Tag: Smoky Mountains

Wilderness at the Smokies resort dives into spring 2011 with record-breaking attendance numbers

Posted by Rick Laney – April 12, 2011

Sevierville, Tenn. – After record-breaking March attendance, Wilderness at the Smokies resort, the Southeast’s largest indoor/outdoor waterpark resort, is diving head-first into April 2011 with its Spring Grand Opening of all outdoor activities and attractions.

One of the three amazing waterparks at Wilderness at the Smokies resort

During April, Wilderness at the Smokies attendance figures rose more than 30 percent over the same time period last year.  The resort attributes a steadily growing spring break crowd and additional rooms that are now available at the resort for the growth.  Wilderness at the Smokies resort offers guests more than 1,500 rooms in a variety of configurations to choose from during their stay.

“As we continue to grow, word is getting out about Wilderness at the Smokies resort,” said Pete Helland, owner of Wilderness at the Smokies.  “Not only is Wilderness at the Smokies unique to the Smokies, it’s unique to the entire Southeast United States – and people are seeing what a great, affordable, family vacation we provide.  I expect that we will continue to see growth and more record-breaking months moving forward.”

April also ushered in the opening of Wilderness at the Smokies’ many outdoor activities – including both Salamander Springs and Cataloochee Creek outdoor waterparks.  Featuring wave pools, waterslides, an adventure river and countless play areas for people of all ages, the outdoor waterparks are always a resort favorite with guests.  The resort’s mini-golf course, cabanas, and outdoor dining facilities also opened this month (all outdoor activities operate weather permitting).

Wilderness at the Smokies resort opened in 2009 and is the Southeast’s largest indoor/outdoor waterpark resort.  With two outdoor waterparks and a 6-acre indoor waterpark, Wilderness also has six restaurants, a deli, gift shops, convenience stores, mini-golf, and a 36-hole championship golf course.  Wilderness is connected to a 100,000 square-foot conference and event center capable of hosting events for 10,000 people.

Wilderness at the Smokies, located minutes from Interstate 40 and situated in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, is one of the area’s only year-round vacation destinations.  For more information about Wilderness at the Smokies, call toll-free 877-325-9453 or visit www.WildernessAtTheSmokies.com.

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Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Titanic Museum Attraction celebrates one year of operation in Pigeon Forge and launches new audio tours

Posted by Rick Laney – April 7, 2011

Pigeon Forge, Tenn. – This month marks the one-year anniversary of Titanic Museum Attraction’s Grand Opening in Pigeon Forge.  The museum, which has already been named one of the Smoky Mountain Region’s top “must-see” attractions, has hosted over 800,000 visitors in its first year of operation.

The Memorial Gallery at Titanic Museum Attraction

The excitement about Titanic Museum Attraction that started when popular television host Regis Philbin emceed the Grand Opening Celebration in 2010 – calling it “simply the best museum I’ve ever seen” – has continued to grow with each new special event and the constantly-changing elements within the museum.

John Joslyn, co-owner of the Titanic Museum Attraction, said, “As we enter our second year of operation, we wanted to give our visitors something special.  If I had the ability to let you walk through the Titanic Museum Attraction with one of the survivors, would that interest you?  Of course it would – and I can do that right now with the brand new audio tour we just introduced at Titanic Museum Attraction.”

The headset for Titanic Museum Attraction's new audio tours.

As part of a television documentary Joslyn produced, he traveled the world interviewing survivors of the Titanic, and those dramatic first-hand accounts of what happened are now being revealed for the first time ever at the Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge.  Guests will be able to hear amazingly detailed stories about what took place on the ship that fateful night and learn the stories behind the museum’s most fascinating artifacts.Titanic

Titanic Museum Attraction invested well over $1 million in the new audio tour, which is available as an “adult tour” version and a “young person tour” version.  Narrated by Jaynee, the Titanic Museum’s First Class maid, the audio tour includes music and special effects that sound amazing on the $600 audio players from France which are used in some of the world’s premier museums.

