summer vacation to branson missouri ant tips

[gator75]

we are going to branson missouri in aug for a week. can anyone give me some ideas on some fun things to do places to stay and places they like to eat.

 

[pawla68]

We too are going to Branson this summer. We tend to do Disney one year, Branson the next. I have learned a lot over on the www.1branson.com forum. A lot of great people over there.

Paula

 

[Eeyore1928]

Branson is 4 hours from where I currently live. I have been there twice. Once I did overnight the other time we stayed for about 4 hours and left. We are not country music fans at all. So no shows were of interest. The theme park there is so over priced I refused to pay to enter...compared to a one day Disney admission Silver Dollar City is a joke. I did go to the Titanic museum and that was fun for about an hour. We shopped at the new Branson Landing. HHHmmm...there is a Disney Outlet. Other than that I found it to awlful. Very overpriced....A lot of people from here go there...my friends spent about 1800$ there in a week...I told them they could have driven to Disney for that...they were shocked. So this year they booked Disney and were blown away. They felt like they have been short changing the kids all these years dragging them to Branson and watching country music shows and the same dinner show. I am glad I helped them out of thier shells!!

 

[tink fan]

The PP was a little rough on Branson, but there is a lot of truth in what she is saying.

I happen to love Silver Dollar City. I think it is very well themed. Not quite Disney (but who is), but a million times better than Six Flags, or other amusement parks. My kids had a great time there, and have been begging to go back.

If you research tickets, it is not a bad value. I believe you can get 2 day tickets for about $50. Check AAA. Season passes are only about $20 more. If you go and think you'll come back for a few more days, you can trade in your ticket toward the cost of a season pass.

The strip (highway 76) is insane, very crowded and hugely expensive. I would reseach the attractions and maybe pick one. Otherwise you would spend a fortune and could easily go to Disney for as much. It is the proverbial tourist trap.

Remember that Branson is on a lake. Look into renting a boat or jet ski.

Low cost things we have done in Branson is visit to fish hatchery. (My kids loved this); went to lunch at Big Cedar Lodge (theming at this resort equals any Disney resort--absolutely charming). Branson Landing was nice--just a shopping area but well done. Branson Landing also has a Disney Store and Bass Pro Shop. It is near downtown Branson which also had some great shops. There was a really fun 5 and 10. The Disney Store outlet is in the Tangier's Outlet Mall, which was a pretty good outlet mall. There is another outlet mall in Branson, but I didn't really care for it. When I was a child I went to the School of the Ozarks which I remember as being interesting. It is a working farm where area college kids learned hands on. There is a museum there.


Hope you have a great trip!

 

[thewebbs5]

We live about 3 hours from Branson. We try to make a trip up there 2-3 times a year. We've never actually stayed at the same place twice. Well, except for maybe the Grand Country Inn with the indoor waterpark.
Silver Dollar City is expensive, but a lot of times you can get a 2nd day free or if you are going to be there for a week, go ahead and buy a season pass and go several days. It's not much more than a days admission. It's hot and humid in MO in the summer. It is very shady at SDC though. I will tell you that if you are looking for "Disney" at SDC you will be dissapointed. It's a different atmosphere. There is also a White Water.
The Grand Village has some great shops in it and if you like Christmas decorations, then Kringles in the Village is awesome. There are about 6 stores full of Christmas stuff!! It's fun to see Santa in the summer!
We love the outlet shopping malls and the Branson Landing Mall. At the landing there is a Joe's Crab Shack, The Fish House, a BBQ place, Shorty Smalls and a few other places to eat. Branson Landing also has several boat cruises that leave from down there. I'm not sure of the prices. The fountains down there, especially at night, are beautiful!
The strip (Hwy 76) has loads of restaurants. If you are big breakfast eaters (which we are) you can find a full breakfast buffet for $5-6 at several places. We eat breakfast out at least once, even though most hotels have a continental breakfast for free.
There are several go cart tracks/mini golf/etc. I usually buy my card for The Track online before we go and pick it up at one of the locations there. It saves money that way! We love those multi story go cart tracks!
There are a lot of shows. Not just country music. Tons of comedy shows. I've always said I'd like to go and spend a week. Our trips are usually 2-3 days. There is a nice lake there also for fun out on the water!
We also love going to Springfield for a day and visiting the original Bass Pro Shop. Plus Lambert's is on the way. They are the known for their thrown rolls and the pass arounds. YUM!!!

 

[gator75]

thanks everyone we are actually going to disney in may,and branson in aug. we are planning on going to silverdollar city i like the idea of getting the season pass. we will be there a week we are from north dakota so it will be fun to see some new things anymore tips/ keep them comming.

 

[gigi1976]

Not sure if you have kids or not, but my kids love it! At SDC there is an area that my kids could easily spend 5 hours in just shooting these small foam balls at each other. There is a cave to explore at SDC (with a guide). I agree with the comparison of better than six flags. You can ride the ducks (boats that go on water and in lake) in Branson. If you are interested in shows but not country, I would check out Noah-pricey but good. We love the Landing at night, such a nice atmosphere. We went last Christmas and stayed at Angel Inn, clean and cheap plus free breakfast. We have also stayed at the Welk Resort and Grand Country Inn. If you all are campers there are nice campgrounds around or SDC has some cute little cabins you could check out.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

I highly recommend Big Cedar Lodge. It's in Ridgedale, MO, just a short drive from Branson - away from the touristy shops and theaters. It's beautiful!

As some others have said, there are two Disney outlets in Branson (the Landing and one of the outlet malls).

We enjoy stopping at Lambert's in Ozark, MO., on the way to Branson. Yummy food.

If you are looking to go on a budget, check out: http://ozarksfirst.com/content/rewards This is a site from a television station in Springfield (35 miles north, home of Bass Pro). The site has gift certificates for 1/2 price -- completely legit (I use it often). There are several g.c.'s for Branson on the site. I recommend the Worman House (part of Big Cedar Lodge) - goes on sale May 20. If you want these g.c., know that they go very quickly and you have to be ready at 8a.m. (central time).

Silver Dollar City is expensive for one day. That said, it's fun - well themed, clean (much better than Six Flags). It's a "family oriented" theme park. If you go, take advantage of the cave tour that is part of the price of admission. Also, you can take in your own food to SDC if you can do without paying for the $$ goodies inside the park.

 

[cjnix29]

We own a timeshare there, (at Big Cedar that someone mentioned) so we go regularly. Dogwood Canyon is a nature preserve, trails etc. if you like doing that. Make sure you get a map with the alternative driving routes, because the strip is insane with traffic. Talking Rocks cave is pretty neat, my DS liked it, did it when he was 4. We do silver dollar city, like that. there is a butterfly house we haven't done yet, but looks neat. There is a fish hatchery that is interesting. We spend a lot of our time at Big Cedar, so there are activities there for us to do. If you don't mind a drive, Eureka Arkansas is a quaint little town, cute shops. It may be an hour and a half from Branson. Branson is kitchy, touristy....but it is what it is. We have never done a show, think they are too expensive. Lots of putt putt golf courses. There are a ton of coupon books, etc. you can get if you do some research. We have sinced moved to where we are 12 hours away instead of 6, and honestly, I really miss going more often! Have fun!!

We like Branson's landing too...there is a Mexican restaurant there that makes guacamole at your table. It is really good!

You can actually rent at Big Cedar, the timeshare side. It's owned by bluegreen. We love it!

 

[disneyluvnmom]

Thanks for this post, we are going the end of May and I was gonna see if anyone knew places to get discount show tickets. We will probably want to see a magic show or something that will be fun for the kids. Anyone from that area know of Discount SDC tickets on Coke or Pepsi Cans?

Thanks in Advance!

 

[tink fan]

Here's another lodging recommendation.

There's a resort called Still Waters which is nice. It has condos or single rooms for rent. We were there in the winter and pretty much only to spend the night between visits to SDC, but it looked like it would be a great place to stay in the summer.

It is not as nice as Big Cedar, but Big Cedar is probably one of the nicest places in the Branson area.

Another advantage to Still Water is that it is in an area called Indian Point, which is a peninsula on the lake. At the start of the peninsula is Silver Dollar City. Still Water is about 3 miles from SDC, away from the direction of the traffic.

 

[WDWorBUST]

Here's another lodging recommendation.

There's a resort called Still Waters which is nice. It has condos or single rooms for rent. We were there in the winter and pretty much only to spend the night between visits to SDC, but it looked like it would be a great place to stay in the summer.

It is not as nice as Big Cedar, but Big Cedar is probably one of the nicest places in the Branson area.

Another advantage to Still Water is that it is in an area called Indian Point, which is a peninsula on the lake. At the start of the peninsula is Silver Dollar City. Still Water is about 3 miles from SDC, away from the direction of the traffic.

I will second Stillwaters Resort. It's very nice. (www.stillwatersresort.com)
And if you are going to be spending time at Silver Dollar City it is very conveniently located.

 

[iwrbnd]

We spent a fortune in Branson. I like Disney where everything is pre-paid and you know what it will cost. In Branson with our family of 6 it was...one hour in museum=$$$, one hour of mini-golf=$$$, one hour of go-carts=$$$, one dinner show=$$$, ect! It was seriously expensive and nowhere near as fun as WDW!

We were talking about Disney at Silver Dollar City once and a worker said "We don't say the "D" word here!"

I saw a bug in our hotel bed and thought "Is that lice? I've never seen lice before." Guess what? We all had lice the following week!

(My daughter LOVED, LOVED, LOVED the Dixie Stampede, though!!!)

 

[southtexasmom]

My family went to Branson last summer for a family reunion. We stayed in a cabin at the campgrounds near Silver Dollar City. The cabin was ok, my kids thought it was cool. We spent two days at Silver Dollar City, our tickets were fairly reasonable. We also watched the Shepard of the Hills show, my kids loved it. My kids also enjoyed the go kart tracks, there are 4 of the them in Branson, all are owned by the same company, tickets you buy at 1 are good at all 4, we bought our tickets for that online for a discount before we got there. According to my children the best part of the trip was The Duck ride on tablerock lake.

You cannot compare Branson to Disney World, they are completly different, just go with an open mind and you will enjoy yourself.

Stop at the tourist information center to get coupons for a lot of different things.

 

[LuLuO]

I liked Silver Dollar City. It's good for a day. If it is hot there is White Water water park. I also liked the Titanic display. We spent several hours pouring over everything in the museum. We went to a wax museum which was a little hokey but fun. We rode the train, Branson scenic railway. We went through the toy museum. We didn't see any shows, except for the ones at Silver Dollar City. The butterfly house was really cool. We did mini golf a couple of times. We shopped the outlet mall.

My favorite place was just outside of Branson. The Bonniebrook Historical Society and Kewpie Museum. Now I'm not really into Kewpie dolls but this place also featured the serious art and illustrations of Rose O'Neill as well as a couple of her sculputres. She was a fantastic artist and it was really awesome to learn about her. You can take a tour of her house too. They also have different events throughout the year. I visited twice in one trip and I plan to go back again over July 4th weekend.

http://www.roseoneill.org/

 

[tink fan]

Another attraction that is maybe about an hour away from Branson is Laura Ingells Wilder's house. It is the farm she moved to in Missouri when she was in her late 20s and lived there the rest of her life. It is in Mansfield, Mo.

I went there as a child, but haven't been back. I want to take my daughter when she gets into the Little House books.

 

[McKelly]

We were looking at Branson too. Big Cedar looks wonderful!! To those of you who have stayed there, how much more do you spend when you are there, meaning, is the mini-golf, kid's activities, boat rentals, etc. all an additional charge? I would love to stay there, but the room is $$$$ and wondered if I could justify that, with having enough low cost, or better yet, fun things to do that are included in your the room price. TIA!!

 

[cjnix29]

We were looking at Branson too. Big Cedar looks wonderful!! To those of you who have stayed there, how much more do you spend when you are there, meaning, is the mini-golf, kid's activities, boat rentals, etc. all an additional charge? I would love to stay there, but the room is $$$$ and wondered if I could justify that, with having enough low cost, or better yet, fun things to do that are included in your the room price. TIA!!

I haven't stayed on the actual Big Cedar side, only the timeshare side...which you can probably find a deal renting them. If you need help with that (a contact, I am not renting anything out) pm me. But when we go, there is no charge for mini golf, the pools, dvd rentals. There is a charge for horseback riding. There is a shuttle that will take you all over the property. When we go, we have a $5 per day resort fee, so I guess you technically are paying for the stuff, just not per person. And I can handle paying 30 for a week, instead of getting nickled and dimed at each activity. At the timeshare side, you have access to all the Big Cedar amenities, plus additional pools, which are actually nicer than the Big Cedar ones, in my opinion. There is a lazy river. My dad is actually there right now, fishing.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

Another attraction that is maybe about an hour away from Branson is Laura Ingells Wilder's house. It is the farm she moved to in Missouri when she was in her late 20s and lived there the rest of her life. It is in Mansfield, Mo.

I went there as a child, but haven't been back. I want to take my daughter when she gets into the Little House books.

My parents took our children there and they loved it. They all love the Little House show and enjoy the books, too. Great idea!

 

[FoundMyPrince]

Also, if you drive thru Springfield, Missouri, there are a few fun things to do, too. Springfield is a small city (175,000) and is pretty easy to navigate through; it's located 40 miles north of Branson.

Bass Pro Shop is there - a sportsman's dream. There are others throughout the US, but this is the first (there is also a small Bass Pro at the Landing in Branson).

Spfd has a minor league St. Louis Cardinal's baseball team http://springfield.cardinals.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t440 . And, there is an ice rink if you wish to go ice skating http://www.parkboard.org/info/facilities/ice_park/index.html .