Tag Archives: Great

Peanuts™ The Great Pumpkin Patch Expressat the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

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Peanuts™ The Great Pumpkin Patch Express returns to the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad for 2011 for fall family fun.

Bryson City, NC (PRWEB) September 18, 2011

As the leaves are turning in October and pumpkins are ready to be carved, Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Snoopy return to the GSMR Pumpkin Patch October 7, 2011. The excursions, which are themed after Charles M. Schulz’s classic story “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” will be departing from the Bryson City Depot October 7-9, 14-16, 21-23 & 28-30. Friday departures will be at 3:00pm. Saturday and Sunday departures will be at 11:30am and 3:00pm.

Guests will hear a narration of Schulz’s “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” as the train travels to the Pumpkin Patch. Upon arrival, passengers will be greeted and have a photo opportunity with Charlie Brown, Lucy, and Snoopy. Activities to enjoy at The Great Pumpkin Patch will include: campfire marshmallows, a coloring station, temporary tattoos, trick or treating, inflatable’s , hayrides and live musical entertainment. And kids, don’t forget to wear your Halloween costumes! There will be plenty of PEANUTS™ merchandise at the Smoky Mountain Trains gift shop! Each child will also select their own pumpkin from The Great Pumpkin Patch to take home.

Adult tickets start at $ 53 and children ages 2-12 are $ 31, under 2 are complimentary. For more information and reservations please call 800-872-4681 or visit us online at http://www.GSMR.com.

All ticket fares subject to 4% Historical Preservation Fee

© 2011 PEANUTS Worldwide LLC

Smoky Mountain Trains Museum admission is included with all train excursion tickets. Without train excursion admission is $ 9.00 for Adults and $ 5.00 for Children.

Proud member of the American Heritage Railways family. Visit our sister railroads in southwest Colorado at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad and in east Texas at the Texas State Railroad.

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Sarah Conley
Great Smoky Mtn. Railroad
800-872-4681
Email Information

Great Smoky Mountains towns see more tourists as visitors get away from hurricane

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NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Smoky Mountain tourist area has received an unexpected boost from Hurricane Irene as summer-end travellers move away from the storm-battered coast.

Businesses in the East Tennessee region report an influx of patrons who fled the hurricane last weekend or who are changing Labour Day plans because of damage on the East Coast, particularly in nearby North Carolina and Virginia.

The Wilderness at the Smokies water park and 1,000-room hotel complex in Sevierville has had hundreds of phone calls about availability over the Labour Day weekend because of the hurricane disruption.

“Reservations (department) rang nonstop from people changing plans or trying to,” said Rick Laney, a spokesman for the attraction. The venue is booked up for the three-day holiday.

Last Friday, the site booked about 225 rooms from insurance adjusters looking for a central location to depart after the hurricane was over.

Tourism officials in Gatlinburg, a gateway city to the mountains, had an influx of tourists last weekend as the hurricane forecasts were issued. Some of them were East Coast residents trying to escape the weather, said Jim Davis, a spokesman for the city.

“Many of those visitors are staying over this week and we expect another influx of Labor Day vacationers who had their plans altered to come to the Smokies and boost what has traditionally been a very solid final gasp of summer,” Davis said.

As of Monday, the city had plenty of rooms and cabins available.

Officials at the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, straddling the Tennessee-North Carolina border, said it’s hard to tell if business will pick up over the holiday weekend because of the hurricane.

“It’s a reasonable alternative, though,” spokeswoman Nancy Gray said.

The park has 9.4 million visitors annually, attracted by mountain vistas and the chance to see a black bear. It is the most popular national park.

Leon Downey, a tourism spokesman for Pigeon Forge, Tenn., another town in the Smoky foothills, said the Labor Day weekend usually means brisk business even without outside factors like a hurricane.

“It’s usually a busy time for us,” he said. “Kids have a long weekend and so do most parents. If the weather is good, normally we do very well on major holidays.”

Roan Mountain State Park, the closest state park to North Carolina, is already fully booked for the coming weekend.

Laney, who represents businesses throughout the Smokies area, said the situation resulting from Hurricane Irene reminded some about what happened after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. The Smokies area got some visitors who normally would have gone to New Orleans or elsewhere.

“But you never like to capitalize on someone else’s misfortune,” he said.

Teen Dies At Great Smoky National Park

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MARYVILLE, Tenn.- A 17-year-old has drowned in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The teenager was from Florida, and died Saturday playing along the Little River in Blount County.

She was swept over a 15-foot water fall after wading in ankle deep water. Park investigators say she got trapped in chest-deep water at a crevice at the bottom of the falls, but was held under by the force.

Signs in the area do warn about being in the water because of its strong current.

 

 

Girl dies in swimming hole in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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Great Smokies considers changes to backcountry camping

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GATLINBURG (WATE) – Managers at Great Smoky Mountains National Park are considering changes to the way backpackers make reservations for overnight camping.