Joslyn has been to the RMS Titanic on the ocean floor and organized the $6 million expedition to the ship that brought the world its first televised video of the famous luxury liner in her final resting place two and a half miles beneath the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

This month also marks another significant milestone for the RMS Titanic and the Titanic Museum Attraction.  On April 15, 2011 it will have been exactly 99 years since the lookout in the crow’s nest shouted, “Iceberg right ahead!”  For the twelve months leading up to April 15, 2012, when it will have been a century since the Titanic was lost, Titanic Museum will have many special events and ways to honor, respect and pay homage to those 2,208 passengers and crew members onboard RMS Titanic.

As the whole world remembers the world’s most famous luxury liner, we will continue to open the door to the past and let our “passengers” experience what it was like to walk the hallways, parlors, cabins and Grand Staircase of the Titanic – surrounded by more than 400 artifacts from the ship and its passengers.

The Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. is open daily at 9 a.m.  Reservations are strongly suggested (many days sell out entirely). Or, passengers may purchase tickets online at www.titanicpigeonforge.com or by phone at 800-381-7670.  Two (2) audio players can be rented for $10 at the museum.

Cedar Bay Entertainment owns and operates Titanic Museum Attraction in Branson, Mo. and Pigeon Forge, Tenn.  A privately owned-and-operated entertainment and development company, Cedar Bay is headquartered in Branson, Mo., the site of its first Titanic Museum Attraction.  Since it’s April 2006 grand opening, Titanic Branson has welcomed more than 3 million guests.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Romance blossoms at Titanic Museum Attraction in February and someone will win a free romantic getaway trip

Posted by Rick Laney – January 31, 2011

Pigeon Forge, Tenn. – Romance and adventure were in the air when Titanic set sail on April 10, 1912.  Fourteen couples traveling on Titanic were on their honeymoon, including nine in first class.  There were also many young brides-to-be sailing to America to start a new life in a new country.  Titanic Museum Attraction’s Sweetheart Month – which takes place throughout February – pays tribute to romance and the lasting love of devoted couples everywhere.

Watch the WJHL-TV (CBS) segment below from 11 Connects about Sweetheart Month at the Titanic Museum Attraction.

In honor of the Titanic’s romantic history, Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge is giving away a FREE Vow Renewal on the Titanic Museum’s Grand Staircase which includes a two-night stay at the Wilderness at the Smokies Resort in Sevierville, Tenn. and two tickets to the Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, Tenn. The Vow Renewal ceremony will take place in elegant style on Titanic’s million-dollar Grand Staircase and will be presided over by the ship’s captain.

Titanic Museum Attraction is looking for couples who got married in a very unique way or have a unique story to tell about their wedding day.  Beginning now, anyone who thinks they have an amazing love story can go to Titanic Museum Attraction’s website at www.TitanicPigeonForge.com and fill out the entry form.

Read the complete story of the Titanic Museum Attraction’s Sweetheart Month contest here.

The video in this post is the property of WJHL-TV and is used by permission.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Ackermann PR is leading the way in changing Smoky Mountain Regional tourism

Posted by Rick Laney – December 27, 2010

Tourism transition: Survey shows that times, they are a changin’

By BOB MAYES
Managing Editor, The Mountain Press

SEVIERVILLE, Tenn. – Dec. 26, 2010 — Laura Hall grew up in Canada, then moved to Florida, married and now has a 9-year-old son.

Rick Laney (right) shoots a segment for the Travel Channel about the Smoky Mountains Region with Aiden Eads and Christine Eads.

When her sister, who also lives in Florida, proposed a family reunion in eastern Tennessee as winter was approaching, Laura and her husband Andy and son Ansley came on board.

“I was hoping for mountains, scenery and snow, and I got mountains, scenery and snow,” said Hall, whose family was visiting the Sevier County from Palatka, near St. Augustine, for the first time. “There was lots of snow, especially when we were coming through the national park.”

The Halls are typical of what the Ackermann public relations firm found when it did an independent survey to find out trends about the Smoky Mountains. Ackermann found that what Bob Dylan first sang about in 1964 rings true: The times, they are a changin’.

What Ackermann, headquartered in Knoxville, didn’t know was how much, and the agency wanted to find out the latest trends on tourism in the Smoky Mountains — one of things Ackermann learned was that a large percentage of visitors surveyed were coming here for the first time.

The year-long survey was conducted from spring 2007 through spring 2008, in an effort to define what “the Smoky Mountains” meant to tourists.

“The typical tourist to the Smoky Mountain region doesn’t know or care where Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Sevierville, Asheville, Knoxville or Hendersonville start or stop,” senior account executive Rick Laney said.

