Vacation Day 46: Silver Dollar City (aka the Day our Vacation Attacked)

Today was quite a day. We were headed out to Branson, MO with most of the family in tow to see Silver Dollar City. http://www.silverdollarcity.com/

We were planning on leaving around 10am for the 2 hour drive. So of course that meant that we left at 11am. We stopped by the Summits on the way to pick up Steph, Madison, Peter, Nai, Dionne and Angie. There were 12 of us altogether (the Summit group plus the 4 of us plus Vavo and Vavu) in two cars. We were on our way.

The shortest way to get to Branson from Bella Vista is to head due east. So that’s the way we headed. Andrew was driving the van and Vavu was driving his car. We followed Vavu for about a half and hour before the curvy roads proved to be too much. Aiden threw up all over himself and the carseat. We pulled over on the side of the road. We were in the middle of nowhere, and there wasn’t much we could do. We did our best to clean up with baby wipes, and Aiden changed into his set of spare clothes. We contacted Vavu, and decided to head to the next town to make our best effort to clean up and decide what to do. The next closest town was Washburn, population 400. There wasn’t much there. We stopped at the Quik Stop. Everyone had an opinion about what to do. Should we turn around and go home? Could Aiden handle the trip there and then the trip BACK after, too? Maybe we could wash the carseat. Maybe he could ride without the cover. Maybe we could find an interstate. Maybe we could drive slow. What a mess. Literally.

We decided to drive to the closest major highway and go the long way to Branson, taking interstate to interstate instead of the back roads which would be curvy the entire route. Maria took the carseat cover off and cleaned it in the Quik Stop. The woman working there saw her and let her use the big sink in the kitchen instead of the little sink in the bathroom. She even got her a soapy rag and helped her clean the seat cover off. That’s one thing about small towns – the people are much more friendly and compassionate.

We lined Aiden’s carseat with a sunshade for the windshield, and got back on the road. We stopped for lunch in Springfield at Subway. Aiden was really hungry, because he lost his whole breakfast. He ate a plain turkey sandwich. We all got our sandwiches, some of the group went to Wendy’s. Then it was back on the road.

Following Vavu's car

We finally arrived in Branson around 3:30pm. What began as a 2 hour ended as a 4.5 hour trip! Sigh. We got out of the cars. It was soooooooo COLD. The high there yesterday was 38 degrees. We bundled up in our hats, mittens and scarves, and went over to the parking lot tram. We entered the park, and headed for the attractions. Our first top was the little Jail, where the kids went inside and played like they were in the jail cell. While we played there, some of the group went on the Swinging Bridge. Aiden went and had a lot of fun. Maria said that when she got off the bridge, it felt like she was still swinging and bouncing! Dionne agreed – she felt the same.

Peter and Nai on the Tram into the park

Steph and Vavu on the tram into the park

Entering the Park

Silver Dollar City

Jeremy in Jail

The Swinging Bridge

Next, we went over to one of Maddie’s favorites, what she calls the “crooked house”. The name of the attraction is Grandfather’s Mansion. Everything is strange and angled when you go inside. There is one room that’s entirely upside down, and Grandpa is rocking in a chair on the ceiling. Maddie rode the crooked swing, and we all leaned around. Jeremy took off running and the angle was too much for him. He face planted into a bench and got a bloody nose. He was crying and crying. He had a little cut on his upper lip, and his nose and gums were bleeding. Poor little guy. We went to get the Motrin out of the diaper bag, and it wasn’t there. We must have used it and forgot to put it back at the house. D’oh. Vavo went on a mission to find some infant’s pain reliever, while we tried to distract Jeremy into feeling better. Vavu and the group went ahead to the Dicken’s Christmas Carol play to hold some seats for the group.

Grandfather's Mansion, aka the crooked house

Inside the Crooked House

Maddie on the swing

Jeremy's injury :-(

When we arrived after Vavo found some infant’s Tylenol, we had missed getting into the show. It was full and we didn’t get seats. Aiden said he was thirsty, and Andrew said he was cold, so we went over to one of the food areas and found a warm spot to sit while Andrew and Vavo went to get the group some hot chocolate. We sat up in our little cozy spot under a heat lamp and drank our cocoa.

The big kids wanted to go on a roller coaster, so they went over to Wildfire while the kids and some companions stayed and finished their cocoa. It didn’t take long before the group was back. The ride was closed because of the cold weather. D’oh.

It was almost time to get in line for the next showing of Dicken’s Christmas Carol. We made a quick detour over to “Fire in the Hole” on our way. Jeremy was 2 inches too short to ride. So Auntie Steph stayed with him while Andrew, Maria, Aiden, Dionne, Madison and Angie went on the ride. Madison said it was soooo scary. Aiden had a great time. Maria kept saying, “fire in the hole”! We went over to join Vavo and Vavu in line for the show.

Fire in the Hole!

Getting on Fire in the Hole

Jeremy making a cranky face with Auntie Steph

Aiden being silly with Auntie Dionne

We got into the show on this second try. It was very well done. It had good special effects. Jacob Marley flew around the crowd, covered in chains. There was a snowglobe scene where Scrooge looked in the snowglobe, then on stage was a giant snowglobe where the audience could “see” what he saw. At the end, there was snow on stage and in the crowd.

Jeremy thought the show was going to be loud

After the show, we were ready for dinner. This proved to be problematic. We chose the Rib House from the restaurants on the park map, but when we got there it was closed. Then we went to the fried chicken restaurant, but there wasn’t any seating, especially for a group of 12. So we started to head for the front, looking for somewhere to eat along the way. We found a buffet. It was closed. In fact, by this point, even though the park was still open for another hour, all of the restaurants were closed. It was 8pm and there was no place to eat. Maria and Andrew took Jeremy to the car with Peter and Nai because Jeremy and Maria were very cranky. Aiden stayed with the rest of the group to see the Christmas tree lights dance and the evening parade. They joined us in the car after the parade. Aiden was talking about his day, and he said that he “liked-ed everything”. He said he “liked-ed the parade, liked-ed the lights, liked-ed the ride with the water (fire in the hole), liked-ed everything”.

Jeremy showing off his nose on the way home

We wanted to eat and go home, so we started the drive back. This time all interstate the whole way. There was no place to eat until we got back to Springfield, 30 miles later. We just ran into Taco Bell and got back on the road. We had a $60 order for 12 people, and somehow they got the entire order correct. It was amazing.

We got home just before midnight. What a day.
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The best part of day 46 was Fire in the Hole.
The worst part of day 46 was everything else.
What we learned on day 46 was Aiden gets carsick on twisty roads, the shows in Silver Dollar City have good special effects, it’s cold in Branson in the winter.
The weather on day 46 was very cold.