More About a Branson Ozark Christmas

I want to make an amendment to my previous observations about a Branson Ozark Christmas. Yes, Branson does exhibit a LOT of Christmas spirit, but you’d better take advantage of it early. The Christmas season around here is Nov. 1- Dec. 6 and then it starts tapering off. Some of the shows shut down about then: Tony Orlando and the Lennon Sisters—done. Andy Williams—done. A few more shows ended the next week—Dino’s Christmas Spectacular, Shoji Tabuchi, just to name a couple. You could have experienced the Ride the Ducks Land and Light Tour until Dec. 13th, but you can ride the Showboat Branson Belle until Dec. 31st.

Silver Dollar City shut down last week but opened back up from Dec. 26 through the 30th. In my opinion, SDC, is a must see during Christmas in Branson. They have 4 million lights, an enormous Christmas tree whose lights react to the accompanying music, great Christmas shows like Dicken’s Christmas, Frosty, and The Living Nativity, the best hot chocolate and wassail, great food, rides, craftsmen, and a contagious “Merry Christmas” atmosphere. It is a place where whole families come to experience Christmas, and by my observations, they have a GREAT time together. I saw multigenerational families laughing, singing, skipping, hugging, eating and shopping together. Now who can resist that?

Some great shows will still be going on until Dec. 30 and some even up until Jan. 2nd. There are a number of shows putting on special New Year's Eve performances, and  many of those will be providing special food and party hats. Some examples are Legends, Jim Stafford, The New Shanghai Circus, Dixie Stampede, and The Haygoods.

All of this is to say that if you ever think you want to come to Branson for Christmas, come early and fight the crowds or come later in the season with the realization that you may not get to see the show you really wanted to see. The nice thing about coming later in the season is that the restaurants, the shops, and the Strip won’t be nearly as crowded, but you may also have to worry about the weather, which can be very unpredictable this time of year. This particular year, though, you actually would have been much better off here than in other parts of the surrounding area. Just ask my daughter, Lisa,  who took 6 hours to get home from work on Thursday and whose car was still sitting in the middle of Hefner Parkway in OKC on Saturday, or  my niece, Katie, who spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day stuck at the OKC hospital where she is a pharmacist.

The only Christmas show we saw this year was The Haygoods. They put on a spectacular high energy show, and I highly recommend it. They have a tremendous sound system and a light show that may rival those in Vegas. The Haygoods are a very talented family of 7 young men and their one sister.  They sing, they dance, they play a multitude of instruments, and they do it all very well. They do their own arrangements and their own choreography.  This year they even moved into their own theater.  That’s a lot of talent for 7 “kids” between the ages of 29 and 16. Mom and Dad are around, but at this point, I think each of the siblings is gradually taking on responsibility for a different aspect of the business. I was impressed with their abilities when I first saw them about 6 years ago and their talents have grown as they have grown. I do have to add a disclaimer,though—the show we saw also had a particularly talented drummer who made sure the show was high-energy from start to finish. This drummer is our son, Daniel Dossey. While he definitely added to the quality of the show on this night and several other nights during the season, they do just fine with their regular drummer, Dino Phillips. Dino has done a magnificent job of playing for them for at least the last 6 years that I have attended their show. If you want to know more about The Haygoods then here is a video you might be interested in watching.

Branson  looks like a ghost town compared to the busy fall and Christmas season, but it REALLY shuts down during January and February. Even so, there are still plenty of things to occupy you if you choose to come during the “off season.” I will write more about this in future blogs, but since I am on the subject of The Haygoods, I wanted to let you know that they, and a handful of other shows, will be performing on a very limited schedule during these “off” months.

Here are a few links you might be interested in if you would like to learn more about Branson.

Branson Tourism Center

Branson Shows.com

Reserve Branson.com

Not for the Faint of Heart!

Last night, I woke up about 3 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to research Branson and discovered that something was coming here early in 2010 that I had heard nothing about. This will not appeal to the stereotypical Branson visitor, but it does help prove that Branson is really trying to expand its appeal.

If you aren't into shows and want something a little more daring, there are already a number of activities you might enjoy: trout fishing, kayaking, para-sailing,water skiing, boating,  hiking, helicopter rides, hot air balloons (out of Springfield or Ark.) and even mud caving (I should get my brother and nephews to write a column about their experiences with this one--hint, hint). If that isn't exciting enough for you, then how about Zip-lining?

If you have ever watched The Amazing Race, you may have seen contestants zipping through the jungles of Costa Rica. Well, now, you will be able to  spend 2 1/2 hours playing Tarzan right here in the forests surrounding Branson.

This is how it works:

•  There are platforms spaced high above the canopy. 
• You are hooked to a zip-line that is strung from one platform to another.
•  You step off of the platform and "fly" to the next platform.
•  You get hooked up to the next zip-line and off you go to the next platform.       

