Graceland — Attraction in Memphis

4/16/2023: The only way to see Graceland in full is to get good tickets. Get the ULTIMATE VIP package! $216.50/ticket was worth every cent! You enter the museum/exhibit and gift shop area to retrieve your passes. A lady is waiting there to explain how the tour works, get you setup with headphones and introduce you to your tour guide. I hope you get the gentleman we had for our tour. John was the best! He was personable, detailed and fun! John will walk you out with the group toward a separate bus to take you across the street and through the gates of the mansion. Before you get on the bus, you walk through a section that takes pictures of you against different backgrounds of the mansion. These photos area available for purchase after your tour. They are $40 for the package. It’s a fun souvenir. I suggest getting them. When you board the bus with your group, John will tell you a little introduction, ask you where you are from and you’ll be on your way. You might have a short wait to get into the home. They get small batches of people in at a time so you can walk through without feeling cramped. You will enter with your group. On your tour you will not be able to go upstairs. It is closed to the public out of respect since Elvis died there. The home itself seems small in comparison to what we call mansions today, but you have to remember the way older homes were build back then. They didn’t do open floor plans like today. The land itself it pretty big and also well maintained. Priscilla has rescued 3 horses who live on the property. That was touching. You’ll take a tour through the living room, dining room, kitchen, downstairs man cave, the Jungle Room, the billiard room, the garage, Vernon’s office, the trophy room, the racquetball court, the pool and finally the Meditation Garden. It is a feeling I will never forget. Seeing the tragedy before my eyes was very emotional. Lisa Marie is beside her son. Everything was so personal to John. In his narrative tour, any time he spoke of the family, it was “we”. When “we” lost Elvis, when “we” lost Lisa Marie. It was a very personal situation for him. I loved how connected he was to the experience. He gave us all time to pay respect and as he walked away, I actually saw him tear up. John does 2-3 tours a day. For him to be emotional just made my experience even better. After we all gathered back in front of the mansion, John gave us an opportunity to take photos. I was so happy I was able to get a photo with no one else in it. The previous groups and single entries had all left. I say this because if you worry about your photo ops like I did, no need. It is well organized to give people a full experience. After the photos out front, we were lead back into garage area for a special film, grab some water and see more unique framed pictures. John gathered us back together after about 15 minutes and we made our way to a special artifacts room only Ultimate VIP tickets holders get to experience. We were seated and shown items from Elvis’ personal collection. John gave us fabric white gloves to wear while holding items and taking photos. The items were books, boots, belts and more. It was very special. You can keep the gloves or throw them away after, but just remember, you just held items Elvis wore! I kept my gloves. After the special viewing, we were shuttled back to the museum and exhibit side across the street from the mansion. We were still connected with our headsets as we viewed the extensive car collection. After that, you are taken through different areas showing his clothes and much more. You are able to tour again on your own if you need more time. The 2 planes are self guided and a must see. I could write for days about our experience. I only got halfway though and Google said I had too many characters to continue. This is one of those experiences I will be talking about for many years to come! There are 6 gift shops on the property. Lots of fun items for purchase. I hope you enjoy your visit. Lauri “has left...

I won’t share pictures of the inside because you really have to see it for yourself. The mansion is like a beautiful fingerprint, stunning and unique.

Born and raised in the Bible Belt. I was born 12 years after Elvis passed away, but my mom loved him and talked of him often when I was little. I’ve heard his music a lot, I grew up southern Baptist and we shared the similar love for gospel music. I grew up singing some of the same hymns. Gospel music is ultimately what led me here was listening to his How Great Thou Art on Apple Music. Then of course Baz released another banger which sealed the deal. Who doesn’t know who Elvis is?!

He was really a renaissance man. Horses, sports, golf carts, cars, religion, philosophy, love, guns, philanthropy.. you name it!

This was one of the most surreal and possibly the best experiences of my life travel/history wise and I’m well traveled. (I’ve been to the Eiffel Tower, coliseum, castles in Ireland, Abbeys in UK, glaciers in Canada, cenotes in Mexico etc) I think I know more about Elvis after walking through his house than I do some of my own family and friends. I’m hoping one day photos of the upstairs rooms will be shared. I understand not wanting the general public to walk in his private space and I agree it should be left for his family only. Keep it sacred.

Good Lord is the house beautiful?! Also it is one of a kind. I would love to see it’s various phases as he changed the decor several times.

