Table Rock State Park – Branson, Missouri – Part 2

This post will be another photo dump of our adventures in Branson, Missouri. The second half of the week we went to Wonder Works, rode on the Polar Express, saw Ripley’s Believe It or Not, attended a Steamboat show, and met up with Grandma and Grandpa.

Wonder Works was a fun place. It reminded me of the Washington Pavilion, only on a larger scale.

One thing we had to do while we were in town was hitch a ride on the Polar Express. The Branson Scenic Railway had just started their Polar Express tours, so we had to take advantage of the opportunity. The kids watched the movie earlier in the day as a refresher and that evening the kids were handed their golden ticket and we boarded the train. The train passed by a Christmas light tour as they read the story and reenacted scenes. The ghost boarded the train and Santa came through to greet the kids. We all had hot chocolate, sugar cookies, and were given jiggle bells. Just like the book. After leaving the Polar Express I realized how much of a terrible idea that was. Don’t get me wrong, the Polar Express was a magical experience for the kids, however, parents be warned……… they give your kids rich hot chocolate loaded with sugar, to go with their extra sugared, sugar cookies, then send them home with bells. BELLS! It was bedtime and the kids were loaded full of sugar, jiggling jingle bells like there was nothing more important in the world. If you go, which I definitely recommend, be aware that you’ll be taking home sugar infused kids with jingle bells.

After recovering from a sugar crash, the next day we went to see my parents at the Branson Landing. They were on a schedule with their bus tour, but we did what we could to meet up with them. We spent about an hour with them before they had to leave for their next show. After they left, we were supposed to see the magician Reza, but we received a call just hours before the show that he had been in a minor accident and was unable to perform. We instead went to Ripley’s Believe It or Not. For everyone teasing us about trying to find the largest roll of toilet paper or largest ball of yarn……. jokes on you because we found it!

During one of our last days in Branson, we went on the Showboat Branson Belle, which was fantastic. Due to the high winds that day we had to stay at port, but we still had a great time. The food was phenomenal! There was a Christmas musical and the host was a magician, who was hilarious. Rylen and I about died laughing. We experienced all that Branson had to offer rolled all into one experience with scenery, food, musical, magic and comedy! If you are ever in Branson, add the Showboat Belle to your itinerary.

Branson, Missouri has been one for the books. Colton’s favorite attractions were the Titanic Museum, the Hollywood Wax Museum, and the Showboat Branson Belle. Rylen’s favorite attractions were Wonder Works and the Polar Express. Lylah’s favorite was the Wax Museum, Wonder Works and the Polar express. My favorite was the Showboat Branson Belle, Wonder Works, the Titanic Museum and the Wax Museum. Suffice it to say, we really enjoyed our stop in Branson and having the ability to also see my parents was icing on the cake!