Smoky Mountain Tourist Center provides you with the latest travel news from the Great Smoky Mountains.

Smoky Mountain Travel News

Up to Date Information on What's Happening in the Smokies

Hollywood Wax Museum Opens in Gatlinburg

Dollywood Has $5 Million River Battle Ride for 2008

A $5 million River Battle is a themed water raft ride equipped with powerful soaker guns. Nine rafts, each with room for eight passengers, follow a 500-foot channel. As the rafts navigate the waters, the battle begins as passengers, each armed with a soaker gun, take aim at each other and more than 100 targets along the way, including large-scale "talking animals"-- beavers, skunks, otters, bears and more. Some of the targets shoot back while others display a variety of special effects, creating surprises at every turn and ensuring that no two rides are ever exactly the same. River Battle also engages park guests along the ride's banks. While rafters are soaking each other in raft-to-raft sparring, they also can "shoot" observers along the way in "raft-to-shore" fun. In the park's ongoing effort to provide opportunities to bring families closer, River Battle is yet another ride addition that allows parents and children to ride together.

"When I was a kid, me and my brothers and sisters used to sneak away and start up a river battle of our own, but I never dreamed that kind of childhood fun would end up creating a great ride like my new River Battle," Dolly Parton said.

With an hourly ride capacity of 800 passengers, River Battle is located just beyond Dollywood's Mystery Mine steel coaster, which was just named 2007 Best New Attraction by themeparkinsider.com. The project also includes a new 750-foot walkway that provides a direct route to the park's Craftsman's Valley area from Timber Canyon. The new connector represents the largest earthworks project since the Dollywood Express train's track bed was completed in 1960. The connector project entails moving 170,000 cubic yards of soil and rocks -- the equivalent of 8,500 truck loads.

"The addition of River Battle continues to expand on the award-winning attractions we offer in the Timber Canyon area," said Ken Bell, Senior Vice-President. "In addition to creating a fun new ride for our guests, we will improve the flow of traffic as guests will be able to access two vital areas of our park via the new connector."

Dollywood is a 130-acre family adventure park in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. Open nine months a year (March 31-Dec. 30), Dollywood offers more than 40 rides and attractions; award-winning live entertainment featuring country, bluegrass, gospel and mountain music; and a dozen crafters authentic to the East Tennessee region. For more information, call 1-800-DOLLYWOOD or visit www.dollywood.com. Operating days and hours vary

New Roads to the Great Smoky Mountains Open

Sevierville and the Great Smoky Mountains are within a day's drive of over half the nation's population. Now driving there is even easier with new roads to the Smokies. The City of Sevierville has now officially opened two new roads and added a new lane on SR 66 and the Parkway through downtown Sevierville to ease traffic congestion for visitors coming to Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains. The $31 million dollar expansions open to date provide smoother traffic flow throughout the city with less stopping along the way. An additional $81 million in road improvements in Sevierville is planned over the next five years.

"For years people who have visited this area have simply expected traffic delays, especially during the summer months," says Sevierville Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer Brenda McCroskey. "Now with higher gas prices, sitting still in traffic is not only frustrating, it's expensive. With new, wider roads and more alternate routes, traffic congestion has greatly decreased and visitors couldn't be happier."

Visitors entering the area from I-40 Exit 407 via SR 66 will find an additional lane of traffic makes the travel into Sevierville much faster. The new SR 448/North Parkway eases traffic congestion leaving town, especially after holiday weekends, by bringing three lanes of traffic directly onto Hwy 66 and back to I-40. Additionally, the new Collier Drive extension moves visitors from the main Parkway directly to Veteran's Boulevard, a new six lane route from Sevierville to Pigeon Forge that passes right by the entrance to the Dollywood theme park. [View Map]

WonderWorks Turned Upside Down

Pigeon Forge's newest themed attraction, WonderWorks, is a fun-filled, interactive entertainment center featuring a seemingly endless variety of unusual hands-on-activities. WonderWork's lobby appears to be completely upside down. To enter, guests must be inverted for proper alignment. Inside this 82-foot tall, classically styled laboratory building, visitors will be able to experience the trembling of earthquakes, gain the feeling of defying gravity, and surround themselves in adventures crafted by some of the attraction industry's most imaginative storytellers. From the strange Mystery Lab and the Physical Challenge arena to the Visual Distortion Lab and Illusions Gallery, WonderWorks presents a memorable series of more than 100 one-of-a-kind experiences.
www.wonderworkstn.com

Fixin' 2 Rain is the Newest Show in the Smoky Mountains

Fixin' 2 Rain is a presentation of the story of "Noah and the Ark" . . . done Smoky Mountain style. Although courting a faith community, this allegorical tale will appeal to religious and secular audiences alike. Faith, hope, love, family and courage . . . values we can all agree on . . . the best parts of the story of Noah set in a different time and place.

Set in depression era Appalachia, this world class production is filled with humor and songs specifically designed to keep audiences returning again and again. We will need Noah, his wife, his three boys and the good of town folks of Bee Log Holler. Since animals talk (yep, they really can), we will need a whole host of critters that will have you rollin' in the aisles.

Fixin' 2 Rain is staged at Governor's Palace Theater in Sevierville, TN.
www.fixin2rain.com