Branson, MO

We had a great time on this trip. The Grand Country Inn and Indoor Waterpark wasn't too bad. The rooms are nice and clean. The Waterpark was very nice and had plenty of lifeguards, I was very impressed. The only thing I didn't like was that the entrances to the room are exterior, I prefer the safety of an interior door. I also did not like the lunch buffet, we went in around 1:00 PM and all the food was extremely cold, even though it's served in the heated bins like most buffet places. (Called the Grand Country Buffet)

Silver Dollar City was fun. Their rides are built to run in cold weather. Their rollercoasters were going even though it was in the 30's. I love rollercoasters but we didn't get to rid many as the lines were way to long. It was foggy the day we went and everyone was wanting to ride them. They also have a cave that they do tours of. It has a lot of stairs and takes a little over an hour to go through. The tourguides are very knowledgeable. It is Christian oriented.

The best of the light trails had to be the Trail of Lights at the Shepard of the Hills. It's one you drive through and it was $35 for the car load. It was amazing and felt like the lights went on and on forever. If you crack your windows you can hear Christmas music being played all over the trail. They also have a lot of animated scenes. Definately worth it.

I really enjoyed the show at Dixie Stampede. We got to see the Christmas show and it was really cute. The food is plentiful. You get a bowl of soup, small rotisserie chicken, biscuit, pork chop (wasn't on the menu but I didn't mind), ear of corn, half baked potato, and an apple turnover. The food was excellent and I can't believe I ate it all (except the soup, really wasn't into veggie chowder). In addition to the normal show, they had a pre-show that started an hour prior to, and if you and/or your kids like horses get there even earlier as the stars of the show are viewable in the stable area. They also take your group's picture as you go in and they come around near the end of the meal service to see if you want to purchase a package.

The Butterfly Place was a little cheesy for $16.00 a person. Luckily we had a coupon we found in one of the hotel provided guides for buy-1-get-1-free entry. They show a little 10-15 minute 3-D movie about insects, then they let you into the Butterfly area. I wanted to go because they had an add for a room full of red poinsettas with 2000 white butterfiles and I figured it would be very pretty. Please be careful walking around. Butterfiles will land on the floor and we saw a few that had met their end from being stepped on. Most of the Butterfiles were sleeping or eating. It wasn't like walking into a room and they were swarming everywhere. A couple times we had to look to find them. Their bug/lizard museum has about 10 aquariums with assorted critters. They also have a mirror maze. It was small, but it was halarious as it took us quite a while to figure out how to get around. You would see other people going through the maze reflected in the mirrors but we never ran into a single person. It's definately a one time thing.

As far as food goes, we did eat at Montana Mike's Steakhouse one night. I found it a little below average for a steak place. They even had a lady that came around and took pictures of couples/families at their table and then came back later trying to sell you key chains. I wouldn't suggest going there.

We also ate at Charlie's Steak, Ribs, & Ale as my sister-in-law and her husband remembered it from the last time they were there. They said the food was good and they had a lady that sang for entertainment. The lady was still there, she has a gorgeous voice and is very pretty herself. I ordered a regular steak and didn't care for it as it was over peppered. They did have very good service and an excellent bar choice. Everyone else enjoyed their food so I would still suggest trying it out.

We went to the Cakes 'N' Cream Dessert Parlor one night (it's open until Midnight). It's a 50's diner that servers burgers and dogs and is especially known for their desserts and ice cream. We really enjoyed our ice cream/shakes/sundeas that night and kept wanting to go back every night, but we didn't get to.

We did not make it to the Stone Hill Winery. We just ran out of time.