The park has nearly 100 backcountry sites and shelters. The proposed changes, which would update the reservation procedure and increase ranger presence on the 800 miles of trails, would be covered by a minimal user fee.

No fees are being considered for day hiking.

The park currently requires all those planning to stay overnight in the backcountry to get a permit.

Those who want to stay in the 15 shelters and most popular campsites make a reservation by phone or in person at the aBackcountry Information Center in the Sugarlands Visitor Center.

Due to limited staffing, that center is open only three hours a day and the phone line is often busy or unstaffed.

After backpackers get reservations and arrive at their campsites, they often find it filled by people without permits.

Plus, there are frequently too many people at sites. This causes food storage violations, increased encounters with wildlife and the need to close campsites to protect visitors and wildlife.

Lack of staff in the backcountry severely limits the park’s ability to resolve these issues, officials say in a press release.

Managers are evaluating a switch to a computerized reservation system. It would take reservations online and through a call center for all backcountry sites 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The reservations would be made by a contractor at: www.recreation.gov, the site used to book frontcountry campsites.

The park would also expand the operations of the Backcountry Information Center to provide quality trip planning advice.

Additional rangers would also be hired to exclusively patrol the backcountry.

The park will collect public input on the new plan online and through two public meetings. Details of the proposal are on the park website.

Comments may be sent by email at: GrsmComments@nps.gov or by mail to: Superintendent, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, 107 Park Headquarters Road, Gatlinburg, TN 37738.

They should be submitted by August 26.

The open houses are scheduled for:

Tuesday, August 16 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at the Old Oconaluftee Visitor Center at 1194 Newfound Gap Road in Cherokee

Thursday, August 18 from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. at Park Headquarters Lobby at 107 Headquarters Road in Gatlinburg.

Great Smoky park tightens restrictions on firewood

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With a destructive tree pest moving southward, officials in the Smokies have tightened firewood restrictions inside the national park.

Firewood now cannot be brought into the Great Smoky Mountains National Park from Knox, Blount, Anderson, Loudon, Grainger or Union counties, which lie just north and west of the park.

All of the counties have been quarantined by either state or federal forestry officials, who are trying to halt the spread of the emerald ash borer and thousand cankers disease. The canker disease is fungal and is spread by a small twig beetle.

The tree species at greatest risk from the borer and the fungus are ash, black walnut and butternut.

Park regulations bar campers from bringing in any wood from quarantined counties unless it bears a U.S. Department of Agriculture pest-free certification.

The ban applies even to firewood harvested outside the park in Blount County and intended for use in Cades Cove, which lies within the same county, but inside the park boundary.

“Visitors who come to enjoy camping in the national park should be extremely cautious with the source of wood that they use for their campfires to help protect the Park’s great biodiversity of plants and animals,” said Park Superintendent Dale Ditmanson.

Biologists in the Smokies have battled other pests for years, among them the hemlock wooly adelgid, which attacks the hemlock trees that shade streams in the park. Earlier, the balsam wooly adelgid killed many Frazier fires that once graced Clingman’s Dome and other spots on the mountain ridges.

The forest that became the Smokies was decimated in the 1930s by the American chestnut blight, which is an Asian fungal disease.

Man drowns in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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TOWNSEND (WATE) - A Texas man drowned while tubing Monday morning in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The victim is Dick Chijioke, 34, from Plano, Texas.

Chijioke was using a rental tube in the Little River with his family at the “Wye,” the junction of the Little River and the Middle Prong near the Townsend entrance to the park.

Officials say Chijioke’s tube tipped and he fell into a 12-foot deep pool of water. Eyewitnesses said he failed to resurface after he slipped out of the tube.

Several people from his group, along with other visitors, tried to find Chijioke underwater before  emergency personnel arrived. They got the call at 11:22 a.m. and found Chijioke at 12:26 p.m.

Rural/lMetro paramedics tried to resuscitate Chijioke on the way to Blount Memorial Hospital, but he was pronounced dead by hospital officials at 1:05 p.m.

The National Park Service called the Townsend Volunteer Fire Department to the scene. The Blount County Sheriff’s Office also sent its Special Operation Response Team, divers and a chaplain for the family.

Fewer Great Smoky Mountains National Park visitors in June

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GATLINBURG, TENN. — June was another down month for visits to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

The National Park Service says the number of visitors to the 500,000-acre park on the Tennessee-North Carolina border fell 17.6 percent from June 2010. While traffic at all entrances was down, visitors coming in through the 13 outlying entrances fell 31.1 percent.

Statistics show visits in the first half of 2011 were down 11.9 percent — about 480,000 people.

Camping in the family campgrounds is off 6.8 percent year to date.

The park’s highest visitation was in 1999, when nearly 10,300,000 visits were recorded.

Day Out with Thomas™: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 Pulling into the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad

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Fans are invited to cheer on their favorite storybook engine as he pulls into the station!

Bryson City, NC (PRWEB) July 09, 2011

Thomas the Tank Engine™ to visit Great Smoky Mountains Railroad July 22-24 & 29-31, 2011.

