A Pigeon Forge Pre-Christmas

If you've followed me for awhile or know me then you know that I have a deep love for Pigeon Forge. One day I'll retire there because it's my happy place. I love it... winter, spring, summer and fall. You can't go wrong there. 

Any chance I can get, I visit and I recently had the chance to go and see some Christmas shows. This was Presley's third visit to the area and I think he agrees with me... it's a pretty great place. 

If you drive to the area then a must stop is the Tennessee Welcome Center. Not only can you stretch your legs and use the restroom but you can peruse the hundreds of brochures and pamphlets on everything to see and do while you are in town. This time on our trip (the week before Thanksgiving) we were able to ride the Ober Gatlinburg. 

We stayed at the Inn at Christmas Place, which we love for several reasons. They have milk and cookies each night, Santa visits, the beds are sleeping in heavenly peace, the Christmas decor in every room and the all you can eat breakfast included in your stay.

We also saw some shows. We went to Dolly’s Stampede (formerly known as Dixie Stampede), the Comedy Barn and the Pirates Christmas Show.

We also went to The Islands to see if there was any shops we wanted to get Christmas gifts at and to eye spy the fountains. We also had the chance to let Presley ride some of their kid rides.

We had a great trip and I can’t wait to go back again. Here’s some more fun times from our trip!

Disneyland 2018

When I was on my hiatus from blogging, we took Presley to Disneyland and California Adventure. It was also my husband's birthday trip. Usually we head north to Seattle but this year we decided to do something a little different. My husband's birthday is just a few days before Halloween and for years now he always makes a comment about how it would be nice to go to Disneyland at Halloween. Well... we never go because we go to Seattle instead and the cycle repeats of me hearing about how we should go to Disney for the Halloween décor.

Well October 2018, I booked the annual trip to Seattle and then promptly cancelled it. I then rescheduled a trip to Disney and told my husband that this year we were in fact going to Disneyland.

Since I had never been to Disneyland this was going to be my first trip there and clearly Presley's first time as well. Presley was already very familiar with Mickey Mouse because he gets taken to the Disney store several times and gets to pick a new Mickey each trip. His eyes light up and he gets so excited so I knew he'd like meeting the "real" Mickey at the park.

If you've never booked a trip to Disneyland then you are in for a price surprise! Even before the increase in ticket prices, the happiest place on earth will give you the blues once you've spent all your money on the trip. I enlisted some of my husbands family and we rented a large house via AirB&B to stay at. The owners were crazy but that's a whole different story.

We did three days in the park with 1 park each day and 1 magic morning. Maybe we didn't do our Magic Morning right but half the park's rides weren't even running during the magic morning. The restaurants weren't open nor were the gift shops so unless you just wanted to take photographs or ride the ride It's a Small World then I didn't get the point of Magic Morning.

I did appreciate the nursing room located in both parks. It was clean, easy to locate and air conditioned! They also have baby supplies in case you run out and a place to feed and change Presley who of course had many poop explosions while we were there. I also appreciated the rider swap on the maxpass (which cost extra by the way) because that did save us several minutes when we had to switch off. If you were like me, and knew nothing about Pirates of the Caribbean ride, when they offer to let your family sit in the front row- decline as you have a small child who doesn't want to be splashed. Wish I would have known that it was going to have a dip at the beginning....

The price of food, water, mickey ears etc.. well you can go bankrupt without ever leaving the park. BUT they do take your photos!

I was clearly unimpressed by this ride lol! Also I loved the new COCO ears! And Presley even got in on wearing them...

Our It’s A Small World Ride. I’m glad we rode it when we did because it shut down the next day to star the refurbishment.

Clearly my husband wasn’t digging the ride either.....

What’s your favorite part of thing to do in/at Disney? 

7 States in 6 Days

Last week we hit the road for vacation and managed to find ourselves in seven states in only six days of travel. When we left California we flew to Denver, Colorado for our hour long layover. It was raining when we landed in Denver but it didn't delay us.

Three hours later we found ourselves in the eastern time zone and in Columbus, Ohio. A lot of people have asked me why we fly into Columbus when there's an airport closer to my mother's house. We fly into Columbus because it's the closest airport that Southwest Airlines flies into and since we have a companion pass that allows my husband to fly for the bargain price of $11.20 round trip, we will take the time to drive those extra miles.

After a few hours drive, I was reunited with my mom in West Virginia. We stayed in town for three nights and hit up some of my favorite restaurants while I was in town. While their some of my favorite places, they were new to my husband. I tried to take him to different places than his last visit. This time he got to try out Stewarts Hot Dogs and Cams Ham. He loves Stewarts and can't wait to go there again on our next visit.

While we were in town, we also visited my mother's business and hung out with her for a little bit on the one day that she had to work while we were in town. I spent many hours there before/after school/summers/etc.

In addition to visiting my mom, we all drove through Kentucky to get to our favorite place, Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg, Tennessee. This is our happy place. Each time we go there we stop at our favorites and always find something new to do as well. My mom and I determined that we've been here at least 50 times. This was my husbands second visit and he can't wait for his third. It makes my heart fill full that he loves going there.

This time while we were in town we went to the Dixie Stampede, The Comedy Barn, The Christmas Place, visited The Islands, shopped Book Warehouse, Christmas Collectibles and tons of other shops! We even stopped and saw an impromptu Elvis show.

The new attraction that we did in Pigeon Forge was the crime museum, Alcatraz East. In the winter we had seen it being built and knew that we wanted to visit it on our next trip. This place was really interesting. They had tons of artifacts from serial killers, modern criminals, Gangster days, outlaws and terrorists. One thing that was I was most excited to see...

The Ford Bronco used in the O.J. Simpson car chase. This day will always connect me with O.J. seeing as how it happened on my 10th birthday. I remember sitting in our living room as a kid and watching this unfold. We were mesmerized by the events unfolding on tv and couldn't stop watching until we knew how it was going to end. So when I was able to see the bronco up close, I was in hog heaven.

In Gatlinburg, we weren't able to ride our beloved SkyLift due to the fires that took place in the winter. It was badly damaged and had to be repaired and replaced and wasn't opening for another week. So we did something we hadn't done in years and rode Ober Gatlinburg. When we got to the top, we did some things we had never experienced and enjoyed the wildlife encounter. We got to see black bears feed, encountered raccoons, owls and even reptiles.

We also rode the Ski Mountain Coaster and it was a blast!

Much to my husbands disappointment (he's not a fan of heights) we rode the Chair lift to the top of the mountain. When we got to the top we were rewarded with amazing views. While the fires did major damage in areas all along the mountains, this place will always be wonderful and it will come back in time. #mountainstrong

When our time came to and end and we had to leave, we travelled back to Columbus and this time flew into Las Vegas, Nevada for our layover. By that time we were tired and maxed out with our luggage quota. While it's good to be home, I can't wait to get back to see my mom and be in our happy place.