Coaster Community

The Coaster Community team of Ben, Sarah, Janessa and myself decided to take a quick weekend trip down to Branson. Since we have the 3 park pass we have been itching to get into White Water and try out the new slide complex (more on that later). We left Kansas City right after lunch on Friday and got into Branson right around dinner time. We checked into the Deer Run Motel and then made our way over to Dana’s Bar-b-que. This wound up being one of the better meals that we’ve had in Branson. The pulled pork was great and their hot sauce makes it even better. If you’re adventurous try the bar-b-que nachos. They sound gross but they’re easily on the top 10 nacho list.

We were in Celebration City by 8pm and found the park to be fairly crowded, which was surprising since it was a Friday night. We went straight to Wild Cat and had a 15 minute wait. This might be the best ride in all of Branson. Everyone in the group seems to prefer Wild Cat hands down but I’m torn between it and Powder Keg.

Next was a 5 minute wait for Orbiter (still one of the most intense flat rides around).

Ben and I then decided to give Thunderbolt a try. I hadn’t been on it in a couple of years and a 10 minute wait wasn’t enough to keep away again. We sat in the front and the ride wasn’t as bad as I had remembered. Maybe the front is the way to go. After our Thunderbolt ride we had to spend at least 10 minute finding lost wives. We’re considering instituting a leash policy.

Once we got the band back together we went and took a look at Fireballs line. It was a bit long for our tastes so we went back to Wildcat and got 3 rides in while everyone else was at the show. None of our rides had more than a 5 minute wait and we found the night rides to the best.

Just as 10pm was approaching we ran over to Fireball and got on the last run of the night.

On our way back to the motel we stopped and got some beer and unwound on our front deck.

Saturday
Being right across the street from Silver Dollar City really changes everything. We were in the park before 9am, which allowed us to the try the breakfast buffet at the Molly’s Mill restaurant. None of us really loved the breakfast and it was a little on the pricey side. We did get a season pass discount though.

We were a part of the initial run to the rides and were able to get two quick rides on The Giant Swing without a wait.

Powder Keg and Fire in the Hole had not opened yet so we hauled booty over to Wildfire, which had a 15 minute wait. We rode near the back and I don’t believe that the drop brake was one. We fly through it along with the rest of the course.

We found Fire in the Hole open when we got back and waited 15 minutes to ride. We also got to pet Buckets the Dalmatian.

Powder Keg opened right around this time as well and we only waited 25 minutes for the front row.

We then cut over to the Flooded Mine and waiting about 15 minutes there. Ben won again and I will eventually figure out how he cheats and then use his secret against him. We finished up the day at the Brown’s Candy Factory and then the petting zoo. There was a foot long corndog with dippin’ cheese in there somewhere as well.

We were out of the park by 12:30 and at the Dana’s Bar-b-que in West Branson by 12:45. We liked it so much the night before we had it again. On the way there we spotted a horse riding set up and stopped in on the way back. It was $25/person for a 45 minute trail ride and it was pretty sweet because it was mainly shaded and the trails were pretty steep at times. The rest of the group had pretty average horses while mine kicked major ass. It’s name was Sassy and could have easily killed every other horse on the trail. It decided not to though. The people running the show were pretty fun as well. I don’t think that we could have found that cool of a place anywhere near Kansas City.

We then spent a couple of hours chillin’ in the motel before an early evening trip to White Water.

We found a workable crowd at the water park once we got there (around 4pm). After setting up camp at the wave pool we started hitting the slides. We started with the weakest one and worked our way up to Kalani Towers. Our longest wait of the day was probably 20 minutes for family slide Tropical Twister. Everything else was 10 minutes or less.

The freefall side of the tower had no wait at all. People seemed to be really freaked out by it and Ben was one of them. I never even thought about how tall or how steep the slides were. I still suspect that Ben left a little pee on that ride. That drop was extremely intense along with the speed and it probably ranks at the top of the water slide intensity list. We took a couple of trips down and it’s hard to ever get used to it.

The racing side had a pretty long line all evening so we put it off until the very end. This one isn’t nearly as intense but it is a ton of fun. The air-time hump mid-ride is great but you have to be careful how you land. I recommend holding you butt in the air. Ben and I took two runs and split the results. The lane on the left hand side seems to be the fastest.

Our 3^rd favorite slide was Ragin' River Rapids right next to Kalani Towers (we prefer the blue side). I accidentally got turned around at the top and found a backwards trip to be way more thrilling. There’s actually a double down mid-slide that can be a huge surprise if you haven’t been in a while. We took several trips down this slide as well.

That night we had dinner at Outback on the strip. Janessa was the only one that didn’t like what she got. Sarah had peel and eat shrimp, Ben had a pork chop and I gator tail (the coolest meal ever!)

After a good night sleep we spent a chunk of Sunday at the Branson Landing and since it’s a mall I don’t see a need to write about.