Being at his gravesite, all alone in the afternoon was beautiful and tragic. It’s especially heart wrenching now that he is now joined by his daughter and grandson. I did my best to keep it together. It was overwhelming for me emotionally. I don’t know if it is the setup of the Meditation Garden or because the rest of the group had already left but I felt such strong feelings of heartache there. Jesse didn’t have a chance (he’s buried in Tupelo but has a marker in the garden), Gladys was never the same, Elvis was.. Elvis, I’m certain Vernon was heartbroken by all of this. It is so untimely for Benjamin and Lisa Marie as well. It’s an eerily beautiful place especially if you’re lucky enough to be there alone. It’s a perfect spot to pray.

I will 100% be going back to Graceland to visit our fellow Mississippian and King of American music so many of us love. I’m thrilled to have lived in the same timeline as someone who rocked our culture in a magical way.

Since the house is left almost exactly how it was, it’s a gorgeous, historical time capsule.

I left the house with more questions than answers so I’ve been watching documentaries and Graceland’s YouTube channel. I’m obsessed with the Archives videos with Angie! She’s amazing and very good at what she does. It’s interesting that the archives kind of rotate so you might see the house look slightly different or things on display in the museum/exhibits each time you go. Also things are on loan to other museums etc.

Angie, if you see this my uncle and Dad worked at a business that did a lot of business with Elvis at Graceland.. The TV repair shop on Highway 61, I’ll keep the shop’s name and years of business private and I bet you’ll have some receipts in the archives. I’ve heard some cool stories and that Elvis kept them busy. This was all well before I was born and adopted so I personally have no experience there.

Everyone working at Graceland was kind and professional. I was a little sad that there wasn’t any water left in the water coolers at the mansion when we got there because the temperature outside was in the 90’s but we survived.

The exhibits alone are worth it but it would take me 2 days to see it all thoroughly and not feel rushed. LOVED his cars! I’m also intrigued by his book collection. He may have more Bibles than me. 😆

Thank you Presley Family and Graceland for giving us the privilege of this experience! I am sorry for your many losses, thank you for giving us...

We purchased the Archives UVIP tour tickets. To be honest, it was a waste of money.

Our tour was decent until we arrived at a remote building towards the mid-end of our tour that housed a piano in the back, locked metal cabinet and the Archives room. We sat facing the metal cabinet while our tour guide unlocked and opened it. She told us about the items on the pullout shelves that was a mixture of Elvis's and Glady's belongings. We could look but no touching except for Elvis's TCB ring. We wore white gloves and were allowed to take photos of us holding the TCB ring.

To be honest, I had a very hard time believing these items especially Elvis's TCB ring could be stored inside a flimsy metal cabinet. I asked our tour guide about the preservation of these items, her reply 'It's ok, there's cameras!' which made no sense to the question I just asked.

At the beginning of our tour we had seen quite a few of Elvis's jewelry, badges, etc under protected glass and security cameras. Why weren't these given the same treatment and why in a remote area? I honestly questioned the authenticity of those items.

We then proceeded to the Archives room. They were cataloging Lisa Marie's belongings. I'm sorry but we didn't buy our Ultimate VIP Archives tour tickets to see Lisa Marie's belongings. We mainly were shown Lisa Marie's platform boots and a box of Vernon's bank checks he written out to purchase things.

The archivist was asked about her education pertaining to preservation and archiving. She replied that she had no degree but 'started as a tour guide and now an archivist'.

That was the longest part of the tour and honestly a waste of time. I ended up walking out and waited for everyone else to finish up inside.

After we left the Archives building, we were rushed through the rest of the tour of Elvis's gold records jumpsuits, automobiles, etc. Sadly if you blinked, you missed out because you were then ushered to the next part of the tour.

Lastly, I have to say something about the neighborhood.

I truly wasn't aware until we arrived the night before our tour that the neighborhood surrounding Graceland was sad state of distress with a high crime rate. Businesses were run down or boarded up. Homeless ppl and trash littered everywhere except on Graceland property and affiliated businesses.

The night before the tour we stayed at a hotel that was a hop, skip and jump from Graceland that has security cameras and a gated parking lot to protect us. We were told not to go walking outside the gates area at night.

I did ask while on our Graceland tour if in any way does Graceland supported their surrounding community and I was told no.

It's truly sad that Graceland with ALL the MONEY being made on a DAILY basis, does NOT SUPPORT their community.

If Elvis was still alive today, he would never have allowed his neighborhood to succumb to the decrepit state of distress it is in now.

I...