A Review of MagiQuest In Pidgeon Forge, TN

Today is a change-up from my usual form.

In my articles highlighting the areas around my home, I try to focus on little unknown nuggets to the world. And I try to steer clear of tourist-trap kinds of articles - unless I go and they are outstandingly good experiences ... or really bad (hey, I'm not going to let my fellow family fun-seeking adventurers waste precious time and money on something that was crap).

I also feel like maybe, my articles can highlight some important factors on whether or not you're really going to try some of these things when you roll up to visit the beautiful state of Tennessee. So today, I will tell you about our experience at MagiQuest, in Pidgeon Forge.

Fellow Magi, Wizards, Sorceresses, and Enchanters... and regular goths and nerds... MagiQuest is a bomb-ass place for us to unite.

You start your experience by walking into the lobby of a giant castle. And even as an adult, walking into the looming shadow of a giant freaking castle building makes you feel excited and anxious to get inside.

When you walk into the lobby where you don your wands and toppers, and are given instructions on how the whole place works (and do the initial forking out of the gil, Munny, moolah, and cash) to a maiden, garbed in Ren-faire attire. Down on this bottom level, it's an arcade. Loud, noisy, with all of the bright flashing lights. This arcade uses the more modern "card" system where you get little 'debit cards' to hold all your tokens and tickets, and even your access passes to the mirror maze and mini-golf Pirate Adventure, also located on the bottom level.

You can see upstairs a balcony where the magical story adventure waits for you and your party of Magi.

Wait. Let's talk about the first thing your party Treasurer wants to know.

Let's be real. When you go to a place like Pidgeon Forge on your travels you can expect to spend some hard-earned currency. It's a tourist town, with all kinds of attractions and frilled-up adventures, helicopter rides, and much more. The buildings are upside down and shaped like sunken ships, and of course, castles. You can feel your wallet wailing in pain the moment you drive into this crazy town of Pidgeon Forge. It's not a place you vacation to without a budget and a plan.

The first time going to the place is more expensive than returning if you are more local and want to buy wands so that you can return next time and continue your game progress (yes, real-life video game mode ACTIVATED).

There are special online offers that will save you some money - like the family plan that includes game time, loaner wands, maze and golf access, and arcade tickets for 4 people for around $90. Otherwise, when you walk in there, if you want the full experience and a wand to keep, you're looking at 35 bucks a person, with 90 minutes of game time, a BASIC (they have light up special wands and toppers to purchase too) wand and topper to keep, access to the mirror maze and the pirate golf adventure.

I'm going to give you a hint: The mirror maze ticket by itself is like $11. The maze is not worth $11 to just purchase by itself. It's tiny, and you can find your way out of it in less than 5 minutes. The best way to go about this adventure is the bundle package because the magic adventure is what this place is really about, but you don't want to miss out on the other things too.

My family of 8 people, 2 of the children being free for ages, was $233. So naturally, things will cost much less if you don't have as big of a family as I have. With MagiQuest, it has enough variables inside to save you money in the long run by having several experiences - the arcade, the mirror maze, and the mini-golf pirate adventure.

For me, though this trip could have been considered pricey - so why I don't think $233 was expensive for this experience? My family of 8 people spent 4 hours playing our hearts out here. Mazes, golfing, video games, AND an hour and a half of magic adventure, where I got to play pretend with my kids, acting like powerful Magi, questing to collect more power to save the world! We topped the day off with a hearty buffet dinner - my two-year-old slept until 11 the next morning. Worth. It.

Now that we have that nasty business out of the way, let's talk about the fun.

Let's talk about the small fry fun first - save the best for last I always say. I've already mentioned the arcade, and the handy little (much more sanitary) token card and you can play til your heart's content or your wallet is empty (it's about the average price for credits, $10 for 40 credits). Candy and concessions are available too.

The mirror maze is guarded by a member of staff, and they slide your card to use your access ticket. They do make you put on little restaurant disposable gloves so you don't touch the mirrors and leave fingerprints (which would dampen the experience). It's just a small little maze, that surprisingly enough you can get separated from your party in and get lost in for a few minutes.

But no fear, it's not mazey enough for your kids to get stuck and lost. It would be easy for a staff member who is familiar with the maze to go in and rescue panicking people (because being surrounded by mirrors can be a very strange and anxiety-evoking experience for some).

To the right of the entrance, the pirate mini-gold adventure stands. A rack has clubs and a machine where you get to pick a colored ball of your choice. You go through a door into a very dark but colorfully neon room that has vivid scenes painted in black-light paint, and a little maze of painted mini-golf holes are scattered about in a series of little florescent rooms.

The 18th hole is where your ball goes back for collection and sorting into the machine. The whole experience is immersive fantastical, and very piratey.

But the upper level of this castle is where the magic is happening.

So let's run through this. You walk in, you talk to the Castlekeeper (not their official title, it's just what I'm calling the cashiers who get you started). You pick your wands - if they are loaner wands you get them upstairs. But if you're purchasing your wands to keep you get to pick them out right here.

They have many different types of wands to choose from, including special light-up wands with prettier designs (cost extra of course, but not too much, only $15). There are 3 types of basic toppers, or you can purchase a special fancy one for $15. The toppers, by the way, are the fancy ends at the end of the wands. You can create an eclectic elemental wand, or a specific themed wand according to your favorite elements essentially.

You go upstairs (or if you have a stroller, up the elevator) and check in with more Castle Keepers. They will activate your wand by typing your real name and age, then giving you a Wizard name that you will see displayed at the 'quest stones.' and then putting the timer on them. If you have never been before they will take you into the training room and tell you the rules (no running and being disrespectful and stuff basically), and how you how your wand works, and let you practice on a few items in the room.

They release you in the middle of the forest realm and direct you to the quest stones, where you and your party point your wand at the screen in the pillars that look like Stonehedge in a tight circle. You can either start a quest, begin an adventure here on this screen, or check the status of your current quest.

From there this turns into a real-life video game with really cheesy but amazing graphics. The quests are you collecting your powers, in the form of ruins. There are three different 'realms' that you can roam, 'collecting' treasure and quest items, and interacting with various magical items that talk to you - usually having something smart-alecy to say. There is the forest realm, home to mysterious faeries and sprites, and deep within houses the Goblin King. The village, where there is an inn, a Princess, a warehouse, and a secret passageway to the ominous and slightly scary (for my 5-year-old anyway) Dragon Realm, home to the fierce Red Dragon and other terrifying adventure bosses.

There are tons of other people in groups (and kids) doing their own quests and adventures around you but it is a polite, bustling atmosphere. Almost everywhere you turn there is something interactive. You loot gold from chests, collect runes, and get lost in the treasure hunt for each clue.

And if you bring kids, you can play pretend with them in public SHAMELESSLY.

Yeah. I'm that kind of mom. My life goal is for all of my children to be into cosplay, LARPing, Roleplaying, and Anime by the time they're old enough for me to take them to Burning Man. But they will still have a strong sense of reality, a good work ethic, and a healthy mental state (hopefully- this part I'm dreaming big - let's hope I'm awesome enough to pull that kind of human being off in at least one of my kids).

My personal experience here at this place: 10/10

So if you are into magical adventures, interactive settings, and all-day adventures with your family - I would highly suggest MagiQuest if you're in the area (Pidgeon Forge, East TN).

Website: https://www.magiquestpf.com/

Time is precious, thank you so much for taking some to read my article. I hope you enjoyed it and it proved useful in some way!

Find my fictional fantasy book "Memoirs of the In-Between" on Amazon in paperback, eBook, and hardback.

You can also find it in the Apple Store or on the Campfire Reading app.