In August, we took our first family vacation in a LONG time and took the kids to Gatlinburg, TN and Cherokee, NC. Two of our kids had never been to the mountains and the last time Abbey (our oldest) went was when she was 2 years old so she didn't remember it. David and I honeymooned in Gatlinburg back in January 2000 but it had been 13 years since we had been back too and so much had changed since our last visit. We were blessed to be given tickets to ALL the Ripley's Attractions in Gatlinburg since I am a US Family Guide Blogger! So today, I'm going to share about our Ripley's Adventures with you....
The Ripley's Mirror Maze is a challenging maze of mirrors so you see yourself over...and over...and over...and over...well, you get the picture! As you enter, they give you gloves to wear on your hands (in case you touch a mirror) but the goal is to complete the maze without ever physically touching a mirror. Sounds easy...but it's easier said than done!
This maze was WAY more challenging than I expected and honestly, the kids were better at it than David and I were! Between the different kinds of lights in each section, the thousands of mirrors, the mental game it plays with your head, and the music this maze is
really fun. Once we finally figured our way out of the maze, the guy working the ticket booth said "Ok, now you get to go back inside from this direction and find your way out the opposite way." We thought that would be easy-peasy since we had just walked through it but wow, can your mind play tricks on you! It took us almost the same amount of time to find the entrance again as it did to find the exit the first time. We all really enjoyed the Mirror Maze! Check out
Ripley's Mirror Maze for more information and tickets.
To be completely honest, I really expected these museums to be more fun for the kids but there was so much in these museums that was interesting for me to read and learn too. Not to mention, we homeschool our kids and both these museums were extremely educational and factual too! We actually spent about 2 hours in the Guiness World Records Museum reading all the facts and seeing the exhibits. We spent about an hour and a half in the Odditorium so if you plan on visiting these museums, make sure you plan for adequate time to enjoy them. It would not be fun to have to rush through them.
How do you compare to the tallest man in the world??
Wouldn't want to run into this shark in the ocean!
Our oldest daughter crochets and she was fascinated by this afghan.
There are lots of fun games to play throughout the museum too. The record on this game was 15 blocks and David got so close but didn't beat it. He is a 2nd degree black belt in martial arts though so he had somewhat of an advantage. I only broke 5 blocks..ha!
The kids especially loved the interactive games!
I couldn't resist taking this typing test to try to beat the world record.
I didn't beat it but it was fun to try!
That's one HUGE chair!
More interactive games throughout the museum.
What boy wouldn't want one of these??
We also got to play miniature golf at both Ripley's mini-golf courses.
Ripley's Davy Crockett Mini-Golf . This course is set up to be a replicate of what life was like when Davy Crockett was around the mountains. There are lots of raccoons, wood buildings, and water features. There are 2 courses you can choose from to play. We picked the Fort Crockett Course because honestly, we didn't realize there were 2 courses when we got there and we just went to the first hole #1 we saw which ended up being Fort Crockett. We had a really good time playing mini-golf together as a family in the evening. We went around 8:00pm so the temperature was cooler and it was fun to play at night. Oddly enough, on the very first hole, Wyatt (our youngest) got a hole in one! We were speechless and couldn't believe it. Honestly, if we hadn't seen it with our own eyes, I don't know that we would have believed him...ha! Needless to say, we aren't the greatest mini-golf players (in our defense, we rarely play mini-golf) but I pulled out a win on this course by about 4 points. So our scores were not the greatest but we all 5 had fun playing at Davy Crockett Mini-Golf.
The next evening we headed to Sevierville, TN to play mini-golf at Ripley's Old MacDonald's Farm Mini-Golf. This course ended up being our family's favorite and if time would have allowed, we would have paid for tickets for all of us to do the other course at this one too. The guy at the ticket booth at Old MacDonald's was super friendly and informative and he told us all about the different courses they had. We decided to do the hardest course (since we weren't too good on the easy course at Fort Crockett) and it ended up being the best decision. We rocked this course! Everyone of us did so much better with our scores on a challenging course than we did the easy course. In fact, we had several hole in one's on this course!! It became quite a competition between me and David on this course too as we stayed neck-in-neck the entire course with our pars. In the end, he was victorious...by 1 point! We would definitely play mini-golf again at either Ripley's course!
We also to go see the
Ripley's 5D Moving Theater. This movie theater experience was unlike anything we'd ever experienced before. This theater allows you to watch 2 films while strapped into your own personal chair. You get those awesome Real D 3D glasses to wear and then you fasten your seatbelt for the ride. The first film was RoadHoggers where we got to ride a fourwheeler with some messy, muddy hogs who went on the ride of their lives. The effects were pretty neat for this film. Next was Winter Wipeout where the hogs took us on a snowy ride. During this film, it actually snowed on us (well, it was a bubble machine but it looked and felt like snow) while we watched the movie. The kids
loved that effect. The only negative thing I can say about this theater is that the movement was extremely bumpy and almost so bumpy that it wasn't fun. After the film, even the kids said they didn't like how the chairs moved so hard and so rough. With all the other technology they utilize in this theater, there has to be a way to make the movement of the chairs not so rough and bumpy. All 5 of us said that the chair movement was not fun at all but the rest of the experience was.
