We feel your pain!! We have all taken the family on vacation and felt the gut-wrenching agony of that first glance at our bank account balance once we get back home. Our goal is certainly not to bankrupt anyone or cause you to have to save up for three more years before you can afford that Griswold family vacation to “Wally World.”
Here are a few suggestions on how to save as much money as possible during what should be the highlight of your year.
- If you’re planning on seeing shows, most companies that have more than one show will offer a “combo deal” for seeing more than one of their shows. For instance, if you come to see “Array Variety Show,” you can upgrade to a combo package to see “Illusionation…the magic of Jason Hudy” as well for only $20 more. Also, an added bonus as part of the combo package is that children under 12 are absolutely free with the purchase of a paid adult.
- Dollywood has a discount for multiple day passes as well as season passes if your family are frequent visitors to the Great Smoky Mountains. Call 1-800-DOLLYWOOD for more information on their package deals.
- When it comes to lodging, large, multi-bedroom cabins are growing in popularity. The reason for that is these cabins have the ability to house a large number of guests. Some of these cabins have up to 26 bedrooms. These are the perfect housing solution for guests here for a family reunion, wedding, church retreat, for a large group of friends or multiple families desiring to vacation together. Many of these cabins feature game rooms, home theaters, indoor pools and some even have indoor miniature golf.
The financial benefit to these cabins is that you are joining forces with other friends or other members of your family to cover the cost of lodging.
One word of advice…….Please give this option much thought and decide for yourself whether or not having everyone under the same roof is a good idea. - You may have heard it said, “the best things in life are free.” Sometimes this is very true. Before there were shows, theme parks, attractions, and pancake houses, the very first draw to this area was the unmatched beauty of our Great Smoky Mountains.
No visit to our home would be complete without time spent soaking in the majesty of our National Park. Simply driving through the park and perhaps stopping at designated pull-off spots designed for hiking, fishing, or just viewing the incredible scenery can give an extreme sense of fulfillment that your family will take home with them in the form of memories for years to come. - There are a number of booklets and other publications chocked full of coupons for pretty much any and every activity you could hope to do. Booklets like the “Best Read Guide,” “Monster,” and more are available, at no cost to the vacationer, virtually everywhere you see a brochure rack.