Going to Branson mid August

[cshelz Member Find all posts View Profile Close cshelz]

Hey experts (JLB I know you are one of them) give me some good tips on fun things to do with the wife(early 40's) and kids. The 4 of us (My wife, myself, 10 year old daughter and 7 year old daughter) are going to be in Branson and staying at the Sunterra Plantation at Fall Creek from August 10-16 it is on Lake Taneycomo from my understanding.

We will probably do the Silver Dollar City thing at least once and the girls love to ride go-carts and mini-golf. I hear the cave at Silver Dollar City is a neat thing to check out. Discount ticket advice anyone?

The shows all seem so expensive, like at least 70 bucks or more for maybe 2 hours of entertainment. I am sure some of these shows are worth it but dang, I got to feed the family too.

We did the Dixie Stampede in Orlando and it was really fun but this time I would rather do something different. Which "magic show" do you all think the kids would like best-Kirby or Darren Romeo?

Is there a good place to take the kids on a trail ride? They have never been on a horse before, I kind of screwed up and told them we would go horse riding on vacation and they are pumped up. Help!

We would like to go boathing somewhere for maybe half a day, the kids havent been on a big lake before, is there a relatively inexpensive place to rent a boat for 4 people?

Is the Titanic museum or Ripley's worth the money? I guess by that I mean with a limited budget and having a bigger priority to go to Silver Dollar City, Horse Riding, Go Carting, Seeing a magic show and maybe some other shows, if "encouraged" by my significant other to attend one , which one is better?

Any suggestions on fun stuff or restaurants is appreciated.

[wandering gnome Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wandering gnome]

I have listed several websites for discounts. The Titanic offers a family pass that may be cheaper than individual tickets. Several show also offer family passes.

1. Amusement parks
Branson Missouri Vacation Reservations - ReserveBranson.com – Silver dollar City-2 days for the price of 1. Also has celebration city and the water park.

2. Show tickets
http://www.branson2for1tickets.com vouchers are picked up at Branson 2 for 1 location and traded for for ticket at the show (this can be done in advance) He frequently lists ticket/hotel vouchers on ebay.

3. Radio stations that offer discount show tickets-must be ordered in advance since they send them regular mail to your home. On the sites click on entertainment.

Missouri Bargains

Big River Bargains

KRMO AM990 ~ HOT COUNTRY

Bids For Bargains


4. http://www.1branson.com/ a bulletin board fourm that offers general info about attractions, shows, lodging, dining, etc.

[dopeyfav Member Find all posts View Profile Close dopeyfav]

Does Sunterra have a concierge, if so, give them a call; they are usually a great source of information. I know FF has the SDC tix 2 for 1, not sure about Sunterra.

I would recommend Darren Romeo, although Kirby is also very entertaining. Call the theatre direct, they offer a family package, best "deal" I have found. It is for 2 adults & 2 children, perfect for your family. As I remember it was around $50.

The fish hatchery @ the dam is a good place to spend the day with the kids. Moonshine beach is there as well just below Chateau of the Lake, great place to picnic. Branson Landing has a water light show, getting down there just before dark is best, IMHO.

As for Titanic & Rippley, if your family are not Titanic enthusiasts, don't bother. Our kids love Rippleys & ask to go everytime we are in Branson.

Branson is great, hope you enjoy your vacation.
Rhonda

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

They and you would love Darren Romeo.

We have SDC $15 BAF coupons good until 8/26. Each of our season passes gets two $15 passes. We have to be there and present the coupon at the ticket window. We may or may not need them for fam before then, but the boss hasn't told me yet.

The best bet for a day on the lake and a boat ride is to come visit us at the Margaritaville Dock, and ride the BTSRN. From Sunterra about 30 miles, or a half-day drive at Branson speeds (just kidding).

Several shows have family ticket prices. I'm sure the family shows like the Duttons, Hughes Brothers, Pressleys and Baldknobbers do.

(We were disappointed that the Duttons did La Bamba on America's Got Talent last night. I have them on the bubble of the five to advance and suspect they will not, because of limited appeal like Johnny Lonestar, a perfomer scheduled to be at SDC September and October, as is Roy Rogers, Jr., who was in the post office when I picked up our mail Monday. He drives a yellow Hummer, license TRIGR2.) He and his family live not far from us on the lake.

The best trail rides would be Big Cedar, if it is open to the public, and Dogwood Canyon (also affiliated with Big Cedar/Bass Pro). Both are likely a tad pricey, as is everything related to Big Cedar.

There is a trail ride business on 76 HWY across from SDC, with some sad and lonely, but gentle-looking, old horses sitting there waiting for their next victims. Uncle Someone's (not Buck).

There is a trout dock on Taneycomo on Sunterra property. They have rental boats. Tanycomo is a cold-water trout rake/liver (a lake and river combination), and probably not the lake experience you have in mind. Table Rock is.

