Old Mill Street, Pigeon Forge TN  37863
865-453-6002
http://www.oldmillsquare.com/cafe.htm

Be sure to check out our list of the best places to eat in Pigeon Forge, TN as well!

WonderWorks

The Pigeon Forge Insider reviews WonderWorks in Pigeon Forge, TN and gives the best tips and tricks to have a great time and save money with discounts and coupons!

What the Insider Says:

What do you get when you cross a science museum and an arcade? If you said “a mess” you’re half right! If you also said “WonderWorks” then you’ve got it! The “mess” is that the building is built to look like it has landed upside down in Pigeon Forge. You simply cannot miss it as it is arguably the most unique building in the Smoky Mountains. WonderWorks in Pigeon Forge, TN says it is “Tennessee’s only upside down attraction. An Amusement Park for the Mind, featuring over 150 interactive exhibits. It’s 55,000 sq feet of Family Fun…and don’t miss the most anticipated Dinner Show – Hoot ‘n Holler” according the WonderWorks home page.


This is an extremely entertaining attraction that is well worth every penny. Unlike a dinner show or theater where you have a specific amount of time to enjoy them, the WonderWorks in Tennessee is a go-at-your-own-pace attraction that lets you try out every single exhibit as many times as you want! There are no limits (that I know of) to the amount of times that you can play interact with the exhibits. Wonder Works will honestly keep an entire family of every age entertained for hours! I spent close to two hours going through and trying out everything that I could. I got to feel the winds of a hurricane, experience what an earthquake feels like, ride some bicycle thing that flips you completely upside-down, throw a baseball, design and ride my own virtual roller coaster, lay on a bed of nails, and so much more! WonderWorks is definitely one of the best attractions in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Insider Tips:

  • Pick your times. It can get crowded, so choose wisely when you go. The best times are early morning or late after dinner. Try to avoid Fridays and Saturdays if at all possible.
  • Use coupons. Get Wonder Works coupons and discount tickets.
  • Watch when you eat. There are rides that spin and flip, so eat either before or after you go depending on which doesn’t make you sick!
  • Bring your camera! There are so many photo opportunities at WonderWorks. Take a picture of someone in a spacesuit, on a bed of nails, flying through the air, etc.
  • This is a great place for birthday parties, youth group trips, reunions, etc.

The only disappointment that I had with WonderWorks was that some of the exhibits weren’t working. With so many people interacting with them, it’s understandable that some exhibits will tend to take the day off. I tried messing with a computer that could supposedly read my mind by asking me 20 questions, but it wouldn’t even ask the first question…I guess my mind is hard to read! There was also a spaceshuttle simulation on a plasma screen that wasn’t working. I messed with an exhibit that was supposed to show me what I will look like in 20 years, but it simply made me look like I do every morning! With so many things to do, these were easily forgiven. I still give WonderWorks a big 5 star rating simply because of the bang for the buck entertainment. WonderWorks also has the Hoot and Holler Dinner Show, which is a turn-of-the-century vaudeville style dinner show with family-style Italian food. It sounds like a lot of fun with a ton of audience participation.

If you have tips that you would like to share about Wonder Works in Pigeon Forge, TN then please post a comment below!

Website:
http://www.wonderworksonline.com/pigeon-forge/

Prices:

Adults – $25.99
Children – $17.99

Phone:

865-868-1800

Address:

WonderWorks
100 Music Road
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863
View a map

Easter Egg Hunt & Brunch with the Easter Bunny

On Saturday, April 7 your kids can eat breakfast with the Easter Bunny and then take part in an Easter egg hunt.

Information below refers to the 2017 brunch with the Easter Bunny at Old Mill Square.

“Here comes Peter Cottontail, Hopping down the Bunny Trail…” And that bunny trail leads straight to the Pigeon Forge Community Center. On April 15, your kids can take part in an Easter egg hunt, as well as attend brunch with the Easter Bunny at Old Mill Square. What better way is there to kick off your Easter festivities. The brunch will take place at 8am with the Easter egg hunt following at 10am.

