Enjoying Christmas at Silver Dollar City

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I shared yesterday about the amazing Gingerbread Houses that we saw while in Branson, Missouri.  Today I’d love to tell you a little about our trip to the local theme park there in Branson called Silver Dollar City.  Beware though, this post is picture heavy!

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I have been going to Silver Dollar City since I was a little girl.  I have loved it enough to continue taking my own family back.  One of our favorite times to return is during the Christmas season because of all of the beautiful lights!  The roller coasters are still open and many of the other rides are as well (so long as it doesn’t get REALLY cold….and usually it’s pretty mild).

When we first arrived, we were greeted with this amazing, huge wreath!  Of course, it made for the perfect picture opportunity!

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That wreath is so big, it’s hard to see their faces though.  So here they are up close and personal….. ready to start having an exciting time!

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I didn’t mention that they were so excited to be here….after a couple hours of waiting in waiting rooms while we took our newly asthmatic 7 year old daughter to urgent care to see if we could get her a rescue inhaler.  She had been suddenly having troubles with breathing, so we decided we’d better figure out a way to make her day a bit more comfortable.  That made us late in getting there…but they were all so good about it!

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While it was still light out, we began our day going from ride to ride.  We took the smaller kids down to the easy riding area and sent the big kids to the roller coasters to get all the riding fun out of them.  One of the things we love about Silver Dollar City is how all the employees are dressed in period dress.  The ride workers are dressed in whatever theme that their ride is in.  I didn’t get any pictures of the rides this time as we were losing daylight quickly!

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This is definitely a hot spot for the smaller kids.  They get to suck balls up in ball vacuums….

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and shoot them with ball guns……………

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As soon as we left the ball area, we went to see the Frosty the Snow Man show where Frosty actually comes to life!

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My 3 year old daughter is the one in the right hand corner with the pink coat on.  She was thrilled to get to go up on stage and see Frosty a little more up close and personal.

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When the show was over, they had all the kids turn around for what they called a Kodak Moment.  Unfortunately, my 2 didn’t really look at me….but they’re the 2 together in color in the picture below:

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After the Frosty Show, it was finally all the way dark and we could see the lights really well!  But guess what?  It had started raining!  There’s nothing like a December rain to cool you down!  Thankfully….it didn’t last long.

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When we rode the train, they told us that Silver Dollar City has over 400 miles of lights within their park.  Can you imagine their electric bill?!  Each building is trimmed like this:

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and several trees look like this:

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But the Christmas tree in the middle is the most special of all.  Starting at 5:30 p.m. they have a tree lighting ceremony where the Christmas tree lights dance to the music.  It’s spectacular.  There are over 250,000 lights alone on this tree.

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One of the things that my family raves the most about when going to Silver Dollar City is their Taffy!  We always have to stop by the candy shop for a taste.

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This is just a sampling of all the flavors they’ve got!

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Of course, my kids are just as fond of their candy sticks as well!

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While the older kids were still enjoying some roller coasters, we had taken the younger ones to buy some candy and then up to watch the tree ceremony.

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Right after that….we had to visit Grandfather’s Mansion.  

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Grandfather’s Mansion is a silly house where rooms are upside down or on a great big slope.

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Uh-oh, somebody’s breaking the rules!

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The children are always amazed at how they can stand up with such a slant to their bodies….thanks to the crooked room.

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This year, was the first year that they produced the musical of It’s a Wonderful Life.  We really enjoyed seeing it.  The actors are always phenomenal!  They also do the play of The Christmas Carol.  We’ve seen it in years past, but didn’t have time to see The Christmas Carol this year.  There’s definitely enough to keep you busy all the day.  Thankfully they were open from 1 until 9 p.m., so we had plenty of time to see most of the park, even though we arrived later than we had planned.

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We always have such a great time when we go to Silver Dollar City.  The staff are always very friendly and helpful.  The park is extremely clean, despite the # of people who are walking through the area and there are so many different things to see.

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Have you ever visited Silver Dollar City?  If you’re close enough….you should take the drive over.  It’s totally worth it!  They’re open until the end of the year!  We can’t wait for our next trip!