# Branson review



## technoteacher (Aug 4, 2013)

Pick up the coupon books around town and you can save 10-20% or more at many restaurants and shows. Visit 1branson.com for up to date reviews and local information. They will tell you what is good and what to stay away from while you are there.
*Restaurants: *
   Farmhouse Restaurant in downtown – great food and good prices. They serve breakfast all day as well. Their fried chicken and chicken fried steak is quite good too.
   Billy Bob’s Dairyland on Hwy 76 – good milkshakes and burgers but service a bit slow.
   Grand Country Buffet on Hwy 76– one of the best buffet restaurants. Everything we tried was good and the servers are friendly too.
   White River Fish House at Bass Pro Shops – is right on the river at Branson Landing and serves good fish and other dishes in a nice atmosphere.
   Hook & Ladder Pizza in Hollister – firehouse themed restaurant and good pizza. This is not far from the downtown and Branson Landing area.
   Danna’s BBQ on Hwy 165 – we went twice it was so good! They have a huge combo plate with two meats that can be split. The beef was so tender and their beans and bread was great too.
   We visited the College of the Ozarks for lunch at Dobyns Dining Room. The college students run the restaurant and the dining room was beautiful with a great view over the valley. The food was even better. Almost everything they serve is grown/raised/prepared at the school. You also can visit their working mill, jelly shop, and other agricultural buildings. They have lodging on site as well. 
   We ordered our Showboat Branson Belle tickets ahead of time as we wanted the Captain’s Row seating. You can’t get that through any of the discount ticket brokers. We were front row on the balcony and the meal upgrade was worth it. There is a pre-show during the dinner and you can’t see that if you choose the Paddlewheel Club seating. We had 16 oz. ribeye steaks that were of great quality and cooked just right – not an easy feat with the quantity served on a boat. We chose the 8 p.m. show and due to the dinner service, we missed the sunset. By the time they took a break before the main show, it was dark and there was not much to see.
   We purchased our SDC tickets from the Branson Tourism Center. Beware of all the “visitor’s centers” up and down the strip. Most are timeshare sales centers and will pressure you to tour resorts. Branson Tourism Center does not do that as we learned on 1Branson.com.  If you check out their web site first for pricing, we found a gas coupon that saved us on that too. We got SDC tickets with 2 days for the price of one that were much cheaper than what SDC sells on their site. If you are not doing a lot of rides, one day might work at SDC, but it was nice to go back the second partial day to revisit areas  around the park. Make sure you try their flavored funnel cakes – we had never seen red velvet or oreo funnel cakes before. The oreo was wonderful , but plan to share as it was really sweet and rich.
   We also purchased our Ride the Duck tickets from them. We got vouchers we could use anytime. The Duck location on Hwy 76 provides a better experience according to 1Branson and the Tourism rep. We thoroughly enjoyed our time on the Duck as it toured us around parts of Branson one would not normally see and then took us out on Table Rock Lake. 
   The downtown strip closes up around 6 p.m. which surprised us in the summer. Make sure you visit Dick’s 5 & 10 Store which does stay open later. They have every kind of novelty, remakes of old toys and games, and candy. You could spend hours there. 
   Branson Landing is an outdoor shopping strip with Bass Pro at one end and a department store at the other. The lighted fountain is cool. Shops are typical mall shops. The Factory Shoppes at Branson Landing on Gretna Rd. are dead. VF Outlet is there and a few other shops. Tanger Outlet off Hwy 76 was very busy but has all the typical outlet stores you find everywhere. We popped into a number of small shopping centers that indicated local crafters, but kept seeing the same commercially prepared things everywhere.


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## csxjohn (Aug 4, 2013)

technoteacher said:


> Pick up the coupon books around town and you can save 10-20% or more at many restaurants and shows. Visit 1branson.com for up to date reviews and local information. They will tell you what is good and what to stay away from while you are there.
> *Restaurants: *
> ...   Billy Bob’s Dairyland on Hwy 76 – good milkshakes and burgers but service a bit slow.
> .. .   Hook & Ladder Pizza in Hollister – firehouse themed restaurant and good pizza. This is not far from the downtown and Branson Landing area.
> ...



