Posts by John Burton
Watch videos about Branson, travel and MORE with the owners of Escape Code!
John and Amy, the owners of Escape Code, invite you to watch videos about Branson and more!
Subscribe to the TPF! Travel Adventures YouTube channel and watch John and Amy bring some travel tips about Branson, Missouri and beyond!
You will love watching the playful banter between John and Amy in each new video. Videos are uploaded several times a week, so be sure to subscribe and turn on alerts!
They recently uploaded a video about Escape Code. Watch as they take you inside each room of one of Branson’s premier attractions!
WATCH this video and subscribe here: https://youtu.be/Dz5JhHftxrY
Escape Code has been recognized as a leading escape room in the nation by USA Today, MSNBC and other news sources.
Also, check out Sagas, a one-of-a-kind mystery/escape room mash up with live actors that is like nothing you've ever done.
And then, by all means, watch John and Amy talk about The Axe Game, Branson's first axe throwing experience!
#escaperoom #branson #indoor #travel #family #adventure #vlog #trips #vacation
BATTLE! Best Branson Vacation | John and Amy Go Head to Head | Best Branson Vacation Package
BATTLE! Best Branson Vacation
BATTLE! Best Branson Vacation | John and Amy Go Head to Head | Best Branson Vacation Package
John and Amy duke it out as they present their versions of a fun, low cost and adventurous Branson, Missouri vacation!
They reveal their choices for lodging, dining, attractions and shows including Six, Silver Dollar City, Dolly Parton's Stampede, Showboat Branson Belle, Escape Code, The Axe Game and MORE!
Now, it's your turn! Comment below and VOTE for the winner! Did John or Amy have the best ideas for an epic Branson, Missouri vacation? Don't leave them hanging!
#branson #battle #travel #family #adventure #vlog #trips #vacation
TPF! Travel Adventures: Trips, Places and FUN!
John and Amy share tips and ideas on how to add adventure and family fun to your life, on a budget, whether at home or traveling!
TPF! Travel Adventures regularly highlights attractions in Branson, Missouri, Orlando, Florida and many other travel destinations!
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to this channel for THRILLING and exciting TRAVEL videos!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuGo-TN5WXmjuA953Gb9Ltw
BRANSON, MO New Attraction! Coming in 2020: Aquarium at the Boardwalk
BRANSON, MO New Attraction! Coming in 2020: Aquarium at the Boardwalk
Branson, Missouri will be home to a remarkable new aquarium in early 2020, The Aquarium At The Boardwalk! Groundbreaking happened TODAY, February 27, 2019 at the site that has been home to The Grand Palace for many years.
John and Amy reveal just what is coming including the cost and size of this exciting project, featured attractions and MORE!
#aquarium #branson #travel #family #adventure #vlog #trips #vacation
TPF! Travel Adventures: Trips, Places and FUN!
John and Amy share tips and ideas on how to add adventure and family fun to your life, on a budget, whether at home or traveling!
TPF! Travel Adventures regularly highlights attractions in Branson, Missouri, Orlando, Florida and many other travel destinations!
Be sure to SUBSCRIBE to this channel for THRILLING and exciting TRAVEL videos!
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuGo-TN5WXmjuA953Gb9Ltw
STUNNING and BEAUTIFUL Dogwood Canyon near Branson, Missouri!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
This is Amy with TPS! Trips, Places and Fun! Today we're at Dogwood Canyon Nature Preserve. This is owned by Johnny Morris, the same guy who puts on Top of the Rock and the Wonders of Wildlife Aquarium and all those cool places, and this place is no exception. It is amazing. It's beautiful here. So we're just going to kind of give you a little tour.
All right, so we're here at what they call the Glory Hole here at Dogwood Canyon. Man this is amazing! It's so beautiful. There’s a waterfall, and just pan around there. Amy take a look, this is just amazing, phenomenal, beautiful. If you are anywhere near Branson, get out here to Dogwood Canyon. I'm sweating. We've been riding our bikes, uphill basically, so I think on the way back we're gonna go downhill. But on Amy's bikes she has a little bell which reminds me, subscribe and ding that bell so you can be notified the next time, I'm out of breath, the next time that we are out doing something fun like this here at Dogwood Canyon.
We hope you enjoyed this. Safe travels everyone!
How to TRAVEL CHEAP and OFTEN!
John and Amy share some tips on how to travel efficiently and more often!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Love to travel but short on time and money? We've got some tips for YOU
Hi guys, this is Amy. this is John and we're with TPF! Trips, Places and FUN! Where we share some practical travel tips and visit some exciting destinations.
Today we'd like to discuss some ways to save time and money when you're traveling. So how to be more cost effective and more efficient when you're taking trips. One of the first things that we always go over when we're deciding to take a trip is who is going to go with us. So we are a big family of seven and it costs a lot of money for our whole family to travel somewhere, so we do something that a lot of people might think is a little crazy. Often, actually most of the time, we will only take certain members of the family on our vacations. Sometimes it's just Amy and me sometimes these are business trips and, for example, recently we took a trip to Florida and it was just us and our youngest daughter Eva. Most places are geared towards families of four, maybe five. If you end up traveling with more than five members as a family you end up paying a lot more money. You then have to rent a suite instead of a hotel room or you have to rent two hotel rooms. It's very difficult to get a rental vehicle for seven people, things like that. So sometimes we'll just divide it up. We'll take our youngest kids or we'll take our oldest kids or we'll take just the girls or just the boys or just the two of us. So that may sound terrible to some of you but you know, of course, there's times when we'll all pile in the van and go, all seven of us, but in order to travel a lot and you travel more cost-effectively sometimes we will take trips with just some of the members of the family. And for us it's more fun, it's more exciting, to go ahead and take several trips like that then it would be just to take one giant trip every three or four years. Yes exactly, so that's something to consider if you have a big family.