David and I honeymooned in Gatlinburg, TN back in 2000 when we got married. We spent 4 days there and we stayed in Gatlinburg the whole time. One of the things we did on our honeymoon was go through the
Ripley's Haunted Adventure! Now, I have to admit, I do not watch scary movies, I do not go to haunted houses at Halloween, and I'm not a fan of scary things. David on the other hands
loves haunted houses and scary movies. So on our honeymoon, I was a good wife and went through this with him. We got married on January 1 and so on January 2 when we went through this haunted house, we were the only people so everything happened directly to us and I
hated it! It was an awesome haunted house but remember, I don't do scary....
So, when we got tickets for this I knew I had to put on my "big girl panties" and suck it up and go through it again for the kids. I couldn't tell them how scared I was either, because we wanted them to actually go through it. Of course, they had heard stories of mine and David's adventure in it on our honeymoon so they were already a little nervous. When we got the tickets, we bought Wyatt and Sidney a light up wand to carry through with them to help calm their anxieties about going in. However, once we got on the elevator, the tears flowed from both of them. We had another couple and their little boy that went through at the same time we did so that helped to have a bigger party to go together.
The funniest part was after we got off the elevator and stepped into the first room, none of us knew where to go and there isn't a tour guide...you're on your own. So we all stood there trying to figure out what to do (seriously, we stood there talking with this other family about 3-4 minutes) before David finally said "Oh, I bet we have to go through that door over there!" HAHA Once we went through the door, it was an easy path to follow after that. It was scary, you never knew what was going to pop out or be behind you, and it had some awesome effects throughout the house too. My favorite was the rotating tunnel where you had to walk across a bridge but it looked like the room was spinning. I knew the trick to get across but it was hilarious to watch the kids try to get across it. We laughed SO hard at them. In the end, we were all thankful to get on the elevator...well, we thought we were...you'll understand that if you visit the Haunted Adventure. The kids and David loved it and said they want to go again soon. Me, it's a haunted house....a great one...but they just aren't my thing!
This aquarium is incredible! From the moment you walk-in, you know you are in a state of the art aquarium and one that is extremely educational as well. One of the first exhibits, shows you the aquarium works and honestly, I thought the kids would zoom past this to get to the animals but they loved reading all about the inner workings of the aquarium.
The animals in this aquarium are amazing! One of my favorite tanks was the piranhas. I told the kids that piranhas were a good example of how looks can be deceiving. When their mouths are closed, they are beautiful fish that literally sparkle but when they open their mouth, you can see their destructive teeth. Sidney was fascinated with the sawfish (4th picture from left) and she loved watching it as it would appear in several different tanks throughout the aquarium. Abbey was mesmerized by the moon jellyfish. They have the moon jellyfish tank set up with a lighting system that changes colors so that it appears that every time the jelly fish squeeze their bodies, they change colors. It was mesmerizing to watch them!
There are several open tanks throughout the aquarium as well so you can stand up and look down into the tanks with no restrictions. It is fun to see the animals without glass or glares.
Shark Lagoon was another fun spot. This moving walkway takes you underwater to see some of the aquarium's various sharks, stingrays, and even a green sea turtle (although he is a tricky little fellow to spot)! The moving walkway through the Shark Lagoon is 340 feet long and surrounds you with a view of millions of liters of sea life up close and personally.
Ever since Wyatt has been a baby, penguins have been his favorite animal. He's had more stuffed penguins than I can count and often asked "why can't I keep a penguin in the bathtub?" A few years ago, we found out that the Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies had a
penguin cam so we would occasionally "watch" the penguins. He was
SO happy to get to go to Penguin Playhouse and see the live penguins for himself. He was all smiles and so excited. He even got to climb into a tunnel and go stand up right in the middle of the penguin exhibit. He loved being that close to the penguins even if he was still separated by a piece of glass.
We sat through several live shows to learn more about the animals at the aquarium but by far, Sidney's favorite live show was the Mermaid Dive Show. She dreams of being a mermaid and even has a mermaid suit like the mermaids in the show did. We barely made it in time for the last Mermaid Dive Show of the day but we were so glad she did. The mermaids were very fun to watch and very good at entertaining the kids. They waved at them, blew kisses at them, swam in beautiful, graceful patterns, and made watching them really fun. The kids quickly picked up the tune to the song they danced to and were humming and singing it all throughout our time at the aquarium. Ripley's Aquarium of the Smokies is a MUST visit place. Plan to spend at least 2 hours at it though. We spent 3 1/2 hours at it and felt like it was just right. Also, they have a beautiful gift shop you'll want to visit on the way out too.
We had a BLAST at the Ripley's attractions in Gatlinburg, TN and would highly encourage you to visit any of them if you have the opportunity. They are well worth every penny and will be places your family will remember for a lifetime.
Have you ever visited any of the Ripley's attractions? What was your favorite or which one would you like to visit one day?
Disclaimer: We were given tickets to all the attractions mentioned as part of the US Family Guide Blogger Program. No monetary compensation was received. The opinions expressed here are based upon our own personal experiences at these attractions. Your results and experiences may vary from ours. This site does NOT sell or give away your personal information, such as your name or e-mail address, that you provide in order to leave a comment on a post or sign up for our weekly newsletter. If you sign up for our newsletter, we will use your name and e-mail address only to send the newsletter to you. Everything you disclose in a comment on this site or on Ben and Me social media properties is public. This site uses advertisements and affiliate links.
