Mount Magazine, AR and Branson, MO???

[buzznwoodysmom]

Hi all,

We are headed to Mount Magazine State Park in Arkansas and Branson, MO for Thanksgiving. We will only be at Mount Magazine for one day/night, on the drive up to Branson. We are staying at the Mount Magazine Lodge. Then we'll be in Branson for 3 nights, staying at Big Cedar Lodge.

This will be our first time visiting both places. Any "must see" attractions? We have plans to do Silver Dollar City, we also have a train ride booked, and Thanksgiving lunch booked at Big Cedar Lodge. Other than that we are open to anything. Just looking for suggestions from those who have visited, or live in the area. Also are there any holiday "attractions" that are recommended. Thanks!

[Itchy]

You may enjoy the Shepard of the Hills play which is not to far from Silver Dollar City. It will be right on Hwy 76.

Hwy 76 is the hwy that goes right through the middle of Bransons famous strip. Be prepared for a lot of traffic ( bumper to bumper ).

You can get a map at the resort or the gas stations that have various roads, Red, Green, or Blue that will get you by the strip with less traffic. You might want to use those if you are in a hurry.

Oh! one more place off the top of my head is the hatchery just below the Table Rock Dam, this is where they raise the Trout that they stock the lakes and streams with.

If you drive north to Springfield the have the Bass Pro Shop and Civil War Battle fields in the area as well.

Hope this helps....:mickey:

[buzznwoodysmom]

Hope this helps....:mickey:

Thanks!

Are you from the Brasnon area? Can you tell me anything about typical leaf colors around Thanksgiving in Branson? And the weather? We are from Louisiana and we don't really get a beautiful display of fall color. Our trees are mostly green or dead. LOL. We would love to see fall colors in the trees. Do you think that is possible in late Nov.? And what kind of weather should we expect?

Thanks for any help!

[Itchy]

Oh! I forgot to add that if you go to the Branson chamber of Commerce web site or just do a google, bing or whatever search for the branson area you will find a lot to things that are going on in the Branson area. They do have the Strip lighted up with the Christmas stuff along the way. If you are going to Silver Dollar City for the Christmas light lighting ceremony at night be prepared for and oh my god crowd. I did it one time and never again. If it was compared to Disney World in July, Disney World would be a walk in the park.

Have a great time, I enjoy it when I get the chance to get down there. If you have any other questions you can pm me.

[Itchy]

I sent you a p.m. it may be eaiser to answer your questions if you like.

[Itchy]

Thanks!

Are you from the Brasnon area? Can you tell me anything about typical leaf colors around Thanksgiving in Branson? And the weather? We are from Louisiana and we don't really get a beautiful display of fall color. Our trees are mostly green or dead. LOL. We would love to see fall colors in the trees. Do you think that is possible in late Nov.? And what kind of weather should we expect?

Thanks for any help!

I am not from the Branson area but my father lived about 30 north of Branson off of Hwy 65 so we visited him quite a bit and of course we have spent a fair share of time in Branson. I have also spent time in Branson during our Statewide Emergency Management Conferences.

As far a fall colors it would depend on when you get there in November. You could see alot of leaf colors right now but the winds will take their toll very soon.

Be sure to dress warm as the weather right now in Missouri runs from the Mid 50's during the day to the low 30's at night. I late November do not rule out the chance for either snow or snow flurries.

Hope this answers a few of your questions..:mickey:

[buzznwoodysmom]

I late November do not rule out the chance for either snow or snow flurries.

:

The only thing that would be better than fall colors would be SNOW! Even snow flurries. My kids have not had much snow in their lives. We did go to Colorado years ago, but my youngest barely remembers the snow. And we've had one good snow here. When I say good I mean it was enough to make a tiny snowman and was all gone by mid afternoon. LOL. We've also had some flurries here once, but that's it. They would freak out if it snowed while we are in Branson!

[Itchy]

You will love the scenery as you will be in the heart of the Ozark Mountains. I love just driving around there. Oh! there are all kinds of places to eat. Dolly Parton has a dinner show there and off the top of my head I cant remember what it is called but would be something the kids would enjoy. If you are into country music well you have hit the jack pot. Check with your hotel for discount tickets prices and dont pay full price at the door.:thumbsup:

[buzznwoodysmom]

You will love the scenery as you will be in the heart of the Ozark Mountains. I love just driving around there.

This is what we plan to do, take time to just enjoy the scenery. That is why we are staying at Big Cedar Lodge instead of right in Branson. I think we'll go into Branson for Silver Dollar City, maybe a dinner show, and to get to the Branson Railway, but we plan to spend a lot of our time at Big Cedar. The pictures I've seen of the resort are stunning! Plus there's lots of stuff going on at the resort that the kids will love.