So one of the places that I usually start is an online travel site. Orbitz is kind of my web site of choice. I found they have great customer service. There was a time when we were on our way to Disney World in our minivan, and it broke down and we weren't able to make our hotel room that night and they actually refunded us to get a new hotel in the place where we were broken down. So there have been other travel sites that we had similar issues and they would not refund, but Orbitz was great that way so I love to give them our business. So I'll start there. I'll even look at places like eBay, VRBO, which stands for vacation rental by owner, Airbnb, all those places. So start there. You can usually get some awesome deals. So I usually use Orbitz for rental cars, I'll use it for hotel rooms, sometimes flights, but lately we've found that you can get great deals on the actual airline site like a Allegiant or Frontier. Some of those budget airlines you won't be able to find on Travelocity or Orbitz or those, but if you go directly for those sites you can get some amazing deals.
So probably my favorite travel strategy by far is TSA PreCheck. So I fly a lot, we fly often together, it is worth every ounce of money and every ounce of time that it takes. You actually register, it's worth it, it's absolutely worth it so you don't have to wait in the long lines, you don't have to take off your coat, don't have to take off your shoes, don't have to take out your laptop, don't have to take out your toiletries, you just cruise right through security. Then it'll save you some of that crazy that we all experience at the airport. Yes, as you go through security it saves you a lot of time and a lot of hassle and I think the whole process costs us around $80 or something for you to get. It’ll last five years and for us we had to go to Springfield, Missouri and there was one specific place, and you go in and it took me maybe an hour and I was done. So definitely worth the time and money to do that if you travel a lot.
Now, I want to encourage you, you know, oftentimes when we think of going on vacation, it's a big gigantic ordeal or planning a long time in advance and, that's great for certain trips. Of course, we love to do that. In fact, that's a lot of fun as you're planning your trip, you're planning your fast passes at Disney and you're doing it way in advance and you're making your dinner reservations, but another way to go about this so you can add some travel in between the big trips is to take short trips, just quick trips. Get everybody in the van or in the car and cruise a couple hours away. There's some place close to you and do it on the cheap. Go camping if you want to do that or just hang out at the lake if there's a lake there, go hiking or just what can you do there just to get away from the crazy hustle bustle of life and just enjoy an overnight stay with the family, just to get away. So you can do that, there's a lot of free things, a lot of cheap things, that you can do pretty much anywhere that you travel. In fact, I'd encourage you to check out our, I'll put a card right up here, “Disney World free and cheap strategies.” There's a way that you can enjoy Disney magic for free or cheap. When we took our trip to Orlando recently we actually got to experience a lot of the Disney magic for not much money at all, so definitely check out that video.
So one thing that we do to cut down on our costs is we share a suitcase. So with some of the budget airlines now, Allegiant and Frontier and a lot of those, you are paying for your carry-ons. That used to not be that way but that's how it is nowadays. So in order to cut back on the cost we share a suitcase, and we don't like to check our bags, that's another tip that we didn't consider. Don't check your bags. Carry on. Yes we like to carry on, that does save time and it can also save the hassle if you ever, you know, lose a bag. You know, what a pain that is, but anyway we like to carry on one bag and we share our bag. So anyway, we wanted to share some tips on how to do that. Often, if we know we're gonna be gone a week or two or three weeks we will make sure that the hotel that we get or the resort that we stay at does have a place for us to wash our clothes. So we'll check into that sometimes. Also we have a few kind of bag tips to share with you. John is going to talk to you about how to use packing cubes. I love packing cubes. These are containers that you can buy at Amazon. They're very inexpensive and they're zippered, the ones that I have you open this bag and you roll your clothes very, very tightly. So you're gonna roll your shirts you're gonna roll your pants very tightly you're gonna stuff them into the bag you're gonna zip it up and so all your shirts go into one bag all of your pants go another bag. You know, everything has its own bag, and then you put these bags into your suitcase and boy does it save a lot of space. In addition to your carry-on most airlines are going to allow you to bring a free personal item. A lot of times that'll be a laptop bag. That's usually what John carries on. I usually bring a backpack. So this is my backpack. Inside of my backpack I usually put a small, my small purse. So this is my Vera Bradley hipster. But this is what I put inside my backpack. That doesn't take up very much space, so that I leave the rest of my backpack for souvenirs or my toiletries or whatever I need to stick in there, but this hipster is great for, I can carry this on a lot of the slower Disney rides or things like that just because it stays nice and secure. Or I have a fanny pack which John always makes fun of me for that. I don't ever make fun, sometimes or all the time. The fanny pack I have, it's actually a really cute one and I get compliments on this thing everywhere I go. This will also fit nicely in that backpack and this is something I can actually take on a lot of rides. Now people want to know where you got that. I just got this on Amazon. I will tell you the name. Lackhays. Spell it. LACKHAYS. So and Lackies? I don't know how to pronounce it but this one is super cute. Seriously every time I wear it out I, just so many people ask me about it, after you, where I got it and then she looks at me and then I just roll my eyes. And I'm like, see there are cool fanny packs.
So, something that we tried fairly recently for the first time was using Uber and Lyft when we went to Orlando. Now that only works if you don't plan on traveling long distances. So for example, the Sanford Airport in Orlando, we’ll fly into there sometimes. That's quite a distance and it gets expensive if you're going to take an Uber from there all the way into Orlando or all the way to Disney World, but the main Orlando Airport, use Uber, use Lyft and boy it's actually a lot of fun. I thought, you just punch it into the app, within a matter a minute or five minutes there, they are, they're there to pick you up and take you where you want to go. And you meet a lot of cool people and very, very cost-effective. You're going to save the parking at the Disney resorts, I don't know if y'all know, but the Disney resorts are charging you to park now, so you'll save that parking or if you are not staying in a resort but you're driving into the theme park it will save you the parking at the theme park. So actually Uber can actually save you a lot more money over a rental car if you consider some of those things, but again you have to figure out how close you're going to be staying, you know, to the airport, to the theme parks and see whether it'll make sense for you, but it's also extremely convenient because when you're done with a theme park for the day all you do is you get your Uber and they pick you up right there at the gate. No, no taking a tram out to the parking lot and all that, so that can be extremely convenient – as well as cost-effective. Definitely and be sure to tip your driver very well. Yes.
