Gatlinburg is a sad tourist trap next to the beautiful Smoky Mountains. When I was a kid I, for some reason, got excited, even thrilled, for our family trips there. I should have known better even then because the town is the worst exploitation of what should be IMHO almost sacred ground. Instead, it is plastic bears, crummy overpriced food, junk gift shops and “museums” of the cheapest sort. And for some reason it is mobbed with people. Ride the tram to the sky or walk across the long transparent footbridge for a hefty price. Never mind that for free there are hundreds of trails to the sky and razor thin ridges to actually walk for free in the National Park just next door. The whole town of Gatlinburg is designed to take your money while giving you the most soulless vacation possible. And to my shame I liked it as a child when I should have known better even at that age.
I’ve been to Gatlinburg and I agree. The city of Wisconsin Dells is a mini-Gatlinburg, right on some of the most beautiful parts of the Wisconsin river with a spectacular gorge, cliffs, tributary canyons, rock formations and trails. Those features are surrounded by water parks, junk shops, go kart tracks, trampoline parks, mini-golf, wax museums, funnel cake emporia, petting zoos, etc. It all seemed amazing when I was a kid, now it’s just tacky to me.
Ride the ducks there, though.
On the North Carolina side of US441, you have the charming (not really) town of Cherokee which is not quite as bad as G-burg, but not for lack of trying.
Those ARE all amazing to kids. Rocks and water, not so much.
Rocks and water would be a lot more fun if Mom would let you climb on the rocks and jump into the water from them. Since she won’t, you’re stuck settling for go carts and funnel cakes. Which are pretty cool in their own right when you’re 10.
“What a crappy candle!”
“You’ve ruined our vacation!”
…and pizza. Don’t forget the pizza. Some of the worst pizza you will ever eat.
How’s the fudge? 
Spinning around to get dizzy. When my brother and I were little, our grandfather gave us each a Sit 'N Spin and told us not to get sick. We laughed, because how could such a thing make you sick? Well, it never did, but I bet it would sure do a number on me now.
Agreed. Ron Dante + Toni Wine
Oh! The Justice League cartoon! Memories! I used to get up at 6 AM on Saturday to watch it!
Soloman Grundy no like this…cue the exact same scene where he gets grappled and thrown down. When I got older I was surprised Solomon Grundy was a real villain.
The same category, and my add, would be Wacky Races - the Hanna Barbera cartoon series where they all race. I haven’t seen it lately but I loved it as a kid but I imagine it is pretty bad.
I never saw it as a kid, but I watch it on MeTV on Saturday nights. It’s fun for the camp value, especially Dr. Smith. I could see why people thought Star Trek was so good by comparison, though.
As a kid I loved Chef Boyardee Ravioli, Bologna sandwiches, Cap’n Crunch, and Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup, but the idea of eating any of them now I find revolting.
I was at Baltimore’s famed Inner Harbor after work on Tuesday afternoon. I was hoping to go get some tourist trap fudge and report back for the team here.
COVID had killed almost all of it. The museums and museum ships were still there. The tourist “mall”, a two-story arcade previously loaded with many small storefronts was fully shut down except for a chain restaurant at one end of the ground floor. There were a couple of other restaurants nearby within the redeveloped area, but they all had the look of imminent death.
I talked to several workers and they all said between COVID and now WFH destroying the downtown after-work & lunchtime crowd, this summer promised to be as bleak as a typical winter.
So the answer to “How’s the fudge?” is “Very light and flavorless. But cheap & low-cal.” 
I went to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge once and came away calling it “Myrtle Beach in the mountains.” I refer to Myrtle Beach, SC as “the beach for people who hate the ocean.”
My wife still loves it and I think it is boring, tedious, and insanely stupid.
If you’re talking about Harborplace and The Gallery, those 3 buildings have been in receivership for 2-ish years and the reason I’ve heard for the closures is online shopping, which goes back a bit farther than Covid, but yeah, the pandemic didn’t help matters any. Add in the skyrocketing rents and, I would assume, escalating insurance premiums and I’d be surprised if Trump himself could have kept them running.
Interesting. Thank you. Last time I was there was roughly 2011 & the place was a rousing success then.
Whole lotta all that kind of decay going on all over the country. Tourists who’d rather visit by YouTube, shoppers who’d rather Amazon, and workers who’d rather labor from their basement or spare bedroom than from a cube downtown.
But for sure anyplace that was already raggedy before COVID has simply been slaughtered since. The recent thread about the decline of central San Francisco coming immediately to mind.
Out west we have Virginia City. Silly Hat stores, Candy Apple stores, Fake-Ass ‘museums’ and of course lots of Fudge.
I didn’t post it here because even as a kid, I hated it. It does have one redeeming quality these days, but I’m sworn to secrecy!
I had an ok time in Gatlinburg around 2005 or so. But walking down mainstreet, I was accosted by people trying to sell me tickets to attractions and I did get tired of it pretty quickly. I also saw a dude walking around in a hoodie with a swastika on it, so there was that. I don’t feel the need to ever go back.
Ron Dante was kind of like The Wrecking Crew for vocals. I’ve seen the Happy Together tour a few times and he has basically replaced Howard Kaylan. I didn’t know he would be on the tour the first time and I excitedly turned to my wife to say, “Hey!! I think that’s Ron Dante on the stage!!”
Wife: “Who?!?”