Ober Gatlinburg is a recreation area (not quite a theme park) outside of town. You have to take an aerial tram to get there (which costs money), and it's not for the faint of heart since you are so high up.
Inside the actual recreation area, you'll find a shopping mall, some halfhearted attempts at theming, an ice skating rink, and a whole design aesthetic that owes as much to the year 1982 as it does to Germany, its ostensible theme.
Out back are the rides. There are almost all carnival rides with lackluster presentation, and there aren't very many of them.
But here is a gem: an actual alpine slide.
Think of a miniature-sized bobsled run, made up of concrete, and your sled is something you can sit on (no lying down). You also have a handbrake that you control. It's fun! There aren't any of these elsewhere in the South, so we had to stop here on our trip.
This wasn't our first alpine slide. We went on one at Glenwood Springs in Colorado on a previous trip back in 2006. That one went faster. It's not concrete based; that one is more like a miniature roller coaster, though you still have your own brake. It was awesome!
Of course, if you want a REAL thrill, you apparently have to travel to Austria, and do this crazy alpine slide with your hand kept off the brake entirely. This looks insane! I want to go here!
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Kevin Yee is the author of numerous independent Disney books, including the popular Walt Disney World Earbook series and Walt Disney World Hidden History.
