I gotta say, my kids would rate this MORE than 5 stars if they could. They had a BLAST! We were there for 3 days/2 nights. That was enough for my husband and me, but the kids would've probably stayed much longer!

First, the pluses ... it is totally, start to finish, designed for kids. The people are friendly, and, rarely for a place like this, once you are there (and the room rates are very high), the prices are actually reasonable. The restaurants and all the shops were relatively inexpensive, and the food was very good, and the items in the shops were high quality. And did I mention the kids had a blast? The combination of the different indoor/outdoor areas and the two different resorts kept them constantly entertained. They can't wait to go back.

A big downer for us, though - the rooms. They, frankly, SUCK. It's basically a Motel 6 type room with a $200 price tag. The mattresses are incredibly NOT comfortable, and the walls are PAPER thin. It's very hard to get a good night's sleep, as it's a pretty lively place and you hear noise from the halls all night long. Plus, you can also here everything - and I do mean everything - your neighbors are doing. And your kids can as well! I would MUCH rather have paid the same price (or even more) buying tickets to the water park and staying somewhere else. But, they don't have that as an option.

Another key thing is - without the outdoor parks, it's not all that. The parts that are indoors would get old fairly quickly, so just a warning to those of you considering going in the winter. Even though it's the South, it does get cold here, and the outdoor parks are not open in the winter.

For us, because we go to Gatlinburg at least once a year, we JUST did this resort. We didn't go to any outside restaurants or shows or any other attractions. So our experience may be different from yours if you're planning to stay here as a base while you tour the Smokies and all the attractions this area has to offer.

We live in Nashville but have family in upstate New York and Boston, so we often trek through Pennsylvania on the way somewhere else. We had stopped at Hershey Park about 9 years ago, and at that time it was fun but nothing spectacular. Then summer before last we went again, now that both our kids are big enough for "big" rides ... all I can say is WOW! This is now a MAJOR theme park, I think they have ELEVEN roller coasters! And it's nowhere near as crowded as Disney parks or even Six Flags parks usually are. It is not to be missed. My kids had an amazing time, and still talk about how much fun they had. We'll be going back again on the way to Boston this summer for sure. If you're anywhere on the upper East coast, I'd recommend fitting this into your trip - you will not be disappointed.

The First has great traveling exhibitions, and has a VERY cool and fun hands-on program for kids. The tour guides and other staff are always friendly and helpful - exactly the kind of Southern hospitality you would expect. And, unlike a lot of museums, they love to see kids coming in. They make exceptional efforts to teach kids to love the arts, and no just how to pitch things to the right age level.

My only reason to give 4 stars instead of 5 is that the permanent collection at the Frist is rather weak. For a city the size of Nashville, you'd expect more here. They primarily rely on the temporary traveling exhibits. You would expect there to be at least a few masterpieces in the permanent collection, things you can ONLY see here.

This is a definite SKIP for anyone visiting Nashville. The tickets are RIDICULOUSLY overpriced - for example, their current holiday dinner show is $88 for adults, plus tax, and the "discount" price for kids is $58. There are better ways to see Nashville (for example, by walking across the pedestrian bridge downtown), there is WAY better food to be had, AND there are many more genuine and enjoyable shows to be seen. Seriously, do not waste your time and money on this!

Even if you don't like country music, this place isn't to be missed. It's great for both adults and kids - tons of history and information about music history in Nashville, plus tons of samples of music, including some rare live performances, plus hundreds of instruments of all types, some of which you can actually play. Oh, and also hands-on exhibits for kids. And the space is visually really nice as well.

Usually a couple of times a month, they have a "musical petting zoo" where kids can get lessons from actual musicians working in Nashville, and try out a number of different types of instruments. My kids LOVE going here, and neither one of them really likes country music.