Susan in TN Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Dh has been wanting to bring the family "somewhere fun" for a while. He was thinking of Holiday World in IN, but we will be going to NC in early August (the Asheville/Brevard area) so I thought we could plan something in that area or on the way back toward Nashville. Dollywood is out of our budget range (2 adults, 6 kids ages 4 to 17). Any ideas? Dh has a theme park in mind, but we are open to other fun places. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Dollywood is really the only theme park in that general area. Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge is all about TOURISTS, and prices reflect that, especially August which is high-season. We've done it a few times but we did camp to keep the cost down. There are a ton of things to do in that area....any touristy thing, they have it. We prefer to do the nature oriented things though, like river tubing, hiking etc. Asheville is also all about tourists, yet very different than Gatlinburg/PF. It's more about culture, I guess, than bright neon flashing lights. Honestly I am not sure what tourists actually do in Asheville...walk through downtown looking at unique shops, eat at amazing restaurants..and then??? I guess alot come in fall to see the colors, adn then take in the downtown while they are there. There's the Biltmore House, of course, and while very interesting, not exactly a theme park. Brevard is a very small town. The downtown itself, which is cute, is only about 3 blocks long. Other than that, the only thing I could see a tourist doing is the nature stuff. Pisgah Forest is right on the edge of town, and lots of hiking, waterfalls, slow moving river that locals use for swimming, fishing, etc. We love the nature stuff, so Brevard is fun in that aspect. We go to Asheville to eat (we used to live there, and now about an hour away). We go to Gatlingburg for vacation, again camping, and nature stuff, with just a bit of tourist stuff cuz it's pricey for our family of five. We call Gatlinburg the Myrtle Beach of the Mountains.....if you've never been to Myrtle Beach...it's again, neon flashing lights, lots of weird touristy things to do, lots of run down hotels/condos, mixed in with some nicer places, lots of restaurants.....that's Gatlinburg but without the beach :). Beautiful though, once you get past the seediness of the tourist area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 http://www.exploreasheville.com/things-to-do/family-fun/ I would look through this site. I have linked the Family Fun page, but there are other pages with more activities. The beach at Lake Lure looks fun. Dawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedmom4 Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Have you looked into the Biltmore? A few summers ago kids got in free. I would definitely check it out. Have fun! Elise in NC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samiam Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 The beach at Lake Lure is okay. But it's like $8.00 a person so for your large family, that's quite a chunk of $$ for a lake beach. If you decide to do a lake, go to Lake James...it's about 45 minutes from Asheville, free, and beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted May 15, 2013 Share Posted May 15, 2013 Biltmore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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