Finding Ninee » Sharing our parenting and special needs stories with heart and humor.

Zorbing and Other Kid-Friendly Things to do in Pigeon Forge, TN

It’s Spring Break. So, unless you’re on vacation for the week, you’re juggling work, life, kids and bizarre schedules where you hope your kids sleep in but they never do the same way they will on Tuesday, once school resumes.

Here, we were able to take a couple of days and head to Tennessee, where my husband’s parents live. Pigeon Forge is about two hours south of them. We’ve gone to Dollywood a few times and loved it, but on this trip, we decided to check out a few of Pigeon Forge’s other activities.

Specifically, Zorbing, as my son had seen a video of people doing it on YouTube and has been talking about going for more than a year.

What is Zorbing? I’d never heard of it before, either.

Up to three people get into a gigantic plastic blow-up ball, they put a little bit of water in the bottom of it, and push the ball – with you inside of it – down a hill.

There are different courses. For our first, we decided on the zig-zag slope.

It was bouncy and claustrophobic and really fast. My suit hiked up and my husband’s suit hiked down. I decided to sit the next round out. It looked a bit like this:

They both loved the straight course and so for our third run, I agreed to go again and OMG it was awesome.

Watching the balls roll down the hill doesn’t prepare you for how fast you actually go.

We’ll definitely go zorbing again — it was a blast.

The best deal is to purchase tickets to all of the events there which include the wax museum, a trip up to see King Kong on the third floor outside, a mirror maze, and the awesomely frightening Zombie Outbreak.

Here we are, getting completely turned around in the mirror maze:

Asking whether we’d ever get out and reminding Tucker to “get back here,” and to “stay with us.”

“What if we never get out?” It felt like we may not.

We made it out, eventually.

And then there was the zombie outbreak (Dread of the Undead), that we all decided was our favorite attraction. Picture a maze-type haunted house where zombies are trying to grab you. They’re behind windows in some areas, and when they break the windows, a cold blast of air hits you.

It was full of jump-scares and creepiness. We’re still talking about it. Unfortunately, there are no videos or photos allowed inside, but here’s a taste:

We’ve got our next holiday card, so there’s that.

Men In Black, Anyone?


There was a lot more to do in Pigeon Forge, including swimming in the heated, 24-hour pool

Although we aren’t in the Bahamas at Atlantis (our neighbors are), overall, we really enjoyed Pigeon Forge and will definitely go again.

This has been a Finish the Sentence Friday Post. This week’s sentence is “When it comes to Spring Break…”

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  • Lisa@TheGoldenSpoons - Well, I had never heard of Sorbing before, but it sounds like fun. The mirror maze sounds terrifying – I get claustrophobic if I feel like I can’t get out of somewhere. The only other thing I can say is that atlas you went somewhere and did something fun. When you read my post, you’ll see that I spent the week wallowing in self-pity because my oldest was still in school so we did a whole bunch of absolutely nothing!April 14, 2017 – 4:09 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Hey Lisa, you guys should go! You’re not that far from Pigeon Forge, right? (I’m directionally challenged so maybe you are further than I realize). The mirror maze was claustrophobic but also very beautiful. I hope your weekend is filled with more fun!April 14, 2017 – 11:55 pmReplyCancel

  • Allie G smith - Looks like y’all had fun! Would you believe we’ve never been to Pigeon Forge, or Dollywood? And it’s really close to Rich’s parents’ place. We need to go.April 14, 2017 – 6:21 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - OMG you so so have to go. Dollywood is amazing and such fun. Zorbing? All of your kids would love it. You and Rich, too. Or just come back this way so I can see you. That’d work.April 14, 2017 – 11:56 pmReplyCancel

  • Kerry - I had heard of it. I wouldn’t do very well with it because I am claustrophobic. I would rather do anything involving heights, such as the zip lining I hope to book for June 24th. I also don’t do well in attractions where something might jump out and grab me. Glad you all had fun though.April 14, 2017 – 10:54 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Heights freak me out, totally. I’m glad you’re going to do the zip lining thing and hope you can book it. We’re going to a Cub Scouts camping trip that weekend – hopefully, Tucker will be okay. We’re a little nervous about it for a bunch of reasons… most related to who he is. Anyway, can’t wait to read about your zip lining. This is the Niagara Falls trip right? Or is that now???April 14, 2017 – 11:58 pmReplyCancel

  • Britt - This looks amazing thank you!April 15, 2017 – 12:17 amReplyCancel

  • Emily - I gotta say all those activities looked so fun! And even though I have teens now, they’d love that stuff! You are much braver than me when it comes to zorbing – which I’ve never heard of either — I’ve become so wimpy in my old age! I am wondering how you filmed that – or was there a camera inside the bubble? Anyway, very cool!April 15, 2017 – 9:26 amReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - I think your teens would really love zorbing – a lot of the people doing it were adults. I filmed it with a GoPro – it has a hand-held thing and I just held it up to the side. It didn’t work as well in the zig-zag course because I was bouncing around more so it only got the top halves of our heads! The place we went actually gives each ride a GoPro – not sure whether they all do. In hindsight, I should have taken theirs too, and made a cooler video with two perspectives. Oh well, live and learn!April 15, 2017 – 5:00 pmReplyCancel

  • Debi - That all looks like so much fun! I took my girls (with a friend and her girls) to Gatlinburg a couple of years ago, and we missed Pigeon Forge for lack of time. Next time we’ll go for sure and definitely try Zorbing!April 15, 2017 – 1:20 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Oh you’ll love Pigeon Forge! We didn’t get into Gatlinburg on this trip – I wonder if it’s still really affected by the fires. I’d heard that a ton of buildings were destroyed… Let me know when you try zorbing – it was a blast!April 15, 2017 – 5:02 pmReplyCancel

  • Lisa @ The Meaning of Me - I have never heard of zorbing but it does look kind of awesome. I’m sure my little daredevil would love it. Me? Maybe not so much. 😀 I’ve heard great stuff about Dollywood – on the list of places to check out at some point. Our Easter break was just kind of quiet. I spent an unreasonable amount of time in church (choir sings 5 days in a row during Holy Week…what was I thinking???) and the rest of the time we just hung out. Yesterday was the best day – quiet, reading, no commitments.April 18, 2017 – 11:15 pmReplyCancel

    • Kristi Campbell - Zilla would totally love it! I wasn’t comfortable at all on the zig-zag course but had a blast on the downhill! Dollywood is awesome… Just hanging out sounds good – I feel like we need more of that. I had a dentist appt. this a.m. at 9:30. We usually walk to the bus around 8:35 and today I was like “do you want an extra 1/2 hour?” He said yes, and so we took it. I drove him and he was 5 minutes late. But we had that time and I know we both needed it.April 18, 2017 – 11:36 pmReplyCancel

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