Top Budget Friendly Things To Do Branson, Missouri

Exciting things await you in this transitional state between the South and the true Midwest: Missouri. A surprising oasis of family fun in Branson is like the fun of Vegas, without the sin, and includes museums, show tributes to legends, off-Broadway shows, tours galore, roller coasters, and more. This mini-golfer’s paradise also has paddleboats shouting distance from a mall large enough to warrant having a passenger shuttle to take passengers from one end to the other.

Few Branson tours will delight you as much as the Branson duck tour called Ride The Ducks. The Army-issue water-going vessel hosts about thirty guests who have a quack off with other duck tour operators/pilots while traveling about town. Dressed as a pilot, our fearless guide will inform the rider of local lore and details, explain the vehicle’s history and allow kids and kids-at-heart to take the wheel of the bus… er, boat, while on the waters. It’s one experience not soon forgotten. The Branson Ride The Ducks tour runs their business well, with friendly and informed staff, on-time service yet without ever making the guest feel rushed.

Just down the street from the Branson Duck Tour headquarters is the Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not! Museum, showcasing oddities and amusements. Though not as fulfilling as other Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not! Museum locations (in other cities) due to lack of size, it still provides for enough amusement to warrant the price of admission. You will find the stand-by showcase common to all of the Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not! Museums: the largest man replica, the tallest man replica, the photo of the stretched neck of a native woman, etc. But, additional entertainment includes coin operated fun machines, a video room of Ripley’s Believe-It-Or-Not! Television shows, and a few things not found at the other locations. What a fun time a small child might have at this oddity house, seeing and touching things they’ve never took a moment to consider might possibly exist.

Another highly rewarding location in Branson, MO, is the Titanic Museum, housed in a replica of the bow of the actual Titanic ship. Inside are a collection of actual artifacts retrieved from the actual Titanic, a replica of the grand staircase and a great amount of educational information on the ship and the history tied to it. Once one enters the Titanic Museum, the guest receives a card detailing who they are as a passenger or staff member on the ship: a steward, a first class lady, a third class male passenger, etc. They then are able to relate to ‘who they are’ as they tour the museum. At the very end of the self-guided tour, the guest will find out their ‘fate’ as the passenger. Did they die or live? A remarked upon highlight of the tour is the ice-cold water at the end of the experience. Each guest is allowed the opportunity to place their hand in the freezing water to determine how long they might last in it if they had entered the icy waters near the fatal iceberg. In our case, my son lasted thirty seconds but my daughter was unable to endure more than fifteen seconds of torture!

Other amusements, in Branson, Missouri wait for you, as do scores of hotels and discount ticket outlets that come with a catch. Be forewarned that most discount ticket outlets will offer you free tickets if you will listen to a timeshare tour. While these offers are legitimate, you may be spending valuable time away from your vacation in order to complete the process to receive the tickets. At Wyndham, I spent three hours before departing. At The Suites At Fall Creek, I spent four and a half hours before they let me go! I did not purchase a timeshare at either location but I ended up $150 richer, with free tickets to local museums and tours. While I now have a newfound appreciation for potentially purchasing a timeshare myself in the future, the experience can be likened to being cornered without escape by a bad car salesman who will become highly irritated when you refuse to make an impulse purchase of $10,000 or more! Expect to feel somewhat tortured by the experience if you decide not to participate in this type of impulse buy. Since I never buy personal purchases on credit and was unwilling to part with my savings account on the spot, I declined to the serious protest of each sales rep at each of these timeshare companies just because they didn't get their way (talk about bad customer service!). But, if you are willing to put up this bad behavior from otherwise normal adults, you will find you have saved yourself quite a bit of money in the end for your trouble.

Here are a few more things you might enjoy in Branson:

• auto museum
• toy museum
• historical museum
• go cart racing
• animal shows
• cultural shows (Peruvian, Chinese, etc.)
• magic shows
• off-Broadway shows
• miniature golf
• arcades
• trains
• carriage rides

Ultimately, to completely enjoy the town of Branson, Missouri, a visitor needs three days but someone might easily spend an entire week in this lovely oasis of the Midwest without stopping day or night! If you are looking for a family-friendly version of Las Vegas, look no further than Branson, Missouri.