Club Wyndham Mountain Vista

Club Wyndham Mountain Vista is in Branson, MO. I have traveled to Branson a few times before, and I am excited about going back. This trip, like my previous two, will see me flying into Branson, and then taking a rental car to the resort.

Video by Tripoyer

Day One Travel and Arrival in Branson

For me, travel to Branson means a simple flight. Since it is a major travel destination, you can get flights to and from Branson at a great rate. The rates are not as low as Las Vegas, but over the years they are getting close.

It is about an 8hr flight from Virginia and there are direct flights which are nice. For me, driving would not really make much sense because it would take 17 hours. With cheap and available flights, that is not on my list. I do drive to Florida, but my limit is typically around 14 hours of driving. I could see driving with a family since you could ultimately save on the travel cost. But for me, the money I save on the accommodations thanks to TZort, pays for my flight and then some.

Branson has a small airport, so you need to book your rental car in advance and your rental car choices may still be a little limited. I was able to get a standard car with about 2 weeks’ notice. If you need an executive or a larger car, you may need to plan a few more weeks in advance.

Arriving at the resort, you realize you are in a town called Table Rock, which is just four miles from the strip in Branson. Of my trips to date, that is the closest I have been. For me closer means easier and if I am going to have fun safer too. So, this seems ideal.

The resort itself offers villas that range from 1 to 4 bedrooms in size. So, this is a very family-friendly resort in that regard. I believe (just from my live count) that there are 20 buildings that are a part of the main resort. The check-in building is nearby but separate. It seems they did that to keep a lot of traffic away from the buildings and people, which is clever.

The location of check-in is within view of the resort’s main buildings and they were very efficient. On some vacations, I take a weight of 20 minutes for checking in at larger resorts is typical, but here they had 4 desks open and working and it was just moments with only 1 family in front of me.

On this trip, I had a friend with me which is a treat, because even though I enjoy traveling alone, it is always fun to be able to enjoy the shows and entertainment with someone else. Branson is a show capital of sorts. This makes sharing those experiences ideally.

The villas here are very large they start at 950sq ft for the 1-bedroom and go to over 2,500sq ft for the 4 bedrooms. This generous square footag means that for the larger rooms, you can accommodate up to 12 people. For most families that is more than enough, well unless you are the Duggars. However, even a family of 20 could make do with only 2 of these 4-bedroom villas.

The amenities here are great.

Villa Amenities

Then the resort itself offers all of these options.

Resort Amenities

After getting settled in, I was starving after the flight and was ready for some dinner. I headed for a BBQ spot that I have enjoyed before. It is attached to a craft store of all things but has a good BBQ. The name is the Pickin Porch Grill. When I ordered, I chose the pulled pork plate. The meal was good, but I am spoiled by the best BBQ in the world close to my home. This means it was good, but not quite to the North Carolina standard. The average BBQ lover rates this restaurant a 4.8 on Google with over 600 reviews, though, so it is no slouch.

Once I had my fill, I went back to the resort for some rest and recovery from the flight and general travel. I wanted to get started early tomorrow.

Day Two in Branson

I wanted to start my day with breakfast. Not only because I was up early, but so I could hit the ground running afterward and really see more of Branson than I did during my last trip.

I chose a breakfast buffet as the best way to start off my day. If I overdo it at the buffet, it will make me want a nap, but if I control myself, the buffet will fuel me up until the late afternoon. The Grand Country Buffet is a good choice and has 4.3 stars on Google after thousands of reviews. Given how tough people are with reviews now, a 4.3 is a great number with that many reviews.

They open the buffet at 7 AM and I made it there by about 8 AM, which is an early start for me. After my visit to the buffet, about 3 plates in, I was done. Next, it was time to go and have some fun.
I like the amusement parks in the Branson area. They have some larger ones, and then many little small venues. Today I am going to a fun park called Silver Dollar City this park is themed for the 1800s and has some fun rides, shows, and good food. It has been 2 years since my last trip there, so I am looking forward to it.

Video by Coaster Studios 

In the park, there are at least 36 names, rides, and major attractions. In addition, they offer shows, shops, and all many other attention-getters.

Check out this video to learn more about Silver Dollar City.

While at the park, I decide to eat a late lunch there because the food looked that good. I went to the Rivertown Smokehouse for some great smoked meats and sides. It reminded me of the Smokehouse in New France in Busch Gardens, Williamsburg. The smoked turkey was great, and so was the beef brisket. I also enjoyed both the baked beans, and the smoked mac and cheese. Not a healthy meal by any measure but a good one for sure.

After a full day of rides and shows, it was back to the resort for some rest and sleep.

Day Three It’s Showtime

Today I wanted to sleep in and really rest up from all that walking around the park yesterday. One of the best things to do in Branson is to see live shows. The entertainment here is outstanding.

Now I have times when I am just not in the mood for country music, then I have other moments when I really get into it. I did listen to country a good deal when I was growing up. I lived in a then rural community so it just kind of went with the neighborhood.

Throughout my lifetime, one artist that I have thought a great deal of is Dolly Parton. Even if I was not listing to a great deal of country music at the moment, she has always been an impressive person. She has donated a great deal of her personal wealth to help others, and one of her passions is her program that provides free books to children around the world. She and her charity provide millions of free books each year.

In Branson, she has a dinner show that is one of the highest-rated in Branson. So tonight, I have tickets. I want my friend to see all the best that Branson has to offer. Tickets to the dinner show and meal are only $59.99 per person, which means that the cost for all the food and entertainment is less than one person to a luau when on vacation. So, I consider that a bargain.

The meal they provide is a 4-course meal, and the food is excellent. From their website:

Fabulous Four-Course Feast Includes:

The Stampede’s Original Creamy Vegetable Soup

Scrumptious Homemade Biscuit

A Mouth-Watering Tender Whole Rotisserie Chicken

Delicious Hickory Smoked Barbecued Pork Loin

Buttery Corn on the Cob

Tasty Herb Basted Potato

The Stampede’s very own Specialty Dessert

Unlimited Coca-Cola®, tea or coffee

Before the show, we also went to the Titanic Branson experience. I have been before but my friend had not, so we headed over to check everything out. It is fun and worth the trip through if you have not been before. You can not take photos or videos inside and they used to share more on their own website than they do now. When you go through, you can opt to get the name of a passenger, and then at the end you find out if they survived or not.

There are many exhibits here, including the ability to walk on the decks at the very step angles the ship went to while sinking. There is also a 1.5-million-dollar reproduction of the main staircase, which was amazing to see because of the craftsmanship.

After the full day with the trip to the Titanic Experience, and then the great dinner show, we had fun but were ready to hit the resort for some more rest and relaxation before our early wake-up tomorrow and the flight out. In the morning after checkout, we will hit the breakfast buffet again before heading to the airport.

Travel in style and save enough money to stay for a while with TZort.