I'm in the Outback!
I decided to head to Branson today as I have two certificates to The Hard Luck Diner expiring the end of this month and several motel certificates I needed to use before they expire. (I buy a lot of restaurant and certificates to different places on websites to save money).
After arriving in Branson I went to eat at the Hard Luck Diner were my server turned out to be none other than Jason Yeager one of the finalist from season 7 on American Idol. The Hard Luck Diner is more than just a place to eat, it's like dinner and a show. When the servers aren't waiting on customers they are walking around singing in the restaurant. I will admit I've only watched one episode of American Idol and that was probably way back at season 1 when it first started. It was still neat to get to meet him.
After I left the Diner I headed to check into my motel. As I drove down the famous 76 Country Music Boulevard I noticed the sign for the Branson Dinosaur Museum / Haunted House attraction was gone and replaced by Branson Wild World and advertised an Aquarium. I figured this would be something right up my alley so after checking into my hotel I went back to check it out.
They had comletely repainted the outside of the building and it didn't look half bad. It had a tropical wildlife zoo kind of feel to it. Going inside the layout of the lobby hadn't changed much. Where the Haunted House part was had now turned into a mirror maze.
You'll find several different mirror mazes in Branson, they have become pretty popular with their low cost to build and operate. I didn't go into the mirror maze part so I can't compare it to the other ones I've been in. But being solo it didn't sound like much fun and what could I take pictures of myself in a mirror? Besides that would just confuse everyone on Facebook into thinking I had some strange bathroom.
It cost me $15.00 to get into the Wild World part / aquarium. Adults probably won't be impressed, but little kids will love it! If you want to see a lot of animals the zoo has more, is better and cheaper. But at Wild World you have a chance to actually feed some of the animals which can be pretty neat. Two of the tanks offer you a chance to feed a giant sea turtle and sharks using pieces of fish attached to a long stick and a third tank lets you hand feed bits of fish to stingrays.
I recognized some of the stuff as perhaps having came from Predator World in Branson West. I asked one of the employees about it and he said he wasn't sure if they had the same owners. He said some of the animals had come from there and some of the equipment might have or was on loan and thought they were remodeling. He also said some of the former employees of Predator World were working there. They had about four different guides standing around to help you feed some of the animals or answer any questions you may have.
Other than what I described above in the aquariums the only other large animals they had were three different types of alligators and crocodiles in large inclosures with just the glass seperating them from the public. The rest of the animals were just small aquariums of fish, snakes, and other smal animals. They had a few hands on touch tanks in the aquarium part also which looked as if they were made into rock giving them a nice decorative touch.
The thing I liked most about the place though was after you go through they have a free arcade. I found about a quarter of the arcade machines were broken or not working properly. But I managed to find enough to keep me busy for several hours! Let's just say there is a shooting arcade game there with my initials DKH at the top on over 3/4 of the levels. Some guy named Nathan managed to barely outscore me on a couple.
I'm staying at the Outback Roudhouse next to the Outback Restaurant and Outback Pub. It's the off season so it's not to crowded. Unfortunately the hot tub is broken, but they have a sauna and small outdoor pool I may stay in later. The rooms appear to be clean, but don't have a microwave or mini-fridge, which is kind of uncommon these days. I don't like that they just have a sheet and comforter on the bed and no blankets. The first thing I do when I get to a motel room is rip the comforter off the bed and pitch it in the floor. The sheets and pillow cases get washed, but most motels only wash the comforter a couple times a year..... that's a lot of guests sharing those comforters with you. So priority number one for me is they go off the bed.
The other thing I wasn't a big fan of is the soap and shampoo is combined into one..... in a dispenser attached to the wall! I've never stayed in a motel with this setup before and I understand it saves money for the hotel. But I don't like it! It's literally a dispenser like you would find in a public bathroom to get soap out of to wash your hands stuck to the shower wall.
I also really didn't like the location of my room. It's the off season so it's slow and I checked in early when there were literally only 2 cars in the whole parking lot. But they stuck me in the back of the building that only had a half parking lot. The half parking lot is on the other end of the building from my room and I really don't like not being able to look out the window and see if my vehicle is alright. It is also a pain to have to lug all my stuff from the vehicle to my room back and forth, because I won't leave anything of value in my room if I go somewhere. Being a weekday and being the off season they won't reach anywhere near capacity so was it really necessary to shove me so far out of the way? Maybe they thought because I'm a young guy I will be loud and noisy or maybe it was because I got my rooms online for half price of the normal rate.
