Dixie Stampede Review, Branson, Missouri
LOVE LOVE LOVED Dixie Stampede! Be sure to like them on facebook HERE. I have never been to Branson before, and this was a great start to my trip. My sister and I left Omaha around 7 this morning and made it into Branson around 3. We were graciously given a room at the Best Western Center Pointe Inn (which I will blog about after our complete stay...but so far...so good!). We freshened up and headed 3 miles east to Dixie Stampede. It is a BEAUTIFUL building, which I missed getting a picture of, but I WILL...and I will post it later. It really is a beautiful, southern style building. We parked and walked by the wonderfully smelling horses...I mean that...I love the smell of horses! There were very nicely kept stables and there were several different types of horses, also nicely kept with their type and name listed above their door. You could tell these horses are well taken care of. That made my heart happy. We walked into the box office and got taken back to a room where I got to meet with the other bloggers coming on this Fam Tour. It was fantastic meeting with them. Be sure to check out their blogs also:
Brittany Estes at http://7onashoestring.com
Alicia Peiffer at http://makingtimeformommy.com
Mellisa Swigart at http://momluck.com
Teri Hardy at http://www.momtobedby8.com
They treated us really well. There were appetizers, water and other nice little souvenirs. John Richardson, the director of Sales and Marketing, was very accommodating, as was Tamra Corbin from Explore Branson. Very nice people and very proud of their town...which they should be. I had only been there for an hour by that time and I was already sold on it! People have been super nice and it truly is a beautiful area. After a meet and greet we got our pictures taken. They really turned out very nice. I'll post a picture of that later too! We then walked into the Carriage room, got a complimentary Souvenir Boot with a very tasty fruity concoction in it! We also got popcorn to start us off. We sat up in the balcony and watched the pre-show. It was a lot of fun. Josh Casey was pretty funny, though I must say I wasn't rolling in the aisles either. He was talented though!
Then we were ushered into the main arena. I didn't know what to expect, but my sister had been here before. She didn't spoil anything for me though! The servers were all dressed as Civil War Soldiers. Ours was super nice!
We sat next to our blogger friends the Swigarts!
Then, let the show begin! They brought us drinks and biscuits! Yum! Then they brought us piping hot Veggie Soup! AND NO UTENSILS! Hmm....we were told to use the utensils that God gave us. A spoon (thumb), fork (pointer) and knife (middle). Okay...so we slurped our soup, dipped our biscuit....the food was INCREDIBLE!
All this while watching an awesome show! It started with the history of the United States....we were sitting on the North side...so we were routing for the North. But before that, we watched buffalo come in and roll in the dirt, soldiers ride on horses, Indians, birds flying, you name it! It was an awesome show!
Next they plopped a big old Rotisserie Chicken on our plate! Soon came corn on the cob.....shortly after that, a piece of pork loin! And I can't forget the half of a baked potato! Tons of food! Dessert was an apple turnover! We each had to have doggie bags! It was crazy how much food was given....and we ate it all with no utensils! I wasn't a fan at first....it made my hands all greasy....but once I started digging in....what fun it was to get dirty!! :-)
Everything was incredibly well put together, and tasted awesome. The temperature of the food was perfect...NO complaints about the food at all!
Then, a server came and asked the Swigarts if they would be part of the show. They weren't thrilled, but I think they had a good time!
Mellisa is in the yellow, her husband is in front of her. They raced stick horses!
By this time we were done eating and we were then watching "competitions" to see who would win, the North or the South. We raced pigs....
We had lumberjacks.....
We had ostrich racing....
there were barrel races, horseshoes with toilet seats....LOTS of fun games. When it was all said and done though...the North won! WOOHOO!!!!
After, Dolly herself came out....on a big screen...to sing a little bit and talk. Then we had a moving patriotic moment!
I really enjoyed my time at Dixie Stampede. Everyone was SUPER nice, very accommodating, the food was fantastic, the show was unbelievable, and I for one...can't wait to go back and take my kids!
MORE ABOUT THE SHOW
*Racing Ostriches
*Lumberjacks
*32 Magnificent Horses
*Thrilling Horsemanship
*Romance
*Audience Participation
*All showcased in a friendly rivalry between North and South
*A Fabulous Four Course Feast
Dixie Stampede has been in Branson for 19 years. The arena is 35,000 square feet! Buffalos Stampede and white doves of peace are released.
They're regular season runs February 22nd through October 28th.
Christmas show runs November 1st through December 28th.
The show times depends on the day, but normally 3, 5:30 and 8.
The Christmas Show includes Holiday Music, Four Course Yuletide Feast, Toys come to live in an amazing musical fantasy, Rivalry between the North and South POLES, they celebrate the TRUE meaning of Christmas with the birth of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the wise men and a live Nativity with live camels, donkeys and sheep. Santa also come as Dixie's 1100 seat arena is transformed into a winter wonderland of fresh fallen snow.
One FINAL note. Dolly Parton has something called Imagination Library. Here is what it is all about:
Our Vision:
In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library, to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee, USA. Dolly's vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month. By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.
Making A Difference:
Dolly’s Imagination Library became so popular that in the year 2000 she announced that she would make the program available for replication to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally. Since the initial program launch in the United States, Dolly Parton's Imagination Library has gone from just a few dozen books to nearly 40,000,000 books mailed to children in the United States, into Canada and across the proverbial pond into the United Kingdom! Currently over 1600 local communities provide the Imagination Library to almost 700,000 children each and every month. Already statistics and independent reports have shown Dolly Parton's Imagination Library drastically improves early childhood literacy for children enrolled in the program. Further studies have shown improved scores during early literacy testing.Moving Forward:
There is simply no limit on how far we can take this program and to what ends of the earth, but it is an absolute impossibility without your help. If your community or a community that you are aware of doesn't yet offer this proven early childhood literacy program, then we challenge you to Get Involved! It's actually quite easy to bring the Imagination Library to life in your community and we have an onslaught of available resources to help you Start A Program including a personal trainer which we like to call "Regional Director"! So come on, you can do it, follow this link to get a simple checklist of what you need to do to Get Onboard Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.
This is really a fantastic program. I was very surprised when John told me about it. What an awesome way to help children in reading! Dolly has this program in the US, the UK, Canada and Australia. What a great cause. I can't praise this program enough. I am a book lover through and through, and this is just amazing to me. So, please take the time to look into it.
So....moral of my story here....YOU MUST GO TO DIXIE STAMPEDE! It is a MUST see if you are anywhere NEAR Branson, Missouri! She also has one in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. You DON'T want to miss out on this show!
* I was not compensated for this post...only give free tickets to see the show and make my own opinions.*
It was great to meet you!! The Dixie Stampede is such a great show. :) Love everything about it but especially that creamy veggie soup. I will admit was a bit nervous to go down to the arena but it was a blast.
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