Silver Dollar City/Branson Belle

We hit the ground running on our first full day in Branson.  We woke up to the most wonderful rain!  LOVED IT!  It's been a long while since we've had rain in AZ.  So we headed off to Silver Dollar City not minding the rain because we were prepared to be wet all day riding all the rides.  It only rained the first hour, then PERFECT the rest of the day.

I love love love this place.  As soon as you walk in, there is a sign that lets everyone know that they do not tolerate foul language in the park--they will have you leave if you are over heard cussing:)  And check out this sign on the log ride:  AWESOME!  Does Disney do that…I think NOT!

So we were basically wet all day but like I said, we were prepared with our swimsuits under our
clothes.

The kids rode this ride 3 times in a row:)

They have some of the BEST roller coasters here at Silver Dollar City.  The newest one is called "The Outlaw Run."  It is quite intense.  Tatum is exactly 48 inches and you have to be at least this tall to ride this ride.  One worker there asked her to come and get measured before the ride started.  The guy couldn't make a decision himself and consulted with 3 other workers on their thoughts on her height.  I was getting really nervous that they wouldn't let her on--or that maybe she shouldn't get on.  But after several minutes they decided that she was fine.  It was super cute because when they gave her the go-ahead EVERYONE in the roller coaster AND in line waiting cheered and clapped for her--they were rooting for her the whole time!  Once again I ask, would that happen at Disneyland?  I think NOT--we would have probably annoyed everyone by holding up the start of the ride:)  So Tatum rode it and LOVED it!  (And I kept my hand on her throughout just in case:)

Our Ethan is NOT a roller coaster guy but we convinced him to try this one--not sure how we did, but he got on:)  Well, he did it and said "That's it!  NO MORE roller coasters for me!"  Well….we shall see:)  We just HAD to get him this shirt from the gift shop.  Way to go E!  We are proud of you for trying it out!

Fun stuff:

After spending the whole day at Silver Dollar City, we went back home to clean up for our evening activity--the Branson Belle.  The Branson Belle is a huge paddle boat that you go aboard to eat way to much good food and be entertained at the same time!

On the dock:)

The stage

Waiting for some yummy food!

The show on the boat is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!  We were throughly entertained by the host (and magician) Christopher James.  Then wowed by the Branson Show Boys--basically a boy band of super cute young guys.  And then finally the Julliard trained Janice Martin who sings, plays piano, violin, and oh yeah…is an aerial artist!  She would actually play the violin WHILE doing crazy stunts.  We were cracking up so hard at Max because he could hardly watch her!  Every time he was just sure that she was going to fall!!!  (But she never did:)

Out on top of the boat:

Christopher James is Max's new hero now!  He just HAD to go meet him after the show.  So here are my kid's being levitated by Christopher James:

Max's Hero!!!

So we were throughly EXHAUSTED after our first day but had the best time!  We headed home for the evening and immediately crashed!  We needed to rest up for our next awesome day in Branson!