 Want  to learn more about the Branson Zip-line? Here is a link that will fill you in on its progress. bransonziplineblog.com/

What fun!!

A Few (?) Words About Christmas in Branson

Branson, Missouri may have the most Christmas spirit of any town in the U.S. I turned on the radio on Nov. 1, the day after Halloween, and heard some insipid song like Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Oh, no," I thought, "I don’t think I can stand to start listening to this stuff yet, because we still have about 8 weeks to go until Christmas."  In one week’s time (Oct. 24-Oct. 31) while we were back in Oklahoma., it seemed the town had suddenly been blanketed with lights, the fall shows had all closed, and their Christmas counterparts were in full swing.

Now, I grew up in a home with Advent wreathes, Advent calendars, and a Jesse Tree. We always had a short Advent service at the dinner table each night before we could have dinner. We didn’t really acknowledge Christmas at home until a week before the big day. We probably would have stuck to the old tradition of putting up your tree on Christmas Eve and then leaving it up for the 12 days of Christmas except that we were so bombarded by “Christmas” in the secular world that we were tired of thinking about it and of looking at it long before the 12 days were up. Back then the secular Christmas season probably started when Santa rode on his sleigh as a finale to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade—I don’t really remember it showing up much before then. Gradually, the Christmas season has turned into the “holiday season” and it has started earlier and earlier until you now start seeing “holiday trees and holiday decorations” before the Halloween decorations are even down. As far as the retail stores go, Thanksgiving seems to just be a blip on the holiday radar!

So, do I fault Branson for jumping on the Christmas bandwagon so early? I did at first, but upon reflection, I don’t believe I do. I complained to my mother that I was already hearing Christmas music on the radio on Nov.1, and she pointed out that with the assault on Christians and Christmas, maybe we should be glad that Christmas is not politically incorrect in Branson. To those of us that live here, it may seem that there are more than enough of the silly, secular songs and too much commercialism, but there are also plenty of songs and shows that emphasize the birth of Jesus Christ. Branson is not afraid to let the world know that it is a Christian community and that the real Christmas spirit is alive and well. Branson thrives on the tourist trade so it has to appeal to a variety of tastes, but all you have to do is check out the Branson Daily Independent, listen to Branson Radio, or look at the many Branson websites to find an abundance of Christmas programming to fit all tastes—and it doesn’t all come from the many shows in town or from Silver Dollar City. The area schools, churches, and civic groups offer plenty of opportunities to get into the Christmas spirit, too. If you are interested in seeing some of what Branson has to offer for Christmas go to the website Branson Tourism Center. They have a great little video highlighting a Branson Ozark Christmas. Be sure to explore the rest of the site,too, because it has a lot of good information.

...But How Do You Stand the Traffic?

Whenever someone finds out that we’ve moved to Branson they nearly always say, “Oh, I love that area! It is so beautiful, and we always have a lot of fun, but how do you stand the traffic?”

Every Sunday, as we are headed to breakfast after attending church, I am reminded of this question. I want to hang a big sign out of the car window that says in giant letters “THERE ARE OTHER ROADS IN THIS TOWN BESIDES THE STRIP!” If you are driving west on The Strip (Hwy. 76) on a Sunday morning, you are fine; but if you are headed east, it will take you 30 minutes to go 4 or 5 miles, because it is bumper to bumper and the line is at a virtual standstill. I have yet to figure out why there is so much traffic at 10:20 on a Sunday morning. There are a few shows that start at 10, but anyone attending those should be off of the road by then. Most church services are in session, are over, or they start at 11-- plus, they aren’t located on The Strip or they can usually be approached without getting on The Strip at all. The only other thing I can figure is that there A LOT of tourists checking out of the motels and heading out of town. It would be great if some of them would just head out making a westerly loop instead of heading east.

There are other times when The Strip is overly crowded in either/or both directions, so let me give you a hint: be brave and venture off of The Strip. Even if you get lost, it won’t be for long, you’ll see something besides the back end of the car in front of you, and you’ll probably still get where you are going faster than if you sit in a 3 mile line of cars! You can find maps just about anywhere that will show you alternate routes (red, yellow, or blue—look for the signs) so take a few minutes to formulate a plan before you ever venture out. There are a lot of theaters, restaurants, and shops on The Strip, but there are plenty in other locations, too. Try some of them. I know they would appreciate your business.

Branson has spent a lot of time and money the last few years adding infrastructure to help alleviate the traffic problems, but it seems to be mainly the locals who are making use of them. That’s great for the people who live in Branson, but the visitor who never leaves The Strip may get a bad impression and decide the traffic isn’t worth the hassle. That is especially sad, because it is a fixable problem by just thinking outside of the box, or in this case, outside of The Strip. So go forth, my friends, and explore those alternate routes!



Check out the following link if you would like to view maps of the Branson area: http://www.branson.com/learn/branson-area-information/maps. (FYI--Our house is located on the south side of Taneycomo at about the half-way point).