Plan Your Trip to Silver Dollar City

We received admission to Silver Dollar City as part of a promotional blogger tour of Branson, MO through the US Family Guide. All opinions are 100% my own.

One of the exciting places we got to visit in Branson, Missouri, was Silver Dollar City. Silver Dollar City is a beautiful amusement park (really, it is…lush and green and clean and full of color) designed with the whole family in mind. Like everything else in Branson, it’s only a short drive from most hotels, and totally worth the visit.

Our trip to Silver Dollar City was full of adventure and family fun. From rides to crafts to glazed funnel cake (whaaat) and everything in between, we explored as much of the park as we could until the kids were too tired to continue. I’m going to share our day (lots of pictures ahead!) and a few things you need to know when planning your visit to Silver Dollar City.

I had never heard of Silver Dollar City before our visit to Branson, but it turns out it’s kind of a big deal as far as amusement parks go! This press release says it best:

Built on top of a huge cave that runs under the park and has attracted tourists for decades, Silver Dollar City has been open for more than 50 years and is a leading attraction for the state of Missouri. Impeccably clean and staffed with friendly people who all genuinely seem happy to answer questions and offer their assistance, the park maintains an old mining town theme and celebrates our American heritage. It also showcases more than 100 resident craftsmen, which is really, really cool (see my soap pictures below – I was really excited about the soap!). 

We started our day off with a breakfast buffet (it was so good), and then watched the opening ceremonies. The opening ceremonies honored visiting military servicemen and women, and the kids thought this was really neat. In fact, they started saluting while we were in Branson (we didn’t teach them this – Jack noticed some veterans saluting the American flag and started saluting the flag all on his own). Side note: Branson is a patriotic place, and many of the attractions we visited acknowledged our servicemen.

We visited during the Star-Spangled Summer Festival, which is one of seven yearly festivals (it runs through July 20th). The entire park was decked out in red, white, and blue. It was gorgeous!

The park is big (over a hundred acres), so you’ll want to have a plan. We spent seven hours there, and didn’t even get to see all of the park (Marvel Cave, Geyser Gulch, and Grandfather’s House – we’ll be back!).

Tip #1 – Plan your day. Take a look at a map of Silver Dollar City beforehand and decide what you want to see and do. Next time, I’d even break it up into two days – there’s that much to do! You can see a park map here.

There are ten rides for kids, although the littlest kids are a bit more limited (many – but not all – of the rides require riders to be 36″ and ride with an adult). Families will also love to ride the Frisco Silver Dollar Line Steam Train – there’s even a “robbery” halfway through the ride (sit by the window on the right-hand side of the train, if you can)!

If you like roller coasters, don’t miss Outlaw Run, the world’s steepest wood roller coaster. 

You could spend the entire day enjoying the rides, but there’s more to Silver Dollar City than rides! It’s also famous for its shows.

Tip #2 – Check out the show schedule. You can see the full schedule here – there are shows going on all day!

After the rides and entertainment and food (there are 17 restaurants to choose from), there is a ton of other fun stuff for the kids to enjoy. Like cannons. Cannons are, apparently, very fun.

You’ll find 100 resident craftsmen (and women!), demonstrating their skills and selling their wares. My two favorites were the blacksmith and the soap maker. I was taken with the handmade soap – and brought some home.

Tip #3 – Bring some spending money. You certainly don’t have to buy anything, but..there will probably be something you like and want to bring home! We bought some soap, a couple of trinkets for the kids, and a Christmas tree ornament (I always buy an ornament from new places when we travel).

Tip #4 – Wear your walking shoes! After living in North Texas for ten years, it’s easy to forget that the rest of the world has HILLS. Silver Dollar City is super hilly. Be prepared to walk up some steep hills. And that brings me to…

Tip #5 – Bring a stroller or baby carrier! There will be a lot of walking, and your littles will get tired. Jack had to walk, but by the end of the day, he was begging to ride in the stroller!

A few other things to know:

• You can buy your tickets in advance, and you can buy tickets that will get you in to Silver Dollar City AND White Water (a water park owned by the same family). This is a great value! An adult ticket that will get you into both parks for three days is only $99. You can buy tickets and see the different packages available here.
• Check out all of the discounts and special offers here.
• Nursing moms will be happy to know that there are several nursing stations around the park.
• You can rent a stroller (even a double stroller) if you are without and decide you need one.
• For more information, check out the Silver Dollar City FAQ’s here.

If you have questions, I’ll be hapy to answer them to the best of my ability. And I’d love to hear your experiences, too!