Agree with some and not others.  We visited in May and did some of the same things you did.

I'm not writing this to dispute your findings, just to show another opinion.

We got a book and Branson Gift Card from our resort.  If you can get this there are many discounts.

http://www.bransonguestcard.com/

We really enjoyed breakfast at Billy Gales, get there early, it fills up quickly.

Thought the burgers at Billy Bobs lacked any flavor and the milk shakes were pretty generic.  We much preferred the ice cream products at Cake and Cream.

+1 for the Hook and Ladder Pizza company, located on a street of other shops reminding you of London England.  They have a wonderful homemade crust with herbs that gives a taste hard to describe.

We also enjoyed a visit to College of the Ozarks.  We did not eat there but snooped around for a while.

For tickets definitely avoid what appear to be tourist info centers.  We used the purple bldg, 2 for 1, much info, true half price tix and no TS sales.

http://branson2for1tickets.com/

We did not visit Silver Dollar City this trip but did stop in at the 5 and dime.  One of the largest of it's kind we've been to.

there are tours at the dam that are informative and a trip to the fish hatchery was nice.

I registered on 1branson.com about a week before our trip and stayed active on it getting help from locals and frequent visitors.  In return I reviewed everything we did and everywhere we ate to help others.  Same user name as here and enjoyed doing that.

http://www.1branson.com/forum/

You can look up my user name and see my 40 posts.


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## tombo (Aug 26, 2013)

I am in Branson now and got a great deal at the Branson Belle ticket office. One day ticket to Silver Dollar City is $62. The resort I am staying at has get 2 days for $62 which I was going to get. From SDC the season pass is $99. The Branson Belle has season passes for $50. We have gone 1 morning and 1 afternoon so far. When it got  hot our first day we left because we can come back anytime we want for the whole week. If we want to do things in the morning we can go in the afternoon. We can go to SDC in the morning and go to an afternoon show. For $50 each unlimited admission I am a happy tourist.


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## tombo (Aug 27, 2013)

Also Sunday we were going to the 5 and dime in old Branson and there was a sign in front of a store 2 or 3 doors up the hill from the 5 and dime that said 2 free shows, no timeshare presentation. We have quit going to timeshare sales for the gifts because the 2 hours of beating you up is not worth it. When I asked about the details he said 90 minutes guaranteed it will be over and no pressure. My wife reluctantly agreed. We got 2 tickets to any 2 shows in Branson for our choice of nights and times for attending. I was going to get the Duttons and Six but the guy suggested Marco Polo which had dinner and the show so I agreed to that and Six.He called and made our reservations while we waited, we signed a form, handed him $20 refundable, and left. Out presentation was this morning at 8:30. We had coffee, doughnuts, and went to a meeting room where they did a slide show and eraser board vacation club presentation. At 9:30 we went to an office with a salesman. He asked if we would like to use the vacation club exclusivelly or as a complement to our timeshares. I said neither. Not interested. He told me a couple of lies that RCI was not going to do any exchanges for 3 years because of the class action suit and that because of a court ruling all timeshares were going to charge $1200 to $1500 in assessments. I said then I won't exchange for 3 years and I am going to owe some big bucks in assesments. Within 10 minutes he left and said we had to wait 20 minutes before we could get our gift because we had comitted to 90 minutes.. My wife and myself sat in the office alone talking and playing on our phones for 20 minutes as punishment for not buying lol. No manager after manager beating on you to buy. He handed us our paperworkto get our gifts at 10 am and we went across the street to gifting. They gave us vouchers for $140 worth of show tickets and I went and got the real tickets at both box offices. We were at Silver Dollar City at 11, rode all 3 coasters, went to the saloon show, did the cave tour and left at 4. We went back to our room, showered, changed, and were eating supper at our dinner show at 6. Got back to the resort a little while ago. This is the best, easiest, lowest pressure presentation I have done, and $140 worth of gifts I really want to use is one of the best rewards of any I have received anywhere.


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## dixie (Sep 24, 2013)

*Branson Belle ticket office?*

Boy I hope they are still selling the $50 season passes to SDC. That would be awesome.

