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A firsthand look at The Incredible Christmas Place store and The Inn at Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge, including history, what’s inside, and why it’s now on my must-stay list.

Confession time. On our recent girls trip to Pigeon Forge, there was a stretch of time where my mom and sister wanted to rest at the hotel, and I, the person who loves Christmas a frankly unreasonable amount, did not want to rest. 

So I left them to sleep, walked across the street, and gave myself a solo Christmas excursion at The Incredible Christmas Place and The Inn at Christmas Place.

It might be one of the best decisions I made on the entire trip.

A Quick Backstory on The Christmas Place

What’s now a massive shopping complex actually started small. The Incredible Christmas Place was founded in 1986 by Hurshel and Marian Biggs, and it began as a modest gift shop right beside Pigeon Forge’s historic Old Mill. Through decades of expansion, that little shop grew into a 43,000-square-foot complex, and it’s now run by the third generation of the same family.

The store has earned some serious recognition along the way, including the “NOEL Retailer of the Year” award, and it’s grown into the largest Christmas retailer in the South. It’s also part of the reason Pigeon Forge has been named one of the most Christmassy towns in America. That’s not a small thing for a town to get known for.

It’s now a multi-store complex along the Parkway, and it’s still run by the same family that started it back in 1986. I love a business that stays in the family that built it.

What’s Actually Inside

Walking in feels like stepping into a different season entirely, no matter what month it actually is outside. Every year, the store decorates around 50 Christmas trees in styles ranging from traditional to whimsical, so you can basically shop by vibe. See a tree you love? You can buy coordinating ornaments, garlands, and decor to recreate that exact look at home.

The store is broken into themed sections with names like Gingerbread Lane, Candy Cane Christmas, and Christmas Cabin, plus a Great Smoky Mountains National Park-themed area that blends cabin-style decor with local touches like bears and rustic ornaments. It felt like a nice nod to the region instead of just generic holiday merchandise dropped into a random building.

If you’ve got kids with you (or if you’re just me, an adult who still loves this stuff), there’s a Santa’s Pen station where you can have ornaments personalized with genuinely beautiful handwriting. Be ready for a line, especially during busier seasons, but it’s the kind of wait that turns into a keepsake.

Santa himself also visits the store, though that’s mainly a seasonal thing rather than a year-round one, so check ahead if meeting him is the whole point of your trip.

Mrs. Claus’ Sweet Shop

After wandering the main store, I made a stop at Mrs. Claus’ candy shop, where they make fresh fudge and candy on-site. I picked up a few treats to bring back to the hotel, and they ended up being most of my dinner that night since my mom and sister were still too full from lunch to eat.

No complaints from me.

Vacation dinner standards are different from regular dinner standards, and candy counts as a meal when you’re on a budget and trying to avoid eating out twice in one day. And, the crew at Mrs. Claus’ Sweet Shop said vacation calories don’t count!

The Inn at Christmas Place: Now Officially on My Bucket List

After the store and the candy shop, I wandered across the Parkway to The Inn at Christmas Place. I didn’t stay here this trip. We were booked at The Inn on the River instead.

But, after walking the lobby and grounds, I’m already planning to come back specifically to stay at this one.

The hotel has Bavarian-inspired architecture, and it fully commits to the Christmas theme.

The lower lobby features a two-story glockenspiel with bronze bells that performs hourly, and there are two separate lobbies, both with their own fireplace, which feels almost excessive in the best way.

From what I’m told, every guest room stays in theme too, decorated with Christmas trees, wreaths, and red velvet-style bedding.

Santa sings and tells holiday stories at the Inn from summer through December, too. So, if a Santa sighting is on your must-do list, plan your visit with that window in mind rather than assuming he’s there in, say, March.

The property went through a major pool renovation a couple of years back. The new outdoor space, called the Winter Wonder Lagoon, was designed and built by Lucas Congdon of the show Insane Pools: Off the Deep End, and it’s apparently the only commercial Lucas Lagoon pool in the country. It’s a seasonal outdoor pool, so it’s not open year-round, but the indoor pool and hot tub run 24/7, 365 days a year if you visit outside of pool season.