Start the Saturday before Easter off with a good wholesome breakfast hosted by the Easter Bunny himself. After breakfast there will drawings for door prizes and games for all the kids to enjoy. Breakfast is catered in and there is a charge for the breakfast so get your tickets before they run out. This is one of the few events that have a cost involved. There is a limited amount of space so if you are planning to attend make sure to make your reservations quickly.

Following breakfast with the Easter Bunny there will be an Easter Egg Hunt. This Easter Egg Hunt is held every year, the Saturday before Easter at the Pigeon Forge Community Center. There are 4 age groups to make sure that all the children get to participate and the start times for the different age groups are staggered so that parents with kids in different age groups won’t miss a thing. The age groups are: 3 and under, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. This is a free event, open to everyone. Celebrate Easter with a great family event! Whether you are a local or a tourist bring your kids to the Pigeon Forge Community Center and have a Happy Easter.

Smoky Mountain Coca-Cola Collectors

If you’re into Coca-Cola, and by that I mean not just sipping on a bottle of Coke at dinner or in front of the television, but the actual signs, collectible bottles, and anything else with the Coke logo on it, you’ll want to be in Pigeon Forge for the Smoky Mountain Coca-Cola Collectors Convention at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center.

It promises to be everything you could ever want it be in a collectors convention. There will be red and white from one end to the other as Coca-Cola enthusiasts shop, trade, beg, barter, and gawk at all the rare Coke merchandise. If there ever was a Comic-Con for Cocoa-Cola collectors, this would be it.

If this sounds anything like you’d be interested in, plan to be at the Holiday Inn Hotel and Convention Center in the Smoky Mountains. Who can you expect to come into contact with at the convention? People who have a room in their house specifically for Coca-Cola things, antique show and flea market lovers, and really anyone who is interested in pop culture, etc.

If you yourself are an antiques or collectibles dealer, this is a great show for you no matter how much Coca-Cola swag, aka stuff, you may have. Attending these shows puts you directly in touch with thousands of Coca-Cola collectors. You might even think about joining the Coca-Cola Collectors Club, which puts on these conventions on an annual basis.

The Coca-Cola Collectors Club is for people looking to:

  • Get in touch with thousands of collectors around the world
  • Find markets for buying, trading, and selling collectibles
  • Purchase special merchandise only available to members
  • Monthly newsletter with free classified ads for all members
  • Annual international and regional conventions

If you’re coming for the Smoky Mountain Coca-Cola Collectors Convention in June, reserve a Pigeon Forge cabin, or a luxury Pigeon Forge condo near the convention center for your stay and enjoy the Great Smoky Mountains right off your back deck, or even your front porch.

4th of July in Pigeon Forge

Complete information and schedule for the 4th of July in Pigeon Forge, TN. Get details on all of the free activities for the Fourth of July Patriot Festival in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.

If you plan on being in Pigeon Forge, TN for the 4th of July, the town’s Patriot Festival is something you’ll probably want to check out. The Annual Patriot Festival happens on July 4 at Patriot Park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. This will include free concerts and fireworks for the entire family to enjoy. Here’s what to do:

July 4th:
The action starts at Patriot Park at noon with country superstar John Anderson headlining the event that evening. This event is at Patriot Park in the middle of Pigeon Forge… behind the Old Mill. There will be tons of free activities for kids starting at 12 pm, which will be dubbed “Kid’s Karnival”. Other performers that day include Chris Janson, a rising country singer; Rural Rhythm Records siblings and bluegrass band The Roys, hometown favorite Jimbo Whaley & The Greenbrier; The Return – a Beatles tribute band; music from the Pigeon Forge Community Chorus, and the cast of Grand Majestic Theater will give a salute to our country’s Armed Forces.

Food vendors will also be at the event to give you and your family a chance to refuel and enjoy the entire day (the food is one of the only thing at the event that isn’t free). You could also leave the event (since it’s free) and head to one of the best restaurants in Pigeon Forge.

The festivities conclude at 10 pm with an awesome fireworks display that never disappoints. This thing gets bigger and better every year! The location of the fireworks in Pigeon Forge has moved over the years from Patriot Park to an area behind “fast food strip” where McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Arby’s, etc are. Stay tuned for the exact location so that you can get the best possible viewpoint for your family. This will definitely be an awesome way to spend the 4th of July in Pigeon Forge, TN with your family! Be sure to also check out our article on how to avoid traffic in Pigeon Forge.

