When preparing to vacation anywhere; The first consideration is usually your accommodation, that is, your room. And that, my friend, is the main issue. It’s your train of thought. You are thinking of getting a room; not get a vacation.

The following article will give you some travel considerations that will shed some light on how to save money and vacation; the truly smart way.

A room is something you book when you travel from A to B and you can’t make the trip in one day. It’s perfectly acceptable to go to a booking website that has a multitude of room rates and star comparisons. Your goal here is to stay cheap and not bring bed bugs home.

On the other hand, a vacation is supposed to be a pleasurable stress-relieving adventure that is full of rest, relaxation, excitement, and enjoyment all rolled into one. So how to achieve that on a budget, is the question.

I am about to propose a new concept in travel philosophy; Is named “bulk purchases” Prayed “Buyers club planning“.

For example: How much would you pay for a 4-star room that has its own water park inside? What if the water park is free? Now combine that with shops and a restaurant, an arcade, rock climbing, put-put mini golf, and a huge playground for kids. Now you don’t have a room, you have vacations; and you haven’t even left the hotel; how cool is that!

That really exists in The Smoky Mountains; it’s called Wilderness in The Smokies. It is basically a resort. They say it’s the biggest water park in the Smoky Mountains.

Now let’s talk cost for a minute. A room for 2 adults and 2 children costs around $199.00 per night. It sounds expensive; but when you go there, you get the feeling that Dirty Dancing complex meets The Smokes in 2014; just with water slides instead of dancing, but hey, you get the idea.

Also, if you break down the prices, it’s not too bad. You’re saving money on the gas you would have spent to drive to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, and you’re winning a water park that’s free every night. The end result is that you save a little and get a luxury bonus.

We used the water park to get the kids to the hotel at a decent hour (around 6pm) and avoided traveling to unknown places after dark. A safer and friendlier vacation; except that my 7 year old insisted that I ride all the slides with him.

The hotel restaurant was also convenient; if required. I recommend going to FlapJacks of Gatlinburg for breakfast. They have the best atmosphere; the friendliest staff, and the food was good too. FlapJacks gets 2 thumbs up.

We had the opportunity to have lunch at Ober Gatlinburg. The Ober Gatlinburg restaurant had an Ober price. Oh; The 4 of us cost 45.00 for the lunch menu. Thank goodness I had saved my soda reward points; and won a $25.00 restaurant.com gift code.

Ober Gatlinburg has great views; however, it costs $5 to park. Driving directly through the Smokies to the overlooks is FREE. I liked the appearance of the restaurant; however, the best part was the front window. It only has about 5 tables that can be seated there; and you guessed it, they were all full.

The concept of buying in bulk; can be applied here as well. She had earned enough points on soda to not only get a $25 discount card, but she had also won an 8X8 Shutterfly photo book. We didn’t have to spend anything to get printed copies at a higher price. We carried a digital camera; we upload prints to Facebook to share with family and friends; then we linked Facebook to Shutterfly and made our photobook. It’s simple, it’s easy and it was FREE.

Another way to keep the shopper’s club style is on your t-shirts. You can spend $18-$25 for a single t-shirt or you can also find 3 for $18 in Gatlinburg and save a ton. OK, so the Iron-on can eventually peel off on these; but hey, at the rate your kids outgrow t-shirts; you can also save the money.

Another (less obvious) bulk buying tip for The Smokies is from Ripley. We did the Ripley’s Aquarium plus 3. The Aquarium itself is a multi-hour event. It was by far the best of the Ripley’s. By adding the additional optional places; you actually save considerably and it’s quite strategic.

There will be a point where you go from store to store. Walking into one of Ripley’s prepaid locations is one way to stop spending; Entertain your family and save again because you bought in bulk! Say no to $25 fudge; saying yes to the Odditorium or the Guinness Records of Weird.

In short, if you plan to spend a little more intentionally, in the places that reward you; the savings really add up. It’s a lot like shopping at Sam’s Club or Costco for the wholesale deals.

Ohh, I almost forgot to mention; gasoline in the Smokies was 50 cents a gallon cheaper than in Indiana. $3.19 vs. $3.69 as of 3/28/14.

For more savings ideas, check out the 2014 Smokey Mountain Vacation Guide.