I am planning on attending the show this year with the family. Can anyone suggest good central located accomidations. I would like to stay close but not get jambed in traffic everytime we step out the door. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
I would like to attend this as well. Wouod appreciate contact info etc. Have heard about this but have no info to plan on attending. Thank You
Andy63...
I have attended PF for the past 5 years. The stoplights in PF are numbered, and the show is at the Grand Hotel, or stoplight #6. This is roughly in the center of the strip. Picture a 3 mile long straight road, about 4 lanes each way, with a grass median, loaded with storefronts on both sides. Total of about 10 stoplights.
I usually stay at the Royal, stoplight #3. Nothing special about this, but, since this is about a mile from the Grand, you don't get people illegally jamming into your motel lot, although they might well get towed for the trouble. Most the guests at these motels further from the action are regular tourists not aware of any truck show. The same would be for the opposite direction from the show, around light #8, etc.
If you stay further from the Grand, you might consider a casual walk towards the Grand, stopping in stores/attractions along the way; if you get tired, just sit on a bench and wait for the trolley. Can't lose. If you do drive close to the Grand, just be aware that, by Friday PM on, it gets really crowded and hard to find a parking spot. Get up early if you expect to park close on Saturday! (That's one advantage to being real close....all averages out)
PF has tolleys constantly running in a loop from one end to another. They were a quarter, and worth it. They pass by about one every 20 minutes or so.
It seems as if about half of the people I know prefer to stay really close to the Grand, and the other half (like me) stay an arms length away.
Both have good reasons for doing so.
One advantage to staying at a motel around light #3 is that there is a big Krogers about 3 blocks off the main road, which makes for saving some $ on the food, which can get quite expensive if you eat every meal out. Since the Royal has mini fridges in the rooms, this keeps the lunch meats pumpin' for the few days you are there.
We would eat a nice supper out every night, and same with breakfast, relying on the Kroger stash for a quick lunch and a late snack.
A side benefit to the show is that, at light #1 or 2, I forget, is a decent size 55 to 57 Chevy show the same weekend. You'll notice an abundance of these cars there, and that's why.
It's worth seeing, since, if you're like me, being around any one type of vehicle for 3 days or so gets quite boring.
The Chevy show always has a nice group of vendors, so, if you have a GM part on your F100, you can probably find it there. Their show is in a hotel's front parking lot, all outside.
The F100 show has many many vendors inside a big building, so you can rest/kill time in there instead of baking in the hot sun.
Sorry for rambling, but this might give you a feel of the PF / show deal.
Hey thanks for run down, this will be my 1st time, and I had already made reservations at the Best Western Toni Inn, do you know where abouts it is in relation to Grand? Thanks
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Trev the CACWBY in WI - 67 F100
Thanks Paul,
I checked Pigeon Forge.com and found an aerial shot of Pigeon Forge attached to the Willow Brook Lodge site. http://www.willowbrooklodge.com/map.html
Can you tell from the photo where the Grand Hotel is? Anyway thanks for the info. I booked at the Grand Inn across the street. I payed a little more but we can walk to it from there.
The picture is facing east, towards Gatlinburg, which is out of sight but further up the mountain.
The river at the bottom is the Pigeon River. Before you cross it is Seiverville, which is full of malls, food places, Wal mart, etc. This pic is the view you see if you come into town off I40, which most people would.
The Grand is on the left, along side the river, which you see at the bottom but curves up kind of parallel to the Parkway, the name of the main drag. You can see the river on the left middle of pic.
The Grand sits off the road about 1 city block. If I recall, it is past the red roofed shopping area which is in the center of the pic, but on the left,, with it's property truncating on the river. It should be about where the river runs off the picture, on the left middle side.
We went to the F-100 Nats last year for the first time and we are interested in going again. Is there a web site with more information on the event. I thought that I found one last year. Thanks
Outstanding Information, double thanks for your efforts. With a little good fortune we'll see you there. I was a little leary of the 74 F-100's transmission after putting in a new motor last year so we took the y2k F-350. We were a little late to the festivities due to a blown tranny outside of Atlanta at 2:am Thursday morning. With a rebuilt C-4 I think I'll take me chances in the Bardahl Deuce this time.
I've gone the past two years and have both of the full event on tape including the parade and the return to the parking area. There's also links to a bunch of pictures on my website at http://www.geocities.com/tkbowman.
I've stayed at the Howard Johnson which is about 1 mile towards Sieverville and at the last motel on the other end of PF. Both were okay. I've used the trolley's and they work quite well. This year I'm planning to stay a little closer to the Grand; but I'll let Sidestep (www.sidestep.com) make my selection.
New attendees should be aware that the show is virtually over at the close of the awards on Saturday night and the biggest crowds are on Saturday. I recommend getting there on Wednesday and prepared to do serious looking on Thursday and Friday. There's a great swap meet and lots of vendors and the most gorgeous F100's on the planet. I've met some really great people there. I'll be the one with the straw hat on that's packing the very small video camera.
2003 Supernats in Pigeon Forge