Breakfast is included and gets consistently good reviews, with made-to-order omelets alongside classic comfort food. Rooms come stocked with a microwave, fridge, and coffee maker, and I’ll admit I was a little surprised to learn the property also has an on-site fitness center, since gym access was something I specifically struggled with at our actual hotel on this trip. Worth confirming directly with the Inn if a workout space matters to your stay, since amenity details can shift.

One thing worth knowing before you book: the hotel sits directly on the busy Pigeon Forge Parkway, so if you’re looking for a fully quiet retreat, you might hear more road noise than you’d expect, and the pricing runs on the higher end compared to some other options nearby.

For a family trip or a couples getaway where the holiday theme is the whole point, that tradeoff feels worth it. For a totally quiet escape, maybe less so.

Why This Detour Was Worth It

I didn’t plan for the Christmas Place or the Inn to be highlights of this trip. They were a “let me kill an hour or two while everyone else naps” decision. But they ended up being one of the parts of the trip I think about most, and the Inn is now firmly on my list of places I want to actually stay, not just visit for an hour.

If you’re planning a Pigeon Forge trip and you love Christmas even a fraction as much as I do, don’t treat this as a quick stop. Give yourself real time here. And if you can swing it, book a night at the Inn instead of just wandering the lobby like I did. I’ll report back once I actually stay there myself.

A real look at Ripley’s combo passes in Gatlinburg, what we actually used, what’s still on our list, and whether buying a bigger pack of attraction tickets makes sense for your trip.

Here’s a confession before we get into it: I bought a 12-pass Ripley’s package on our recent girls trip, fully intending for my mom, my sister, and me to hit four different Ripley’s attractions between the three of us. We made it to two.

If you’ve ever overestimated your own vacation energy, you already know exactly how this goes.

But that “failure” turned into useful information, because it turns out the way Ripley’s structures its tickets actually works in your favor even when your plans fall apart.

Here’s what we did, what we learned, and what’s actually worth your money if you’re planning a Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg trip of your own.

What Ripley’s Actually Offers

Ripley’s runs a surprising number of attractions in this area. We’re talking 8 attractions in downtown Gatlinburg plus 2 more in Pigeon Forge and Sevierville, for a total of 10 separate Ripley’s experiences competing for your time and your wallet.

The lineup includes:

Ripley’s Aquarium of the Smokies – This is the big one, and it’s the attraction we used one of our passes on. It features an Ocean Realm, a Tropical Rainforest section, touch tanks where you can feel a stingray or a horseshoe crab, a Shark Lagoon, and a penguin exhibit. There’s also a Glass Bottom Boat Adventure ride. It’s consistently rated as one of the best aquariums in the country, and kids under 2 get in free.

We saw a huge variety of fish, caught a mermaid show, watched a penguin parade, and even got a shark photobombing one of our pictures. Plan on spending a solid 2 to 3 hours here. We could’ve easily stayed longer.

Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Odditorium – This is our second stop, and the one we used our other pass on. It’s a 3-story museum packed with more than 500 exhibits and oddities from all over the world. We spent a couple of hours wandering through it, and there was genuinely more to see than we expected.

Ripley’s Mountain Coaster – We didn’t make it here this trip, but this one’s high on our list for the return visit. It’s a gravity-propelled coaster cart where you control your own speed, so you can take it slow and enjoy the views or fly through the twists and turns if you’re feeling bold. Reviews consistently call this the hidden gem of the Ripley’s lineup, and the recommendation is to ride at twilight for the best experience.

Ripley’s 5D Moving Theater – A motion simulator combined with surround sound and 3D effects that makes you feel like you’re inside the movie. There are multiple film options, so you’re not locked into one experience.

Ripley’s Marvelous Mirror Maze – An LED-lit maze of mirrored rooms with only one path through. If you get stuck, don’t panic. Search parties go out every half hour to help lost guests find their way out. Worth noting, though: this is the one attraction that reviewers consistently say to skip unless you’re getting it for free, since it’s considered a bit overpriced for what you actually get.

Ripley’s Haunted Adventure – A horror-themed walk-through experience that’s regularly bundled into the combo ticket options.

Ripley’s Super Fun Zone – This one houses laser tag, a retro-themed indoor mini golf course, a 10,000-square-foot arcade, and a retail shop for pop culture souvenirs.

Davy Crockett Mini Golf and Old Mac Mini Golf – Two separate 18-hole courses that show up as combo ticket add-ons.