“If they travel hundreds of miles by car or by air, they want to take in everything that eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina has to offer.”

In recent months, Laney has consulted and worked with Travel Channel, MTV Productions, National Geographic Television and countless regional travel shows.

Ackermann estimates the actual number of annual visitors to Sevier County to be just under 11 million. That figure includes visitors from surrounding counties who may come to Sevier to shop, dine out or go to an attraction or show, and then return to their homes the same day.

Laney said there are two primary reasons the times have been changing in Sevier County — and in the Smoky Mountain region tourism industry.

“Number one, we were seeing a different type of tourist,” he said. “We started doing some surveying just in Sevier County, and what we were finding was that at the newer attractions — not just the ones we represent — nearly half, 41 percent, had never set foot in East Tennessee.

“The second part was that we also saw they were not following the typical seasonal patterns. Part of that change was due to changing school schedules and that we have more to offer people in what used to be the ‘off season.’

“With changing school schedules (more regions going to year-round school systems) and with more year-round attractions being built in the region, we have essentially become a year-round destination.”

Among the revelations from the survey:

-  First-time visitors to East Tennessee at the higher-end ($150 and up per night) resorts/lodging equal 41 percent.

-  First-time visitors to East Tennessee at the newer attractions (less than three years old) equal 38 percent.

-  The new visitors are coming from far more affluent ZIP codes (wealthier suburbs of Atlanta, Indianapolis, Nashville, Charlotte, etc.) than in the past.

-  The new visitors are coming in larger groups (averaging 4.8 visitors per group as opposed to the 3.7 overall in this region).

-  January to March traffic from first-time visitors was very heavy when compared to “traditional” vacation timing patterns.

-  A far higher percentage of first-time visitors flew into the area as opposed to driving in.

-  While recent visitation numbers for November 2010 vs. November 2009 were down (Gatlinburg was down 25 percent), the new attractions had double-digit growth (November 2010 vs. November 2009)

-  The new visitors are staying on average just over one additional day per stay.

Laney said first-time visitors do not match the historical demographic profile either — coming from more affluent communities.

“They are looking for a different experience than what Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg, Sevierville, and the Smoky Mountain region has offered in the past,” he said. “They do not stay stationary, and many of them are arriving by air.”

In just the last five years, Laney said, what was considered the slow season (January through March), is now booming. Whereas the higher-end resorts commonly averaged 30-40 percent occupancy during the slow season, it is now common to see 90-95 percent.

Laney is regularly asked to speak about tourism in the Smoky Mountains Region throughout the Southeast.

The “new” tourist also fits a different financial profile, Laney said. The survey shows that only 4 percent earn under $25,000 per year, while 32 percent earned $50,000 to $75,000 annually and 35 percent earned more than $75,000 annually.

“While we still see heavy activity from our primary feeder markets such as Nashville, Atlanta, Greenville, etc., we are seeing large increases from more distant cities like Indianapolis, Cincinnati, Dallas, Minneapolis, Chicago, Washington, Philadelphia and all parts of Florida,” Laney said. “In the Smoky Mountain region, more than 56 percent of the visitors surveyed were from more than 200 miles (and) nearly 25 percent were from more than 500 miles away.”

Laney said that with the market rapidly changing, businesses that fail to evolve with it will be left behind.

“I see it all as ‘The Smoky Mountain region’ because that’s how our tourists see it,” he said. “They come for the pristine mountains, the wonderful resorts, the premier attractions and to enjoy time with their families.

“In doing so, they go to Townsend, Gatlinburg, Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, Sevierville, Asheville, Hendersonville and anywhere else their journeys take them along the back roads of this great area.

“Rarely, if ever, do they stay in one of these areas without venturing out to other destinations.”

Story courtesy of The Mountain Press – read more: The Mountain Press – Tourism transition Survey shows that times they are a changin’

Wilderness at the Smokies resort provides free water safety training during National Water Safety Month

Posted by Rick Laney – May 27, 2010

Sevierville, Tenn. –  Wilderness at the Smokies resort in Sevierville, Tenn. conducted free water safety training programs during National Water Safety Month in May.  The programs, which were available to school groups, community groups and church groups, taught the basics of water safety and rescue techniques.

