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Travel / U.S. Destinations

Ripley's Attractions in Gatlinburg, Tennessee

Updated September 7, 2015

ripley's attractions review

We made a family vacation to Gatlinburg, TN. While we were there we visited several attractions. We received tickets to 8 Ripley’s Attractions but only got to visit 7 out of the 8. If you have never been to Tennessee, you must visit sometime in your lifetime. It is amazing! The mountains, scenery, and people make it so much better. I loved every minute we were in Tennessee and can’t wait to return for another vacation.

There is a total of 8 Ripley’s Attractions located in and near Gatlinburg, TN. They are Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies, Haunted Adventure, Ripley’s Marvelous Mirror Maze and Candy Factory, Ripley’s 3D Moving Theatre, Ripley’s Guinness World Records Museum, Ripley’s Old MacDonald’s Farm Mini-Golf , and Davy Crockett Mini-Golf.

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies

aquarium of the smokies

The Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies is 115,000 square feet of space with 1.4 million gallons of water. When you first walk in you go through a maze of different exhibits. At first you can see the giant Aquarium above the underwater tunnel and see the sharks swimming around.

When you make it to the underwater tunnel it is a moving sidewalk unless you get nauseous like me on those things you can walk on flat ground through the tunnel. You will see different species of sharks and other fish inside the Aquarium tunnel. They will swim above and all around you.

We also got to see the staff feed the penguins one by one. At the end we go to see a Stingray feeding. There was a diver in the tank that did a show and feed the Stingrays and they surrounded him. When the show was over we were able to go up to the top of the Aquarium where the diver came up too and let us touch the Stingrays. It was neat to feel them up close. One even splashed us while we were touching it.

 

Ripley’s Believe it or Not!

Ripley's Believe it or Not

This is a fun attraction to go and see some freaky things. You can see shrunken heads, a rug made out of gum wrappers, a 2 headed goat, and much more. This is a must see to experience new and unusual things. It has 4 floors and is a place for the whole family to enjoy even young kids.

Warning: There is one exhibit called the torture room that may be a bit scary for the young ones.

 

Ripley’s Guinness World Records Museum

Ripley's guinness

Have you ever read the book “Guinness Book of World Records”? If you have you will enjoy the Ripley’s Guinness Book of World Records Museum. You can most things up close that have been in the books. You can see things from largest skateboard to the heaviest man. These exhibits are grouped into Sports, Space, Animals, Food, Human Achievement and many more!

 

 Other Ripley’s Attractions

ripley's attractions tennessee

The last 4 attractions we did were the Ripley’s  Moving Theater, Haunted Adventure, Mirror Maze, and Davey Crocket Mini-Golf. These attractions are smaller and don’t take up much of your day.

In the Ripley’s Moving Theater  is a Real 5D virtual reality simulator where you actually ride with the movie and experience every bump, dip and turn! State-of-the-Art Motion Simulator in right in the seat. You can experience 2 shows: the chill of Winter Wipeout and the thrill of Rats Race Xtreme!

The Ripley’s Haunted Adventure was not one we all did, only my husband. The employee said that if it looks scary from the outside then it will be even scarier on the inside. If you have young children that get scared easily I would recommend skipping this attraction. You go through very dark rooms where each person is holding onto you and you encounter some scary zombies, chain saws, and more.

Ripley’s Marvelous Mirror Maze is a fun attraction for the whole family to enjoy. You walk through this mirror maze where you see your reflection in each direction. This confuses you making it seem like you are seeing someone else and you may run into a mirror or too. There is even what we called a party room that was full of mirrors, disco lights, and music.

Lastly, we visited Davy Crockett Mini-Golf that was located a little past Gatlinburg. You can choose between 2 courses that are filled with fun ways to play mini golf including going through a waterfall, rocks, bears, and more.

We did not get a chance to visit the Ripley’s Old MacDonald’s Farm Mini-Golf as we ran out of time.

If you have plenty of time to visit other Ripley’s attractions while you are in Tennessee, I suggest getting the 8 pack combo tickets. This way you can do all the attractions for one great price. You can purchase tickets here where most attractions are open 365 days a year.

Disclosure: I was given 8 tickets featured in this post to facilitate my review. All opinions are 100% mine and not influenced in any way.

8 Comments

  • Erren
    May 5, 2014 at 11:17 am

    Great Post thank you!

    Reply
  • We love going to Gatlinburg, TN. We usually go 4 to 5 times a year. It’s a great place to meet up with our friends being that it is halfway for all of us. Haven’t tried all of these but have been to a few. Thanks for the review!

    Reply
  • kungphoo
    May 5, 2014 at 11:57 am

    We like that place.. there is so much that can be seen there and it ultimately is a learning experience..

    Reply
  • Paula Parker
    May 5, 2014 at 1:00 pm

    I have always heard great things about Gatlinburg. One day, I wish to make it up there. Don’t travel very much anymore. Thank you for sharing your amazing photos!

    Reply
  • Dawn @ Pin-n-Tell
    May 5, 2014 at 1:19 pm

    Love, love, love Gatlinburg! I haven’t been there in over 10 years… looks like I need to go again 🙂

    Reply
  • Julie Tucker
    May 5, 2014 at 3:33 pm

    We love Gatlinburg and have vacationed there many times. Ripley’s is so fun. We took our son there several years ago and we laughed the entire time we were in the museum. Love the the surrounding mountains and scenery too. Glad you had such a great time!!

    Reply
  • Jen
    May 6, 2014 at 12:11 pm

    I had no idea there was so much to do in TN, let alone 8 Ripleys attractions so close! Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  • […] the end of April, we decided to take a Spring Break trip to Gatlinburg, TN. This was something new for us since we have never vacationed anywhere during the time off for […]

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