Don't fret your trip-planning. I have found that most youngins are very content hanging out at the pool at the resort. We have entertained several families with kids that age on the Margaritaville Dock, and they seem to love jumping in the lake, which is fairly inexpensive.

Not far from Sunterra (go away from the strip on 165) is the Shepherd of the Hills Trout Hatchery (free) and then hang a left on 265 at the Chateau, and over the dam, to the Dewey Short Visitors Center. There there is also a paved hiking trail to the State Park Marina (and back).

The other two SDC parks, Celebration Ciuty and Whitewater are very popular with youngins.



Here a site to see what shows are open for any dates:

Branson Show Schedule

[cshelz Member Find all posts View Profile Close cshelz]

Thanks for the tips

Hey everybody, thank you for the tips. All good stuff, I am looking into many of the ideas and am really looking forward to Branson. Vacation is not that far away!

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

We just came up from working on our second dock and playing in the water.

A family fitting your description putted back into the cove in a rental pontoon, to near our dock, and parked it. Then they dropped the ladder and got in the water with floaty things.

They were still there when we came up.

I was tempted to tell them, "If you owned a boat and one of these slips, you would be home now, and could do this any time you want."

[cshelz Member Find all posts View Profile Close cshelz]

Branson Trip Review

Howdy folks! Just got back from Branson.

We had a really good time, except it was over 100 degrees everyday on our trip. (thats suppose to be sweat). Wow it was HOT!

Stayed in a one bedroom with pullout couch at Sunterra Plantation Fall Creek, nice place. There were multiple 3 and 4 story buildings with nice furnishings and big rooms, had full kitchen, screened porch, combo hot tub shower, even had 2 sinks in the bathroom which was handy with 4 of us all leaving at the same time. I liked the indoor pool, kept me out of the blazing sun. The girls liked the outdoor pools better. The breakfast buffet with scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits and gravy, sausage, pancakes, and lots of fresh fruit for $3.99 was hard to beat.

We bought 2 for 1 tickets for silver dollar city and 2 for 1 tickets to celebration city. Reserve Branson.com had the best prices for these places that I found. The kids had a blast. Marvel Cave in Silver Dollar City was interesting and it was a cool (65 degrees) way to break up the heat of the day. The Saloon show was funny, even to a 7 and 10 year old.

We ate at Shorty Smalls, everything we ate was really good. The big nacho appetizer was a meal all in itself. The restaurant.com coupons we had for use at Shorty's were a great deal too. Did I mention the blackberry pie cobbler with ice cream, yum.

Got one of the Track loaded go-cart cards for the kids, they loved riding the go-carts and playing ski ball. The wooden go-cart track was fun.

We had to try Deno's fried pies. Man I wish I had another one of those Pecan pies right now! Delicious.

The free Stone Hill Winery tour was fun, at least it was for the wife and I. brought home some of Missouri's finest wine with me. The kids liked the free grape juice at the end.

The Trout Hatching place by Table rock dam was neat to see. The fish really gobbled up that fish food when you threw them some. There were some BIG trout in some of those cages.

There was some sort of hot rod car show this past weekend, we didnt know this was going to be happening and wondered if people in hotels along the strip always sit on the sidewalks in lawn chairs to watch traffic go by. Seemed really weird seeing all these empty lawn chairs in the late afternoon with no people around them, (which later was packed with "ladies and gentlemen" yelling "burn em off" to whoever drove by). I got a kick out of this. Nothing beats the smell of fresh smoked tires! Later I was told by a waitress at Shorty's that this car show is the busiest weekend in Branson. The 76 strip was packed, took like 2 hours to go a few blocks on Friday night, we stayed away on Saturday, the rest of the week (Monday -Thursday) car traffic on the strip wasnt too bad.

Almost forgot to mention, the Tanger Outlet Mall had some good deals on Tommy clothes, Sketcher shoes and Polo stuff. Make sure to save some money, nothing at home compares price wise. Make sure to get some coupon books.

This was a fun trip, our girls are already planning the next trip with stuff they want to do.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I'm glad you and yours had fun. Hot Rod Cruise In is a tradition we don't keep track of. We sorta know it's time when we see a few of em make it out our way.

Sorry about the heat. You shoulda told me you don't like it so I coulda done something about it. It was 100 again today, but it was nice on the Margaritaville Dock. Yall come visit the next time.

[cshelz Member Find all posts View Profile Close cshelz]

Thanks for the invite JLB. I wish we could have had more time to visit with you and check out Margaritaville. We will be back again sometime soon, the wife and kids enjoyed Branson too. Table Rock Lake sure looked refreshing. Gotta earn up some more vacation days, used all I had for the rest of this year.