One other little tip that we have, especially for at the theme parks at Disney or whatever, we will only eat two meals a day. Really you don't need more. They feed you so much food. Usually, you know, we'll keep snacks and stuff on us, but will usually eat a late breakfast or an early lunch and then, you know, a later dinner. So that's really all you need is those two meals a day and some snacks. That'll save you versus doing all three meals a day. Now I remember there was a time when I was a little, little kid and my mom, we all were flying to Orlando to go to Disney, and my mom packed an entire suitcase full of canned goods, a huge heavy suitcase which would not save you money. These days, since you're paying to check your bags and stuff like that there's a better way, and by the way, just a little bit of a side note, don't worry too much about forgetting things when you travel. You can buy almost anything that you might forget when you're there. Those times I've had to buy socks or I ruined a shirt and I needed a shirt and I would buy a shirt or toiletries or whatever. And so don't stress out about packing too much. You can always get something.
And one last tip is always check if it's cheaper to buy your tickets online. Usually, you know, the theme parks or different attractions you might want to go to are going to have a discounted online price. Also always do a quick Google search to see if there's a discount available. You'd be surprised. A lot of times I'm about to check out and I'm like, oh let me just see if there's a discount available and I'll save an easy twenty percent or, you know, buy an adult's I can get a child's free or something like that that I never would have known about had I not searched. Or you can give the place a call and just ask them if they have a discount, a valid discount at that time, and a lot of times they'll just give it to you. And definitely make sure that wherever you're going and whatever attraction you want to visit, make sure that is going to be open when you get there. Don't presume it will be. It may not be, for example we're going to Orlando soon and I was all about going back to the swimming with the dolphins, Discovery Cove, and I, we wanted to go. We've been before and it's closed. It's closed when we're going so that's something we had to, of course, take into consideration. Yes, it's a good thing we didn't pre-buy our tickets for that because we wouldn't have been able to go. So right.
So we hope that we've given you some things to think about and some ways to save time and money while you travel. And it would mean a lot to us if you would give us a thumbs up and subscribe and that really does help the development of this channel. So it does mean a lot to Amy and me, and then ring the bell and that will ensure that you are notified every time that we upload a new video which is happening several times a week. Yep. safe travels everyone!
LINK to Orlando Sanford International Airport: http://orlando-sanford-airport.com/
FREE IN BRANSON! Dolly Parton’s Stampede’s Annual Whoadeo Family Fun Day!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
Eva, are you excited about going to the Whoadeo?
Hey everybody, here we go, TPF! Trips, Places and FUN! And today we are headed over to Dolly Parton's Stampede. They have their annual Whoadeo. This is a family fun day, it's free, and so we're gonna take the kids and head off to the Whoadeo, right here in beautiful Branson, Missouri.
All right, so so we're going to the Whoadeo. We’ve got Eva, Jet and Ella right here. We're ready to rock! All right, Ella, tell us a little bit about it, what in the world are we getting ourselves into here?
Gonna go to Dixie Stampede, Dolly Parton’s Stampede, and we're gonna get some candy, we're gonna go on some bounce houses and we're just gonna have a bunch of fun. Bunch of fun! Look Jet, fun, fun, fun.
Hey guys, we are coming at you from Dolly Parton’s Stampede. They're hosting the Whoadeo today, so it's a lot of fun, it's something they do every year in the fall. I'm here with my buddy Harley, we're having tons of fun. A little known fact, I used to be a server at the Stampede, super fun job, carrying lots of heavy chicken pans, serving the guests. It was, it was a great time. So, I don't know if you all know this, but Dolly Parton has the Imagination Library that she sponsors. The Imagination Library is a great thing that they do for the community. When you have a baby you can sign up for this and your child can get a book every month until their fifth birthday, so that's pretty cool. It's a way that they encourage reading in our community. And so this event is actually put on by Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, something really, really cool, so definitely check that out in your community to see if it's available.
Yeah, good job Eva! Good job, wait a minute, what is that you go,t more candy?
Wait, you're the one that was here before. We had a discussion about this. I can't be here if you're there but you can't be there if your here. Of course, here is different in there, unlike here there not here then there is the same as here. Of course it is.
Fritz’s Adventure: We have a four-story ropes course, underground tunnels, slides that our entry are to get down on the floor, via ferrata which is our outdoor rock climbing wall, has tons of team-building, youth groups, birthday party, there's so much to do. Also most groups on the Aeroodium which is our skydiving simulator. We've got the suspended airplane, the city wall, storage containers, we have stuff that you can kind of go through, so really there is fun for everyone at any age. It's about family togetherness and fun and just overcoming fears.
Okay, so I divided up family and wait where you going little bit everything definitely a great time if you enjoy it and you want to see more please press that subscribe button hit that bell and be sure to give us a thumbs up safe travels everyone!
FUNNY reviews, bloopers and comments about Table Rock Lake in Branson, Missouri
You don’t want to miss the BLOOPERS at the end!
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
People leave some of the funniest reviews online and we're going to look at some of them right now!
Hi everyone, this is Amy.
And this is John. And we're with TPF! Trips, Places and Fun! And today we're going to discuss some of the funny reviews left about Table Rock Lake and Table Rock Dam here in Branson, Missouri. Table Rock Lake was formed in the 1950s when the Table Rock dam was built. So the lake spans 800 miles of shoreline and over 50 thousand acres. So we're going to just take a look at some of these reviews. The lake is really, really beautiful. The dam, when they open the floodgates, you've never seen anything like that. Alright, so we're gonna look at some of these reviews and I'm gonna go through some of these here and share some of them with you and we will see what they have to say.
