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 We were able to start this trip a little earlier than normal, which put us in Branson just after 8pm. Our first order of business was to find a room near Silver Dollar City. Traffic nightmares in the past pushed us out towards the park with this search and after shopping around for a bit we settled on Deer Run. This is probably one of the best moves that we’ve made on a Branson trip yet. The motel is just south of Lot L on Indian Point Rd and includes a free shuttle to the front gate. There’s also a discount for season pass holders. The rooms are on par with pretty much every other motel in town, clean, spacious and with comfortable beds.
After checking in and dumping our stuff we realized that we still had about an hour of Celebration City time left. We popped in and were able to get 2 rides in on Wildcat, as well as a ride on Fireball without a line on either. We also had heard good things about the Celebration Show so we took a peak at that as well. It, like most shows, didn’t push our buttons so we made use of the remaining few minutes for a final ride on Wildcat. Saturday morning we tried out the continental breakfast at the motel (cereal, oat meal, mini donuts and waffles) and then caught the 9am shuttle to the front gate of Silver Dollar City. I am officially recommending Deer Run if you're planning a trip to Silver Dollar City. Not fighting traffic and being in the park before it opens is ideal. After farting around for a few minutes we were part of the initial 9:30 run to the thrill rides, and found ourselves on The Giant Swing’s initial run of the day. A line still had not formed so we got 2 more runs in before we tried out the High-Low Silos. Janessa was in-charge of pulling us up there, and being the thrill seeker that she is, we took a couple of dips prior to the ride ending by letting go of the rope. Our competitiveness came out in the Frog Float (a water frog race) and Janessa beat me like a drum. Her frog is currently being investigated in a steroid case.
With crowds still being light, we high tailed it over to the Grand Exposition. We figured that this was our best opportunity to score the kiddie credit on the Grand Exposition Coaster. We were right and only waited through one cycle. We saw that all of the rides were lacking lines, so we walked onto the Elephant March, Racing Regatta and the Magnificent Wave Carousel. The Swing was shut down right in the middle of the ride due to wind. I guess that the swings were bumping into each other. Instead of waiting around for the wind to die down we darted up the road for some skillet eatin'. Janessa and I had the potato skillets from Tater Patch, which includes a mix of sweet and regular potatoes, onions, peppers and sausage. This was the first time that we were ever able to walk right up and order. The line usually keeps us from even trying it, but now that we've tried it, I'll be more willing to stand in line. It's a great meal and with the season pass discount it's right around $6.
Break time was over and we finally found our first real line. The Flooded Mine had us standing still for at least 5 minutes. Once on the ride, everyone else in the boat cheated and stuck me with a gun that didn't work so well. I can't think of any other reason why I would come in last.
Since we were in the area we rode Thunderation and walked right onto the back row.
We stopped by Wildfire on the way to Powder Keg and walked onto yet another back row. This is one of the better B&M drops out there.
Powder Keg presented us with our longest wait of the day and was right around 20 minutes for the front row. I can't image this ride ever getting old.
We thought that one last ride on The Giant Swing would be fun but the lines spilled out onto the walkway, so we decided to milk the cow and move on.
We had about an hour and a half to waste before our shuttle picked us up and took us back to the motel, so we decided to head underground into the Marvel Cave. We've done the tour before, but this time we had better cameras and made the most of being in the back of the pack. It was also a nice break from the sun.
Once out of the cave we still had 30 minutes to blow, so we found a part of the park we'd never seen before, the petting zoo. If you haven't checked it out it's to the left of Main Street in Homestead Ridge. There's quite the collection of farm animals and they'll even let you pet some of them if you don't look to hungry.
We were back at the motel by 4pm. After a quick break we finally granted a long standing Janessa wish and went to the Stone Hill Winery. They offer free tours and a wine tasting at the end. The tour was pretty much a lecture on how many awards they won, a video and then a look at their storage facility. The wine tasting was the main objective though and this was not a let down. They poured close to 15 samples and they kept getting better and better. We walked out with 4 bottles.
I've heard from multiple sources that the new Branson Landing in downtown Branson was a must see, so we drove and we saw. It's on the east side of I-65, which is a part of town I never even knew about. We were happy to see a lack of traffic and found a spot up front in the mall parking garage. I was impressed with the new development. The quality of shops and restaurants exceeds what you'll find on the strip and it's right on the lake. We tried out Sullivan's Steak House, which is located right next to the fire and water show. We spent a little over $100 for dinner and it was worth it. After dinner we were able to catch the fire and water show. It's a cool show and all, but I don't need to see it a 2nd time. It's basically large balls of fire being blasted up into the air behind an elaborate fountain show.
With time still left to spare we went back to Celebration City for more night riding. We got two rides in the front of Wildcat, a ride on the Orbitor (Janessa was nearly jettisoned, which made her ride even more exciting) and another spin on Fire Ball. We decided to try out the new ride, Stinger and found it to be a great spinner. It actually made me a little dizzy and I was hopped up on ginger supplements (used for motion sickness). Just before the park closed we got one last ride in the back of Wildcat. I am now certain that the front kicks the back's butt.
Hungry for something sweet we found Andy's Frozen Custard out on the strip and this place gets the Jason stamp of approval. Three of us had the turtle sundae and it was loaded.
On Sunday we slept in a little before heading to the Titanic exhibit. Janessa had this on her wish list since last year and I finally caved. It's $20 per person and takes about 90 minutes (much longer if you read everything in there). I actually thought that it was a better than most of the exhibits that we've seen elsewhere. The mechanical tid-bits kept me occupied while she read about people and silverware.
Our Lambert's tradition was the only thing between us and home. We got there right around lunch time so the wait was about 45 minutes or so. We made use of our time in the neighboring cheese shop munching on samples. The meal was everything that you would expect from Lambert's, heavy and plentiful. If you've never eaten there you are missing out. Photo Gallery Trip Disscussion |
