Save the date: Dollywood, Saturday, May 19, 2012

With four adults and two toddlers, and my anti-cheap hotel stance, I can assure you that an Econolodge would not cut it.

Econolodge Riverside is really nice though. If I am going somewhere just for one night, I go cheap. When I go to Pigeon Forge, I stay for at least three days, and this hotel is perfect for me. They give me a good rate because I am a member of their rewards program and stay there often. They have an awesome indoor pool with a hot tub. The free breakfast is really nice. The entire complex is very clean and well maintained, and a really big bonus is that there is a trolley stop near the hotel for easy travel without the car.

I've stayed at a few Marriott's before, and for me, the only difference is a bigger and more elaborately decorated lobby, but to each his own.

At this point, I'm thinking Hilton Garden Inn.

We always stay in a cabin but that Hilton is nice from what i've seen.

I'm not doing a cabin for a "in Friday night, out Sunday morning" trip.

Plus, I like that little strip there in Gatlinburg that the hotel is on.

I think most of the cabins require you to stay a minimum of two or three nights.

HGI's are my go-to hotels. They're nice, but not with so much superfluous crap that it drives the price up in to the unreasonable range.

Man, I really wish I could go to this. I've never been to Dollywood either. I don't think it's going to work, though. That's KW's first weekend of being open full-time, so it's right at the target date for opening the new ride. :(

...and just like that the Disney ads on the right side of the page changed to Hilton ads. I never even typed out the word Hilton! Cree-py!

Gotta re-up that club membership, but my wallet's so far away... :(

At least I don't do auto-renew. :)

Crap, Spring Con.

We stayed at the Doubletree which was really cool but if we do it again we would stay somewhere close to the strip in Gatlinburg for the proximity to Smokey Mountain Brewery among other fun tourist trap things.

I'm considering this. The wife just gave me a "has possibilities" eyebrow raise when I mentioned the event. The question is whether or not we bring the kids.

Lord Gonchar said:
At this point, I'm thinking Hilton Garden Inn.

That is the nicest hotel in Gatlinburg, IMO. I think it was built around 2009 or 2010, and far exceeds the older hotels up there. Plus it has LEED Silver Certification.

For anyone with kids and who wants an extended vacation past the DW event, you might check out Wilderness of the Smokies Waterpark Resort. I was there around Christmas and its pretty nice. Its owned by the same company as Wisconsin Dells.

http://www.wildernessatthesmokies.com/

Tennessee_CP_Fan said:
That is the nicest hotel in Gatlinburg, IMO. I think it was built around 2009 or 2010, and far exceeds the older hotels up there. Plus it has LEED Silver Certification.

Yeah, I can pick 'em. :)

Looking at that hotels website made me want to change my reservations for my Pigeon Forge trip in April, but the hotel is all booked up. It looks really nice.

Yeah, I imagine that hotel fills up pretty quick which is why I booked for the weekend of the 19th already. I figure I have a much better chance of getting in and changing the date if need be than waiting.

Or Maverick.

You need to find a half dozen or so friends to split it with. But these are my favorite places to stay in Pigeon Forge. There are a select number of cabins that overlook Dollywood.

http://www.dollywood.com/vacations-q10113-c10112-Cabins.aspx

Hell, those cabins start at $79. Might have to take a closer look later.

EDIT - 3-day minimum stay :(

I doubt any of the $79 cabins have a view of the park. I stayed in the cabin that's in the middle of this picture The photo was taken from inside the park near Wild Eagle looking toward the back of the park. I don't remember how much it cost as I didn't pay for it. But, I think it was at least 5 bedrooms. It was awesome. I'm staying in the same cabin for Convention with at least a half dozen other friends.

Wasn't really worried about a park view. 3 day stay kills it anyway. Plus, the family consensus seems to prefer the strip in Gatlinburg.

I lose on several fronts.