Rocky Top Mountain Coaster — Attraction in Pigeon Forge

Long post - I would first like to point out that I have never felt inclined to leave someone a bad review because I know people make mistakes and Jesus doesn't work at most establishments but I felt the need to share my experience with Rocky Top. My family arrived to Pigeon Forge on 4/3/25 and thought after dinner we'd go do one of the coasters so we loaded up our 4 children and two nieces to go have some fun. We paid, then got in line. After being in line for about 3-5 minutes a group of either older teens or young twenty year olds showed up, I'd say 20-30 of them to ride the coaster. My thought was, "nice we beat the big line". Maybe 2 minutes after this group showed up, people within the group started screaming at each other. This went on for what felt like forever but it was probably 10 minutes or so. It became so escalated one of the girls took her earrings and hair off ready to fight in front of everyone. At this point a dad behind me and my husband proceeded to tell this group of people that this was a family place and children are present and they should "move this along." Both dads yelled this multiple times. Mind you I have only seen ONE employee attempt to settle this situation but it was the gentleman operating the ride(the only good employee I met that night). One of the girls in the altercation got in my husbands face cursing him up one way and down the other. Another one of the young people this time a male came over to my husband and I getting in our faces, telling us to mind our business. Still staff did nothing, other than yell out from their box/building "the police have been called." I will point out that my husband and I both used profanity as well, but we should have never had to of gotten involved in the first place, nor should the other dad that chimed in. The ride operator then said, "let's get your family to the front to get you guys out of here." People in line, thanked my husband for saying something and standing up to the "clowns" that were disrupting everyone else's family time. All 8 of us were put in the coaster carts and were about to start when we were then directed to get out and leave their coaster. The woman that came out to tell us to leave had no problem approaching the FAMILY that shut down the altercation but never once came out or approached the young people that started and escalated this entire situation. I'm pretty confident as to why they didn't as well. This group of young people gave off the vibe that they would swing on anyone that approached them so when you all did nothing two of your consumers stepped up and I'm thankful to my husband and that other father for caring enough about all the kids in line to DO SOMETHING! It was a horrible way to start our trip and the staff could have cared less! They just kept saying we shouldn't have used profanity. Which I agree with, and regret acting that way in front of my children and other peoples children but my husband and I would have never gotten to that level had the staff actually done their job and handled the situation. I'm sure the ride itself is a great ride but the staff is AWFUL. I have never had an experience like this in my entire life. I've also never been kicked out of anywhere in my entire life. Still waiting on our refund from this experience, but I'm assuming that will take 3-5 business days to get back to me. My husband and I both learned something from this situation but I guarantee Rocky Top hasn't.

Thankfully we are not the type of family that would allow this to ruin our trip so we still had a great time in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and we highly recommend SMOKY MOUNTAIN APLINE COASTER(our favorite one) or MOONSHINE MOUNTAIN COASTER. Both were fantastic with...

We rode by on the way to Dollywood & our younger son - who won't ride real rollercoasters - wanted to come back later that evening, so we did. It was our second mountain coaster in two nights and our second mountain coaster ever. It's touted as the longest in East Tennessee and the first in the world with four uplifts, which have their own ups & downs (pun intended). We went on a night ride and the wait was long. We waited about 45 minutes - longer than we waited for any ride at Dollywood earlier in the day. The music in line made it a little more bearable. The ride itself was fun, but also a little frustrating. The last 3 of the 4 uplifts also act as a safety buffer zone, so there's some lag time between getting to the bottom of the zoomies & going up to the next adventure. Don't get me wrong - I understand & agree with the need to keep everyone spaced out & safe, but when it is really crowded it gets a little boring. At one point we were stacked about 4 or 5 deep because a lady was moping along & stopping in the middle of the twists, so that backed everything up. Not a complaint per se, but an observation. Here's why I didn't give the place 5 stars in the Googleverse - the tickets. When it is later in the evening and you see the lines are long, your staff should probably advise people to get their first ride tickets, then come back to the ticket booth for a re-ride, instead of just automatically selling re-ride tickets. AND... if they do sell the re-ride tickets right off the bat, then tell the patrons to use the re-ride ticket first, since the original ticket is good for 2 weeks from the date of purchase (according to another park employee), so the riders can come back the next day. Because you have to go thru the line each time you want to ride, which is fair, but when the crowds are heavy, it gets tiresome. I've never ridden one of these during the day, but the night time ride was awesome. The lighting was fun and added to the thrill factor. I could see this place being really festive during the holidays. 🎃🎄 Will we go again? Most likely. But if you're a first time rider here, make sure you follow the ticket tip above. It could save you a little heartburn...

If mountain coasters are your thing, and you're near Pigeon Forge, the Rocky Top Mountain Coaster is definitely a must!

We rode twice during the day, and once at night. I really didn't prefer one over the other, and the one you will like most will more than likely be a matter of preference.

We went on a Thursday morning, not long after they opened, and there wasn't much of a line, but at night it is significantly busier, as we had to wait about 30 minutes in line to ride.

The carts are comfortable, and there is room for a large adult, or a smaller adult and a small child on each cart. The cart is operated by the rider, with handles on the side: forward to release the brakes and increase your speed, or in the stationary position to apply the brakes.

The track is broken up into 4 sections. Each section begins with an uphill climb, and then the downhill release. You can go pretty fast on the downhill sections, but I found them to be a little short. The ride is pretty long at 9+ minutes, but I would've preferred a shorter ride, with longer downhill sections. Again, this is my opinion based on my own preference.

The scenery during the ride is spectacular, and depending on the time of year, you may encounter decorations for Christmas, Halloween, etc.

There are restrooms on the south end of the building, the ticket booth is in the middle, and there is a gift shop, and outdoor patio on the north end. We had no problem finding parking spaces either visit, even though it was very busy during our evening trip.

Overall, this is definitely the best mountain coaster you will find in the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge area. Would like to see the downhill sections extended a little bit, but at this point it's just nit-picking. The Rocky Top Mountain Coaster is well worth the money, and the time, and we will be back...