The Light Parade winds its way through Silver Dollar City's Town Square.
BRANSON, Mo., December 5, 2013 – “Silver Dollar City’s Old Time Christmas has long been acknowledged both locally and nationally as one of the center pieces of Ozark Mountain Christmas,” said Tammy Johnson, the Director of Operations for the Branson Tourism Center, “but it was a joy to see it recognized as one of the 10 great theme parks for the holidays in a recent special written by Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY. The source of the information for the piece was comments made by Robert Niles, editor of ThemeParkInsider.com who pointed out that theme parks “do Christmas on a scale you won’t find anywhere else” and shared 10 of the best at doing just that.
In his comments on why Silver Dollar City made his list Niles said, “This heartland park embraces Christmas traditions with a living Nativity scene, shows and holiday meals” and points out that the park also “features scores of themed trees, including one that towers five stories in the middle of the park.” Johnson points out that the award winning 1880s styled theme park turns into a glittering winter wonderland amid no less than 5 million sparkling lights and 1,000 decorated Christmas trees throughout the park.”
Of the five million lights, 1 million decorate the streets and cover the 40-foot-tall trees on the Town Square as part of the spectacular light & sound show, Christmas on Main Street featuring a five story Special Effects Christmas Tree. It has 350,000 energy-saving lights that are synchronized with music and to the lights decorating buildings around the square, down to one-hundredth of a second. This can result in over 6,000 light changes per minute. The twice nightly 100,000 light Gifts of Christmas Holiday Light Parade with 18 costumed characters and eight lighted musical floats is another unique and beautiful part of the parks Old Time Christmas celebration.
The parks unique live shows, including an original Silver Dollar musical production of It’s a Wonderful Life, adapted from the inspirational Frank Capra Christmas classic and the “acclaimed Broadway-style production A Dickens’ Christmas Carol, an original musical adaptation of the famous classic by Charles Dickens, with elaborate sets and visual effects, flying spirits, vanishing ghosts, revolving scenery and pyrotechnic special effects and others add to the overall spirit and experience of the Old Time Christmas celebration. When combined with everything else the award winning theme park offers, including craft demonstrations; some of the most unique shopping available anywhere in Branson; a full selection of holiday food and, weather permitting, some of the parks dozens of rides, it’s easy to see why Silver Dollar City’s Old Time Christmas would be listed as one of the “10 great theme parks for the holidays.”
For additional information on Silver Dollar City or tickets for any of Branson’s shows and attractions or for lodging arrangements please contact the Branson Tourism Center, one of Branson’s largest and most respected vacation planning services by calling 1-800-785-1550.