How the Combo Passes Actually Work

This is the part that made my “we only used 2 out of 12 passes” situation way less stressful than it sounds.

Ripley’s sells tiered combo tickets, starting at Aquarium plus 2 attractions and scaling up to an “Extreme Fun Pass” that covers the Aquarium, Haunted Adventure, Mirror Maze, Incredibly Strange, Mini Golf, and the Moving Theatre. There are also mid-tier options for Aquarium plus 3 or Aquarium plus 4 attractions, which is the tier we bought.

Here’s the part that saved our trip from feeling like a waste of money: combo tickets are valid for a full year from the date of purchase. You do not have to use them all on the same trip. You can do 2 attractions now and save the rest for later, which is exactly what we ended up doing without even planning for it.

Since my mom and sister won’t be making it back to Pigeon Forge before our passes expire, my husband and I are heading back to use the remaining 6 passes between us on 3 more attractions. We’ll be staying at a Red Roof this time, since it’s one of the few dog-friendly options in the area that doesn’t charge a small fortune for bringing our pups along.

Was the 4-Pack Combo Worth It?

Honestly? Yes, even with only using half of it on this particular trip. The math still works out in our favor because we’re not starting from zero on the return trip. We already know two of our four attractions are locked in, and we get a full year to use the rest.

If I’m being real about what I’d tell a friend planning their own trip, here’s the advice that’s floating around from people who’ve used these passes more strategically than we did: buy a combo ticket that bundles the Aquarium with 2 to 3 attractions instead of going all the way up to 6 or 8. The temptation to add “just one more for $5” is real, but it leads to buying tickets to attractions you don’t actually care about, and then feeling pressured to rush through everything just to get your money’s worth.

A few other money-saving notes worth keeping in your back pocket:

Parking downtown runs $15 to $20 a day. We paid $20 for our day in Gatlinburg. If you want to save that cash, park once near the Aquarium or use the McMahan Parkway Garage (around $10), or skip parking altogether and use the free Gatlinburg trolley system.

Ask about discounts. Military, AAA, and AARP discounts exist but aren’t always advertised upfront, so it doesn’t hurt to ask when you’re buying tickets.

Buy combo tickets online before you go. Booking online ahead of time can save you a meaningful amount per person compared to walking up and buying individually, plus you skip the line.

What’s Next for Us

Our return trip is going to focus on the Mountain Coaster, the 5D Moving Theater, and probably the Super Fun Zone, since laser tag and mini golf sound like a solid way to spend an afternoon with my husband. We’re skipping the Mirror Maze based on what we’ve read, unless it ends up bundled in for free.

If you’ve got Ripley’s passes sitting around from a trip that didn’t go quite as planned, don’t sweat it. Use what you can, hang onto the rest, and go back when it makes sense. That’s the whole plan over here.

A real recap of our first girls trip to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, including hotel swaps, budget hacks, a gambling realization at a gem mine, and what we’d change next time.

My mom had never been on a vacation before. Not a real one. Not one where the point was just to relax and have fun with no work attached. So when Mother’s Day rolled around this year, my sister and I decided our gift to her wasn’t going to be flowers or a candle. We pooled our money and made her take a trip with us instead.

We landed on a 4 day, 3 night girls weekend in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. What followed was equal parts hilarious, chaotic, and exactly the kind of trip that makes you laugh about it for months afterward. Here’s how it actually went, mistakes and all.

The Plan Changed Before We Even Left

Originally we had this whole multi-city itinerary mapped out. Night one in Nashville, night two in Knoxville, and then finally landing in Pigeon Forge for night three. Very ambitious. Very road trip energy.

Then my mom, a little later than would’ve been helpful, mentioned she only wanted to go to Pigeon Forge. No hotel hopping. No multiple cities. Just one place to unpack and stay put.

So we scrapped the original plan and stayed in Pigeon Forge the entire four days. Honestly? It ended up being the right call. Both my mom and my sister were wiped out for most of each day, and trying to also pack and move hotels on top of that would’ve turned a relaxing trip into a stressful one.

Sometimes the change you didn’t plan for is the change you needed.

Two Hotels, Two Totally Different Experiences

We split our stay between two hotels, and the contrast taught me a lot about what actually matters when you’re booking a place to stay.