And I've already looked into military discounts. There are plenty to be had in the area, so I don't see us paying full price for much!

Thanks again for all the info.

[Janmac]

My sister loves Big Cedar so much, she bought into a timeshare to spend more time there. Her birthday is the 3rd week in October and she goes there, with her daughter and granddaughter, every year for a week.

Sorry to say, this year the fall leaf colors don't seem to be doing so well. Here in mid-Missouri we had one of the most awesome shows in several years. Vibrant colors in early October. So my sister was hopeful for pretty colors around Branson, but nope. Still, they had a great time.

She has gone to Big Cedar for a long weekend with her granddaughter and has not left the resort. They've kicked back at the pool, playground and walked some trails. Brought movies for after supper.

During their week, they go to Silver Dollar City for two days, but during a regular (not Thanksgiving) week the crowds are almost non-existant.

This year they did a dinner show at the Showboat, the Shanghai Circus and something else, which I'm not remembering. They liked both the Showboat and the Shanghai Circus.

My niece loves to visit the Titanic Museum which is a half scale model of part of the ship. They also liked the Yakov Smirnov show last year a lot.

This year they thought they planned too much, with a show every day. They did not have enough resort time.

As for Mount Magazine - that Lodge is so pretty. We only had lunch there a couple of Octobers ago but I want to go back for a weekend (sometime). The view is incredible.

While you're there you should do the short walk to the high point of Arkansas; the trailhead is in the campground. You won't get any views from there, because of the trees, but there is a nice map of the state on the ground that you can have the kids stand on for a photo op.

The high point of Missouri is not close to Branson, so you won't be able to take that in during a Branson trip. But if collecting high points (at least easy ones) is something your family might want to do, Florida's is not far off I-10.

Regarding snow - we have had more white Thanksgivings, here in mid-Missouri, than white Christmases.

We had 14 people here for Thanksgiving in 2004, some from Morgan City and Houma, LA. As luck would have it, we had several inches of snow on the day after Thanksgiving, to the delight of the two kids from Houma, who had never seen snow.

You never know!

Jan

[buzznwoodysmom]

Jan,

Thanks so much for the info. We've wanted to stay at Big Cedar for years. The resort looks absolutely amazing, especially around the hoidays.

It's great to hear good things about Mount Magazine Lodge. We really know nothing about it other than that it's pretty. LOL. My SIL found it while researching for their trip to Branson this past summer. They just couldn't fit it in this summer, so when they decided to go back for Thanksgiving with us it was a "must do" for her. We plan to spend the day walking the trails and whatever else the lodge may have to do.

I am going to cross my fingers and toes that we get so see some sort of snow. That would be amazing. We have a polar express train ride booked one night. It would be awesome to see at least some snow flurries for that. The kids would flip!

Also, do you have family from Louisiana? My husband was born in Morgan City. He also just recently was the Commander of the Houma National Guard unit.

[Janmac]

We kinda have family from Louisiana. :D

My niece's daughter's other grandparents live in Houma, and we say her daughter's two half brothers do, too, altho they are more in Dulac. We were lucky enough to talk my grandniece's grandparents into touring Disney World with us in 2010. They are so fun and had a great time. My grandniece thoroughly enjoyed having all her grandparents with her (talk about souvenir buying!)

Our DD and her family lived in Morgan City for several years while her DH (Coast Guard) was stationed there doing ship inspections. His next duty station was Duluth, MN. They moved in March - major weather shock. He retired this past August with 30 years in. Very impressive retirement ceremony.

Some very good friends of DD and her family - also Coasties - just recently moved to Houston from Patterson, LA.

So, we made many trips to the Morgan City area, driving through Lafayette, of course. We like to take the scenic routes.

Thanks to your husband for his service. In the last few years people have been thanking DH for his service which is so nice now, since when he retired (1974) military service wasn't something one was appreciated for.

I think you will really enjoy Mount Magazine and Big Cedar, snow or no snow. :thumbsup:

Jan

[buzznwoodysmom]

Thanks to your husband for his service. In the last few years people have been thanking DH for his service which is so nice now, since when he retired (1974) military service wasn't something one was appreciated for.

Jan

Your right about that. DH's father served in the Army, as well as his grandfather and great grandfather. My FIL has often said that soldiers today get the appreciation and recognition they deserve, but it wasn't always this way. A big thanks to your husband from our family for his service as well!