2025 Branson trip review

We left for Branson on a Monday morning around 8:15 AM after saying goodbye to our cats. We made a couple of bathroom break stops, but we didn't stop at Wally's in Fenton this year - it pales in comparison to Buc-ees. 

I had been bugging my hubby for years to stop at the Uranus Fudge Factory. You can see it on Hwy. 44 on the eastbound side, if you're headed south towards Branson. My hubby would always make an excuse that he was in a hurry to get to Branson (can't argue with that) or he was in a hurry to get home. This year, however, he wanted to stop and visit. 

The Fudge Factory complex has several different attractions, some of which are pictured below. It is famous for its fudge. 

The water tower

The sideshow museum

The feathers in his headdress
were lollipops.

This sign reminded me of the sign on M*A*S*H.

We purchased our usual refrigerator magnet and left for lunch, which was at Culver's in St. Robert. If you enjoy Culver's, there is one in Branson on Shepherd of the Hills Expressway, not far from Price Chopper.

Our next stop was the rest stop outside of Conway. We picked up brochures and guidebooks. There was a nice flyer offering discounts for shows at the Little Opry, as well as buy-one-get-one-half-price entrees at McFarland's, Florentina's Italian Ristorante, and Heroes Tastes and Taps.

Once we left the rest stop, our next stop was Buc-ees. My hubby topped off the gas tank, and then we went inside to look around and to visit the bathroom. I have a sweet floral St. Louis Cardinals backpack, which I wear on my back. Some young punk tried to steal my backpack off my back, but my hubby saw him and stepped between me and the punk. Always keep your eyes open wherever you go! 

The next stop was Walmart in Branson on the Strip, where we picked up a few items, and then we drove to the condo where we would be staying. We were happy to see that there were only 2 steps up to the sidewalk in front of our condo. I had made arrangements with the host to get in at 3:00 PM rather than 4:00 PM. However, we arrived a few minutes before 3:00 and the door code wasn't working yet. We had to wait a few minutes. Once we entered, the condo was very nice, although I had to turn the thermostat down because it was a little warm. We stayed in the same condo complex that we stayed in a couple of years ago in the Falls, but on the second floor. There was a nice, screened porch where we could see the pond. 

We went to our first show on Monday night. We saw "Million Dollar Quartet" at the Shepherd of the Hills complex. In all the years we've visited Branson, we've never been to the SOTH complex. We went to the box office to exchange our OzarksDeals.com vouchers (no longer available) for our tickets. A Chicago Cubs fan saw my Cardinals backpack and started a conversation. 

The show was excellent. The actors were talented, and they were also great musicians. However, the man playing Jerry Lee Lewis was short and chunky, unlike the real Jerry Lee Lewis, who was tall and skinny. The young man (he couldn't have been older than 21) who played Johnny Cash looked, sang, and played guitar like the real Johnny Cash. This is the last year that "Million Dollar Quartet" will be playing at the Shepherd of the Hills, so you'd better go this year if you want to see it. We would like to go back to the Shepherd of the Hills complex the next time we're in Branson and do some exploring. 

On Tuesday morning, we went to the Aquarium on the Boardwalk. There is a sliding ticket price depending on what time you want to go. We went early in the morning to beat the crowds. There are also various discounts on the website. We took advantage of the "neighbor" discount, even though we live in southwest Illinois. Plus, you can download your tickets to your Apple Wallet or your Google Wallet. No worries about printing and/or losing tickets. Here are some photos of the Aquarium.

The fountains and that huge octopus. 

The displays were very nice. There was a video, but the husband and son weren't interested in viewing it. It only took us about half an hour to go through the Aquarium, and I didn't think that was long enough for what we paid, even at a discount. I bought my usual vacation souvenir. 

After we left the Aquarium, we drove across the street to the Grand Village shopping center. The shops weren't open until 10 AM, so we sat in the car until the stores opened. We visited the Dickens Gift Shop and the Dickens Gift Shop Boutique (they no longer sell Simply Southern merchandise - sad), Back in Time Toys, and Kringles Christmas Store. We then stood in line at the door to Mel's Hard Luck Diner so we could get in when they opened at 11 AM. The food was great as always, but the prices have gone way up. Our bill was $75.00 for three people for food and drink. We won't be visiting Mel's for a while.

We then stopped at the Fig Tree Books and More Christian bookstore, where we bought 2 t-shirts and a Bible word search book. We wanted to stop on the way out to shop so we didn't have to carry our bags into Mel's. 

We had nothing planned for Tuesday afternoon, so the guys hung out at the condo and I went to Tanger Outlet Mall, where I bought hand soap at Bath & Body Works and a makeup bag at Vera Bradley. I looked for shoes at Reebok and Famous Footwear, but didn't find any. There is a Simply Southern store at Tanger, but I didn't visit that side of the mall. Maybe next time.

After my shopping expedition, I went back to the condo, and we had dinner. Hubby and I went up to the main Falls building to take a look around.  There was some remodeling going on, and the indoor pool and hot tub were not open, which was disappointing.  

On Wednesday morning, we made our annual visit to Branson Landing. The guys bought clothing at Bass Pro Shops, but I couldn't find anything I wanted. We had purchased tickets through Branson.com for "David" at Sight & Sound, so we went to pick them up. The guy who waited on us pressured me only a little bit about a new condo development we could tour, but I said no. 

We hung out back at the condo until it was time to go to dinner at Heroes Tastes & Taps (f/k/a Montana Mike's), with a voucher we purchased from OzarksDeals.com (it's still available here). The prices and the food were very good, and our waitress (whose name I have forgotten, but it starts with a K) was very friendly and attentive. We will visit here again. 

We went to the 7:30 show of "David" at Sight & Sound Theater. We had to exchange our vouchers for tickets, so we got there early to do that. We went to the gift shop, where I bought our usual refrigerator magnet. The show was very good, as always, but I think "Queen Esther" was a little better. They had David strumming his harp like a guitar, and any musician worth his salt knows you pluck a harp and not strum it. David was not a rock star. Some of the musical numbers were too Broadway-like. "David" will be playing at Sight & Sound next year, so we won't be going back there next year. It took forever getting out of the parking lot after the show, and we didn't get back to our condo until 11 PM. I think we'll be doing the afternoon shows at Sight & Sound from now on.

On Thursday, we visited the recently remodeled Shepherd of the Hills Conservation Education Center next to the Fish Hatchery. The remodeling was very well done, and the facility is now very modern and very educational. Even the bathrooms were remodeled. We went outside and fed the trout. We forgot to bring cups for the fish food, so each of us only got one quarter's worth of fish food. I always enjoy watching the fish come up to the surface of the water to be fed. We then drove down the road and visited the Dewey Short Center. I covered this facility in a blog post several years ago. 

We went back to the condo for lunch. In the afternoon, we went for a ride and ended up at Andy's Frozen Custard, where we all enjoyed our favorite sundaes. We went back to the condo and freshened up so we could go out to dinner at Florentina's Italian Ristorante. We used the buy one, get one half price coupon mentioned earlier. It was the son's turn to purchase dinner. I had my usual lasagna, and the hubby got the sampler.  We then went back to the condo to pack up and go home the next day. 

I was hoping to visit the new Truth Traveler attraction, but it's not open yet. Hopefully, we can visit Branson for the Christmas season this year, and we can go to Truth Traveler then. 

Since I'm always mentioning my refrigerator magnet souvenirs, I thought I'd post a photo of the ones I purchased this year. 

If you click on the words in bold, it will take you to that website in a separate window. Sorry it took so long to finish this blog post! Thanks as always for reading! 

Diane