Starbuc71

Blasphemy! We're gonna have to take away your Fiend Card!

That's fine with me....lol

Lucky you, if you have ever read my post about the Smoky's you will know it's our favorite place even more than the fort. It should be a great time of year with the cooler weather and the awesome Christmas decorations that are throughout Gatlinburg and Piegon Forge. Dollywood is extremly decked out for Christmas which really sets the tome for the "Smoky Mountian Christmas" Look forward to some great pictures and if you need any suggestions on where to go, let me know. Have fun

and to have my own bed, not have to pay parking, a cool slide at the pool, the ability for my teens to get around on their own instead of me playing taxi, deer in the morning, armadillos at night, campfire with Chip and Dale and s'mores, riding a boat to the MK, the smell of Meadow trading post that let's you know you are finally home..... all pushed the decision onsite for me... while my wallet screamed.

I'm right there with you on all the good reasons why we keep coming back for the past 5 years. Since we started RVing I am creaped out by hotel rooms. Your right, nothing is better than your own bed :sleep:

Seriously?

once again, we're the stupid ones who pay those high amounts for a concrete pad, rusty grill and an odd shaped picnic table that none of our tablecloths will fit. But we keep coming back. I wish I was as smart as Disney....lol

Andrew, Great report. Just get's us more anxious to get camping again. Hope to see you over thanksgiving

Andrew,

I have to agree with you on the Winn Dixie on vineland. I hate Winn Dixies especially the one in Dunedin. Have no idea how that one stays in business. I hope it's at least been remodeled since I lived there back in the 90's. We actually do our grocery shopping when we arrive at that Winn Dixie vs. packing everything at home since they have such a great selection at that store. It's actually in a great location for the campers when you take the back roads.

I have a VHS copy of song of the south. I never actually watched it yet. I'm sure people have heard this before, but splash mountian is based off the 1946 version of Song of the South. I bet a lot of kids, maybe even adults wonder why Br'er rabbit, Br'er Fox and Br'er bear are not popular Disney Characters. "Zip-a-dee-do-dah" was also made famous from the same movie. It's too bad in some ways that there is such a big drop on splash mountian because my kids would love the Br'er Rabbit portion of the ride. But without the drop, it wouldn't be a mountian. I guess when they get older they can enjoy the ride and I guess the movie. great stuff so far.

^{Here's the ticket, get a nice class C and find a decent light-weight travel trailer to pull behind. Two RV's, two kitchen's, Two baths, One engine to upkeep, 4 people happy, cost effective!}

I love the idea of being on the trolley route, it makes it easy to get around. I think Smoky Bear is out for a few reasons, they are really small (which isn't a bad thing) and for us to get sites might be hard, they seem to want us to change the dates (I can't due to vacation days). It looks really nice, like you said, but it probably isn't the one for us, especially if its that quiet after 9, they would sure hate my voice @ 2am lol

I agree, a trolley route would be the ideal thing since especially 4th of July week, traffic is a nightmare. The trolley goes a pretty long way from Piegon Forge, Dollywood and even in to the actual smoky mountian national park. It's like the Disney bus system but a larger area. I have driven through many of the CG in that area. If you need any input let me know. There are a lot of big site CG's near piegon forge but beware some are like open parking lots with no trees as Ftwildernessguy stated

Ooops.. Sorry, it's the same website Lorna posted, just checked

Thank you for doing all this legwork!!!

As you know, I like the Jellystone. But I wonder if it would be the best fit for a GG. It is very family oriented and very quiet at night. Ya know where I'm going with this? :rofl2:

I agree with Dave. Smokey Bear is the same way. As I stated to Lorna, we go to smoky bear for the small group of campers and quiet. Everytime we stayed there you could hear a pin drop after 9pm in most of the CG. Also I would consider, since most fiends have not been to Gatlinburg before I'm sure a lot would like to check out some of the attractions. Gatlinburg and Piegon Forge have a trolley route that covers a lot of the area, is cheap and is a great way to get around. Some of the campgrounds have a trolley stop right in front. Jellystone and smoky bear are not on the trolley system route since they are about 10-13 miles east of gatlinburg. Not sure if this is the same website Lorna posted, but this has some info on some CG http://www.smokymountains-rv-campgrounds.com/twin-creek-rv-resort.html Click on the CG's on the left to view them.

