Silver Dollar City is an entertaining 1880’s-inspired theme park for all ages located in the Ozark Mountains in Branson, Missouri. If you’ve never been to SDC, you’ll definitely want to plan a trip with your friends or family. My first ever visit was during the Christmas festival–An Old Time Christmas–and it was a visit I’ll never forget!
The holiday spirit mixed with beautiful decorations and thrilling rides makes this a fantastic Christmas time destination. Here is my first-timer’s guide to Silver Dollar City with everything you need to know about visiting during Christmas.
Visit During the Holidays and Festivals
Silver Dollar City has plenty of festivals and events to choose from all throughout the year. We visited on the very first weekend of the Christmas season, which was actually in November. I highly recommend taking a look at Silver Dollar City’s calendar when you are deciding what time of year to visit.
If you’re able to make a trip during the Christmas holiday season, you’ll see the park transform with decorations and shows. Keep reading to find out more about what makes a Silver Dollar City Christmas so special!
Rollercoasters
Probably what drew me to Silver Dollar City the most were the rollercoasters. I love thrill rides, but I haven’t ridden many coasters outside of Disney World. There are 5 rollercoasters at Silver Dollar City, and in my opinion, all but 1 were more intense than anything at Disney.
Thunderation reminded me of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Magic Kingdom because of the intensity and the mine theme. Wildfire was a very fun coaster with a few loops and a drop or two. Powder Keg was honestly more intense than I thought it would be. It starts by launching you off at 53 miles per hour, which I expected; I didn’t expect it to have multiple large drops as well!
The biggest rollercoaster at Silver Dollar City is Outlaw Run. Honestly, I chickened out of this one. This giant rollercoaster is the 6th fastest wooden coaster in the world and has a 162-foot drop. So you can imagine why I opted out.
My favorite ride in the park has to be the Time Traveler. Not only does this ride have a few loops and drops, but the seats spin freely throughout the whole ride. You would think this would be horrible and make you feel sick, but surprisingly it wasn’t bad. I would’ve ridden it several times if I could! This is Silver Dollar City’s newest coaster, so we did have to wait in line. Even at the end of the day, our wait was about an hour. But since we went on a Saturday which wasn’t too busy, this was the longest wait of the day for us.
Kid-Friendly Rides
While the rollercoasters may be a bit intense for some, there are several kid-friendly rides and attractions available. Most, if not all, of these rides will let the parents or older siblings ride with little kids.
If you’re taking small children to the park, I recommend taking a look at the height requirements before you go, just to see what you’ll be able to do. The Grand Exposition Coaster was a great ride for those who want to ride a coaster like the big kids but aren’t quite tall enough yet.
Demonstrations
You can totally count a trip to Silver Dollar City as an educational trip if you want. There are several craftsmen that do demonstrations throughout the park. You can observe a woodworker, a glassblower, a blacksmith, and many more artisans. The products made by the craftsmen are available for purchase.
Christmas Attractions
The magic of Christmas time is everywhere in Silver Dollar City throughout November and December. There are multiple live Broadway-style Christmas-themed shows every evening.
The holiday parade lasts for a few minutes and has 2 showtimes on most days. In the parade, you’ll see beloved Christmas characters such as Rudolph and Santa riding in parade floats covered in Christmas lights.
You wont’ want to miss the Christmas in Midtown light spectacular. SDC decorates the park in 6.5 million Christmas lights!
Food
There are a few sit-down restaurants in Silver Dollar City and many food stands. Some of them may be closed if you go during a slow season.
We ate lunch at the Traveler’s Stop, which is a food stand selling different kinds of grilled cheese.
We weren’t super hungry at dinner time, so we ended up getting a snack at Tater Twist. Grab a freshly fried stick of thinly sliced potatoes and season with different flavors like Garlic Parmesan or Sour Cream and Onion.
All the food that we ate was good, but I will say that the lines were slow. In fact, we waited in line for food longer than we waited for rides. Also, the prices are pretty high, just as you’d expect from theme park food.
Money-saving tip: Bring your own drink, or better yet, ask for free water cups at any place to eat.
Famous Cinnamon Bread
We weren’t hungry at dinner time because we got this for an afternoon snack. I knew I couldn’t leave Silver Dollar City without trying their legendary cinnamon bread.
This bread is freshly baked. In fact, you can watch them making it while you stand in line. And there will probably be a line since this bread is worth it! The bread is warm, soft, and buttery.
You can find this delicious treat at Clara Belle’s Cinnamon Bread Bakery.
Christmas in Silver Dollar City can be a wonderful experience for you and your family and friends. From the delicious food to the top tier entertainment and rides, this park has something for everyone.
Are you going to spend your holidays at Silver Dollar City? Let me know in the comments about your experience at SDC during any of the fun festivals!
Looking for other places to visit with fun rides or rich history? Check out these blog posts below:
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