Is Branson Missouri, Awful nice?

Just one of several Simpons' jokes about Branson:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2El5ttjM9I

>>1222586
I still might give this place a go.. with my travel points.

>>1222579
I really liked the cave I visited there, it was supposed to be a mine but turned into more of a tourist attraction, I also enjoyed the show on a riverboat.

The town is odd though, odd in a way I can't quite explain. Growing up my neighbors went to Branson every year to a place called SilverDollar City I think. It's about a 3 hour drive from where I live so many people go, often eccentric old people with "open marriages" who speak with Southern accents despite living in the Midwest.

>>1222579
Funny you mention the Smokies. Herschend Family Entertainment, the same company that runs the Silver Dollar City theme park in Branson, also runs Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee in the Smokies. They used to be meh roadside-tier places, but now they are theme park heavyweights with several multi-million dollar roller coasters and excellent food.

The trick with enjoying Branson or the very similar Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area is to not let yourself be bothered by the fact that they are tourist traps to end all tourist traps. They have one or two legit high-end attractions like the parks mentioned above and several crap-tier attractions surrounding them that aren't worth anyone's time (although, the new independently-run alpine coasters popping up are pretty cool). If you focus on only the top attractions and research traffic in the area beforehand (the main drags can be a nightmare), you'll have a good time.

>>1222664
>who speak with Southern accents despite living in the Midwest.

Missouri was a slave state at the time the Civil War broke out, but it did not secede (most of the Southern sympathizers were in the southern part of the state and could not muster enough support in the state to secede). So, it's not surprising that people around Branson near the the state's southern border have Southern accents today.

>>1223279
All of this. There indeed has to be some suspension of annoyance at tourist trap bad restaurants, Tshirt shops and other junk, much as you have to ignore that in Niagara Falls. This is the simply the country music act-themed version of nashville meets Vegas, but central to midwesterners. I dare say it's far better than Vegas.
Try anything once of course! I would imagine good enjoyment here would be to make your main reason for going is ensuring tickets to a good live act that you wanted to see, versus just the destination itself. Let the destination be the side act.

>>1223280
Accents have nothing to do with sympathy for a side in the war? Huh? It isn't a virtual line in the sand that determines how people speak. People would be smarter to say and realize that your education/class has a greater deal to do with any noticeable accent at all, and the takeaway about accents that annoy you when traveling is understanding you might be around some low class folks. There are regional colloquialisms that give away regional origins. An Arkansas accent is as distinctly different than a Chicago touch (inland northern american accent that has to do with short-a sounds and comes from the great lakes surrounds not northerrn sympathizers because the massive changes happened in the 1960s!!!), and you'll hear both when you go to Branson.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inland_Northern_American_English

2/10 would not go
I didn't even pay and I still was irritated to be there.

It's beautiful but a giant old folks tourist trap.

If you want to go to that area I recommend Hot Springs Arkansas for the springs and beauty or Bentonville/Eureka Springs

It's a *family* vacation destination in the middle of flyover country. Not a place to go get drunk with your friends and pick up girls, not a place to have a wild time. It's a place to bring your 2 year old, your 4 year old, and your super-fat wife every year.

I'd say it's interesting once, just to see the culture there if you're not from the surrounding area. But not a place I'd go again.