We chose to do this show on our arrival day as it had an 8pm start time, so it gave us time to settle in our cabin. We arrived around 7:30 and were greeted by the Lumberjills – the female equivalent of a Lumberjack. They couldn’t have been nicer, although I wish their outfits were slightly longer and slightly less tight (impressionable pre-teen daughter). I get it though, it’s a show and that helps sell it. They asked if our kids would help them in the show, and they said yes – we thought this was just a general ask as we knew it was a high audience participation show. The arena is covered although we didn’t need it because it was a beautiful night. The bathrooms are clean and easily accessible.
To open the show, they actually called down our kids (so much for a general ask!) and brought them to the stage, and asked them to help give their best lumberjack yell, and the audience would yell it back. To thank them, they gave them each a free mini golf pass. Later in the show another child participant won free passes to their adventure park, which I believe was like a $25 value. Very nice prizes, even though I realize it’s cross-promoting their businesses (the golf passes “saved” us $35).
The emcee was great, and started off by saying you get back what you put into something – so true! They split the audience into 2 teams and do a brief introduction of each competitor. Each time your team wins an event (there are 13), they give your side a “cookie”, which is a sawed-off piece of timber with their logo on it. They awarded this to whoever they felt showed the most spirit on the winning side – my son got one and he and my daughter shared it. It feels a little set up because it was a tie until the end task, but make no mistake about this, they are worked very hard and definitely showed their athletic prowess. During intermission, all kids were invited down to try working the dual saw with them, and our kids were thrilled!
We purchased a pretzel, box of popcorn and a fountain soda for $17.64 – typical for these types of venues. They also offer selling a foam saw before the show starts, and no one at our show purchased it, but they were quick to exit, no hard sell which I appreciated. I also appreciated them not taking pictures at every opportunity and then trying to charge us $20-$30 for them like a lot of the places in the area.
After the show was over, they all graciously posed for pictures, which we happily participated in (a lot of people did). If you don’t get a “Cookie” during the show, they sell them for $5 – not a terribly expensive souvenir. The Lumberjacks/Jills all signed ours for us, and all thanked us for coming to the show. Overall it was good clean family fun, and some of the stunts they did were truly amazing. They had great audience participation, and great energy. Give them a try on your next visit to Pigeon Forge!