So these are reviews from review sites like TripAdvisor, Google, Facebook and so we're going to be pulling those up and taking a look, see what we can find. All right, so first we're gonna talk about Table Rock Lake. We have a five-star review. This one says it's one of the most beautiful lakes I have seen, fishing, tubing, skiing or just float and tan. Tons of fish and fun.
It's true, one of our favorite days of the year is when we rent a boat, we'll do it once a year and spend the whole day and tubing and swimming and huge fun.
Here's another five star: This lake is absolutely and most likely overlooked by Branson area visitors. That's true, a lot of people come to Branson for all the fun and stuff. In my opinion it's one of the top reasons to come to Branson.
Alright, now this reviewer only gave three stars. Their reasoning was that the water was high and this is an overwhelming lake that's just too high and it ruins the whole experience. Take off a couple stars because the lake is too high and I'm hoping that they'll correct that someday. Two stars, he will spend ten minutes at least it's not that big. Okay, it's big. This thing is huge, its massive, eight hundred miles of shoreline. Oh we're going crazy on this one, wait ten minutes, non no. We're passionate about this point! I don't know why but we are. It's huge, its massive, it's, it's, I think the shoreline is is longer than the entire coast of California.
Hey, here's another one, two stars. Two stars, which is a poor rating, that's bad, read because it was hard to find. Hard to find. I don't know what to say.
So now let's check out some reviews for Table Rock Dam. Five stars: we enjoy being able to drive across the dam and take in everything, it is truly a piece of art and well worth checking out. I'm gonna have to agree. We did that today. We drove over the dam. It's a beautiful, beautiful drive. Five stars: we always stop by the day at the dam in Branson, great history behind the dam in Table Rock Lake and an architectural marvel. Again, agree, it's beautiful. Marvel. Stunning.
All right, now this one only gave three stars: a large concrete structure but if you have seen one dam that you have pretty much seen them all. Hmm that's really sad that they didn’t have a good experience. Yeah, I mean it's an architectural marvel but this one says it's just like all the others.
All right, this one is three stars: also it looks like any other dam but good to see they're damn close to the fish hatchery which would be good for the kids. I see what she did there. Be careful. Family show.
Alright, so now let's see what people have to say about the Fish Hatchery. it is, it's, it's a lot of fun to take the kids, not for a long time, but for just up maybe 30 minutes, an hour at the most. But to go to the to the bottom of Table Rock Dam and that's where fish, you'll see, I don't know how many thousands and thousands of fish and all of these, I don't know what you would call them, aqueduct, is that, maybe not, but but but containers of water in the ground, and that's where fish are. They grow and as soon as they grow to a certain length they are released into Lake Taneycomo. Lake Taneycomo is a cold water lake, it's at the bottom of the dam on the other side of Table Rock Lake, and Table Rock Lake is a warm water lake so you're gonna have bass and crappie and different types of fish, bluegill, but in Lake Taneycomo, trout, it's a cold water fish, cold water lake.
And so the fish hatchery produces and 400,000 pounds of trout in here. Trout are not native to Missouri so it's great that they have a fish hatchery here in order to be able to feed Lake Taneycomo. So let's see what people have to say about the hatchery. Five stars: Much to do and learn about here. Our daughter loves checking out all the animals both dead and alive. So children are going to love seeing everything dead and alive here. Five stars: had a blast at this location and our grandchildren enjoy feeding the fish. We fed the fish today, hopefully we have some video of that, it's pretty crazy. They throw the food to the fish and they just go crazy.
In a town that seems to suck your wallet dry this place is a nice little spot for some short free entertainment. This one says three stars: Since it's a fish hatchery you can't expect a lot of excitement. I don't know what they were expecting but, yes, there's fish. And you actually get to walk through, not big, but a little like a Welcome Center, there's, there's fish in tanks, there. Two star review: I think there are some fish. What we have, then give more stars, less fish, different fish, other than all I got something other than fish, at the fish hatchery, that would have been all right.
Thanks guys! We really hope that when you're in Branson you will check out Table Rock Lake and Table Rock Dam and the Fish Hatchery and decide for yourself. If you have any comments about Table Rock Lake or Table Rock Dam for the Fish Hatchery please comment in the section below and we hope that we've given you some great things to think about. Give a thumbs up, subscribe, and the other one, ding that bell! Alright guys, safe travels everyone! So sorry about this one.
BLOOPERS:
okay, okay, yes you break, in with that comedy. okay, ready y-yeah yeah you know sometimes he looks at me for a witty retort I'm waiting for the humor. sometimes I have nothing, nothing, sometimes it's better if I do have something to not say it. oh yes, yes, and not just about the dam. no we gotta redo that, oh yeah, all right, that's good over okay so they actually hatch trout at the fish hatchery which we found outfit they hatch trout I guess they like it like like a dinosaur egg um they breed, that they throw them, then call it, anyway, they grow, they house, bing brought into this world, so they they put them in Rock Lake, Taneycomo, they would die. Is that all that we have today for our fine friends? Well, I, wow, that went so fast. I guess we were just having so much fun, it's just, BAM, it's over.
5 reasons Legoland is BETTER than Disney World! Say What? (BLOOPERS AT THE END!)
Could Legoland in Florida be BETTER than Disney World?
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Legoland is better than Walt Disney World, say what?
Hi everyone I'm Amy, and I'm John, and we're with TPF! Trips, Places and Fun, and today we just want to talk a little bit about five reasons why Legoland might be a better choice than Walt Disney World.
Say what?
Yeah, now before you immediately give me a thumbs down or hate me for saying that, let me just preface by telling you that we are huge Disney fans.
Big-time. I am addicted to Disney. I'm addicted to theme parks. I'm addicted to Universal. Maybe not addicted, that would be unhealthy, but I like it.
We love it! So we try to make it to Disney World at least a couple of times a year. We love the magic ,we love the wonder, all of that is unsurpassed. But we just want to talk about some reasons why a trip to Legoland might be better than a trip to Disney World in certain situations.
And Amy actually had the recommendation of going to Legoland on a recent trip and I was not a big fan, but I got to tell you, it was a great idea.