Night one: Hilton Garden Inn (2481 Teaster Lane, Pigeon Forge)

This hotel was genuinely lovely. Spacious room, very clean, a nice pool, and a gym that I absolutely used and loved. The catch? It ran us $250 for one night and didn’t even include breakfast. That’s a steep price tag for a single night, breakfast or not.

Nights two and three: The Inn on the River (2492 Parkway, Pigeon Forge)

Two nights here totaled roughly $200 a night, a noticeably better deal than the Hilton. The room was smaller, and there was no gym (though they did offer to reimburse me if I wanted to use one nearby, an offer that came a little too late since it had already closed for the day). But breakfast was included, and the patio next to the river and balcony overlooking it became one of our favorite parts of the whole stay at The Inn on the River.

We watched ducks from the balcony more than once. You could even buy duck food and feed them right from the breakfast area patio.

If I’m being honest, the lesson here isn’t “always pick the cheaper hotel.” It’s “figure out what you actually care about before you book.” 

We cared about breakfast being included and having a calm spot to decompress.

We didn’t care as much about square footage. Once I knew that, the second hotel was clearly the better fit, even with the smaller room and missing gym. Luckily, I did a lot of walking outside of the hotel anyway.

Day 1: Arrival, Taco Salads, and a Tabata Class in a Hotel Gym

We rolled into Pigeon Forge and got to the hotel around 4 PM. My mom and sister were ready to just chill, so I took that as my cue to make a super early bird dinner happen without anyone leaving the room.

I made taco salads for all three of us using groceries I’d bought specifically for the trip. I’d seen similar salads going for almost $40 for three servings out at restaurants nearby. Mine cost less than half that and tasted just as good, if not better.

After dinner, my sister passed out almost instantly. My mom and I went down to the pool to relax for a bit, and then I snuck off to the hotel gym for a Tabata class I’d found online and recorded a podcast episode while I was at it.

Then, it was back to the room for movies with my mom until we both crashed.

Day 2: The Hotel Switch, a Wine and Cider Crawl, and Our First Ripley’s Stop

I started the morning with a stretch class, then knocked out email follow-ups with my clients before breakfast. My mom and sister had breakfast bars. I made oatmeal I’d brought from home, stirred in some craisins, and ate it on the balcony looking out at the Smoky Mountains.

Not a bad way to start a day.

We checked out and drove to Gatlinburg to wander around. This is where I made the decision that’s going to need its own article: I bought a 4-pack Ripley’s combo pass for each of us, with the plan being we’d hit a couple of mini golf attractions, the Believe It or Not Museum, and the Aquarium to make full use of those passes.

That plan did not survive contact with reality, but more on that in a separate post about the Ripley’s attractions themselves.

Math wise it made sense to me considering it was about $30 for a ticket to the museum and another $43 for the aquarium, and the cost of the 4-ticket package was about $65 per person.

Parking ran us $20 for the day. We wandered into a wine shop for some samples, then a cider shop for more samples, and eventually made our way to the Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, where we spent a couple of hours.

By the time we left, we were starving.

I’d brought ingredients to make chicken wraps in the car, but my mom and sister wanted to wait until we got to the hotel.

We stopped at a Publix to buy some tea, which somehow turned into my mom and sister deciding to grab Publix subs instead. 

I stuck to my chicken wrap plan to stay on budget. My mom’s eyes turned out to be bigger than her stomach, though, because she couldn’t finish her sandwich and handed half of it over to me. Free lunch upgrade, not complaining.

The Shop With the Bears, the Southern Girl Shirts, and My Christmas Detour

Our hotel room wasn’t ready yet, so we killed an hour at a nearby novelty shop. This place had a live bear viewing area we skipped (more on why gambling-adjacent attractions like that gave me pause in the Ripley’s article), but the shopping itself was a trip. 

My mom and sister gravitated toward Southern Girl shirts and novelty gifts, while I made a beeline for the top floor, which was, somewhat randomly, full of Christmas decorations. I love Christmas enough that I genuinely could’ve spent the whole hour up there alone.

By about 4:30 we finally checked into The Inn on the River. My mom and sister wanted to rest. I did not.

So I took myself on a solo adventure to the Christmas Place shop, grabbed treats at Mrs. Claus’ Sweet Shop, and wandered around the grounds of The Inn at Christmas Place.

That hotel is now officially on my bucket list of places to stay, and I’ve got a whole separate post coming about why.

