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We LOVE vacationing at Big Cedar Lodge. Our family has been coming for a few years now, and it never gets old. I don’t think there’s a bad season to come. It’s great year round! We had never been in the winter time until this year during the holidays. Hopefully we can make this a tradition. Christmas at Big Cedar Lodge was truly magical!
Where is Big Cedar Lodge?
Big Cedar Lodge is in the Missouri Ozark Mountains about 10 miles south of Branson, overlooking Table Rock Lake. From the Oklahoma City area, it’s only about a 5 hour drive. It’s a spectacular family-friendly resort spread over 4,600 acres with tons of activities. You can do as much or as little as you want.
Things to Do At Big Cedar Lodge
We have found that there is never a shortage of events at Big Cedar. You wouldn’t even need to leave the resort to have a great time, but we like to get out and explore Branson some. We’ve been to Big Cedar Lodge several times, and have yet to see and do everything that’s on our list! Their Home for the Holidays season was no exception.
Holiday Activities
There were so many winter activities available daily during the Home for the Holidays season. Big Cedar Lodge was all decked out with over 1 million twinkling lights and plenty of activities to keep you and your kiddos busy.
The holiday light tour was so good! A tractor pulls you through the resort where you take in all of the twinkling lights while listening to Christmas music. It was true Christmas magic. Our ticket also included a hot chocolate or hot apple cider to enjoy and to help keep us warm during the ride. It was a tough decision for me, but I chose the cider. Yum!
Some of the other Christmas activities included a winter wonderland ice rink, gingerbread house decorating, visits from Santa and the elves, baking with Mrs. Claus, and an Elf on the Shelf Scavenger Hunt.
Swimming
My kiddos love to swim any chance they get. Big Cedar has several pools open during the warm-weather season. One outdoor heated pool called Devil’s Pool was open even during the winter season along with the hot tub. They also have an indoor pool that is open year round at the Brushey Creek Clubhouse. My husband and youngest daughter, Sadie, went for an outdoor swim when it was 50 degrees outside. It even started raining on them. They loved it! I, however, am a cold-weather wimp. I watched from the sidelines and took photos while all bundled up.
Fun Mountain
Fun mountain offers 50,000 square feet of family entertainment. This is a great year round option if you need to catch a break from the too cold or too hot outdoorsy life. Fun Mountain has a full arcade, underwater-themed bowling, spin zone bumper cars, an indoor climbing wall, seasonal outdoor go-carts, etc. We have yet to take all of this in. It’s always on our list of things to do, but we never have enough time. This is also where Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl and Grill is located. It’s a sit down restaurant with surprisingly good food, considering that it’s inside of an arcade. We took the untraditional route and ate here on Christmas Day and we were all pleasantly surprised. The food was great! We did let the girls do one ride while we were waiting for the restaurant to open. They chose the spin zone bumper cars. It looked so fun! Next time, Scott and I are doing it with them!
Shuttle Service at Big Cedar Lodge
We love the resort’s complimentary shuttle service. Just call or text them and within a matter of minutes the shuttle arrives. It will take you to a restaurant, pool, or wherever you want to go within the resort. It’s so convenient. The shuttle is available daily from 6 am to 12 am.
Accommodations And How to Save Money
Wilderness Club at Big Cedar
Since our first time vacationing at Big Cedar Lodge and spending quite a bit of money for a cabin (although it was fantastic), I have since discovered a way to save on accommodations. We had such an unforgettable time that I was determined to make this a vacation spot our family could come to again and again and be able to stay within our budget.
It’s amazing to me how much money you can save by booking accommodations at Wilderness Club at Big Cedar Lodge. I don’t think a lot of people know about it, so I’m sharing it here. This is the Bluegreen timeshare side of Big Cedar, but you don’t have to own a timeshare to stay there.
We aren’t timeshare owners, but I can book a lodge through ebay at a fraction of the price of going through the resort. This time we stayed in a combined lodge that slept 8 people. We had 2 bedrooms with king size beds, 2 bathrooms, a full and partial kitchen, 2 pull out sleeper sofas, and a washer and dryer. I love booking these lodge rooms because they’re very spacious.
Sometimes you can also find lodge availability through airbnb at a much better rate than booking through Big Cedar Lodge.
Either of these are great options for saving money!
Dining at Big Cedar Lodge
There are several dining options onsite. This trip we enjoyed breakfast at Devil’s Pool Restaurant and lunch at Uncle Buck’s Fish Bowl and Grill. They were both really good!
Dining Off-Site
Some of our other favorite food spots in Branson are Lambert’s (we always stop here on our way into Branson), Danna’s Barbeque, Hook and Ladder Pizza, breakfast at Billy Gail’s and Hungry Hunter, Cantina Laredo, and we love going to Hurt’s to grab a donut. We always have to get the tater twists at Silver Dollar City.
Tip: The later the better when going to Billy Gail’s. We have gone at 9 am before and had a 2 hour wait. If you wait and go later, around 11 am or even noon, the wait is usually shorter. We went at 11 am this time and waited about 30 minutes. They are open every day from 7 am to 3 pm.
Branson Family Fun Off-Site
Silver Dollar City
As I mentioned before, there is plenty to keep us busy at Big Cedar Lodge, but we like to explore. Silver Dollar City is a blast and I highly recommend it. It’s an 1880’s- style theme park that has rides, live shows, crafts, restaurants, and shops. At Christmastime the park is illuminated with over 6.5 million lights!
Branson Landing
We usually spend a few hours at Branson Landing. It’s a good option for shopping and dining. This is where we come to eat at Cantina Laredo. They have several other dining options including Paula Deen’s and Guy Fieri’s, which I’m hoping to try next time.
Sight and Sound Theatre
We have been to two shows at Sight and Sound Theatre, where they magically bring the Bible to life. Both shows that we have seen, Sampson and Noah, we’re incredible. Somehow they are able to transport you right into the heart of the story. My girls love the live animals that are part of the show.
Our family has created some priceless memories at Big Cedar Lodge and I can’t wait until we can go back and create many more!
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Thanks for following along on our adventures!
Check out my post on Big Cedar during Spring Break
