Anakeesta

Reviews

• BB

  Ballew

  2 days ago
  1.0
  We visited the theme park specifically for the zip lining and had booked our tickets online several days in advance. After arriving at the top, we spent some time walking around to pass the time before our scheduled slot. Once we grew tired of exploring, we went to the check-in area and waited there for well over an hour. During the entire time we were up top, we never saw a single staff member—which, in hindsight, should have been an obvious red flag. It wasn’t until after our scheduled time had already passed that another family (not a park employee) informed us that the zip lining was closed for some sort of “certification” process. We immediately headed back down and requested a refund, which was issued without issue. While we appreciated getting our money back, it felt like the absolute minimum the park could do. What frustrated us the most was that the park continued to accept advance bookings for an attraction that was undergoing a scheduled certification. These types of operational closures are planned ahead of time, so it’s difficult to understand why tickets were still being sold and why guests weren’t notified in advance. The final disappointment was the complete lack of any staff presence at the check-in area or key points to proactively inform arriving guests that the attraction was closed. A simple sign or even one employee stationed there could have saved a lot of people time, effort, and frustration.
• KS

  kenzie smith

  4 days ago
  2.0
  this place is very two star, especially for the amount of money payed in total. had a pretty easy time parking, you have to pay by license plate. where to pay for this was somewhat unclear. one of the ladies at the very front was sweet and helpful, the other one who scanned our tickets didn’t give one smile or greeting. most of the rest of the staff seemed very friendly though, even the people at the gondolas. the trouble with this place is i feel it isn’t picking whether it wants be an adult place or kid place. if you have 4-9 year old kids this would be perfect, the play areas could keep them busy. but for the in the middle aged kids or teens, it’s somewhat boring. we purchased two of the punch cards that enable you to get a certain amount of food/drinks. there is a specific list of items that you can use on the card, the rest you can’t. not sure if this was worth it because they end up giving you drinks that are only half the size of the normal. so yeah, your not paying full prices for the drink but your also not paying for the same size. only went on one coaster, the hellbender. fairly good, will be boring to someone who likes big coasters. only about one small drop. good for kids though because you can also control the breaking yourself. food was actually pretty good, however don’t wait until last minute to get food like we did, taco place ran out of chicken and steak🥲 things start to sell out like so. the treetop walk we did just before closing was probably the highlight. recommend doing this at night (or once at day and night, as this is one of the few things that isn’t an add on). the light show and views of the lit up city was so cool! not sure if it was the hot weather but no one in the party seemed have a blast here. not that we were miserable, but save your money and go somewhere else. EXTRA- couldn’t find gluten free options anywhere. one member of my party had to leave hungry since she could not find a gf meal. did have really good views almost everywhere you walked
• FM

  Fluffy McGee

  5 days ago
  1.0
  First time ever visiting this area and saw this and thought those would be so cool to visit. I WOULD NEVER WASTE MY MONEY HERE EVER AGAIN. The experience from the beginning to the end was absolutely horrible. Let’s start off with the self serve tickets. That. Didn’t. Work. Don’t worry, it may not seem like a big deal but you’ll see a connection very shortly. So we went into a line which apparently when you already have the tickets but the lady let us finish paying for them online. I appreciate her. Then the enclosed transport. Why on gods green earth would you put people in those things, with fans of course. That doesn’t work? During the summer. Including a heat wave. That was absolutely horrible for my family and I. We started counting which ones even had fans because some didn’t even had any. Or ones that even had working fans, which was only three. Then we finally get to the top and yeah it was pretty I’ll give yall that. Now let’s get to the coaster (closet one) We waited 45 minutes to get on, and to find out my husband couldn’t get on. I was flabbergasted but he sent me anyways with my two kids. Now they have a screen that gives you a wait time and it said 60 minutes and I said that’s fine. I WAS THERE WAITING FOR 3 HOURS FOR A 5 MINUTE RIDE IN THE SUN. I had to send my kids to the shaded area which is very limited and people and children were also trying to find some relief in the shade as well. That was such a waste of money and once I got off, I started telling others to get your money back. It was not worth it and thank god others listen. Everything after that was hot and miserable and expensive. The nice touch was the splash pad for the kids and the garden area. But everything else was half broken or didn’t work. I was overheated and absolutely done. Then had to wait in line because the transport down was broken (of course, what isn’t) and we were able to get the one with a working fan just to stop working when we were descending down.
• MM