When I got back, my mom and sister still weren’t hungry from lunch, so dinner that night was whatever I’d brought with me plus the free popcorn and cookies the hotel had out.

Staying on budget meant skipping eating out whenever I could, and that night was a perfect example of making it work.

Like I said…the one downside of this hotel was that it had no gym or space to work out in the room. The Inn did offer to comp a nearby gym, but by the time I found that out, it had already closed.

Lesson learned for next time: ask about gym access and hours the second you check in, not hours later.

We finished the night by watching movies again before crashing for bed.

Day 3: Mermaids, Sharks, and a Hard Pass on Gem Mining

The Inn on the River’s included breakfast turned out to be one of its best features. We ate a pretty decent meal, and I even got a partial stretch session in beforehand, though the lack of space meant I couldn’t do my full routine.

After breakfast we headed to the patio to feed the ducks, then piled in the car for the Ripley’s Aquarium…to spend another $15 on parking…

The aquarium delivered. We saw a huge range of fish species, caught a mermaid show, watched a penguin parade, and got an unexpected shark photobomb in one of our pictures. Lots of laughing, lots to look at. Genuinely one of the highlights of the trip.

Lunch plans fell apart fast when the sticker shock at our first restaurant choice sent us running. Instead, we grabbed a few more wine samples around town and figured we’d regroup back at the hotel.

On the way, we ended up back at the bear and Christmas shop because my sister wanted one of those Southern Girl shirts after all.

I’d been eyeing a gem mining activity, but the price for what you actually get felt off, and the more I thought about it, the more it bothered me.

You pay for a bucket that’s already been filled by the company, for the chance of finding something worth the cost. No guarantee. That’s not really a souvenir purchase. That’s gambling with extra steps. I skipped it.

Back at the hotel, my mom and I watched the ducks from the balcony, then we all got dressed for dinner. We landed on Texas Roadhouse, the one place everyone could agree on, and used a 10% off coupon one of the hotels had given us. 

Then it was back to the room for, you guessed it, more movies before bed.

Day 4: Dollywood Cinnamon Bread Without the Park Ticket

We went straight from waking up to breakfast, checked out, and headed to the Dollywood resorts. I’d been craving that famous Dollywood cinnamon bread and found out you can buy a loaf at the resort gift shops without ever buying a park ticket. 

We grabbed a loaf, and it did not disappoint. I brought the leftovers home and turned them into French toast the next day, which might have been even better than the bread itself.

We spent a couple hours wandering the two Dollywood resorts and their gift shops before hitting the road back to Richmond, Kentucky.

We skipped lunch entirely. I snacked from my bag in the car, and once we got home, I made a quick dinner for my husband and me and called it a trip.

What I’d Do Differently Next Time

A few honest takeaways…the kind I wish someone had told me before we left:

Decide on a single home base before you book anything. Our multi-city plan looked great on paper, but neither my mom nor my sister had the energy for it once we were actually there. If you’re traveling with people who aren’t used to hotel and city-hopping, build in more stillness than you think you need.

Bring your own food, but read the room. My chicken wraps and taco salads saved real money, but not everyone in your group is going to want to eat the same way you do. That’s fine. Let people make their own calls without making it a thing.

Ask about hotel amenities the moment you check in, not later because you could miss out on something. I missed a free gym session simply because I didn’t ask the right question at the right time.

Skip the gambling-disguised-as-novelty activities. Gem mining buckets, claw machines stuffed with cheap prizes, anything where you’re paying for a chance rather than a guaranteed outcome. Save that money for something with an actual return.

One unexpected attraction can be worth the whole detour. I didn’t plan for the Christmas Place or the Inn at Christmas Place to be highlights of this trip, but they ended up being some of my favorite parts. Leave room in your itinerary for the thing you didn’t know you wanted to see.

And the Ripley’s passes? We bought a 12-pass package expecting to hit four attractions between the three of us. We only made it to two. The good news: those passes are valid for a full year. We’ve got 6 left, and since my mom and sister won’t be making it back before they expire, my husband and I are planning a return trip to use them on 3 more Ripley’s attractions. We’ll likely stay at the Red Roof this time since it’s dog-friendly and doesn’t charge a fortune for bringing our pups along.

More on that trip, and a full breakdown of which Ripley’s attractions are actually worth your pass, coming soon.