Ober Gatlinburg Reviews

Me and my family had a really great experience at Ober Gatlinburg Tram. The ride up and down is a beautiful view with helpful commentary about the surrounding buildings and the history of the area. The bands for the tram are good for 2 days so we came back twice. At the top of the team ride there are some rides and ice skating (for an additional price). We ice skated and went down the alpine slide. I would definitely recommend taking the second lift up to the top of the mountain for a free band and a gorgeous view! All and all me and my family had a wonderful time. Only complaint would be that you are packed in with alot of other people in the tram with limited seating. Great trip for kids! Very safe and fun time!

I love it there ! i was there on 10-05-2020 i always had a nice time

We visit this area every year around the same time and unfortunately the entertainment has gotten horrible if you're not on the slopes. This was, by far, our worse visit up. Every single activity was sold out because of online sales. We were there on December 21st and was told everything was sold out until the beginning of the year. What kind of mess is that? They have to figure out a way to balance online sales and guest who are present and want to enjoy the area.

Place is a joke. Took 4hrs waiting in line on a Wednesday to get equipment and start skiing. Ruined a day of vacation and no social distancing enforcement. Save your $ and avoid this place.

Our experience the first day in Gatlinburg was a nightmare. I don't know if it was because it snowed the day before we got there, but our cabin wasn't ready to check-in. We called, texted, and sent email messages and the main office of Ober Gatlinburg only answered us that they couldn't give us an answer for when we could be able to check-in. That we had to wait. That was at 3:00pm. They answered to my brother 4 hours later saying that we could check-in that night at 10pm. With all the snow that had fallen it was impossible to travel back to the cabin in the mountain. We had to stayed in a hotel for the night, a situation that was out of our budget. We stayed at a hotel, exhausted from the 12-hour trip, with the same clothes on, almost couldn't eat because a lot of restaurants were close due to the snow, couldn't sleep thinking what was going to happen the next day. If we were going to be able to check-in the next day or drive back 12 hours to return home. Our kids were scared, terrified, exhausted, hungry. It was a horrible nightmare. And story long short, they NEVER gave us an explanation of what the hell happened, that they treated us like garbage, after we paid in full, for our stay in the cabin, in advance. And as of today, the only amount that they agreed to reimburse us for that first night that we couldn't stay was $75.00, after we paid $2,300 for a week! TOTALLY UNFAIR! I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT TO ANYONE AND I WILL NOT STAY IN THAT PLACE NEVER AGAIN.

Every time we visit Gatlinburg we have to visit the top of the mountain. People may get tired of me saying this but GOD'S CREATION ... WOW.

To over crowded for us. It was so packed with people I couldn't breathe!

It's okay too many people they put on here feel claustrophobic I'd rather drive up then take this again I spent over 3 hours waiting in the line it was some nice sights but i couldn't see a lot there was so many people on that you couldn't move

I had fun but not allowed to throw snowballs!?!
What place has snow+people= snowball fight.
The roller coast was a trip. The only down side was the long lines

A very fun place for everyone and the kids love it.

Awesome as usual! It was the kids first time there, and they loved the arcade, ice skating, and definitely the Alpine slide! Everything was in great condition, except for the cable car was down due to maintenance.

Good price for night ski. Reasonable price for both lift and rental.

Kinda cheesy, but so is most of Gatlinburg. There is a $15 gondola ride to the top which is cool. Once up to there is quite a bit for the kids to do, ice skating, arcade rides, food and a fudge store. For the adults there is a German food place with good beer, 5 bucks for a pint or 15 for a liter boot with 7 dollar refills. For another 8 bucks you can take a chairlift even higher up the mountain where u can do a roller coaster thing through the woods or take a giant slide. All I. All it is gimmicky but still kinda fun

The tubbing was sold out for a week wish they would let people know before you spend a hundred dollars to ride the team to the top of the mountain

We had a great time. Riding the air tram was a highlight with great views. Mountain roller coaster is fun.