Also, if you’ll be in Gatlinburg, TN on July 3rd, you might want to see the 4th of July midnight parade in Gatlinburg, which begins at midnight on July 3rd and is considered the first 4th of July parade in the world.

The BEST Way to get to Pigeon Forge

Check out the BEST way to get to Pigeon Forge and a few other ways you might not know.


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So you’ve packed the car, got the kids loaded up, dropped the dog off with a friend, and planned out your next seven days to a tee in order to make your trip to the Smoky Mountains as fun as possible, or so you think. There might be just one small detail you’re leaving out – how do you get there?

Well, we’re here to make it easy for you so we’ll tell you the best way to get right to the heart of the Smoky Mountains in Pigeon Forge, Tn. And while there may be a few ways to get to Pigeon Forge, we’ll list them as well, there’s really only one way that has been built to handle all the traffic flowing into the area throughout the year. And that way is from Interstate 40 to Sevierville, TN on to Pigeon Forge.

More often than not, people are coming to the Smokies by way of Nashville, Knoxville or Asheville, with some choosing Chattanooga, Cherokee, or the Tri-Cities of Bristol, Johnson City, and Kingsport, TN. One way or the other, you’ll all end up hitting Interstate 40 at some point with the exception of those who come by way of Cherokee, NC. The exit you should be looking for is Exit 407 – Winfield Dunn Parkway (Hwy 66) to Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. You’ll follow that route as it turns into U.S. 441 Scenic Parkway in Sevierville and keep following it into Pigeon Forge.

Coming south from Chattanooga there is a “back roads” way that takes you through Maryville and a few other Smoky Mountain towns if you’d rather make a few stops along the way and reach Pigeon Forge in a kind of “off the beaten path” way. Traveling north on Interstate 75, look for Exit 81 to Lenoir City. From there you’ll travel east on Hwy. 95 until it becomes West Lamar Alexander Pkwy takes you straight through Maryville, TN becoming East Lamar Alexander Pkwy/U.S. 321/Hwy. 73. This route will take you through the Smoky Mountain towns of Walland, Townsend, and Wears Valley as it becomes Wears Valley Road/US 321/Hwy 73, eventually spitting you out right in the middle of Pigeon Forge.

The final route to Pigeon Forge takes you right through the middle of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by way of Newfound Gap Road/US 441/Hwy 71. Coming from Cherokee, NC by way of Waynesville and Asheville, NC, you’ll take this route north through the national park and into Gatlinburg, Tn. You’ll continue north on the Parkway in Gatlinburg until you reach Pigeon Forge.

Dollywood’s Polar Express in 4-D

Dollywood’s Polar Express in 4-D has closed. Information below is maintained for historical purposes.

If you plan on going to a Smoky Mountain Christmas at Dollywood this year, be sure you check out the Polar Express in 4-D. Since its inception a few years ago at the ’08 festival, the program has been a rousing success.

Located in the theme park’s Imagination Cinema, the Polar Express 4-D Experience as it’s been called, tells the popular holiday story of the Polar Express, the children who ride the Express, their journey to the North Pole, and all the adventures that happen along the way. And all in 4-D.

The 4-D experience as developed for The Polar Express, takes and uses a 3-D digital projection system that gives the appearance of images leaping off the projection screen. The addition of 4-D effects, means you’ll notice snow falling around you as well as smells like that of hot chocolate.

“This Christmas, I’m inviting families to take a spectacular holiday journey where dreams become real, and everybody knows I dream bigger than just about anybody else,” Dolly Parton said. “On The Polar Express 4-D Experience, all you have to do is believe, and I sure do!”

Like in The Polar Express, all anyone asks is that you go in, eyes open, and BELIEVE!

As mentioned, on The Polar Express a hesitant, but curious young boy takes an extraordinary train ride to the North Pole – a land of elves, and you guessed it, home to one Santa Claus. This journey shows him the true meaning of Christmas and encourages one to believe no matter how unbelievable some things may be.

The Polar Express 4-D Experience is based the Warner Bros. Pictures film and book by Chris Van Allsburg.