I know Twin creek is pretty decent is on the trolley route and is close to town. I agree, make your reservations now. 4th of July week fills up fast. Let me know if anyone has questions about the area

Did I read this right, you pulled that trailer by yourself, hit two campgrounds, unhitched twice, enjoyed some festivites and settled in at the fort all by yourself? Your my kind of woman....lol Great report so far

Dave once again, great job on this report. I never get sick of reading reports about the smoky mountians. Congrats on 156 replys. I think my 8 day trip report to the smokies bottomed out at 90 replies. Hopefully I'll see you at the fort during Thanksgiving

Andrew,

herbie has $800 dollars of fresh batteries so he's ready to go. Here's a question that may have been answered in the past. Does your Girls know that there is a #1 twin and a #2 twin? Did they ever fight who got the #1 title? Just curious. Keep the good report coming

Andrew,

Great to see another report from you so soon from the last one. I guess you snuck this one in early today and missed getting on the first page. I'm glad you liked your site number. We always get worried about getting one of the sites that back up to the main road with our little ones. Luckily that hasn't happened yet. It does stink that you pay extra for a premium site and get asphalt on 3 sides of you. I guess if the site was reversed you would be battleing with site 617 as best site on property...lol We will be there Thanksgiving week. Hope to see you there and maybe actually take in a beverage this time.

Dave, great report. I see you know where the prime parking area is behind the brewery. Glad you enjoyed the restaurant and you all look like you had a great time. I will have to drive through yogi bear when we are there for the 4th next year

Same reason why some parents allow their children to wear slippers (or bare feet) and PJ's to shop at wal-mart and some do not. It's your choice but I like Sensei's response

Runner,

Thanks for posting pics of the food at California grill and yahtsman steakhouse. I'm sure the taste of the food was awesome but the pics made my decision never to go to them. As I have stated before, I hate all that foo foo food. In my past life I was a chef and $.50 fruit syrup drizzled over a 1 once piece of cheesecake for $12.99 does not float my boat anymore. Chicken wings and beer for me..lol Great report so far. It was nice that you are able to try out all those restaurants. Looking forward to more fun updates

looking forward to Tennessee pics at Christmas time. We were at Dollywood during Christmas 8 years ago and you couldn't have had it any better with the cold weather and the beautiful decorations

It took me 2 years to talk the wife into camping and now that's all she will do. The running joke at work is that our TT has more flat screen TV's than our house does.. so in reality my wife does not like camping, but likes staying in our resort on wheels with cable, A/C and a pillow top mattress in the middle of the woods....lol

Tom, kudos for the kids in Rays gear. Always good to see a Tampa Bay supporter. I would have loved to see the reaction on the RV owners face when his window went pop on the bus stop. As I have always said, just like first time boaters you have to practice pulling big trailers. If people were more careful, that bus stop would have never been touched. I enjoy at times just sitting at busy boat launches and watch the fights break out due to in experinced boaters and trailer backer uppers...lol

It's great to see my fellow New Port Richian back on the boards. I thought we lost ya. great report so far. The pic of your camper in front of your house is a great shot to show how actually big your pop-up is. You have the mac daddy of pop ups. Look forward to more

We just booked our annual trip to the smoky's for 4th of July week 2012. We always have to book our trips way in advance due to work and kids school schedule. I know most of you are at the fort that week

God bless all of you who are there for those 3 days. You couldn't catch me staying at the fort those days if the fort management themselves paid me to occupy the site. I hope they crack down on the local free-loaders invading the place. Makes your "magical" vacation not so magical when the fort po po doesn't do thier jobs especially on holiday weekends. I hope you all have a great time and if you have kids, I hope they enjoy also. Also, I wouldn't want to have to compete against "keith Stone" in the GC parade if I was there, not that a keystone light can would beat me...lol Good luck :)

I was telling my Steve that I would like to go to Gatlinburg for the 4th this year. Do you think you all would stay at Smoky Bear again? We've never been there for the 4th of July. Where can you watch the fireworks? One thing I would love to do just to say I did it, (and it would be easier for us as my kids are older ) is watch the parade at midnight on the 4th in Gatlinburg. Dave, I am done hijacking your thread now. :rofl3:

Most likely we would be back at Smoky Bear. That is always our campground of choice. We didn't catch the firworks since I didn't want to deal with the traffic in Gatlinburg, but Pretty much anywhere around the town you could see them. I think Piegon Forge does a good show too if you don't mind the drive/traffic. The two towns are tough. One way in, one way out.