Great food and loely scenery. Nice place for a family vacation

Really enjoyed the rides.

However I thought there stuff sucked.

It was a pretty quiet day for them but it still took over 30 min to line up to get tickets. Only one person serving was unacceptable.

Tubing was expensive, a little chaotic getting tickets. Depending on the crowd, 3-4 times going down the hill for $25 for 1.5 hours. Not coordinated well.

Very slow, to jump on the tires there are no tickets.

Horrible lines (4 to 6 hours) and lack of customer service. They seem to not be ready for a huge amount of people.

Expensive for what it is. My teenagers thought it was just ok and overpriced. My 11yr old loved it. Def for younger children! Looks like a place that was really cool about 15 years ago - needs updating.

You can easily spend a whole day here with so many things to do. If there is a particular outdoor activity that you want to do, it would be wise to call them ahead of time to see if it is open (depending on the season). Also, pay attention to the times that certain activities close throughout the day so that you can plan accordingly. Take some single dollars so that you can rent out lockers at different spots.

Unbelievable views!! We were there thanksgiving 2016 right before the fires, hopefully the views will eventually be restored

Not my favorite place in Gatlinburg, or in the Smoky Mountains area. I would much rather be hiking. BUT the ride to the top was definitely a great experience, the views were amazing. Once at the top though, the slide we wanted to ride closed just as we were about to get on due to weather. (I realize that is not Ober's fault) but overall, the place was more commercial than I prefer. Hiking in the great outdoors is more my style. But if you want to ice skate on top of a mountain, this might be the right spot for you!

Ober Gatlinburg was wonderful the kids had a great time on the rides

Lots of stuff to do. Wish skiing and snow tubing was a little cheaper but overall, great experience. Kids had fun.

Went for Oktoberfest, not many vendors but food was good, beer was great and all staff was helpful and friendly

The mountain coaster, alpine slide, lift, ice skating everything was above and beyond, we saw a bear on the lift....the $35 wristband is more than worth it!!

Number one the staff are extremely rude. Everytime you asked a question you could see the disgust on their faces. Very very poor communication and English. And terrible signage to show you where you need to go. Im from here in east tn so I know what the hospitality should be and this was a terrible representation of it. Slopes are poorly maintained. Its not snow boarding its ice boarding. With no direction or law to keep people out of harms way. Would not recommend for a first timer. Its not so bad if you know what your doing.

Great if you just want to drink, not much fun otherwise. No real view of the mountains. Very expensive to get up there.

DO NOT VISIT DURING A HOLIDAY!!!!!!! We literally spent over 9 hours standing in various lines and a total of 2 hours on the slopes!!! We voluntarily gave Ober Gatlinburg over $500 for this miserable experience. The facilities or technology haven t been touched in decades. They are taking advantage of being one of the only places to ski in the south. It s embarrassing that we gave them our money and spent our precious vacation and family time stuck in the endless lines. The only enjoyable part was on the slopes, but not worth it.

Great experience. Amazing views. Awesome activities for kids. 100% recommended

Decent place to go on the tram. Not real exciting at the top of the hill.

We had a very nice time riding the mountain coaster and the ski lifts.

Fun place to visit. Great winter sports area. Tram ride is an excellent way to the property. Was a little on the pricey side.

The Alpine slide was a lot of fun but I think stuff is a little overpriced.

The staff were amazing and so helpful. Endless fun for the kids

Great ride up. Attractions are geared mostly to children at the top but some still can be enjoyable to adults. Nice and helpful staff. Prices are a tad on the overpriced but not too bad.