So the first reason why you would maybe want to consider visiting Legoland instead of Disney World is the price. I'm sure a lot of you were already thinking that, but we were able to visit Legoland, as John said, recently. One thing you can do is check online for discounts. Now it's very hard to find discounts to Walt Disney World online or anywhere for that matter, but Legoland it's much easier, and so we were able to get a deal that was get an adult ticket you get a ticket free. So that means that a family of four could visit Legoland for under $200.
And I just went online and I saw a current special: buy one, get one half price. So that is definitely a bonus there. Now family of four going to the Magic Kingdom, for instance, for one day is going to be close to $500. So that is a huge price gap there. If you decide to go to Legoland for the day instead, you could save almost three hundred bucks.
So anybody who's been to Disney World, any of the parks, you know that the crowds are crazy. Nobody likes crowds. Yeah that's true. So the second reason that you might want to visit Legoland instead of Disney World is smaller crowds. So now I can't speak for every time that you might visit Legoland, but on the day we went, we were walking right on everything. I don't think that you would really ever be able to do that at Disney World. There was a time maybe 10 or 15 years ago when you could pick certain days and hit Disney on a day where you could do that but nowadays any time that you go to Disney it's going to be a lot of people. So Legoland the day that we were there, there was hardly anybody on park. We could walk right on anything, and so that was kind of a nice break from all the crowds in Orlando and at all the Orlando parks. So that's another reason you might want to consider Legoland.
By the way, it was raining a little bit on the day that we went. If you've seen our previous video on how to have fun in the rain in Silver Dollar City, you'll understand that rainy days can be great days. In fact, I encourage you to go check that video out and learn how to have fun in the rain really at any park.
The third reason to visit Legoland is that it is something different. Now, especially for us, we have been to all Disney World a lot and while we loved it, we were kind of wondering, is there something else out there? I had never been to Legoland and so for us it was just a really unique park, so much fun, so much color. I mean you know what Legos are right? So think of a theme park just full of brightly colored Lego bricks and there you have it. But really, really, really a great park. I mean, they have Miniland USA there where you can see New York City and Hollywood and even a galaxy far, far away. It's great for Star Wars fans. All made out of Lego bricks. So there are 32 million Lego bricks in Legoland USA. And we and we visited Miniland USA, we probably went through there two or three times, and still didn’t even come close to seeing everything that there was, but that's super fun, super unique, you know so something you wouldn't see at Disney World. Also there are lots of coasters, there are some dark rides, and we love dark rides. It's my favorite. That's our favorite. And there's a ride there called, is it Ninjago? It sounds about right. Our daughter was a master. She was phenomenal. The way that you played this thing is you, it's like, it's like you have to do like this, and you're shooting a gun use here she was great at it, and she beat us every single time. She loved it so much. Like I said, we were able to walk right on everything, so we could just keep going on it and she just crushed us every time. But that was a great dark ride. They have so many different things there to see and do and so if you're wanting something unique, if you've been to the Disney parks a lot of times like we have, and you're just wanting to try something different, Legoland is a great choice. So much fun and something you're not going to find anywhere else.
All right, so the fourth reason why you might want to check out Legoland instead of Walt Disney World is the Botanical Garden, Cypress Gardens. And many of you might remember Cypress Gardens from a long time ago. Legoland was built on the site of Cypress Gardens and thankfully they retained Cypress Gardens and so it's a different section of the park. It's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it in my life. Yeah we loved walking through there, and I've never been to Legoland but I was at Cypress Gardens when I was a little girl, so it brought back so many memories. I'm walking through this beautiful botanical garden. So some of you might remember being, doing this as a child and it's great. I'm so glad that they maintain this area. So another thing that's there is a water park. It may be included in your ticket if you, I think you have to pay a little bit extra in your ticket, you can go to the water park. If you have an annual pass that's gonna include Legoland and the water park but they have this great water park that has some of the traditional stuff like your wave pool and water slides and stuff. They also have a very cool lazy river where they have giant Lego blocks in the river, so as you're floating down the lazy river you can be building a raft and you can be playing with these giant Lego bricks as you see scenery go by that's also made out of Lego.s So how much fun is that that? Lots of fun! Exactly.
And also those of you that remember Cypress Gardens they're famous for these the water skiers and and the jumpers and they still have that. Yes, except now it's Lego people. Yes they have Lego water skiers so now that is something that you have to see at least once.
And the final reason, the 5th reason why you would maybe want to choose Legoland over Walt Disney World at least once is that it is very kid focused. So you, if you have a child ages 3 to 12, this is going to be perfect for them. And for the little ones they have a Ducloland which is kind of those big Lego bricks that they have for toddlers. So they have a land that is all very toddler oriented and of course all the Lego lovers in your family. There's a little bit for older kids up through maybe age 12 this is aimed right at them, so of course the Disney parks are more for all age groups, there are certainly some more kid oriented things there but at Legoland it is all about them. So if you have a child in this age range, definitely consider taking them there. When we took our daughter, she was four almost five and it really was the perfect thing for her.
And you better be full of energy. Eva did not wear down the entire day, but I still remember, in fact I have a video, I'll try to find it, where Amy, she fell asleep on one of the rides that she was riding with Eva at the end of the day.
This is true. We were there open to close and we never ran out of things to do and see. So just to let you know, it is something that can take all day, super, super fun.
Have you been to Legoland? And if so, comment in the section below and let us know what your favorite thing to do there was. We hope we've at least given you some things to think about even if you might not agree with us.
They wouldn't agree with us? Wow. Give us a thumbs up if you do or even if you don't just because you like us, because we like you, and then subscribe and ring that bell and you'll be notified the next time a video comes out.
Safe travels everyone!
