Silver Dollar City is building its own hotel, as part of a planned half-billion-dollars in investments over the next decade.
The park's investment plan includes developing 1,200 acres next to the Branson, Missouri theme park. But first up is the completion of a 262-room hotel resort.
"This is more than just growth - it's a new era," Silver Dollar City Parks & Resorts President Brad Thomas said. "Over the next decade, we will mindfully transform 1,200 acres into an authentic, only-in-the-Ozarks destination starting with our first resort. The new resort will combine Silver Dollar City's spirit of playfulness, discovery, craftsmanship and exploration with all that makes The Heart of the Ozarks so special."
The new hotel will include a full-service restaurant, indoor and outdoor pools, meeting space, and views of the Ozark Mountains and Table Rock Lake. The resort also will offer "unparalleled access to Silver Dollar City theme park," the park said.
Now under construction on a hill south of SR 76, overlooking the theme park, Silver Dollar City Resort is scheduled to open in late 2026.
Silver Dollar City opened in 1960, as the Herschend family looked to expand the appeal of its Marvel Cave attraction. The theme parks stands above the cave, which is included with park admission. But today, Silver Dollar City is known more for its top-quality entertainment, food (Cinnamon Bread FTW), and roller coasters, including this year's new Fire In the Hole.
"This investment showcases Silver Dollar City's commitment to tourism and economic growth in the Ozarks and for the State of Missouri," Missouri Governor Mike Parson said. "We are excited to see this project bring thousands of new jobs and millions of new visitors to our great state."
Silver Dollar City Resort will be a rare theme park-owned hotel in the middle of the United States, filling a gap between the hotels at Six Flags' Cedar Point (when will that stop being weird to say?) in Ohio and Herschend's Dollywood in Tennessee and those at Disneyland in California.
As for additional projects, Silver Dollar City has an immense area to work with, though the hilly topography will present design and engineering challenges. But an average of $50 million a year to spend over the next 10 years will create plenty of opportunity to address those challenges.
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Wall Street will be the end of everything, I swear.
This is wonderful news. Thrilled to see Herschend continue to pour love into this outstanding property. Now if only they would lavish some much-needed TLC on Kentucky Kingdom...
@evanwatson I think Herschend only operates Kentucky Kingdom, but the Kentucky State Fair Board still owns the park. I’m not sure who makes the decision on capital investments. My guess is the Kentucky State Fair Board does.
Based on how Herschend was talking when they bought in, it sounds like they have full control over what happens at the park. But you're right, it's not as cut and dry as the other two. I just don't want to see it become Wild Adventures 2.0.
This resort looks very much like the Dreammore at Dollywood, and from personal experience, it is comparable to top tier hotels at destination theme park resorts. If the pricing of this is in line with Dreammore, it should offer a great value for those wanting to spend a couple of days at the Branson park.
This is much needed. I'm going to SDC next weekend and wish there were an on-site hotel. Just a couple more years ...
And yes, my first thought when I saw the rendering was DreamMore. With all the expansion plans, I just hope they can maintain the local, small-town America feel of the park.
That is the same amount of money Disney blew on The Marvels.
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Isn't it ironic how Six Flags and Cedar Fair, two toilet bowl companies with bad customer service/maintenance, say that they had to merge because the economics of running seasonal theme parks have changed and made it difficult for them to operate as separate companies...
...yet this company, which is way smaller, but actually focuses on having good parks/customer service/maintenance, is kicking butt? Funny how that works.