Because of its commitment to water safety, and the highly trained staff at Wilderness at the Smokies resort, Wilderness at the Smokies management allocated facilities and the water safety staff to the training programs.

“Nothing we do here at Wilderness at the Smokies resort is as important as water safety,” said Dave McGregor, General Manager at Wilderness at the Smokies resort.  “We want our guests to have a great, relaxing experience at our waterparks – but safety will always be our top priority.  Our safety experts are simply the best in the business at what they do, and National Water Safety Month gave us an opportunity to share that with our community.”

Water safety traing at Wilderness at the Smokies Resort.

Each and every lifeguard at Wilderness at the Smokies is Ellis Trained and Certified – and they meet the industry’s absolute highest training standards.  Ellis Training involves some of the most rigorous physical and academic testing in the world – and it doesn’t stop at certification.  Ellis Certification requires that every lifeguard working at Wilderness at the Smokies goes through a safety audit and additional training every year. Over and above the stringent Ellis requirements, Wilderness at the Smokies randomly tests and challenges its lifeguards on a weekly basis to ensure the highest level of safety for our guests.

When you look at the 1,000 waterparks in the United States – and the approximately 80 million people who visit waterparks each and every year – the safety record is extraordinary.  Waterparks continue to provide the absolute safest place for families to play in the water together. Statistically, you are far more likely to be injured riding a bicycle or ironing your clothes than you are at a waterpark.  Compared to other recreational aquatic activities, both guarded and unguarded – including community pools, beaches, lakes, etc. – waterparks have the lowest risk of drowning.  As members of the World Waterpark Association (WWA), Wilderness at the Smokies supports any and all industry efforts to enhance the already amazingly safe environment we provide for our guests.

For more information about Wilderness at the Smokies resort, visit www.WildernessAtTheSmokies.com.  For more information about National Water Safety Month, visit www.WaterSafetyMonth.org.

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Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Internationally-recognized magician Terry Evanswood makes new, permanent home at WonderWorks

Posted by Rick Laney – April 27, 2010

Terry Evanswood

Terry Evanswood at WonderWorks

Pigeon Forge, Tenn. – The movies have the “Oscar” and magic has the “Merlin.”  Both are highly sought-after awards given only to the most outstanding performers and artists.  WonderWorks in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. is now the permanent home to Terry Evanswood, one of a very select group of magicians to ever earn a Merlin.  Harry Blackstone, Doug Henning, Siegfried & Roy, and David Copperfield are a few of the past Merlin winners.

In addition to Evanswood’s daily performances of “Wonders of Magic” at WonderWorks, a new museum called the “Hall of Magic” just opened inside WonderWorks showcasing some of magic’s most treasured artifacts from legendary magicians like Harry Houdini, Howard Thurston and Harry Blackstone.  A huge collection of priceless props, costumes, autographs, mechanical toys, memorabilia and antique magic sets are now on display in the free Hall of Magic museum.

Over the years, Evanswood has thrilled audiences with his performances throughout the world, with some of his biggest fans being other famous magicians.  Now that Evanswood has found a home at the popular WonderWorks attraction in Pigeon Forge, he is within a one-day drive of most major cities in the Eastern U.S. and a must-see for visitors to Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

“When I begin my show,” Evanswood said, “I look out and see an audience full of children, parents and grandparents. By the time I am half-way through my performance, I look out on each and every face and I see an entire audience of kids.  The look of complete awe and wonderment on their faces turns every single person in the room into a child.  That’s the most impressive magic trick I can ever hope to perform.”

Merlin Award

Terry Evanswood's Merlin Award in the Hall of Magic Museum at WonderWorks

Evanswood, who knew he wanted to be a magician since he was 9 years old, has performed in front of well over a million people (including being invited twice to perform at the White House in Washington, D.C.).  Along with his cast – Brittany McElroy. Natasha Volvacheva, Linda Black and Mike Phillips –  Evanswood continues to thrill huge crowds daily at WonderWorks with magic, illusions, sleight-of-hand, Houdini-style escapes and a dose of comedy.

WonderWorks, is an indoor theme park that opened in 2006 and has nearly 60,000 square feet of fun for all ages. WonderWorks is housed in an upside down building (you have to see it to be believe it).  The building appears to have been ripped from its foundation and set back down on its roof.