Bloopers: Hi everybody this is Amy. You said to be more exuberant. I mean more more more natural. And don't forget to thumbs up, that really helps if you like it. If you don't like it we'll do better. We got to work, we got to work on this, we got to do that, please don't give us the thumbs down okay but just thumbs up and then subscribe and then ring the bell. Awesome. Happy travels everyone. Yes you got screw that up. We just broke a tradition. So the second reason why you might want to visit Legoland instead of Disney World is fewer crowds and now I can't… small, smaller crowds, say they each have one crowd. That's true, a smaller crowd, so a smaller crowd. You should usually respond, okay, we’re moving on, Mm-hmm.
FUN things to do on THE STRIP in BRANSON, MISSOURI
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
AMY BURTON:
Hi everyone! This is Amy with TPF! Trips, Places and Fun! And today we're going to be talking about some of the fun things you can do on the Branson strip, highway 76. This is the place where all the fun happens. It's also the place where you may run into some traffic, but there is so much fun stuff around you that we're hoping that even in the midst of bumper-to-bumper traffic you will be entertained. So we're going to just start by, if you are coming back from Silver Dollar City, so, Silver Dollar City is in Branson West, if you were coming down all the way towards the Landing. We're just gonna start and pick out some different attractions along the way.
THE BUTTERFLY PALACE
So the first attraction you would encounter as you're heading down from Silver Dollar City is the Butterfly Palace. Head on in there. They have a great place where you can see all sorts of butterflies flying around. The kids can grab an explorer's hat and some magnifying glasses and just check out all the lovely butterflies. It's like something you've never seen. They also have other exhibits, so they have a reptile exhibit they they even have a mirror maze. So there's other places in Branson where you can pay to go through a bear maze, but here it's all included in your ticket and it's a really great maze too. I can't always find my way out, or sometimes I come back out the entrance which isn't what you're supposed to do, but it's a lot of fun.
BIGFOOT ON THE STRIP
Alright, so heading on down I'd like to highlight Bigfoot on the Strip. If you just want to be flung into the air or do some death defying drops through things like that you can do that here at Bigfoot on the Strip. I was not brave enough to do them, but my husband and my boys were, so they did it. They had a lot of fun. There's also a movie ride you can do, even participate in the arcade, mini golf, all sorts of fun things like that.
WHITE WATER
So afterwards you are going to pass White Water. White Water is owned by Silver Dollar City. It is so much fun in the summer, lots of water slides, you know, the lazy river, the wave pool, all those traditional things that you'll encounter at a waterpark. So definitely check out White Water if it's hot and you want to cool off.
CICI’S PIZZA
Across from White Water, if you decide you're hungry and you want to stop for a bite, there is Cici's Pizza. Now you have Cici's probably all over the place but there is a really great arcade in here so you can stop for some pizza and also have some fun playing some games with the kiddos. Really, you know, the traditional Cici's, but they're right on the strip and very convenient and fun.
RIPLEY’S BELIEVE IT OR NOT
Who could pass up Ripley's Believe It or Not? So you'll see this huge robot just standing outside. You'll get in there, you will see all sorts of unique oddities that you can't see anywhere else anywhere, from the world's tallest man, the shrunken heads, it's all in there. So if you want to gain all kinds of knowledge about stuff you never knew you needed to know about, head on in to Ripley's Believe It or Not.
BRANSON FERRIS WHEEL
Across from Ripley's is the Branson Ferris Wheel. Now this was brought in from Chicago and now it’s an icon or a landmark of Branson. You can see it from all over the city, especially at night. It's so gorgeous. It's all lit up. Sometimes they'll do light shows on the Ferris Wheel, so definitely look at it. Check it out even if you're not going to ride it. The Ferris Wheel is owned by The Track, and the track has several locations on the strip. So if you want to play some arcade games, play some laser tag, go go-karting, things like that, definitely check out one of The Track locations.
TITANIC MUSEUM
The next thing I'll highlight on this trip is the Titanic Museum. Now this is a sobering yet exquisitely done tribute to the sinking of the Titanic. You will see all kinds of artifacts, you'll be given all kinds of information. There's an interactive exhibit. It's great for people of all ages, all the way, you know, from kids, all the way up through adults, and there is so much to do and see here. It really is a beautiful museum and it's so immersive sometimes you feel like you're right there on the Titanic in the midst of the action, so it really will pull at your heartstrings. It is, of course, the sobering story of a sinking of the Titanic, but really well done and something I highly recommend.
HOLLYWOOD WAX MUSEUM
Next you will see a giant monkey, gorilla, but not monkey, there's a difference. You'll see a giant gorilla crawling up the side of a building. This is of course King Kong, and you are at the Hollywood Wax Museum. You can go in there. The great thing here is that you can take pictures with all these celebrities, who of course, they're in wax form, but that's really fun. Lots of great photo ops. There they also have mini-golf. There they have the Castle of Chaos, which is kind of like a scary interactive movie ride type thing. And they have a mirror maze, so you can check out all that out or just at least hit the wax museum if you just want to do one thing, because it's pretty cool.
BUCKETS-N-BOARDS
Across from the wax museum, I just want to highlight one of our favorite shows in Branson, and that's Buckets-N-Boards. Come on out and see Matt and Gareth, they are a hoot. So not only is it percussion, as you might imagine, but there is also improv comedy, singing, even some gymnastics moves, a little bit of everything here. I believe they run probably spring and summer so check out their schedule on Buckets-N-Boards dot-com. That's buckets the letter n boards dot com. You'll have a lot of fun there.
GRAND VILLAGE SHOPS
Heading further down Highway 76, you're going to come to the Village Shops. So lots of great little shopping and dining in this area, but we just want to highlight one of our favorite restaurants in Branson, and that's the Sugar Leaf Bakery and Cafe. Great food here, especially if you want to check out some sweets, you cannot find anything better in Branson. So we will talk more later in a subsequent video about our favorite restaurants in Branson, so make sure you press the like button, subscribe and hit that bell so that you can hear more about that when the time comes.
