Graceland Mansion — Attraction in Memphis

I can not say enough great things about this! I'm not a fan, but I'm not not a fan of Elvis' music. My brother, sister, and I took my mom to Graceland for her 79th birthday. She just loves Elvis! I was amazed at everything I learned about him, and what a fan I became of the man himself... a truly amazing person! We did the more expensive tour. I think it was called the Ultimate package. It was around $235 per person, but it was well worth it! It was a small group of 8 of us with a personal guide. It lasted 3 hours, and we didn't have to wait in any of the lines to get through the exhibits or the mansion. We were also allowed to go to all of the other exhibits that were an additional fee. They were self guided. That included going through his plane, the Lisa Marie. Our tour guide was amazing! He knew everything there was to know about Elvis. He gave us lots of personal insights into Elvis as a man... things you never knew. At the mansion, we were only allowed downstairs because Elvis never let anyone upstairs. The family didn't want to let people up there to continue his wishes. It's very hard to explain, but all I can say is that you have to go experience it. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it so much. We were doing this for our mom... but I loved it!! At the Lisa Marie exhibit, they have a gift shop that has 3 special items that only people who bought our package could purchase. One was a swatch of his actual clothing. They had a book of the different fabrics they had available and a picture of him wearing the outfit. That went for $200. Then they had a really nice jacket (so thick it's almost a coat) with a removable hood (I bought this) it has a patch on the front that says V.I.P and then on the back it says THE HOME OF ELVIS PRESLEY GRACELAND V.I.P. Lastly, they had an actual guitar pick from the ones he used. They were framed and went for $1200!!! Her museum was very cool as well... it was pretty small, but a very nice tribute to her. We got to do extra stuff on our tour because our tour guide knew the background stories, like we stopped to give us all a chance to sign the front stone wall to the mansion. Apparently, women used to do that in lipstick back in the day, and he used to randomly call some of them. They just had so many funny stories about things he did with his fans who came to the mansion. This is definitely a must-see... whether you liked his music or not, you HAVE to learn about the man who was (and is) the KING of Rock...

Lived in Memphis for several months, we finally got the opportunity to go. So I'm going to guide you thru the tour, and do's and don't. 1st, you can buy tickets there and they are actually a cool souvenir ticket stub, if you're into that kind of thing, so don't feel forced to buy online, because they want you to make your tour time and stuff can always happen, so buy on site (it's the same price). The $77 package gets you everything you would want or need. Don't do the higher packages. Also, be aware, the restaurants were not open when we were there. We arrived on a Sat about 1pm. 2nd, the giftshops that are on the ticket building side (non ticket scan areas), close at 5 pm. This includes the airplane giftshop (attendant said 5/530 generally closes on that one). Point is, if you like to shop, and they have lots of cool stuff, you will want to get there early enough to shop, and take items to vehicle. (My mistake, I figured shops stayed open as long as park/museum and that is incorrect. I had 30 min to cover a lot of ground and purchase some items/gifts). At the mansion tour, use the ipad/earphones, but don't be fully committed to move at its fast pace. It does have some information that you may not know in general, that was interesting. But you can not flip slides to next room, and allow yourself to take it all in at a slower pace if wanted. Once you make it to the vehicles, army and icon areas, those parts are all connected mostly, with gift shops in between (that are open as long as the guests are there). Be sure to take a sharpie and write on the brick wall that is the perimeter of the mansion. The pics they take at the start, after the pre-show, and prior to the shuttle. Hold onto that ticket to view those pics over near the vehicle museum. However, that package is only sold as a set for $35 ( we passed as we got our own awesome, realistic pics). Overall, great experience and definitely a must before we leave Memphis, if you are visiting Memphis, or if...

We actually toured here many years ago, and it has changed dramatically for the better. We won't talk about the neighborhood surrounding the site, most folks agree it's not all that nice, but inside the grounds you are totally safe. They took a lot of Elvis memorabilia out of the mansion and put it into a large complex across the highway next to the airplanes. If you get the Elvis experience for $77 each, you get to see everything that you get on the vip tours without the personal guide. The price includes an intro film, a shuttle to the mansion, an ipad & headset with great narrative by John Stamos. You can pause the photo enhanced talk and go to other interactive info for each room in the mansion. Once you are finished with the mansion grounds, you board the frequent shuttles that take you across the street to the Elvis memorabilia buildings. There are buildings with his cars, his costumes, musical instruments, awards and a section of famous artists who have donated all sorts of things that are tributes to the king. You can see stage worn clothes from artists like KISS, Blake Shelton, Dolly parton, Michael Buble, Bruce Springsteen, Elton John, and even John Lennon's piano to mention a few. Much of it is on loan from the rock & roll Hall of Fame. Michael Jackson may have been the king of pop, but Elvis has sold more than 1 BILLION records, and has the awards to prove it. Of course you can buy virtually every type of souvenir you can imagine but it's a must see for anyone interested in Elvis and his life. Allow at least 4 full hours to get a decent look at everything. More if you want to take the time to closely examine the thousands and thousands of...