Sunsphere — Attraction in Knoxville

I was here as a kid during the 1982 World's Fair and while passing thru Knoxville on a road trip stopped to show my own kids. I was somewhat amazed at how well the place seems to be maintained given that there is no charge to go up to the observation deck. We got there fairly late (about 15 minutes before the 10pm closing time) but were still surprised at just how empty the entire park area seemed to be. I assume the glass- enclosed observation deck is easier to see out during the day but at night it's almost impossible especially since they have these informational signs inside that are lit up facing you as you try to look out. We also drove circles around the place looking for somewhere to park before just parking in a loading zone for awhile. The lack of parking may help explain why no one seemed to be there but then again, ALL of Knoxville seemed to be pretty empty... it was one of the most oddly empty cities I can remember visiting anytime recently. My advice would be to go during daylight hours since I think the view would be better and the fountain area is really pretty and probably the sunsphere, as it's name implies, would be more impressive in the...

We booked tickets to see the Sunsphere today for the 3:30 session. When I went to complete the booking their system gave me an error message saying that “my payment details could not be verified” but yet I got a notification from my Bank at the same time saying the payment had come out. So I called and spoke to the Assistant Manager Zach and explained to him the situation. He advised me that I would have to buy an additional three tickets because it wasn’t showing a reservation for me so we did. This time I used my credit card and it did the same thing again. So I called him back only for him to tell me that there was basically nothing they could do besides encourage me to buy the tickets in person for the session I wanted. He also proceeded to tell me that if the charges did not “fall off” in a few days from my accounts that he wasn’t sure what they would do to resolve that. So now I am out $30 with no timeline of when I will get that back. We will not be visiting here today or anytime in the future. How are you going to tell a paying customer that they are on their own and you...

I was recently in a wedding held at the Sunsphere, and the venue manager could not have been more rude. She was immediately unpleasant to the bridal party and anyone else involved with the wedding. The DJ was letting her know his concerns about possible feedback with the speakers and the officiator's microphone, and she decided to berate him, telling him "We do multiple weddings every week and this is never a problem. Just get set up and do your job." The wedding ended up starting late because of the feedback issues he warned her about. She also at one point made the groom's mother stand out in the freezing cold, waiting for her to give access to the elevator because she decided to stay on a personal phone call. I have been to many weddings, as well as being in quite a few, and I have never had someone try this hard to make sure the day was filled with stress. I wouldn't advise anyone to use the Sunsphere as a venue for their wedding. The view may be great, but the woman in charge will make sure to cancel out that excitement with...