The Island is Pigeon Forge's walkable entertainment district: a 200-foot observation wheel, a choreographed show fountain, and 80-plus shops, rides and restaurants arranged around them — no admission gate, you pay for what you ride and eat. The full tours on this page walk the whole ring; the 2026 films catch the complex mid-Jurassic, with animatronic dinosaurs in residence for a Jurassic Island event running through September as filmed.
Watch: first looks
3 videos · summaries from the actual guidesThe Wheel and the fountain
The Great Smoky Mountain Wheel rises 200 feet over the Parkway — the sunset POV on this page rides the VIP cabin over the complex and the ridgeline. Below it, the show fountain does its routine day and night; a 2026 locals' report tracks its million-bulb light overhaul. The night film at the end of the page is the complex after dark: wheel lit, fountain dancing.
Shops, sweets and churn
The sweet row runs Auntie Anne's, the Big Rock Candy Kitchen's taffy and fudge, Bob's Lemonade and Cinnabon; the Kryptonite pop-culture store is wall-to-wall Funko Pops. Tenants churn — the Key Lime Company took the old Bake Sale spot and a Bigfoot Harley-Davidson store arrived, per the 2026 what's-new film — which is why the locals' channel on this page tracks the complex year to year.
Watch: more views
3 videos · summaries from the actual guidesThe quiet version
One film walks The Island hours before opening, when only the hotel and the coffee shop are awake — the complex as almost nobody sees it. The explainer film answers the basic question ('what is The Island?') with the ropes course, Sky Trail and Arcade City, plus the history of how a stalled development became the Parkway's hub.
Sources: the 9 videos on this page, filmed at The Island between 2024 and 2026.
Watch: the full set
3 videos · summaries from the actual guidesMore Pigeon Forge essentials
Start from the Pigeon Forge hub for the full directory, or keep exploring: