Branson Vacation

We always stay at Stillwaters Resort while we are in Branson, it is about 4 miles from Silverdollar City. This will be our third time staying there and we've really enjoyed it every time. Lots of things are included such as bikes, cane fishing poles, canoes/paddleboats, two outdoor swimming pools/game room and a nice park. They have boats/tubes for rent. We rarely even leave the resort but did check out the new shopping center The Landing?? which was very nice. We plan on Riding the Ducks this year which I hear is a lot of fun.

Hi M.! I used to live in Springfield, Mo which is about 45min from Branson. Have you been to Ripleys Believe It Or Not? How about the Titanic museum? I don't know how much adventure you're family is looking for but there is a place in Branson that offers helicopter rides and that ride has fantastic aerial views of the Ozark hills!! There is a great place to eat in Ozark, MO called Lamberts, the home of the throwed rolls lol. They have GREAT food there! Also if your family enjoys camping hunting or fishing theres a neat store in Springfield called Bass Pro Shops which has live fish feeding shows, that is great for kids... Well I hope some of these ideas are helpful to you and I hope you have a great trip!

I didn't read all the responses so I hope I don't have a duplicate idea but you might check out ReserveBranson.com to book your hotel and tickets. We got a great package deal at Grand Country water park hotel and 2 day Silver Dollar City passes. It is a completely painless process and you can make changes up to two days before your trip in most cases.

I suggest the Titanic museum, my girls loved it and want to go back. If you plan to go to any shows go to see Liverpool Legends if you are a Beatles fan. They are very close to the real thing. If you are going to be there long enough, you used to be able to pay for Silver Dollar City after three one day and get back in the second day. If you do that you can get more out of it and not wipe yourselves out doing everything in one day. In our opinion, skip the Butterfly Palace. My girls are nine and twelve. We went there a few months ago and none of us thought it was worth the money.

On the way, you might want to visit the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Missouri. Well worth the trip. Also, at the School of the Ozarks, just south of Branson, they have a full working watermill with a beautiful water wheel(Edwards Mill) that sells stone ground products - if that sort of thing interests you. Also in the area is Eureka Springs, Arkansas which is a fun place to visit too. There is also an exotic animal farm near the MO/AR border just south of Branson. Don't remember the name - but the kids loved hand feeding the deer. Have fun. The area is beautiful.

M., we just got back from Branson yesterday and my son had a great time. We stopped at a drive through zoo and Conner got to feed the animals through the window. We tried to go to Whitewater but there were just soooo many people there, if you do go then go to the Track and get discounted tickets for Whitewater. We ended up going to Moonshine Beach. Your whole car load gets in for $4 for the whole day. Depending on how old your children are, Kids Country is a little 'carnival ride' place.

Dixie Stampede is the best. It is one of the more expensive shows but has great food and the kids will love it. We really enjoyed it and plan to go again during the Christmas show sometime. As far as discounts go, I can't help you there. We get military discounts for almost all entertainment we do so is usually just as good or better than other discounts that are offered.
You can go to their websites and sometimes there are online discounts. We use travelocity, hotels.com, orbitz most of the time to rent hotels but did notice there are pretty cheap ones available in Branson as well when we drove down the main drag. Some of them were cheaper than the one we had but we stayed in a nice one that had an indoor heated pool, jacuzzi, and sauna. Our youth group has stayed in the one with the water park and liked it too and it is pretty reasonable.

the other option to get a cheap vacation is to call one of the time share resorts and see what special deals they are offering. You go to their sales pitch meeting and you can usually get your hotel and a show or 2 for free. My parents have done this a few times for vacation and got 2 or 3 nights hotel paid and a few shows.
We did one of these in Florida and since we had our hotel and attractions already paid for they paid us some money and had a nice buffet breakfast. If Florida you can get Disney tickets for the family free or other park attractions and some pay for your hotel stay as well.

McDonalds has a $5.00 off coupon on the paper that they put on their trays.

Hi M.,

We just stayed in Branson for a couple of days with our Granddaughters. We don't visit Silver Dollar City tho - as we have Six Flags here in St. Louis.

We stayed at a Hotel called the Grand Country Inn. It actually has an indoor water park of it's own. The girls had a blast. If you look into staying there tho - pay the couple of bucks extra to stay in the main building - some of the other buildings can be quite a hike to the water park building.

There is also another hotel there that now has a water park. Although it's brand new, we chose not to stay there after we had read all the reviews - it had just opened and there were MANY complaints - you could reread reviews tho, it may have gotten better now that it's had a while to be open.
www.grandcountry.com
I can't find the other one right now, but try the website below for deals in Branson.
http://www.bransonhotelsmo.com

Have FUN!

N.

We just got back from Branson last week. We had a great time. We got season pass tickets for Silver Dollar City and got White Water tickets with them. It was cheaper to buy the season passes than to buy tickets for both parks individually. The kids always enjoy Riding the Ducks. We went to the outdoor play at Shepard of the Hills. It is an old western so there is guns, horses, and fire. My 4 year old was at the edge of his seat and I enjoyed the story line. We also go to Branson Landing for a little shopping and the outdoor light show. We always stay at Lilly's Landing which is just a little ways off of the strip, but on an arm of Lake Taneycomo. The kids can fish off of the dock, they have a playground and swimming pool. Of course, each condo has a kitchen and BBQ grill so you don't have to eat out all of the time. Have fun!!

*The Kirby Van Birch Magic Show (call ahead and you'll be able to get front row. They will love it.

*The Noah Show (Haven't been yet - but everyone I know that went said it's great)

*The Dixie Stampede The food and show are great!

*Laser Tag (Do this with your kids - they will never forget how much fun you had)

Have Fun,
L. (H. now)

Hi M.!! Branson is one of my family's favorite vacations. We always have stayed at the Residence Inn. When we had 2 kids it was perfect. Then we stayed in a 1 bedroom room that had a fold out couch. It has a full kitchen, indoor pool, complimentary hot breakfast every morning (the menu changes daily), plus a hospitality time in the evening. This also changes. We have had hot dog, hamburgers, mexican night just to name a few. The other part that is great is that it is right next to an access road to get to area attractions so you don't have to mess with the main strip. Saves a lot of time and frustration. I hope you have fun!!!
T.

Stop at Oceola Cheese on the way down, you can just taste all the cheese you want and/or purchase some to take with you as a snack. Love that place.
We like to try out all the mini golf places. Don't know if your kids are big enough, but they are fun. We like the Gold Miners (I think that's the name) you travel to the beginnning of the course by a train. And the pirate one...don't remember the name of it either. There is also the one that has the bumber boats and go carts that is fun.
You can do the Duck Ride and tour the city. If you are pregnant or have back troubles then you may want to stay behind. It is a bumpy ride. Kids love it though! Especially the duck call whistles.
We usually go up and spend a week at our time share and go the cheap route and find stuff to do. Pick up some of the coupon books at one of the resturaunts...or local magazines (the free ones)...they always have coupons and descriptions of some of the smaller fun places to go to. We always make sure to pick several up and go thru them on the first night to see what we want to try or do. Hope ya'll have fun. Good luck and God Bless.

We use BransonOnline.com to book our tickets. They deliver them to our hotel for free so we don't have to stand in line. Also we are looking into using BransonPremierTours.com for our Family Reunion that is coming up in November. I hope this helps.

Absolutely do Silver Dollar City....we've held season passes for 20+ years now & all of the kids in the family still enjoy visiting - even though the oldest are both 21! It's Kids Fest right now & the JEERK Urban Dance Team is awesome. The kids can't wait to see the show again!

Some our personal favs are: Dixie Stampede, The Track, the bumper boats, Ride the Duck, excellent mini golf courses, window shopping at Branson Landing (water-pyrotechnics show is a delight), & of course The Shepherd of the Hills play!
Another outstanding site would be Fantastic Caverns (outside of Springfield)...you ride thru in a Jeep & it's well worth the entrance fee. Oh, oh, & we've also taken a ride on a catamarran out on Table Rock Lake...it was awesome!

We stay regularly at Carriage House (indoor pool), 12 Oaks (outdoor pool), & Spinning Wheel???next door to 12 Oaks (outdoor pool). These are all in Branson. We also use Deer Run (outdoor pool) which is just past Silver Dollar City. It's no frills, serves a good breakfast, is cheap, & is right next door to the park....& surprisingly low traffic!

As for Lamberts Restaurant (Ozark, Mo)- get there when they open at 10:30 or you'll wait forever to get in! Huge portions, good food, great atmosphere. The Farmhouse (old section of Branson...near the Landing) is also excellent! & if you go to Dixie Stampede, the meal is part of the package & is quite an experience - have your camera ready - the food is basically slung onto your plate which really surprises kids! It's a blast & you're served a ton of food: a Cornish hen (whole), pork, corn, biscuits, apple turnover,etc.!! Oops, & as for Celebration City, they're shut down.

On another note: we did both St Louis & Branson on our vacation 3 weeks ago! We're very lucky to live in mid-MO, within easy traveling distance to both cities so we didn't have to pay for hotels. I did respond to your St Louis ??, & want to say "thank you"... answering your ?? brought back good times/thoughts! Have fun...

Check out their website...they have something running right now where you buy two days (one at Silver Dollar City and one at White Water) and you get a third day free (at Silver Dollar City. Also, I think they still have it where it if you get the Silver Dollar City park at three or after, you get the whole next day free.

M.,
You should check this website called VRBO. You should be able to find some good deals there. We use this site every year. We will be staying in a condo for 1 month. We stayed in one last year as well but for only 2 weeks.
Anyway, enjoy yourselves. God bless...K. ____@____.com

Hi,
Celebration City might be more fun for the kids and is a little cheaper than Silver Dollar City and has more rides. My parents like the Branson's Best Hotel, it has cobbler,ice cream and cookies at night and a warm contenental breakfast in the morning and has a waffle maker (my kids favorite part). Lambert's restaurant is located in Ozark, Mo on the way to Branson, they throw rolls at you and bring around sides like fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes, fried potatoes, and molasses. They have a web site. A great restaurant that you won't be hungry after. If you go be sure to just order small if it is available because their full portions are way too much to eat. If you can find coupons for The Track it would be a good idea, I think there are 3 of them in Branson, they have games and go carts, we usually end up buying their special card for the rides. The card works at all their locations and my kids always want to ride the go carts and play in the arcade for a while.