We completed our Thanksgiving trip and very thankful to all the comments and suggestions.
We were planning on Disney, I considered two days in their RV lot and 2 days in their hotels. While booking the rooms, as with most AI powered booking sites, Disney appeared to track IP address and after we went back and forth on shopping for rooms, the price increased considerably. So we ditched Disney and decided to go to Gatlinburg and Smoky.
Smoky - we did this after Gatlinburg, endless ranges of mountains to delight the eyes. Cades Cove campground might be liked by some RVers, we truly did not see a good purpose to go there unless one comes from Townsend. Black bears are plentiful, we spotted bears twice (one a loner and another mama with 3 cubs) on the roads.
Cades Coves Scenic Loop - A 11 mile trap, the biggest feature is "Disappointment". There were some old churches and log cabins. We see churches in many small towns equally as good. It is quite amazing people will drive into it just by looking at the name, myself included. 11 miles of back to back traffic moving at 5 mph. It is a f'ing trap. You will not miss anything if you did not go there. I wish someone had warned about this loop. Sorry if I offended anyone but it is my opinion. No wildlife and not much of a scene other than back to back cars trapped there. No cell service, if a single car brokedown, I dont see how others behind can get out. We drove the 30 ft RV into it and I am sure got cursed by most auto drivers
Gatlinburg - A town with no room for growth to accommodate the traffic. The weather was very kind to us. The kids had a blast, and wife too. This opened my eyes that I should take them to places like this more often. Did Ober Mountain Tram (not good), Anakeesta (good but highway robbery, also you have to stand in the same line to get refills) and Sky Park (good). Long lines at Anakeesta and severely understaffed. Avoid the North China Restaurant at all costs.
Dudley Creek RV Park in Gatlinburg is where we stayed and the lady managing the place (Lisa) was truly awesome, been in that place for 30 years in hotel management. A truly remarkable RV park IMO. A circular lot with all amenities in the center of the park. The creek side sites are not worth the price difference.
We stayed at Harrah's at Cherokee after that, same booking game, while we were booking, the price went up. We stayed two nights and Cherokee is, IMO, better suited for adventure parks like in Gatlinburg and their roads allow for growth and handling traffic. I am guessing the native Indians placed too many restrictions that made the adventure parks open up in Gatlinburg. We enjoyed Cherokee stay, mostly decompressing. Checkout the Oconaluftee park in the city.
Fall foliage - we saw some on the Gatlinburg mountains, but on both sides of the roads, trees had shed their leaves. We were sorely disappointed on that part but when driving back home via Atlanta we were delighted by Georgia as fall foliage was in full display in that area. Beautiful landscape too.
We learned a lot about Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and the bustling cities we drove through. Atlanta was less impressive (second time for me after 25 years).