After arriving in Branson I went to eat at the Hard Luck Diner were my server turned out to be none other than Jason Yeager one of the finalist from season 7 on American Idol. The Hard Luck Diner is more than just a place to eat, it's like dinner and a show. When the servers aren't waiting on customers they are walking around singing in the restaurant. I will admit I've only watched one episode of American Idol and that was probably way back at season 1 when it first started. It was still neat to get to meet him.
After I left the Diner I headed to check into my motel. As I drove down the famous 76 Country Music Boulevard I noticed the sign for the Branson Dinosaur Museum / Haunted House attraction was gone and replaced by Branson Wild World and advertised an Aquarium. I figured this would be something right up my alley so after checking into my hotel I went back to check it out.
They had comletely repainted the outside of the building and it didn't look half bad. It had a tropical wildlife zoo kind of feel to it. Going inside the layout of the lobby hadn't changed much. Where the Haunted House part was had now turned into a mirror maze.
You'll find several different mirror mazes in Branson, they have become pretty popular with their low cost to build and operate. I didn't go into the mirror maze part so I can't compare it to the other ones I've been in. But being solo it didn't sound like much fun and what could I take pictures of myself in a mirror? Besides that would just confuse everyone on Facebook into thinking I had some strange bathroom.
It cost me $15.00 to get into the Wild World part / aquarium. Adults probably won't be impressed, but little kids will love it! If you want to see a lot of animals the zoo has more, is better and cheaper. But at Wild World you have a chance to actually feed some of the animals which can be pretty neat. Two of the tanks offer you a chance to feed a giant sea turtle and sharks using pieces of fish attached to a long stick and a third tank lets you hand feed bits of fish to stingrays.
I recognized some of the stuff as perhaps having came from Predator World in Branson West. I asked one of the employees about it and he said he wasn't sure if they had the same owners. He said some of the animals had come from there and some of the equipment might have or was on loan and thought they were remodeling. He also said some of the former employees of Predator World were working there. They had about four different guides standing around to help you feed some of the animals or answer any questions you may have.
Other than what I described above in the aquariums the only other large animals they had were three different types of alligators and crocodiles in large inclosures with just the glass seperating them from the public. The rest of the animals were just small aquariums of fish, snakes, and other smal animals. They had a few hands on touch tanks in the aquarium part also which looked as if they were made into rock giving them a nice decorative touch.
The thing I liked most about the place though was after you go through they have a free arcade. I found about a quarter of the arcade machines were broken or not working properly. But I managed to find enough to keep me busy for several hours! Let's just say there is a shooting arcade game there with my initials DKH at the top on over 3/4 of the levels. Some guy named Nathan managed to barely outscore me on a couple.
I'm staying at the Outback Roudhouse next to the Outback Restaurant and Outback Pub. It's the off season so it's not to crowded. Unfortunately the hot tub is broken, but they have a sauna and small outdoor pool I may stay in later. The rooms appear to be clean, but don't have a microwave or mini-fridge, which is kind of uncommon these days. I don't like that they just have a sheet and comforter on the bed and no blankets. The first thing I do when I get to a motel room is rip the comforter off the bed and pitch it in the floor. The sheets and pillow cases get washed, but most motels only wash the comforter a couple times a year..... that's a lot of guests sharing those comforters with you. So priority number one for me is they go off the bed.
The other thing I wasn't a big fan of is the soap and shampoo is combined into one..... in a dispenser attached to the wall! I've never stayed in a motel with this setup before and I understand it saves money for the hotel. But I don't like it! It's literally a dispenser like you would find in a public bathroom to get soap out of to wash your hands stuck to the shower wall.
I also really didn't like the location of my room. It's the off season so it's slow and I checked in early when there were literally only 2 cars in the whole parking lot. But they stuck me in the back of the building that only had a half parking lot. The half parking lot is on the other end of the building from my room and I really don't like not being able to look out the window and see if my vehicle is alright. It is also a pain to have to lug all my stuff from the vehicle to my room back and forth, because I won't leave anything of value in my room if I go somewhere. Being a weekday and being the off season they won't reach anywhere near capacity so was it really necessary to shove me so far out of the way? Maybe they thought because I'm a young guy I will be loud and noisy or maybe it was because I got my rooms online for half price of the normal rate.
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