Great Smokies Lodge vs Bonnet Creek?

This year we are passing on a Disney vacation for a December Great Smokies Lodge Presidential and Seawatch Plantation in April. How does the Great Smokies Lodge compare to Bonnet Creek? I have not found much information on what there is to do there in December besides the waterpark. Our kids are 10 and 12 and love adventures! Any input would be much appreciated.

Paul

The lights and decorations in Tennessee are beautiful in December. There are shows and lots of activities available in the area - aquarium, Ripleys, Crystal Caverns, hiking (if the weather allows), helicopter rides, and more.

I am not a huge fan of the Great Smokies location. It is right off of a major highway and not as "rustic" as I enjoy in Tennessee.

You will love the great Smokies Lodge. The Presidential units are nicer at Great Smokies. The indoor water park along with the many activities in Adventure Forest (pay like $30 for a week excludes laser tag) in my humble opinion make this a better on site stay than Bonnet Creek.

chadwill said:

You will love the great Smokies Lodge. The Presidential units are nicer at Great Smokies. The indoor water park along with the many activities in Adventure Forest (pay like $30 for a week excludes laser tag) in my humble opinion make this a better on site stay than Bonnet Creek.

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$19 for the whole stay....used it again this summer

I've been to both also - and prefer Great Smokies Lodge.

We just got back from a trip a few weeks ago in a 3BR Presidential golf view. The Presidential units at Great Smokies are VERY nice. I posted a youtube video about it (there's a couple of ridiculous comic points in it, made all the funnier by my attempt to provide a professional narration).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPpwRtT1kD4

Thank you everyone for the great information. We are now very excited!

Paul

Bigrob said:

I've been to both also - and prefer Great Smokies Lodge.

We just got back from a trip a few weeks ago in a 3BR Presidential golf view. The Presidential units at Great Smokies are VERY nice. I posted a youtube video about it (there's a couple of ridiculous comic points in it, made all the funnier by my attempt to provide a professional narration).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPpwRtT1kD4

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Great job with the video tour. Thanks for posting.

There is plenty to do in the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlingburg area.

The other big attraction, of course, is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is just a couple of minutes from Gatlingburg. I have never been there in the winter, but it should be beautiful. LOTS of wildlife including deer, black bear, and elk (reintroduced in recent years). Most people don't realize this, but Great Smokys is our most visited national park.

For info on the park, go to www.nps.gov/grsm .

National Park Service websites are a bit clunky, and you have to drill down through a lot of links to find things -- but there is a TON of info there.

JimMIA said:

There is plenty to do in the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlingburg area.

The other big attraction, of course, is Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which is just a couple of minutes from Gatlingburg. I have never been there in the winter, but it should be beautiful. LOTS of wildlife including deer, black bear, and elk (reintroduced in recent years). Most people don't realize this, but Great Smokys is our most visited national park.

For info on the park, go to www.nps.gov/grsm .

National Park Service websites are a bit clunky, and you have to drill down through a lot of links to find things -- but there is a TON of info there.

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This is true, even ahead of Yellowstone. In winter, the road to the top of Clingman's Dome will be closed, but many other areas would still be open. I actually think one of the prettiest views is from the bypass road that bypasses Gatlinburg on the way to the Smoky Mountains National Park (Cascades area). There is an elevated overlook from which you can see a portion of Gatlinburg nestled in front of the mountains.

We just did a Labor Day weekend at Great Smokies Lodge in a 2br Presidential unit and were very impressed with both the property and the unit, probably the best unit that we have experienced with Wyndham. The indoor park will keep the kids busy along with the Adventure Forest. We rarely left the property during our 3-day stay, but we had the outdoor water parks to keep the kids busy as well as the indoor stuff.

We did the Cades Cove Loop Road on the western edge of the Smokies and it was very pretty. Highly recommend it! The elevation is low enough that it should be open in winter. It took us probably 30 minutes from the property to reach the loop road and the drive getting there is very pretty too!

This is why I love this place! The knowledge and sharing here has made our timeshare experience well worth it. And to think I almost spent way too much a couple of years ago on a DVC studio. (which would have never really worked well for us)

Thanks again,
Paul

I've posted this elsewhere but will repeat here since you might not be able to find it... what we did is spend part of the time at Wyndham Smoky Mountains resort, which is not the part at the water park - the location is closer to the other attractions (Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Smoky Mountains National Park, etc.) and is also cheaper points-wise. So we stayed there during the weekend when the points cost is higher, then stayed during the week at Great Smokies Lodge.

If you follow a similar strategy, request a room with a view of the mountains at Smoky Mountains Resort - some buildings have much better views than others. FYI, here is a picture at Smoky Mountains resort at the 9-hole putt putt course. (FYI, Great Smokies Lodge putt putt course is now a pay to play, even if you buy the Adventure Forest Stay Pass. It used to be included).

Enjoy!

If you like music, you cannot bet this town, if you disqualify Nashville. Great location, great resorts (especially the one without the waterpark unless you have young children) etc. Cannot go wrong winter, summer, spring, or fall.

We have stayed at both. I have 4 kids 2 11 yr old an 8 yr old and 5 yr old. All of them liked tenn. Better then bonnet creek. Bonnet creek was nice but they just enjoyed tenn better.