Tennessee Museum of Aviation — Attraction in Sevierville

Beware of Brenda. - we enjoyed museum.

Before even entering the building I could see this lady standing at the counter with a smug look on her face through the glass doors. Knowing it’s probably not the most exciting job, I decided not to think much of the fact that she wasn’t just smiling ear to ear.

Upon entering the building we were greeted by Brenda, who seemed to be extremely miserable with life. I was kind, she was not.

She did kindly give my husband and I both the local discount even though his ID isn’t updated, however, she seemed very displeased about doing so. Inconvenienced at the fact she may need to push an extra button on the cash register, maybe? Need to brush up on those customer service skills.

After stating that the discount “gets both of us in”, implying that it would be no charge to enter to any sane person, no? I said, surprisingly, “oh, do we not owe you anything?” Because I assumed we’d have to pay. She then very rudely replied “it’s NOT FREE. You have to pay!” As she scoffed. Yes Brenda, I would have assumed, but your choice of words implied the opposite.

After that pleasant interaction, she told me the total would be $20, which is a good deal. I promptly handed her a visa gift card and said “this has $12.28” which she then decided to scream “IT’S 20 DOLLARS”.. Yes, Brenda, I heard you. I’m not deaf, though your old age may have made you hearing impaired, there’s no need to raise your voice to the same level as you need others to speak to you. I wanted to leave then, but I decided to try and calm down and get through this interaction without really ruining her day, because I sure could have at this point

I then said “yes, thank you, this card has $12.28.” She informed me, again very rudely, that her machine can’t do split transactions… I know for a fact those machines can since I used the same ones for 12 years, as do probably 90% of the businesses in Sevier County. This isn’t rocket science, Brenda, it’s a credit card machine. You have to subtract $12.28 from $20. It’s just a matter of simply running the card 2 times, however Brenda doesn’t seem capable enough of doing simple math, so that checks out.

2nd grade math skills aren’t super common at the aviation museum front desk apparently.

Anywho, the museum was very nice. I’m usually not one to write mean reviews, but I’m hoping this grabs the attention of her superior more than a 5 star review would. Several other reviews mention Brenda by name, so I’m sure they are aware of her behavior, but I know I wouldn’t go back if I saw her working the front desk again. It just made for a sour experience from before I walked in the door.

Time to throw up an add on indeed for a new cashier and have Brenda turn...

I’ve been in aviation pretty much all my life and was looking forward to going to this museum. However, when I got there, some guy named “Bob” came up to me and started running his mouth about this display, that display and the other display. I don’t think he was smart enough to see the irritated look on my face so I pulled out my cell phone and just pretended to take a call. Only then he seemed to get the message and walked off.

I don’t recommend these aviation museums next to airports like this. My advice, go to an aviation museum either on or close to a military base. The Naval Air Museum in Pensacola, Florida, and the Air Force armament museum at Eglin Air Force Base are prime examples of what I’m talking about and both of them put this place to shame. They are free and they have a lot more aviation historical related exhibits to see this overpriced crammed into a can museum does! I won’t be back...

I went to the Tennessee Museum of Aviation. Me and my girlfriend got in for $25.00 and her daughter was free. This is a wonderful museum for aviation buffs. It has a large museum of artifacts from all aspects of aviation both military and commercial. They have a large hanger full of planes and vehicles. They have more soviet migs than Cuba. There are numerous WW II prop planes as well. They even have Evil Kinevil's snake river canyon plane car. I remembered watching that jump as a child. They also have restored WW II vehicle's as well. They have a gift ship with every military patch or pin imaginable. They also have t-shirts, models, bomber jackets, books, and aviation items. This is a wonderful place to spend the day. It's covid safe because it's rarely crowded which I like. We had a great time viewing and learning about aviation. If you were in the USAF this...