Family Fun at Ober Gatlinburg

I was given free tickets in order to facilitate a review on my blog. All opinions are my own. Yours may differ

It seems the whole city of Gatlinburg was built for family fun. If you want to spend your day in one place having tons of fun together as a family, head to Ober Gatlinburg. While you can buy individual tickets to the different attractions at Ober Gatlinburg, I recommend getting the premium wristband ($25/per person, 4 and under free with paying adult) so that you can experience almost everything they have to offer and have all day fun! Here are some of my family’s favorite experiences at Ober Gatlinburg.

Alpine Slide

We LOVE an Alpine Slide. Similar to a mountain coaster we have been on many Alpine Slides around the US. This one was so long and so fun. This attraction at Ober Gatlinburg is reason enough to get the premium wristband. With the wristband you have unlimited rides on the Alpine Slide (when it is open, subject to weather). To ride the Alpine Slide you get to take a fun chairlift ride up the mountain to get to the start of the track. With two slides side-by-side you can race your family and have a blast together. Can you go full speed, no brakes on the whole track? We rode it five times in a row and loved it!

Bumper Boats

Our second favorite attraction at Ober Gatlinburg was the Bumper Boats. These were on the ice rink which added an extra layer of fun as you would skid around when trying to stop and change directions. I LOVE that we got so much time on the boats. It made the line (which can get a little long, but only because you get a really long time on the boats) worth it! With the wristband you get one ride!

Animal Enclosure

There is a really fun animal enclosure, also included with the wristband, to walk through at the top of the mountain. There were bears, otters, a nocturnal house with adorable animals like owls and skunks (haha), and different birds. We got there in time for the otter feeding. That was really cute to watch!

Carousel

Because I have a toddler, a carousel is always a must for my family! She was tickled to be able to ride the ride as many times as she wanted. It was such a cute little carousel with awesome views of the ice skating rink. Unlimited rides are a benefit of the premium wristband!

Sky Tram

We drove our car (it didn’t love it) to the top of the mountain to park right at Ober Gatlinburg (parking is $8). It turns out you can just park in town and ride the sky tram up to the top of the mountain. Even though we were at the top we wanted to ride the tram. It’s a fun 9 minute, one way ride, or 18 minute round trip, though you have to get off and get back in line. It offers amazing views of the Great Smokey Mountains as well as the cabins hiding in the trees on the mountain.

Additional activities at Ober Gatlinburg include a rock wall, mountain coaster, ice skating, snow tubing, a lookout at the very top of the mountain, and other kiddie rides. Some of these things are included in the premium wristband. Even though we spent over 3 hours there, we didn’t get to do all the things. Plus, depending on the time of year not all the rides are going.

In additional to the many wonderful activities are fun shops and restaurants inside the building. It’s really fun to watch the perimeter of the building looking in the stores and seeing all the yummy food there is offered. Add Ober Gatlinburg to your future travels list now!