We haven't visited the place, but I called to wanting to speak to marketing contact person Corrina Griffin because we are Wish Family and needs to get arrangement to travel out of states. She never returned the phone call with VM or email. This is my daughter's only wish therefore as a mother I tried my best to contact her.
Spoke to switchboard person SAM, extremely rude and insulted us by saying, "We are not charity. If we pay for you all to come here, you can have patience to wait for phone call! We see more than 10000 people a day and I do not have time for this. We are not City Service, OK?!" He tried to rush and get rid off the line.
Please do not forget that we all might come into situation in tough time in life. I never wanted any tragedy or sadness in our family, but it is happening. Sam, God is watching for your arrogance or insensitivity.
I am hoping no more hurt to any other family from your devastating statements. This is heart breaking to have to put up with all these.
UPDATE: soon after I posted this review, Corrina called me within 2 hours on a Saturday afternoon, which I have left multiple VM and emails without success, to apologize "maybe Sam had a bad day", and asked me remove the online reviews.
After the phone call, I patted my daughter's feverish body and said, "Baby, it's ok..Everything will be ok.. We have better place to be other than this Ober Gatlinburg."

There's nowhere to play in the snow unless you want to pay a bunch to play in a little bit patch if you forget your cat they rent them for 12 bucks

Tram ride was fun & the scenery was breath taking and the operators were very personable & making funny jokes. The ride was very smooth also. Once at the top there is quite a few activities to enjoy. Ice skating, rock climbing, ski lifts & more. Fun for all ages. Will definitely go back.

We didn t even get to the wildlife experience like we were planning to, because the women at the ticket booth had such bad attitudes we didn t want to spend our money here at all. One woman told us we needed to take the tram but not that we had to buy the tickets there, so we had to come back to the booth to buy tickets and we saw her laughing at us. She s supposed to be there to tell us these things but I guess it s just a joke to her. The other woman was just as rude not a smile from either of them. Definitely do NOT recommend going there. I suggest they hire nicer people.

What a joke. We have been waiting in line for close to three hours to ride the Ariel tram up to the top. They are letting anyone who is late for tubbing, snow boarding, skiing, etc.... cut to the front of the line. How is this right? I m sorry they were late but they should have to wait like the rest of us. We had to pay just like everyone else to ride. We would have already been up had it not been for this. Will not waste another dime at this ridiculous establishment.

Did Ober Gatlinburg my very first evening in town.

It was a $20 ride up and you're allowed on the Mountain for as long as you'd like.

Pros: The trip up in the tram is easily some of the best views you'll get of the Mountains and the guys flying you up and down are very entertaining and make you feel extremely comfortable.
I seen my first bear in the wild from this tram and that'll always stand out to me.
Once up top you've got access to a food court, some shops, ice skating, and bumper tubes. The inside of the mall like setting is nice.

Cons: We went in the summer and the information regarding whats truly up top is limited until you're there. It's a ski-resort, which translates into basically nothing in the summer once outside of the mall setting. There's a rollercoaster, that's poorly marked and or described and you're really left to navigate yourself around in what otherwise is a ghostly existence of what in the winter probably is a very active mountain side.

Due to the lack of information and guidance, poor sinage, and ran down state of it all beyond the inside of the initial mall we probably only spent about an hour up top.

It's worth the trip up merely for the views and riding the tram, but, it's not something I would do beyond an initial visit without some major updates to the facilities and better guidance from staff.

The facilities where very clean and organized. The were helpful and friendly. My kids had a wonderful experience with you guys

The park is excellent, the climb to the park is very delayed but everything else is fine

Over priced. I get they had to rebuild but I believe the price has always been expensive. Awesome view, just wish it wasn't one ride for the cost.

I was able to enjoy going up on the Tram to help me get used to heights, my husband on the other hand said he wouldn't be able to do it on a clear day. It was raining and incredibly cloudy.

Had a blast first time in the snow and I m happy we spent our anniversary here!

Disgusting, rundown, rude, overpriced, rip off. DO NOT GO

Great way to help overcome fear of heights. Friendly staff. Fabulous views.

Ride the Tram to adventure. A very cool place to hang out in summer or winter.

Lots to do for adults and kids. Wish the play area had been opened for our 2 year old. Was still very enjoyable and we WILL be back!!