We will be there for 2 weeks the middle of October. We are staying at the Wyndham Meadows.  

any advice for that resort?

Thanks


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## KevJan (Sep 24, 2013)

The Branson Meadows has a Dinner with the Stars program on Tuesdays at 4:30 PM that features Patrick and Tracy. It is an excellent program and the food is pretty good too. It only costs $15 for both and is out in plenty of time for an 8 PM show. They also have a Show Sampler/Breakfast on Tuesday morning at 8:30 AM where several of the "stars" show up and do a "sample" to entice you to their show. We attend both of these every time we go and never tire of them. The Dinner with the Stars has limited seating and often sell out so be sure to line it up as soon as you get there or before you go. We love Branson and The Meadows is one of our favorite places to stay!

I've never heard of the $50 Season Passes to Silver Dollar City, where do I find them? I feel pretty good about the $58 for 2 days.


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## dixie (Sep 24, 2013)

Tombo,  Can you just go to the Branson Belle and purchase the SDC season passes for $50? or do you have to buy a Branson belle ticket first and then upgrade for the $50 SDC season passes? Thanks for more information about that!

KevJan thanks for the information on the shows at the Wyndham!


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## KevJan (Sep 26, 2013)

You're welcome. The Meadows also has discounted tickets to many of the Branson shows in a building just across from the Activity Center. What are the dates you're going to be there, maybe we can meet up?


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## dixie (Sep 26, 2013)

KevJan I sent you a PM !


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## tombo (Sep 28, 2013)

dixie said:


> Tombo,  Can you just go to the Branson Belle and purchase the SDC season passes for $50? or do you have to buy a Branson belle ticket first and then upgrade for the $50 SDC season passes? Thanks for more information about that!
> 
> KevJan thanks for the information on the shows at the Wyndham!



When I went to the Branson Belle to buy tickets I asked if they had a special for Silver Dollar City if I bought Show boat tickets. They said yes season pass for $50 per adult. The way I understood it was I had to buy Showboat tickets to get that price. When I called Silver Dollar City they said season passes were $99 each. So you can book a $49 cruise/dinner/show and add season pass for what just the season pass would cost. Also I think they give you a discount on general admission to the showboat when you buy season tickets. You might can call the showboat and get the same deal, or you might have to go there in person like I did. I didn't see that price offered anywhere, even at the Branson Belle ticket office. The lady at the window told me about it.

I did not get the Showboat discount because I purchased paddle wheel club room tickets. They are I  $69 each and to me was well worth it. We ordered off of a menu, had a very nice waiter, and while you dine you are looking out windows at the lake and scenery over the paddle wheels. After a relaxing meal they take you to your seats in the showroom and then you ave 30 to 45 minutes to explore the upper decks and see the sights. The seats are on a balcony with no one in front of you. I would do the paddle wheel club room again in a heart beat. It is only $40 more a couple and the menu choices are much better, the view is fantastic, the meal was good, and the service was excellent. 
http://www.silverdollarcity.com/sho...unch-Cruise/Premium-Seating-Menu-Options.aspx


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## dixie (Sep 28, 2013)

Tombo, thanks so much for the information. I think we will be doing all of that!


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## dixie (Oct 14, 2013)

*Thanks Tombo for the wonderful tip on Silver Dollar City tickets!*

We are in Branson now. The first thing we did was to go buy our Branson Belle tickets and buy our $50 SDC season passes. We are actually not going to the Branson Belle until next Saturday, we are pretty picky about our seat! We have already been to SDC twice. Once to tour Marvel Cave and see a couple of shows, and then yesterday (after going to Dogwood Canyon) to ride the big roller coasters. BTW we got to SDC at 3:00 Sunday afternoon and we were able to get on the most popular rides with no wait. BTW there is a SDC app for your phone which helps a little getting around the park. 

We LOVE Dogwood canyon. Everyone should go on the tram tour. We have done it 2 years in a row. Excellent.


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## tombo (Oct 16, 2013)

So glad that you got the $50 SDC season pass. I was afraid that it was a special that they might have ended before you arrived. I have not seen it advertised anywhere for less than $99 a person. Have fun.


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