I am trying to plan a trip for spring break and it has come up. Looks intriguing online with enough stuff to keep the wife interested and enough outdoors stuff in the area to keep me interested. Pros/cons? Best places to go/see/do? We will have our 3 kids with us and MIL as well so we can get some alone time on the trip as well. Thanks as always for the insight.

Top of the Rock at sunset if you get a night for dinner as a couple and make sure to go downstairs to the Whiskey bar.

I think it depends on what you're after and the ages of kids. Branson proper is very commercialized and not my cup of tea. Think putt putt and go kart type of places in the main drag next to the corny show theatres.

Outside of city limited you have big cedar with great golf and views/things to do. Great public golf around Branson as well. Silver dollar city is a great themes park and I wouldn't hesitate to go back there if given the chance. And I normally hate those type of places. It's clean and has great scenery being in the mountains. Not just an asphalt parking lot with rides like Astro world was.


If you want fishing/hiking/ type of stuff I'd look into NW Arkansas first. Beautiful part of the country. Branson area is nice I just didn't care for the town itself.

Ah so like a mini pigeon forge?

More like Jesus Vegas

That sounds terrible.

It's like Vegas, if it were run by Ned Flanders.

That's not at all what I was picturing it to be in my head. Going to have to rethink this.

Look at Big Cedar. It is supposed to be legit. Expensive, but legit.

We're going next summer, it will be our 4th summer trip as a family, and 3rd time with a group of 12. Kids are 9-12ish next year.

We've always stayed on the lake in a large house in one of the resort style places. We always have a good time, boating once or twice usually, maybe dad golf, we rafted a river one year. We always talk about caves but haven't done it yet, maybe this time.

One year the moms and kids did titanic museum, and we all did an escape room one year. Lots of playing at the dock where they usually have kayaks, canoes and SUP boards, and a floating trampoline for kids.


We've stayed at Branson shores, Watermill Cove and serenity shores next summer. All have resort style pool, arcades, putt putt, firepits, volleyball, etc.

The houses are all nice and new.

We've stayed at Watermill Cove numerous times. Did Serenity Shores this past August, same owners, newer property but odd location and way off the water (substantial hike down hill to get to the dock).

We don't really do the town stuff out of one day. Silver Dollar City is a sleeper amusement park, has some great coasters.

I don't love driving 10 hours down there every August but it's been a tradition with my wife's family for almost 10 years (started when we all lived in OK/KS, now us and my wife's sister are in MN but their folks still in Wichita).

Don't do Branson, do Table Rock Lake.

When do you guys do Watermill?

I love Branson. I was kind of sad I couldn't get the hotel rates I wanted for next week. We have done it twice at Christmas (heck maybe 3 times).

We really enjoy Silver Dollar City. I think part of it is all the lights and things at Christmas, but it would still be fun without it. Our first year we did single day passes. Last year we did 3 day passes. 2 would have been fine, but the 3rd day was barely any more.

We have done mini golf at several locations, some have Groupons. Wonderworks museum is fun for the kids. Pasghetti's is neat for dinner. Pricing is reasonable and the outdoor has a huge meatball. Rode the mountain coaster.

We never have done any of the outdoor stuff except one day we walked a trail. Don't remember the name.

Pasghetti's no offense is terrible food and a tourist trap (sorry JMac).

Wonderworks is pretty cool.

Would love to see Silver Dollar City at Christmas I bet it's cool

Pahdz said:

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When do you guys do Watermill?

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we did watermill cove summer of 2023.

We broke tradition and did Cabo all inclusive with this group this summer, trying to make mealtimes easier.
But honestly we missed all being in one house, as opposed to separate hotel rooms, so back to table rock lake for 2025, this time to serenity shores.

To poster above, none of these seem to be 'on' the water. It's always a steep walk down and not always short. The lake level does move a bit I guess.

Wonders of Wildlife in Springfield is 100% worth driving up to.

Big Cedar is awesome. Dogwood Canyon is beautiful. We go on a guided fishing trip everytime we got to Branson.

https://www.ericseliteguideservice.com/

The only thing we do in town is Sight and Sound Theater for wonderful faith based shows.

Have Fun!

Aggiewes '87

We went for a 4 days in May of 2022. We rented a house on table rock lake. Very nice location. BiL and I played Paynes Valley and Ozarks National. One day we rented a boat and tooled around the lake, swam, packed a lunch. We had our young nephews and they enjoyed all the go carts, mini golf, video game type stuff one afternoon in Branson.

We really enjoyed the trip and have talked about going back.

Our group of 8 golfers has kicked around booking a golf trip to Big Cedar. They are opening a new 18 hole short course soon called Cliffhangers.

Branson (the town) is one of those places that can be fun if you get your mind right.

Sure, a lot of it is cheesy but you know that going in, so you just gotta run with it. My kids loved it when they were pre-teens/young teens. We rented a boat, did the Titanic museum, did that paddle boat dinner show, did the go-carts, etc., etc.

Milwaukees Best Light said:

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Look at Big Cedar. It is supposed to be legit. Expensive, but legit.

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We LOVE LOVE LOVE Big Cedar. It's pricey but we think it's worth it. Drive into Branson proper is about 15-20 minutes?

There are lots of dining options on the resort, there's a Main Event-like venue on site, golf nearby, shooting academy nearby, lake, boating, pools. There is one indoor, heated pool. Free canoe and paddle boat "rentals". You can fish in the lake from shore or take a boat onto the lake - bring your own or rent one. You can hire a guide.

Dogwood Canyon Nature Park is a great day trip. It's "nature" much like Central Park is. Lots of wildlife but definitely not all natural. The tram ride will take you into a separate section of the park that has bison and elk and other wildlife.

There's a really nice spa on property.

We usually book family photos while we are there.

Lots of included activities, too, as well as a kids day camp that you can book the kids into if you want a day with just the wife.

You can rent a cabin that will sleep your family group and you don't have to worry about tour kids' noise levels. I know that a lot of people don't worry about that but we did.

The cabins and cottages have fully stocked kitchens and a gas grill on the deck. All of the cabins have a deck.

Go online and check it out.

We've gone a bunch of times. We usually only go into Branson to eat. We've done a car museum there, and the little five and dime store. We've never done a show. My daughter and I went shopping once while the boys were ent shooting.