XPERIA: Smoky Mountains — Attraction in Sevierville

This attraction is nothing like what is advertised. My partner and I was very disappointed with the experience for the price that was paid. After seeing the advertisement we was both very interested in this attraction but was very disappointed from the get-go. First, the employees and your guides was very friendly and welcoming and attempted to make each room good. However, the graphics of the entire attraction quite honestly left much to be desired. Starting with descending room the screens was quite small and graphics being sub-par. Most the viewing was taken up by infared views before moving to an actual view of the fish/animals. The mirror maze was okay and added an interactive element for the older viewing groups however it is quite narrow for those utilizing strollers/mobility aid scooters etc. Next was the battling giant squid. Not only was the graphics disappointing the screen viewing was as well. Squid would battle between two screen (in front and back wall) however when traveling between each wall you are not able to track them over ahead because of no screen and only led light bars that shows the squid movement. Next, was the seals and sharks. While cute in theory the screens for viewing are very small and narrows compared to other theaters. While I understand it’s giving the appearance of being inside of a submarine like area the screens could have been wider for more optimal viewing. For the whale section it seemed to have more stage prop them actual screen. Instead of being immersive it feels more like watching a movie in a movie theater in the back row with extremely low resolutions graphics. This attraction has 3 interactive sections (jellyfish and ocean echos, sea lions, and coloring your own fish and having it scanned in to be projected on screen). While it was neat to hear various ocean echos out of the 4+ domes is seemed that only 2 were audible. Next interacting with jellyfish and sea lion through hand movements and body movements is a wonderful idea in theory however for this attraction it just very underwhelming. The jellyfish was very glitchy and barely moved when it would register movement and the the sea lion wouldn’t hardly react to your movements. Being able to color a fish or turtle and watch that come to life on screen is a wonderful addition for young children to express their creativity. Which brings me to last room, the 3D experience which I was most excited for yet most disappointed with. The 3D glasses was told to be able to fit over the top of glasses however in order to view comfortably I had to remove mine in order to wear the 3D glasses. While I expected the graphics to be blurry for me because of removing my eye glasses my partner also spoke about the graphics being blurry for him even with good vision.

All and all this might be a fun attraction for young children it definitely is not worth the price. Save your money and instead check out the actual aquarium in Gatlinburg less than 30...

[SPOILERS]

Myself and my parents were not impressed by the experience. I have to admit it might be good for young children but not for teens and adults.

I want to preface by saying our tour guide was a very friendly lady and I don't blame her for the experience we had. I entirely blame our disappointment on misrepresentation of the experience.

The experience itself started with an "elevator" that simulated diving down, it was okay but the first sign of the disappointment that was to follow. Then we moved into a mirror maze which I am still yet to figure out how that relates to the ocean, it took very little time.

The third room was a projector room where you watched some squids fight. Being forced to stand in the center of the room so as not to interrupt the projectors was not fun. There really should be a better system that allows people to move around.

We moved into various other rooms showing animated clips on several monitors. All the public materials made me believe this would be very realistic looking but the graphics of the animations were not impressive by any stretch of the imagination. They had a sign in one room boasting about the quality of their models however none of the quality was put to use or shown off in the shark cage, orca rooms, or any of the other sections.

The interactive elements of the experience were not great. The section where we interacted with virtual sea lions glitched for us and the Xbox Connects they use for hand tracking were not working well. Even then this was minimally impressive and there were no instructions on how to interact with those elements, you simply waived your arms around until you coincidentally caused something to happen.

The best part of the experience was drawing our own fish, and we were told that was going to be upgraded in the future.

The final section with the 3D glasses was nice, though I do have to say that the system they used was far too expensive for the effects they needed. They could have used cheap movie theater glasses and gotten the exact same effect for a fraction of the cost.

Also, there is a banjo turtle, but the turtle has no banjo, very confusing when there are 3 identical turtles and you're trying to figure out which one is the...

I looked at reviews before deciding to check out Xperia and I have to say, some of the reviews were spot on and some others I think (IMHO) missed the mark entirely. The person who called out the videos not being real and nothing like scuba diving...duh, you're in the middle of the Smokies which is in the middle of the US and it's not a real aquarium so yeah, it's not going to look like scuba diving. However, I have been snorkeling in Mexico, Jamaca and the Bahamas and I personally enjoyed the visuals at Xperia.

We were a party of 4 (myself, husband and 2 kids, 8 and 10).

Granted, this may not be for everyone because everyone has different tastes, but for my family, we really enjoyed it. As parents, we try to find things that are not only fun & new but also educational on our family outings because we want our kids to learn and experience new things while doing so.

Two special areas that we enjoyed (ok 3 areas/rooms) was the Sea Lions because the kids had fun interacting with them. The employee working in the room told us that there are over 70 interactions but honestly, we could only figure out about 20 or so but it was still fun and a great way for the kids to do something physical. Also, on one of the walls is an educational moment that talks about the Sea Lions so a win on our family mantra as parents for teachable moments. The 2nd favorite room was the 3D room. Pretty cool and you could not only see the whale go by but feel it through the floor. Our boys were giggling about that. Then finally, as parents, our 3rd favorite room was adjacent to the retail area. There are 6 TV's that show how the graphics/visuals were made and shows 6 different sea creatures. In this day and age, digital is part of our kids' lives so where other places try to mask their digital content as real, it was great to see a place put their digital content front and center as a teaching moment. Again, another personal win for our family mantra.

All and all, this is great for a family and even for adults who are tired of the same ole same ole but subject to everyone's personal opinion. My family enjoyed...