In addition to a winter wonderland of more than four-million holiday lights, Dollywood’s Smoky Mountain Christmas festival includes a Christmastime entertainment lineup of Christmas in the Smokies, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, An Appalachian Christmas, Christmas with the Kingdom Heirs, The Victorian Melodies, O’ Holy Night, Carol of the Trees plus the nightly Lighted Christmas Parade, and much much more.

Families can also explore Santa’s Workshop, a magnificent 500-square-foot home away from home featuring larger-than-life-sized toys like a seven-foot-tall sailboat; a 9-foot elephant; a tricycle that stands at 5 feet; an 8-foot-tall dollhouse; as well as a number of other large Christmas toys that you’ll have to see to believe.

Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater

Full concert schedule and information for Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater closed in 2009. Information below is for historical reference.

Some of you may remember the Boyd’s Bears Country at the south end of Pigeon Forge or may have seen the building (it was the enormous red barn at the end of town closest to Gatlinburg just past the Log Cabin Pancake House). If you have never been, you missed your chance as it shut down and has now been turned into Dick Clark’s American Bandstand Theater. I imagine locals will call it something creative…like…big red barn (not to be confused with the Comedy Barn). Pigeon Forge became home to a brand new music venue with some popular artists performing in concert. They had a handful of artists lined up to perform that appealed to a broad range of people.

Other areas of this new music complex will be a tribute to Dick Clark (most likely a museum-style area with the story of his life with memorabilia) and a restaurant. It’s definitely going to be a great place to stop if you love music of any era. This would even be a great place to bring the kids or grandchildren to show them what you listened to when you were their age. The goal is to keep this a very family-oriented venue so that people of all ages can visit and go to the concerts.

12th Annual Yellow Mustangs Show

The 11th Annual Yellow Mustangs how takes place at the Inn at Christmas Place this year in Pigeon Forge.

Information below refers to the 2013 Yellow Mustangs Show.

For car show lovers, Pigeon Forge is a yearly destination unto itself with the spring and fall Rod Runs as well as numerous specialty shows throughout the year. And as one might guess Ford Mustangs have their own show. What might come as a surprise is the yellow Mustang owners do as well every spring.

This year, the 12th Anniversary Yellow Mustangs Show will again be held at the Inn at Christmas Place May 2-5. Just make sure if you decide to participate you have an actual yellow-colored Ford Mustang, or you’ll stick out like a sore thumb. No matter the year, these guys love their Mustangs loud, fast, and in the brightest yellow they can find. It’s a sight to be seen due to the number of participants alone. If you’re gonna be in town that weekend for the event, check out these Pigeon Forge cabins before booking your stay. And for more information on the Yellow Mustangs show, call 1-888-465-9644.

The Preserve Resort Cabins and Weddings

If you’re looking for Gatlinburg or Pigeon Forge cabins to have a quiet getaway, wedding, honeymoon, family reunion etc then The Preserve Resort Cabins and Weddings has a cabin rental and package to fit your needs!

Planning a wedding in the Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg, Tennessee area and staying in one of the many cabins? Then be sure to check out The Preserve Resort Cabins. Their selection of cabin rentals can accommodate a romantic getaway, honeymoon, family vacation, or even a family reunion! They literally have cabins of all sizes and a staff ready to help you choose the perfect cabin for your needs. If you’re dreaming of a peaceful vacation to the Smoky Mountains, then The Preserve Resort is your type of cabin rental company.

If you’ll be spending your Smoky Mountain honeymoon at The Preserve Resort, they have plenty of cabins to help spice up your first days of marriage. Even if a heart-shaped bathtub is on your list of requirements, they have that as well! If you and your spouse are the competitive type, they have cabins with pool tables, arcade games, etc. They even have home theaters in some of them! Not that you’d be watching TV or movies during your honeymoon, but just in case.

The Preserve Resort Cabins and Weddings is a very popular cabin rental company in Pigeon Forge, located just a short 15-20 minutes from downtown Pigeon Forge in the heart of Wears Valley, and is consistently one of the favorite places among travelers looking for that perfect Pigeon Forge cabin. If you’re looking for a cabin rental for your Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg vacation in the Great Smoky Mountains, be sure to check out The Preserve Resort Cabins by visiting their website at thepreserveresort.com or by contacting them at 888-600-4718 for more information.