Branson tips About This Page:

[christiejay]

We just booked a last-minute trip to Branson through our vacation club. We'll only be there a couple of days (May 19-21). Any tips?

I don't think we'll go to Silver Dollar City this trip, but we are going to try to ride the Ducks, and maybe go to Dogwood Canyon Nature area (it is next to our resort - Big Cedar). We don't want to schedule too much, this is mainly a trip just to get out of town!

Any advice on restaurants, or some other smallish thing to do that a 3 year old boy would find somewhat interesting?

[2princessmom]

If you have a car the best restaurant will be Lambert's. It is the home of the throwed rolls and it is a total riot! They actually throw the rolls. The food is wonderful! And it is great for kids. It is on HW 65 halfway between Branson and Springfield.

I don't know if it will be open yet but White Water is always fun to do. Mazzio's is a great family pizza joint. Steak and Shake is also another favorite place of ours.

I love Branson! I also love Silver Dollar City but it has grown so much! Every year it is bigger. But I do like it. I also love all the put put places and the go karts.

My parents live just outside of Branson and we go there probably once a year. I love the factory outlets. Great place to shop! We don't go to all the fancy restaurants but I can ask my family and see if they recommend any.

Have a wonderful time!

[LisaJ]

Are there any good Branson websites? I have been to some, and I don't really get all the information that I need or feel that they list everything that is offered in that area.

Can you suggest any?

[BarryH]

Don't miss Silver Dollar City's sister park, Celebration City. You can go to Silver Dollar City and then Celebration City at night. Don't forget to ride the Ozark Wildcat at Celebration City, one of the best wooden roller coasters I've ridden.

I know Silver Dollar City's website is www.siverdollarcity.com

[ajinterpreters]

That dixie stampede restauraunt is cool for your 3 year old. I dont think we could go to branson without going SDC! we go and interpret there every year in the fall! Your kid will love riding the ducks to! Make sure they get to drive it on the lake! The 2 seater go karts are also a favorite!

[SuperKate]

We Branson. WE always do Silver Dollar City, The Ducks, a show or two (Our favorites include Country Tonite, Soji Tabuci...sp?, The Legends....or whatever is at the palace. We the palace shops, and the Tanger outlet mall (NOT the Pizza Hut mall, that one is kinda junky) Celebration City is great too, DON'T MISS THE LAZER SHOW! It's great. We always do mini golf, and go carts too. We are actually going there for a week in July. I hope you have fun!! Let us know what you decide to plan.

[christiejay]

Well we made it back from Branson last night.

Thanks for the tips, I'm sorry to report we really didn't do anything this time, but now that we've been and know we'll be back again soon, we will definitely check everything out next time.

The problem was not finding something that looked good, but that we fell in love with our resort and did not want to leave. Big Cedar is an awesome place, everybody should check it out if you have the opportunity.

My husband didn't want to spend a lot of money in Branson since we're going to WDW for our main trip this summer, so that's another reason we didn't do much. But we have a long list of things to do next time (we added more points to our vacation club membership, so we are thinking of going back this fall).

We did ride through a portion of the "strip" - I never would have thought it was just a 2-lane road. At least people are nice about letting you into traffic. We rode over the dam and stopped at the visitor center at the dam. There we walked a portion of the nature trail and looked at the exhibits and sat by the water for a while. Joshua enjoyed watching the Branson Belle making its way back to port.

We stopped at the scenic overlook on 165 as well. That was a really nice view. It's so wonderful that they sell ice cream right across the street, since I did not take us a drink for the road and we were very hot!

The rest of the stuff we did was at the resort - more trail walking, feeding the fish, playing on the playground and a 9-hole mini-golf course and a nature exhibit area.

We had our nice meal at the resort as well, and ate at a Chinese buffet on the strip in Branson. We will have to check out the other restaurants next time. The rest of the time we cooked in our villa.

We almost went to the Bass Pro Shop in Springfield but decided it was too far to drive for such a short trip. We'll probably see it next time too.

[lauren-roxy]

Glad to hear you had a nice time Christie. How does your vacation club work? It sounds very interesting.

[christiejay]

Ours is the Bluegreen Vacation Club. It works in basically the same way as DVC does - you purchase points and get the same amount of points allotted to your account each year. Then you use your points instead of cash to make a reservation at one of their resorts. They have over 30 resorts across the US and one in Aruba. Unlike timeshare where you are locked into the same week every year at the same resort, here you get to choose when you go and where, and for how long. As long as you have enough points in your account.

[2princessmom]

Yes, the strip is two lanes although they have widened it at spots. But I remember many a times when we were stuck on the road for hours and I always thought I could get to the hotel or wherever we were going faster by walking. With all the bypasses and growth there are many side roads and back ways to get around now so it isn't as bad as it used to be.

Bass Pro is a wonderful shop and the musuem is fun. Although be aware that the musuem is very expensive. Or at least I thought so. It seems to be very expensive for what you get to see and do. The shops have animals and is fun to just walk thru although it is very hard for me not to buy anything!

If you know the next time you are going let me know and if we are home then we might be able to set up a meet!

[lauren-roxy]

[ QUOTE ]
Ours is the Bluegreen Vacation Club. It works in basically the same way as DVC does - you purchase points and get the same amount of points allotted to your account each year. Then you use your points instead of cash to make a reservation at one of their resorts. They have over 30 resorts across the US and one in Aruba. Unlike timeshare where you are locked into the same week every year at the same resort, here you get to choose when you go and where, and for how long. As long as you have enough points in your account.

[/ QUOTE ]
That sounds like a really nice vacation club Christie, especially since you are not locked into a certain week and you have different places that you can visit!! Thanks so much for the information!!