Y’all know we love the Smoky Mountains! We have been there 3 times already this year, and all 3 times, we stayed at Wilderness at the Smokies. Clearly…we love it there! It is so kid friendly and just perfect for large families! Wilderness at the Smokies has several different room styles on property from 1 bedrooms to larger 2 and 3 bedrooms, suites with living rooms and even villas, cabins and treehouse cabins 2 miles down the road. We love staying in the 1 or 2 bedrooms or the villas because they have full kitchen. And when you stay at the villas, cabins or treehouse cabins you not only have a full kitchen, but you also have a laundry room and more common space for relaxing. The kids have absolutely loved staying at all of them. And the good thing about staying on property at the hotel is how much there is to do just right there!
Once you get checked into your room, you’ll see that the entire resort is really tailored to families. They have their indoor waterpark that is perfect this time of year to visit each day. They have several indoor water slides that are great for the entire family! They just opened their new children’s zero-depth area at the waterpark that has several slides for the younger kids (perfect for Grayson and Amelia!). And Leighton was able to do every ride. We spent all week here, and there was still SO much to do that we didn’t even time for!
Not only do you have the indoor waterpark at the hotel right now, but it is their Winter Wonderland going on right now! It was even more magical and added to the fun and festive holiday season. They have so many fun things going on right now like ice skating, Santa’s Workshop, Santa appearances, Story Time with Mrs. Claus and even a Christmas Wonderland Light Display right across the street at Soaky Mountain Waterpark. We did both ice skating and the Christmas lights display, and the kids couldn’t get enough of them both. It was their favorite thing on the entire trip they said.
We could have ice skated for hours. It was so fun, and it wasn’t crowded. They sell hot chocolate, play music and have a little area where you can play giant Jenga, cornhole and even write and mail letters to Santa. And for the lights display, oh my goodness it was incredible! It had so many lights, and it was timed to the music. They have inflatables, hot chocolate, slides, fake snow and SO, SO much more! It was a blast for us all! And after they enjoyed all the cold weather festive activities inside, there was still plenty more to do indoors to warm back up!
Things to Do at The Smokies Wilderness Resort Indoor Waterpark
Kaleidoscope Kaverns Lazy River – This lazy river is so cool! It is lit up like a kaleidoscope, and all the kids loved it! It has cool music and colors, and you can just relax and float down the river and relax.
Ridge Runner Water Coaster – This was one of our favorites! It was so unique and cool. This is a cross between a waterpark and roller coaster. Both of the girls were able to ride it with us, and they loved it so much!
Storm Chaser – This was another one of our favorites! In this one, you plummet 55 feet down a dark tunnel before ending up in the dome. I could have ridden this one over and over and over! On this one, you had to be 48 inches tall, so Leighton got to ride it with us.
Trail Twisters – We probably rode this one the most! Both of the girls loved it, and we rode it over and over. You ride on a double tube on this one with lots of twists and turns.
Runaway Canyon – This one fits several people, and we could all ride it except for Grayson. He still has 2 more inches to grow, and then he can ride everything that Amelia can ride. We will have to come back next year! This one has lots of twists and turns too and is fun for the entire family!
After spending a full day at the waterpark, we visited Wilderness Adventure Forest. This is the indoor play area right beside the waterpark. They have so much to do here, and you can purchase multiple pass options. They have Rocky Top Glide (an indoor roller coaster me and the girls loved!), frog hopper, a ropes course, a rock climbing wall, mini bowling, glow in the dark mini golf, laser tag and more! They even have some virtual reality rides and tons of arcade games. We ended up going by Wilderness Adventure Forest each night as it was such a fun way to wind down with the kids but still have plenty of fun indoors.
I just love that you can both stay and play all in one place here. There is plenty of room in the rooms to cook and fit the entire family, but they also have 2 coffee shops, an ice cream shop, a candy shop and several restaurants within the hotel. There is the indoor waterpark, rides and an arcade. There are endless things to do here that the entire family will love! They even have a rooftop restaurant and pool with gorgeous mountain views. You could spend the entire week here and still have plenty to do! In the summer, they also have an outdoor waterpark. And during the winter, they have tons of winter activities to do!
Have you been to Wilderness at the Smokies before? What are some of your favorite family friendly things to do near the Sevierville, Tennessee area?
