That's not to say we didn't go to shows and such off the resort.We went to Branson, MO at Marriott's Willow Ridge Lodge and stayed a week. The weather was nice the entire time we were there and we swam nearly every day. We played ping pong and pool in the entertainment center and watched several free movies on the big screen in their theatre room. One night there was a wine and cheese social (the kids drank soda). Another night we ate smores by a fire.
We always go to a store the first day to get groceries for the week. Of course, we forgot something and had to return the next day to pick it up. When we entered, we were greeted by people offering us free show tickets to go to one of their presentations. By now, you know we can't help ourselves. We went and sat through the presentation. What they offered, Marriott already gave us. They were selling vacation packages and if we didn't own any timeshares, we might have been tempted to purchase. By the way, these deals always sound great. It's better to research up front who they are and what they offer. That way when you go in, you will already know what questions to ask and can make an intelligent decision.
While we were in Branson, we went to two shows, two days at Silver Dollar City, and Inspiration Tower where we zip lined over the land at 170 feet high for a half mile at 50 mph :)
We ordered our tickets online before we left home for the following shows. When we arrived at the first show, Hamner Barber Theatre, we found ourselves on the very first row. The show was great with magic, ventriloquism, and comedy.
In fact, during the intermission a magician came out into the audience looking for an assistant. He handed my daughter a flower made out of balloons so naturally we thought he was going to take her up on stage. Instead, he pulled me up onto the stage. We did the introduction - name, occupation, etc. Then the real fun began. He started by placing a large magician hat on my head that fell to my shoulders. I was then taught how to take a bow after each magic trick. All of this act was done with my hands behind my back with a magicians tuxedo wrapped around my front and the true magician's arms in the sleeves. A hand came up to my mouth with a balloon requiring air. I attempted to blow it up and the magician pulled it out of my mouth and the crowd roared with laughter. The balloon was presented to my mouth again for air. I blew it up successfully and the magician started tying it when it flew out of his hand into the crowd. The next trick the magician was pulling out different colored handkerchiefs but somehow they came apart and the magic trick failed again. I reached down to try and save him and he reprimanded me saying that I should not have three arms. I was just trying to help :) The one handkerchief he was able to pull out turned into roses and I bowed. For the last trick the magician took the top hat off of my head and pulled out a real rabbit. I reached over and petted it but it was shaking nervously so I pulled my hand away. I bowed and was released from duty and went to sit back down. The rest of the show was dedicated to the United States Veterans and was very moving.The second show was on the Branson Belle.
The Branson Belle is a large boat ride where you are given dinner and a show. If you ever get a chance to do this, I highly recommend it. Our show contained music from five band members playing a guitar, bass guitar, drums, piano, and Tenor Saxaphone / Keyboards. They were actually background to the whole show but were great. The show had two groups. The first group was a one woman performer playing a violin or piano and singing. And if that were not enough, she performed an acrobat act where she hung around playing the violin. The second group consisted of a five member acapella group. The host of the show was a magician / comedian. He pulled a young girl from the audience and pulled a puff ball from her ear and her eyes lit up. He presented two to her and had her hold them in each hand. He did a trick saying the ball from the left hand would move to the right and had her open her hand. In her hand appeared two balls. She was amazed again. But you should have seen her face on his last trick. He had her hold two in one hand and said when she opened there would be no balls. When she opened her hand five or six balls fell out. It was the most shocked and amazed face I have ever seen. Priceless. After dinner we went out on deck and looked at the large red wheels moving the boat forward. We visited every floor and Amy and Emily met the Captain of the boat.At Silver Dollar City
we visited Marvel Cave which is really cool. Make sure you do not have to go to the bathroom before taking the tour. There are no bathrooms during the tour. In the fall, I was told that you would see bats. We did not see any during this summer visit. If you go and want to see bats, try to plan for Septemeber or October. We love roller coasters and Silver Dollar City has a couple of really good ones, Powder Keg and Wildfire. There was a third one we were going to ride but it was shut down while we were there.All in all, it was a very relaxing and fun-filled vacation. We started our timeshare journey in 2008 and have taken advantage of its benefits for three years. We have had no problems, and after acquiring the second timeshare points, we forsee many more successful vacations in the future.
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