GRAND COUNTRY
A little bit further down the strip you're going to come to Grand Country. Grand Country has a little bit of everything. They have Splash Country, which is an indoor water park. They also have a variety of shows to choose from. There was an animal show, there's comedy shows, country show, so come check those out. There's a great buffet, so if you're wanting to get some good home cooking, you can find that there. They have the Fun Spot, so some arcade games indoor go-cart, mini golf. It's great for everybody, so come and check it out.
DOLLY PARTON’S STAMPEDE
No trip to Branson would be complete without Dolly Parton’s Stampede. Do you agree with me? Let me know your favorite Branson must-see the comments below. Now the Stampede is a dinner theater, so you're gonna get a great meal. You get to eat with your hands, all different courses, you will be so full when you leave here. And you'll be watching a show with, of course, a lot of horsemanship, but also a ton of audience participation, some singing, some comedy, a little bit of everything, Really a great, can't be missed show.
FRITZ’S ADVENTURE
Next door to the Stampede, you will see Fritz's Adventure. It cannot be missed. Head on in here in any kind of weather and you can experience a ropes course, some climbing obstacles, some laser thing that you got to try to get down under, tons of things. You can climb into an airplane that's hanging from the ceiling. This will give you a workout, so if you want to get in there and you want to burn some calories this is the place to do it. Fritz’s also hosts the Aerodium, so if you are the brave type and you want to go flying through the air, check this out. It's pretty incredible. I haven't done it yet, not sure if I'd be brave enough. As you can probably tell by now I'm not the bravest person when it comes to crazy or unusual rides but for those of you who are, this is probably just the thing for you.
DOWNTOWN BRANSON
Heading a little further down the strip you are going to pass through downtown. So downtown Branson has lots of great shopping and dining. They have Dick’s Five-and-Dime, which is a little general store that's been there forever. Lots of great things to see and do there so definitely make sure to just take a break, walk through downtown, if you get a chance.
BRANSON SCENIC RAILWAY
Now going through downtown you're going to go pass the Scenic Railway. If you want to take a gorgeous, scenic trip into Arkansas, and that also goes through some scenic areas in Missouri, depending on which way they're going. Definitely make sure to check this out. My husband and I took the dinner train and this was fabulous. We got to eat as we watch that beautiful scenery go by. It's a real treat.
BRANSON LANDING
So 76 is gonna dead end into The Landing. Now The Landing is this really cool outdoor shopping mall, lots of places to eat, play and dine there, so you definitely want to check it out. In the middle of it they've got this really cool fountain water, fire thing where you can see shows every hour on the hour. So make sure you stay around for that.
Now I really hope you've enjoyed this scenic trip down the Branson Strip. I just picked out a few of the things that there are to see and do. There was really so much I could never cover it all, but these are some of my favorites. If you have some favorite, comment in the section below and we'll see you next time. Safe travels everyone!
A Look Inside America’s Number One Aquarium: Wonders of Wildlife in Springfield, Missouri
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:
AMY: Hey everyone! This is Amy with TPF! Trips, Places and Fun, and I'm here with John, and today we're going to be talking about the Wonders of Wildlife Museum and Aquarium in Springfield, Missouri. So we have a little known fact or a fun story for you at the end so just hold off to the very end and hear what we have to say. You're not going to regret it. Now, the Wonders of Wildlife has been voted America's best aquarium and the best new attraction by USA Today, so this is definitely something you want to get out there and see. It's by the creators of Bass Pro Shops, Johnny Morris, and you'll want to know that this is separated into two different areas. So you have the wildlife galleries and you have the aquarium, and you can see one or the other or get a combo ticket to see both.
JOHN: So after you purchase your tickets, if you choose to go to both attractions, you're gonna go to the wildlife gallery first, and I'll tell you, it's absolutely overwhelming. All of the exhibits and the details and and the plaques that you can read and the information; definitely way more than we could ever address here in a short video. So take your time, if you have the time, take the time read all that you can read, look at everything that you can.There's phenomenal, beautifully done scenery and the animals are placed in real life type of scenes and it's themed in a way that I've really never seen anywhere else in my life, and I've been to a lot of different museums and aquariums and things like that. It's amazing. And so you're gonna see a variety of things including a Native American gallery. You're gonna see all sorts of different artwork and sculptures and various types of scenery and things like that. You're gonna look at Roosevelt's cabin, very, very cool. You're gonna walk in and you're gonna see a little fire in the fireplace, and you know, everything that they do here in the museum makes you feel like you're really there, especially the outdoor scenes, which that's really hard to pull off. They did it here. Many of you know the brilliance of Johnny Morris and Bass Pro they know how to do this. They do it so well. You're gonna see bucks and bulls and wolves and so many different types of animals. You're gonna see something called Sheep Mountain. It’s super cool. Amy really loves this, don't you Amy? Why don't you tell them about this.
AMY: This is totally cool. Lighting cycles through a 24-hour day every three minutes, so it's getting lighter, than it, you know, dawn comes. Then it starts to, you know, go throughout the bright day and then dusk comes, and then it gets dark. And so it's really cool to see that cycle as you're going through that, through that exhibit. That lighting is cycling through and it just adds such a cool level of immersion.
JOHN: And correct me if I'm wrong, but I think I heard one of the staff members share today that they actually adjust the temperature as well, is that right?
AMY: That’s what I heard. The lighting is changing throughout the day and the temperature is also changing.
JOHN: So it's going it's getting warmer during the day, cooler at night, and so it's just one of those touches that just it's kind of mind-boggling that they, you know, added the detail like that. And so that's something that's, it's really pretty amazing, you know. Additionally, you're going to see something that they call Africa at night. And that's a, it's a really cool scene there. One thing to take note of, you are going to walk into a polar area that has penguins, and this is the only the only scene in the wildlife gallery that actually has live animals, is that right?
AMY: Yes, as far as I know this is the only place where you are going to see live animals. Most of the live animals are over on the aquarium side.
