Was It Worth It?
Graceland

​Posted November 2, 2025, by Janet Wolfe

What It Is

The former home of rock-and-roll icon Elvis Presley, his gardens, aircraft, memorabilia, and “entertainment complex.”

Where It Is

Memphis, Tennessee

When We Went

July 2019

What We Did

We bought tickets for the most basic package, the Elvis Experience, which included an audio tour of the mansion and access to his gravesite, automobile collection, and other memorabilia.

How Much We Spent

We don’t have records of what this cost us in 2019.  However, tickets today (as of September 2025) cost $46.50 for kids 5-10 and $82.00 for adults aged 11 and up.

How Much Time We Spent There

We had a full itinerary planned for that day.  We left St. Louis, Missouri, shortly before 7:00 a.m. and drove four hours to Memphis.  Our goal was to visit Graceland, get to Sun Studio in time for the 2:30 tour, catch the “March of the Ducks” at the Peabody Hotel at 5:00, grab dinner at Central BBQ near the Lorraine Motel/National Civil Rights Museum, and walk Beale Street before dark.  Needless to say, our time at Graceland was pretty limited.  We spent about 2.5 hours there, but we could have (and should have, if we had remembered the planes) stayed longer.

What We Liked

The “mansion” was smaller than I expected, but it was certainly authentic, from the carpets on the walls in the pool room to the insane decor of the infamous Jungle Room.  You could easily feel like you stepped back in time.  I particularly loved the front room with all of its white decor, including a piano, and stained glass.  The exhibits in the buildings surrounding his house were well done, and the bedazzled costumes he wore that were on display were a highlight.

I also loved that neither one of our kids were impressed by Elvis’s music prior to our visit (we played it in the car in the days leading to our Graceland visit), but after spending time in Graceland, our then-6-year-old daughter became an Elvis superfan.  Her enthusiasm lasted for only about a month after we returned home from our road trip, but it was still fun seeing the impact that Graceland had on her.

What We Didn't Like

My husband wasn’t looking forward to too much on this excursion.  In fact, when we were discussing this stop a few days beforehand, he said that what he was most looking forward to was seeing men dressed up as Elvis and women crying over his death.  He was, however, very interested in seeing Elvis’ airplane collection. 

Unfortunately, we completely forgot about the planes until we were already pulling out of the parking lot.  That was on us, though, not Graceland.  

We didn’t see any Elvis impersonators or crying women, either.


Was it worth it? 

I thought so.  My husband would have been just as happy if we hadn’t visited, but I appreciate the impact Elvis had on the country and the music landscape, and I felt it would be completely unAmerican to skip this “attraction” when we’d be so close.


For more information, visit https://www.graceland.com/.