  Michelle M

  Jul 3, 2026
  2.0
  Alright, I have thought and thought about writing a review on Anakeesta. This is a tourist trap and a money pit honestly. We stayed in Gatlinburg for 5 days, and this was the worst part of our trip, don't even get me started on the AWFUL food we had up there at the cliff top, I left a review on that page already they need to do some serious staff revamping and get people that know how to cook and waitresses that aren't rude/inattentive. Let me add a disclaimer here; we did not know, nor is it publicly advertised that you pay once and can ride the lift all day long, that is the only reason I am giving this place two stars. However I am not sure when we come back to Gatlinburg that we would visit Anakeesta again and here is why; We paid 117$ for our tickets, for 2 adults and a child under 10, thats with a military discount. After waiting in line and going through the metal detector my husband was pulled off to the side to be told he needed to go put his firearm away because he is not active duty police/military. Mind you, no where is it posted that firearms are not allowed nor are there lockers to place your things in. He had to take the trolley from the aquarium all the way up town to our hotel, which took about an hour. Once we got up to the top, after paying 117$, NOTHING is included, not the treetop walk, the two mountain coasters or the Astria Lumina. The views were pretty, and yes there is a whole town up there, but it is NOT worth the price! IF we decided to come back and visit Anakeesta and that is a HUGE IF, we would come early in the day to purchase our tickets so we could get our money's worth out of it. For the first visit we were extremely disappointed! For the price for the ride up at least the mountain coasters/tree top walks need to be included!
• SS

  Samantha Sheffield

  Jun 23, 2026
  1.0
  Long post— but I break it all down. This has been on my list for several years and I was beyond excited to finally be able to visit. While some things were cool, most of it was not. It is a total tourist trap. I ended up paying for admission to the top of the mountain and the Astra Lumina light show in the evening. Well over $120 for two people. Then you have to pay for parking or take the trolley from the visitors center, which I didn’t know until we arrived. There is a parking lot right at the base of the lift but it is not only for guest visiting Anakeesta. We took the gondola up the mountain. Once we got on top we realized the zipline was closed. We wandered around for a while. Within a hour we had done everything. But we still had to wait for 3 hours before our time slot for Astra Lumina. We ate dinner at Clifftops. Our waiter was very pleasant and the food was good. We tried the ice cream shop. It was cute but $6 for one scoop of ice cream is a bit pricey. You have to pay extra for the mountain coasters. You do get two rides for $17. But for the price I paid for admission, you would think it would be included. You can use it on both coasters but cannot split it between you and your child or a friend. Each person needs there own ticket. I did like that I didn’t have to use both rides at the same time. We did the coaster during the day and then at night. There is a video monitor in the station that allows you to watch your friends or family as they ride the coaster. I was most excited about the bridge walk in the trees. It was a total let down. Way too many people and not regulated by staff. Each platform around the trees had a sign that said no more than 8 people on the platform. People were overcrowding the platforms and the bridges themselves. When it was our turn, I patiently waited for the platform to have only 8 people and the bridge to clear. The guests behind us were nasty and rude because I was waiting. This is a safety issue in which Anakeesta should be monitoring. Also, I am not sure if they are working on the tree bridges but it seems very short and not like the pictures I have seen, which made me want to come here. The kids playground, BirdVenture, is neat. The theming is cute and there are several slides and other play elements for children. There is also an adult and kid friendly tree obstacle course that you can walk through. Like the tree bridges, there was no staff member regulating how many people were on this attraction at a time even though the signs said no more than 3 people at a time. The views from the observation tower are pretty. Just be aware that there is no elevator, so you will have to be able to climb several flights of stairs. This was not a problem for our group but I did hear others mentioning that it was not handicap accessible. Astra Lumina, which is an extra fee, was so neat! 🤩 The pictures do not do it justice. It is self paced but tends to get crowded in each area. Again, not regulating how many people go in at a time. It takes about 45 mins to a hour to walk through. There are 9 sections and each one has a sign that tells you what part of the story you are witnessing and how long the show runs. I believe it said they said it restarts 30 seconds after it finishes. So even if you get to the next area in the middle of the show, it will start over. This was probably my favorite part, other than the views. Oh and be prepared that the gondolas are not lit up at night and it is pitch black. Overall, there were some fun parts of our visit here. We enjoyed the activities we did but overall, I would not recommend Anakeesta. To me, there were a lot of safety issues, accessibility issues in which they don’t tell you about, and no clear communication of what is closed or what is included in your admission fee. It is overpriced for what you get. To me, the big attraction is the tree bridge but it was not what I was expecting at all and I was very disappointed.