JOHN: So it might make sense that, you know, if you are only going to go to the aquarium and, something in the back of your head tells you that you want to see the penguins, you're not gonna see the penguins in the aquarium. The penguins are in the in the wildlife gallery, and so just keep that in mind, but those guys are really cool, those penguins, they're swimming and just doing penguiny kind of things, I guess.
AMY: Right, super cute.
JOHN: And so you're gonna you're gonna see the penguins there. There's tunnels for the kids to crawl through and to pop up and to see a different point of view there as the penguins are swimming around. Additionally, different areas there, and and I'm not going through all of them. I'm just selecting a few that stood out to me. There's a walrus and polar bears. There's a lion's den and so many different, just, just really, really cool things. So again, you take your time, walk slow, enjoy yourself and when you are done with that segment, you are going to emerge overlooking the aquarium and it's it's a stunning transition, coming out of what feels more, or I don't even know how to say it, maybe more natural or older or old into something that's that's suddenly vibrant and blue and fresh and it's really pretty amazing. And so we're going to talk about the aquarium, but before we do that, we need to stop and get something to eat, and I think there's a great place to do that.
AMY: Between the wildlife galleries and the aquarium you will find Fish Tales Cafe. Now this is a great time in between the galleries and the aquarium to kind of take a breather, relax a little bit, and grab a bite to eat at Fish Tales Cafe. They have a lot of great food. You'll find pizza. They even have gluten-free pizza so if you need that, that's there for you. They have some vegetarian options. They have salad, they have sandwiches, so lots of great things to eat. They even serve Andy's Frozen Custard, so if you're in the mood for some dessert you can get that there too. As you're sitting there you can see the penguins swimming up and down, there's a little aquarium there inside the cafe itself, so that's fun to watch as you're eating. And then you can just get refreshed, take a breather and then head on into the aquarium.
As John said earlier, the entrance to the aquarium is stunning. You've got an aquarium that's probably a couple of stories high and there are fish swimming the whole height of it. All around are different exhibits and you just walk kind of into this blue lagoon.Iit's it's hard to describe, but it is amazing once you get into the aquarium. There's so many different things to see and I'm not going to cover all of them because it would just be impossible in this short video, but I'll just highlight some of my favorites. You go through Shipwreck Reef, and this is another thing with it, when you walk through the doors and you see Shipwreck Reef, you're just stunned. It is just so immersive and so cool. Johnny Morris is not disappoint. You will just have to see this for yourself. Then, as you go past Shipwreck Reef, you can go past a theater. There's some different things to do in there. But then you can go into the swamp at night. Now, this takes immersion to a whole new level. Just as John was saying earlier they are able to make you think you're outside when you're inside, and so it's like you're walking through the swamp. You're walking across like this kind of swinging bridge, this rickety bridge, into a treehouse. Just so many things to do and see here, and lots of live animals to interact with. And it's not just fish. It's not just the things you might think that you would see in an aquarium. But you'll also see birds and turtles and alligators and just all different kinds of animals. And so, they also have something in here called the touch experience, so you can touch sea urchins and different things like that. So it's kind of cool to look down and see these little spiky creatures and be able to reach down and touch them. You can even swim with the sharks if you are so inclined and very brave you can gear up and go swim with the sharks. I did not do that but maybe you are brave enough to do it. So another really cool thing to see are the jellyfish. These, I don't know how they make them look like this, but I don't know if they're backlit or something, but they just have this really cool glow effect. And so the jellyfish are something we always want to take a picture of and kind of stare at in different lighting. The shark alley is in here, and you can take your photo inside of a giant shark mouth or jaws of a shark, teeth of a shark, so that's a great photo-op if you decide to do that, There is even a caves exhibit, so it's kind of like you're walking through just caves, underground caves…
JOHN: …as opposed to the above-ground caves…
AMY: …that's true caves are underground, but you're walking through it, again it looks so real. You'll see bats, real live bats and some fake ones, sometimes it's hard to tell which are which so it can be a little creepy. But you'll see bats flying around. They also even have black bears in the aquarium, so definitely something that you wouldn't think you'd see in an aquarium, but they do they have a couple of black bears there. One of the the neatest things to do is the stingray touch. So stingrays are swimming around and you can reach your hand in there and they just come right up. They, they are used to people touching them and they don't seem to mind it. So you can pet some stingrays, and then the very last thing to do there, and we always have a blast doing this, is they have what's called the sketch aquarium, and it's kind of hard to explain. But, you color a picture of a turtle or a fish or something like that and they kind of scan it and then it is in this, it's up on the wall. Your sketch is up on the wall swimming around. So we even did TPF travels so you guys could see it. Anyway, so this aquarium is really, really incredible, you know, the best in the US voted by USA Today. So definitely get out here and see this. You will not regret it.
JOHN: So in the beginning of the video we told you that was there was something fun, interesting, at the end that you definitely needed stay tuned in for, and here it is, I was recently talking with an employee of a sprinkler company who installs commercial sprinklers. He was sharing with me that the gigantic whale that is up there in the ceiling of the aquarium, huge, absolutely massive, he said that they were installing sprinklers actually in the whale. He was, he was going on to tell me about how Johnny Morris is very a particular about hiding different things that are necessary in order to have a business open, like sprinklers, but hiding them, making them blend in with the scenery. And so that's what they were doing. So he was telling me that there's actually sprinklers hidden in the whale and when they got up there to do the installation they noticed that there was a little doll, a little, tiny doll sitting there. Someone had thrown a doll into the whale and it's it's Jonah! And somebody threw Jonah up there in the whale. So when you see that whale up there in the ceiling you can know that, you'll of course you'll never never see it, but there there's a doll named Jonah hanging out inside the whale. And I guess if the story follows what we see in the Bible that after three day he's gonna get out? I don't know he's been in there longer than three days, I think he's kind of stuck.
AMY: Thanks for joining us on another episode of TPS. We hope you'll tune in next time for some other fun activity.
JOHN: And by all means be sure to give us a thumbs up and then subscribe and click the bell so you can be notified the next time a video is uploaded. See you guys next time!
AMY: Safe travels!