Inside WonderWorks, guests will find 120 interactive adventures that include the “Challenge Zone” with a rock wall climbing, physical and psychological endurance competitions and even a “bed of nails” to lie on.  In the “Space Zone,” visitors are entertained with interactive, 3-D films about outer space plus life-size recreations of space suits they can try on for size, a Mercury Space Capsule, and simulators that allow guests to land the Discovery Space Shuttle as it glides in from outer space.

WonderWorks also houses a “Sound and Light Zone,” a “Natural Disaster Zone” (where guests can experience a 5.3 earthquake), and the “Control Center” where visitors create roller coasters on computers and then get to ride the roller coaster they created in a coaster simulator.  WonderWorks also features the WonderDog Café where guests can enjoy the world-famous WonderDog with its secret recipe chili sauce without ever leaving the attraction.

Every evening, WonderWorks comes to life with the “Hoot N’Holler” dinner show – one of the most popular shows in the Great Smoky Mountains.  For years, visitors have enjoyed a fantastic three-course dinner with their family while experiencing the 90-minute performance featuring “Scraps,” whose antics leave guests rolling in the aisles with laughter.  Kids are always FREE at the Hoot N’ Holler diner show with a paying adult.

ValueVacation tickets to WonderWorks are available in a variety of packages that meet the needs of any size family.  To learn more about WonderWorks, the Hoot N’Holler dinner show and the new Wonders of Magic show featuring Terry Evanswood, visit www.WonderWorksTN.com or call 865-868-1800.

WonderWorks operates from 9 a.m. to midnight every day.  We also operate in Orlando, Fla. and will open soon in Panama City, Fla. and Myrtle Beach, S.C.

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Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Titanic Museum Attraction will open in less than a week

Posted by Rick Laney – April 2, 2010

Pigeon Forge, Tenn. – The new Titanic Museum Attraction in Pigeon Forge, Tenn. will open in less than a week with a star-studded Grand Opening hosted by Regis Philbin. The event, which is open to the public, also will be attended by descendants and family members of those on board the Titanic and includes a christening of the ship.

The weekend-long Grand Opening Celebration at the new Titanic Museum Attraction includes the christening by Philbin, a free concert by country music legend Neal McCoy, a free concert by Beatles cover band Liverpool Legends (hand-picked and managed by George Harrison’s sister), nightly fireworks displays and special events and performances through Sunday, April 11.

Titanic Museum Attraction is a half-scale, permanent, three-deck reproduction of the Titanic. The museum houses 20 galleries to display hundreds of authentic, priceless Titanic artifacts that were either carried from the ship and into lifeboats by passengers and crew, or were found afloat soon after the sinking and quickly salvaged by rescue boats.

Inside the Titanic Museum Attraction, visitors find full-size reproductions (built to actual Titanic blueprints) of Third-Class quarters, a First-Class suite, dining rooms and – the museum’s centerpiece – a $1 million exact reproduction of the Titanic’s Grand Staircase. The First-Class suite in the Titanic Museum Attraction, which is dedicated to Isidor and Ida Straus who co-owned Macy’s Department Stores, was also the cabin used in James Cameron’s blockbuster movie Titanic as Rose’s suite.

A third class cabin

In addition to being a world class museum in the truest sense of the word, Titanic Museum Attraction is also highly interactive and offers a hands-on experience for children, teenagers and adults. The ship is anchored in water to create the illusion of Titanic at sea, and a 90-minute self-guided tour gives guests the sensation of sailing on the original ship’s 1912 maiden voyage. Upon entry, each guest receives a boarding pass bearing the name of an actual Titanic passenger or crew member whose fate is revealed on the Memorial Wall at tour end. Along the way, powerful emotions surface as guests:

  • Walk Titanic’s Grand Staircase
  • Touch the frozen surface of an “iceberg”
  • Feel the chill of that fateful “Starry Night”
  • Study some of the largest, most detailed Titanic models ever built
  • Grip the ship’s wheel and follow the Captain’s commands
  • Tour world-class galleries and the rare historical artifacts they hold
  • Sit in a Titanic lifeboat and listen to actual survivors tell their stories
  • Send an SOS from the Marconi Wireless Room
  • Test their balance while standing on mini-decks built to show the ever-steeper slope of Titanic as she sank
  • Watch children eight years and younger explore the special interactive Tot-Titanic Play-and-Learn Room
  • Dive to Titanic’s wreck site via spectacular underwater camera footage

