I'm originally from East Tennessee and just hate what has happened to the Sevierville-Pigeon Forge-Gatlinburg metroplex. It is just like all the other "gateways" to national parks. Here in Missouri, we have Branson, which is about the same thing. That said, the Smoky Mountains are worth the hassle of grinding your way through that mess. Now, I do apologize if the "Branson" experience is what you are looking for rather that the natural beauty of the park, but I'm more of a swim in the river kind. If you want the natural park experience, you might consider looking at the Townsend area, which is the other main entrance to the park. It so far doesn't have the Dollywoods and such. There are lots of cabins to rent there and you can get into the park without the traffic jams of Pigeon Forge. As Bill said, even on the quiet side of the park the weekends get busy. For instance, I don't think you'd ever be able to drive the Cades Cove loop road on the weekend without about a million other folks. There's a nice drive from Townsend to Pigeon Forge through the Wear Valley, so if you want a quieter place to stay but also want to hit the Pigeon Forge places you can. When you can get to it, Gatlinburg is still neat, partly because the area it is in is limited so the big attractions don't fit. The drive from Townsend to Gatlinburg theough the Little River Gorge is also beautiful.
Chuck