It’s “Steamies” versus “Diesels” and our favorite No.1 engine is right on track! Thomas the Tank Engine™ is set to roll into Bryson City for the Day Out With Thomas™: Leader of the Track Tour 2011. All little engineers are invited to cheer him on and take a ride with Thomas. The event, which takes place July 22-24 & 29-31, 2011, will be hosted by Great Smoky Mountains Railroad and presented by HIT Entertainment and sponsored by MEGA Brands, a leading toy company.

For 66 years, children have been captivated by the courageous adventures of Thomas and his engine friends. Pulling out of the station for its 16th consecutive ride on the rails, the Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 will visit more than 45 cities in the United States and Canada. Day Out With Thomas is the only place for families to take a ride with a 15-ton replica of everybody’s favorite No. 1 engine, Thomas the Tank Engine, and enjoy Thomas-themed activities at the Imagination Station, including stamps, temporary tattoos and hands-on arts and crafts. Each year the tour grows, traveling to new destinations, adding new activities and welcoming new visitors.

Thomas the Tank Engine, star of Thomas & Friends™, on PBS KIDS® and Sprout® kicks off his Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 in March and is expected to welcome more than one million passengers through November. During the Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011, children will ride with Thomas up steep hills, around deep, blue lakes, and help him win the race against the diesel engines—if only in their imaginations. Day Out with Thomas 2011 activities include:

o    A video viewing area that shows how steam engines work differently from diesel engines


o    Diesel engine tattoos


o    A special giveaway character wheel showcasing Steamie and Diesel engines from the world of Thomas & Friends

  •     Storytelling, video viewing and live music

The tour provides a unique, interactive family experience at every station, offering a variety of entertaining activities that reflect the local flavor of each stop. At Great Smoky Mountains Railroad activities will include: bouncy houses, balloon animals, bubble station and a sand blast station.

The approximately 25-minute train ride with Thomas the Tank Engine will depart every 45 minutes, rain or shine, with departure times at 10:000am through 2:45pm Friday and Saturday and Sunday departure times 9:15am through 3:30pm. Tickets for the Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 are $ 18 plus tax for ages two and up. New for 2012! Ride with Thomas the Tank Engine the entire day! Purchase the All Day Pass for Adults and Children for $ 30. The family can enjoy unlimited rides with Thomas for one day in an enclosed air conditioned coach!

Tickets are on sale now by calling toll-free 866.468.7630 or logging onto http://events.hitentertainment.com For more information and directions contact the Great Smoky Mountains online http://www.gsmr.com or call 1-800-872-4681

For general information or to find a Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 event near you, visit http://www.thomasandfriends.com/dowt.

For media use only: For high-resolution downloadable artwork or additional information please go to http://www.hitnewsonline.com and select Day Out With Thomas: Leader of the Track Tour 2011 Artwork.

About the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad


With 53 miles of track, 2 tunnels and 25 bridges, the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad offers a variety of excursions that explore the amazing landscape of western North Carolina. With the romance and mystique of an era gone by, guests on-board the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad will enjoy scenic train journeys across fertile valleys and through river gorges in a spectacular region near The Great Smoky Mountains.

About Thomas & Friends™


Thomas the Tank Engine was created by a father for his son over 65 years ago and today is enjoyed by families in more than 185 territories and in 30 languages. The #1 blue engine and his friends invite children to enter a world of imagination through the tracks of a train and the words of a story. Children embark on adventures with their engine friends while experiencing timeless life lessons of discovery, friendship and cooperation. Thomas & Friends makes tracks to great destinations on PBS KIDS®, PBS KIDS SproutSM and with downloadable episodes available through iTunes. For more information about the world of Thomas the Tank Engine and his friends, please visit http://www.thomasandfriends.com.

About HIT Entertainment


HIT Entertainment is one of the world’s leading independent children’s entertainment producers and rights-owners. HIT’s portfolio includes properties, such as Barney™, Bob the Builder™, Thomas & Friends™, Pingu™, Fireman Sam™, Angelina Ballerina™ and Rainbow Magic™. HIT represents Chapman Entertainment’s Fifi and the Flowertots™ and Roary the Racing Car™ in North America, as well as Wallace & Gromit™, Shaun the Sheep™, Timmy Time™ and Aardman Classics from Aardman Animations. HIT also acts as representative for The Wiggles® in the UK. Launched in 1989, HIT’s lines of business span television and video production, content distribution, publishing, consumer products licensing and live events and has operations in the UK, US, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. HIT is a part-owner of US-based preschool channel, PBS KIDS SproutSM. For more information, visit http://www.hitentertainment.com.

About MEGA Brands


MEGA Brands is a trusted family of leading global brands in construction toys, games & puzzles, arts & crafts and stationery. They offer engaging creative experiences for children and families through innovative, well-designed, affordable and high-quality products. Visit http://www.megabrands.com for more information.

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Sarah Conley
Great Smoky Mtn. Railroad
800-872-4681
Email Information