The Titanic Museum Attraction Grand Opening event begins on Thursday, April 8, 2010 at 10 a.m. and continues with special events and celebrity guest appearances throughout the weekend. Tickets to the new Titanic Museum Attraction, which will open April 8 after 3 p.m. (invited guests will tour the Titanic prior to 3 p.m.), are now available online at www.TitanicPigeonForge.com. (Note: The outdoor Grand Opening and christening are free and open to the public, but admission to the Titanic Museum Attraction requires a ticket.)

A master key to the Titanic's first class suites

The Titanic Museum Attraction will be open seven day a week from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m.

Cedar Bay Entertainment is a privately owned entertainment and development company headquartered in Branson, Missouri, the site of Cedar Bay’s first Titanic Museum Attraction. Since its April 2006 grand opening, it has welcomed more than 2,000,000 guests.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com

Wilderness at the Smokies brings year-round opportunities to conference, convention and meeting planners

Posted by Rick Laney – March 30, 2010

Sevierville, Tenn. – Wilderness at the Smokies resort is changing the way conference, convention and meeting planners view and utilize the Great Smoky Mountains of East Tennessee.  Always popular as a spring, summer and fall destination, the area’s newest resort is drawing year-round events to its 700-acre Sevierville, Tenn. property.

Conveniently located next to the 200,000 square-foot Sevierville Event Center, Wilderness at the Smokies offers 234 mountain modern guest rooms and 472 multi-room suites in addition to condominiums at the Wyndham Resort on the Wilderness property.  Wilderness at the Smokies resort also boasts two outdoor waterparks, a nearly four-acre indoor waterpark and 36-holes of championship golf.

Wilderness at the Smokies Resort

With a 108,000 square-foot exhibit hall, a 19,000 square-foot ballroom, more than 1,600 parking spaces, ten covered loading bays, two nearby airports, and less than a full day’s drive for 75 percent of the U.S. population, the Sevierville Event Center at Wilderness at the Smokies resort is quickly becoming one of the region’s most popular conference, convention and meeting destinations.

Since opening less than two years ago, Wilderness at the Smokies resort has hosted meetings, conferences and conventions ranging from family reunions to major national events like the Phil Waldrep Ministries “Celebrate America” conference in October with keynote speaker former President George W. Bush which was attended by nearly 10,000 people.

“We work hard to make sure the meetings our guests host are fun and easy,” says Dottie Clabough, director of sales for Wilderness at the Smokies. “Our facility offers multiple meeting room options, six executive suites, and if you need more space, we have the Sevierville Events Center, which is connected to our Events Center Hotel.

“When your guests are done with a busy day in the board room, they, along with their families, will welcome the opportunity to kick back and relax in our fabulous waterparks, on Eagle’s Landing championship golf course, or at our restaurants,” says Clabough. “We even have a trolley service available to us that goes to many popular shows and attractions in nearby Pigeon Forge. It is perfect for spouse’s programs or evening activities.

President George W. Bush speaks at Wilderness at the Smokies

“When guests come to our property, they can park their cars and not worry about driving during their stay. Everything they could want or need is all right here.”

Wilderness at the Smokies resort opened in June 2008 with the Stone Hill Lodge and Salamander Springs outdoor waterpark adjacent to the Sevierville Event Center.  Six months later, River Lodge and the Wild WaterDome indoor waterpark were added.  In May 2009, Wilderness at the Smokies expanded again with the addition of Lake Wilderness, the resort’s second outdoor waterpark.  Lake Wilderness features Cataloochee Creek Adventure River, the Wilderness Rapids Wave Pool and poolside cabanas.

Wilderness at the Smokies, located minutes from Interstate 40 and situated in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, is establishing a new standard for conferences, conventions and meetings in East Tennessee.  With two 18-hole golf courses, two outdoor waterparks, an indoor waterpark with a wave pool and surf rider, hot tubs, and countless waterslides and attractions, Wilderness at the Smokies has something for all age groups.  For more information about Wilderness at the Smokies, visit www.WildernessAtTheSmokies.com.

Media Contact
Rick Laney
(865) 584-0550
rlaney@ackermannpr.com