christmas in branson

The Christmas season is a great time to visit Branson. We enjoy driving around town to look at the lights, but our favorite place to visit is an Old Time Christmas at Silver Dollar City. The theme park is absolutely beautiful at this time of year, with millions of Christmas lights, a 100 ft. tall musical Christmas tree, and lots of hot cider and warm funnel cakes.

Be sure to choose the date for your visit carefully if you are concerned about large crowds. The Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving are huge days for the park, and you may have very long waits just to enter SDC. One year, we visited the park on the Friday after Thanksgiving and we waited in traffic for over two hours just to get inside. In fact, the park stayed open late that night--until midnight--just to accomodate the huge turnout. It can be exciting to be part of such a large crowd celebrating the holiday spirit, but I would think most visitors would prefer to attend when it's not packed.

Usually, the crowds are much smaller in December, especially if you avoid Friday and Saturday nights. The park stays opens through December 30, and I would recommend visiting from the 26th-30th. In our experience, we haven't had to fight the crowds on these dates and have been able to enjoy all the exiting rides at SDC without long lines. One year, just after Christmas, we attended the park with the whole family, including my parents and sister and her husband all visiting from Kentucky. Several of us rode Thunderation, Powder Keg, and Wildfire without waiting in any lines. It was really great to be able to walk up and jump on a ride. The weatherwas even great that night, and it was so fun to ride these roller costers in the dark.

By the way, SDC has a new ride for this season, the Giant Swing, a huge swing ride that is inspired by old barn swings.

If you are planning a trip to SDC this Christmas, have a great time!!